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Excellent report! Re: NGC 3003, here is a reference - "NGC 3003 = UGC 5251 = MCG +06-22-013 = CGCG 182-021 = KTG 26A = PGC 28186 09 48 36.0 +33 25 17 V = 11.9; Size 5.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 79d" Yes, your alignment is the issue as you will have no problem seeing the galaxy group as a group. The hard part is "busting them up". High mag with a vg ortho is needed, IMHO. I got 3 with the 15" (under top conditions) and all of them in the 24". The 10BCO is at the top of the heap but will benefit from a good barlow on the very faint ones- or find a vg 5mm-7mm ortho. Used here is an exellent copy of a 7mmKK Fuji, a mainstay. Fantastic sky journeys Robert!! Congrats 👍

@Astro_Nic The first step is to make the secondary look round and under the focuser evenly (using the sec adjustment bolt). Do this first IMHO. A cheshire (as used as a sight tube) will automatically set the needed off set. You can then put the cross hairs on the primary marker, in the center of it, using the 3 sec adjustment screws. Then using the actual cheshire, put the "dot in the donut". This process can be iterative.

@stuy Now that, sir, is a telescope!

Excellent!

Thank you Kostas, yes I l always see a mottled green core and under top conditions pink under the wings, kind of a salmon colour. My 200mm f3.8 also shows this and the 24" adds a faint blue to the mix. Question is- is it an "illusion" or the brain filling in color? A thread a long while back discussed the brains power to (correctly) fill in information and was very interesting. Something to ponder... I observe solar white light with A Baadercool wedge that has a green "solar continuum" filter in there. When I first start observing I see a green sun- after a bit the sun turns to yellow... How can this be? Others note the phenomenon as well. So do I see colour in M42? yes. By what mechanism I have no idea. The Eskimo neb always shows as green-no filter, sometimes with different shades in there.

I can merge down to 9mm eyepieces but I start "fighting the merge". My best high power set up is the 12.5mm Tak orthos (18's are vg too) which gives about 330x in the 15" and I must say that the views of Jupiter with this set up under good conditions is jaw dropping. Saturn too. Lower power binoviewing the moon is a favourite sport though.

Thanks Gavin! Yes, the lane feature is very sensitive to transparency IME. In reality my 20mm APM 100 was not the best choice for this and many of the other objects, but its great for a general sky cruise. Perhaps the best mono eyepiece that I have is either the 12.5mm Doc or the 10mm Delos on this galaxy and its lane. The very best view I've had of the Hamburger lane in the 15" was years ago when I first got the binoviewers and was playing round with the "false exit pupil" concept. I only use simple TV plossls, 32mm, 25mm and the view of the Leo Triplet and in particular the Hamburger lane is still burned in my brain. Conditions were excellent. Congrats for a fine viewing session with your 16" Gavin, great to see your posting.

Hi Gavin! I'm still thinking of buying "you know what" myself When I first tried the Eridanus Loop, after many successes, I figured I'd march right in there and plant the flag of victory over it in short time that was 3 years ago, or more, and I'm still waiting to see it. Ditto Einstein Cross apparitions. Congrats for the excellent observation Gavin!

Excellent point Mark. Its hard to merge or hold merge without vg collimation. Ditto for poor EP holders. When the binos were bought I splashed out on the collimation tool- which I've never had to use but the instructions made it sound easy if need be. To me the real test of equipment is not feeling the need to keep trying other things out and the binos I have satisfy me.

Congrats Magnus!! Not really, just easier to see IMHO. It is no challenge at all in my 24" under good conditions with and without a filter but it still appears as a thumbprint to my eyes, just bigger. The big challenge is getting conditions good enough to see it. The HH is more of a "rite of passage' than anything else IMHO. Now if I can just get you guys to show me how to see the Eridanus Loop...

2 things- I never use my prism diag with the Binotrons as "stacking" prisms might not lead to the best results IMHO. A little tidbit- years ago I discovered that a Baader single polariser filter works great with my Quark, enhancing contrast in Ha. I must add that for white light solar the Baader Cool doesnt seem to impact the views through the binos, so I guess I do "stack" prisms... I was referring to the moon and planets in the above comment.

Its "polarization" - an issue with some prisms and can be common. I checked my Binotron 27's and there was just perceptible difference- and they show no difference on the moon for example. Denis over CN had a good convo on this buried in a long thread of his regarding binoviewers etc.

It will make a difference on lunar and planetary over the 100mm but will not replace the 8" on DSO.IMHO.Mind you on some DSO, like the Merope, M42 etc it will be superb. A 120mmish frac and a 12"ish dob is a very hard to beat combination. The 12" f5 dob has enough focal length and illumination to compete with bigger scopes, IMHO. Oh yeah, they are (or can be) low obstructed scopes. I think the VX12 is about 21%- right in the strike zone.

Excellent report Magnus! Yes, you saw the bridge of M51, great catch!

Great report Stephan! A nice exploration of the area and I must look at the Bat soon.

A nice break in the winter weather gave an opportunity to observe tonight even though the wind chill was near -25c. Always cooled and easily collimated the 15" is my favourite and most used telescope which enlisted one eyepiece- the 20mm APM 100 deg. Televues new and excellent OIII and UHC were used. First off, the Pleiades , a very unique structure system of nebulosity and lanes, also known as the Pleiades "Bubble". The Merope nebula presented a bright mass- follow the chain of stars near it into the center and tonight the complex looked like it was set into darkness intermixed with nebulous stars and surrounded by a grey shade of variegated nebulosity. There was hints of detached structure near the far side of the Merope- a lane if you will. My earlier reports have described this very complex system and is one of the jewels of the sky. The Running Man was, well running lol! Always a favourite to see the lanes that define the shape of the namesake. M42 was stunning, no filter, with the complete lower loop showing.M43 had its dark lane cutting through 2/3 of it or so. The HH appeared no filter tonight which while a nice challenge object underwhelms me. So much observed... the Jellyfish in Gemini- yup still there, the Monkeyhead, another highly structured favourite shone well in both filters and the Rosette gave the nod to the Televue Nebustar, an excellent filter. I just had to view the Leo Triplet and the Hamburger galaxy gave up its nice cut through lane tonight. Have to mention M81 again- it will show its spikey spirals under good conditions and tonight was no exception. NELM tonight , using 17 Umi, with averted was 6.8 and Stellarium says airmass adjusted (for its elevation) was about 7 mag. Is this accurate? who knows- all I know is that the views were very nice tonight and it sure felt good to observe. Tons more observed but I wont bore with more lol!

Great observing Sky-J . I was wondering because I've found that M51 can not only take high mag, like you used but it also responds to differing mags, each revealing different levels of features. My 90mm, under similar skies offers 2 bright puff balls, the larger with a brighter core. It might be useful to try your zoom to see the effect of different mags on this object. Oddly enough M51 can be kind of hard to really bring out the spirals and not just increase the "glow" but playing with the mags and therefore exit pupil really helps IMHO. Keep up the great observing/reports!

Excellent report. 👍 What sort of mag were you using on M51?

Nico was wondering what I'm up to now lol!

Well SGLers I just got in from a nice solar viewing session It was cold in the seacan and it took awhile for the optics to come around. Once settled in the 90mm APO/Coolwedge gave some great views in avg to good seeing, influenced by some wind. Nice granulation around the larger sunspots- no cell structure though, seeing not stable enough. Many little "mini" sunspots about this area. Over to the other side the 2 sunspots sported some nice faculae in the area - great to see again. Took a while for my eyes to turn the green to yellow in my wedge and also remembered the importance of either a zoom or many eyepieces. The ability to change mag today was of major importance in the changing conditions. The Baader Coolwedge just plain old works in all 3 of my fracs, an excellent piece of equipment. Great to obs solar again and I hope the suns activity continues to increase.

Off to observe with the 90mm Raptor/Coolwedge

I have a reasonably good working Quark that I might dig out now that it has warmed up and the sun is getting more active. I still think the PST is a nice unit to have around and might pick one up. By all means- you have the optics to maximize the views.

Looks like there might be something to see

Btw, it takes the very best images to equal what the eye sees on solar. Solar views through nice optics is stunningly good. Gonna go check GONG out now myself to see whats happening. Crystal clear skies atm.

You check out Alpine Astro? very good to deal with