Nakedgun

12 hours ago, Mr_Cat said:

The postie brought me a shiny new (to me) OTA. A Celestron C9.25  - I am very happy !!!

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Exactly like mine. You should be happy.

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8 hours ago, John said:

Al Nagler kindly loaned me this a few years back to trial - I must give it a go sometime, when I'm feeling strong 😉

 

(I should have posted this in a months time !)

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If a review vis-a-vis the 31T5 is not forthcoming directly, I will be at your doorstep to expedite matters!

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With so much cloud-cover, do I really need big glasses? 🙃

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Agreed. More than once I've come to the conclusion that I need nothing more. Did I say, "more than once"?

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These arrived today, fully multi-coated orthos made in Japan. I have volcano-tops in 4,5,6,7 & 9, then use Plössls up from there.

I will probably have to find other uses for those Plössls, now.

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8 hours ago, jjohnson3803 said:

I have a little extra astro money on hand and I'm seriously considering getting a pair of 8x42 roof prism binos.  I have 15x70 IF - kind of heavy, really need a tripod, Aculon 10x50s - they're ok but a little hard for me to keep steady, and a pair of 7x50 military surplus porros - built like a tank, less bouncy views, but maybe a little low on the mag.

So what says the collective mind?  Would 8x42s be redundant, considering what I have?  There's a good chance I'd sell off one or more of the others if the 8x42s did the trick.

 

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Since you don't currently have an 8x42 to use for astro work (for daytime use that size checks many observing boxes) I suggest getting them, by all means. However, I prefer 10x50s at night more often than not, and using them attached to a monopod is a great way to stabilize them.  Monopods collapse quite small and are easily packed away for traveling.

Good luck.

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On 15/02/2024 at 13:35, Don Pensack said:

One thing to know: The eyepieces have 20mm of eye relief from the glass, but only 12mm of eye relief from the rubber eyecup up.

If you wear glasses and wish to use these eyepieces, the best course of action is to replace the rubber eyecup with a regular flip up/fold down type.

You then would easily have enough eye relief for glasses use.  If you don't wear glasses, the eyepiece is fine as is.

Long Perng, the maker, has, I understand, addressed some of the internal light scatter issues they had with the earlier versions from Orion (the LHD), so this has likely improved.

Comparing the Orion LHD 14mm (80°) to the 14mm Baader Morpheus (78°), the Morpheus had better contrast and went deeper, but it looked like the culprit was light scatter in the Orion LHD.

The issue was communicated to the maker and I've been told that later productions have been better in that regard.

Since StellaLyra is a latecomer to the model, it is likely the issue has been addressed.

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What other brand-names is this Long Perng LER/UWA series (other than the Orion) sold as, I wonder?

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On 17/02/2024 at 01:47, Bazz said:

Looks like it could blow anytime 

 

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The music is interesting, at least.

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Clever boy!

I have a Slik Pro 500DXShort tripod/ball head collecting dust even now, apparently waiting for you to post this!

Many thanks.

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"Terribly disappointed in this scope's performance on M13!" (lunar filter still screwed on)

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I prefer Kowa spotters, if they have one in you price range.

Good luck.

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This, delivered today, is s novelty I've wanted ever since first seeing them in other people's collections. I was high-bidder at the Goodwill auction site.

Smallest "naked" two-eyed instrument I have.

My Mayflower "naked" monocular now has a companion.

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Last night, 11 FEB 24, conditions were predicted to be unusually favorable, so I set up to do some double star observing.

25 years at this hobby and I finally saw the Pup. After catching it at higher power, I was surprised how easy it was to spot at much lower magnification.

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Neighbors can enhance, or ruin, ones outlook on homelife, unfortunately.

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Take a photo of their company logo, perhaps someone can ID it.

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I failed to arise early for their conjunction 27 JAN 24, but was able to have a clear enough horizon this AM to see Mercury, Mars & Venus through 10x50s.

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Watched Io re-emerge from Jupiter's shadow, followed a half-hour later by Europa lifting of the planet's limb for 20 minutes before diving into shadow.

Moved over to Uranus for a few minutes, then had a look at M42 for a spell, E & F not visible at 100mm.

Went inside for about two hours, then out to watch Europa return to the sunlight.

Came in to post this, now I'll take a peek at Luna before retiring.

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So, TV posts the survey results:

https://televue.com/televueopticstalk/2024/01/25/the-survey-says/?utm_source=Tele+Vue+Blog+Email&utm_campaign=7aa9197ef2-MAILCHIMP_RSS_EMAIL&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6a51c038cb-7aa9197ef2-440061184

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My experience indicates that many do not realize the tremendous number of objects observable in the night sky with binoculars. Obviously, local sky conditions will put up boundaries to the range of possibilities, but this is great opportunity for you to pursue this avenue.

There are online and book resources for binocular astronomy which can be helpful for this aspect of our hobby, and readers here will, I'm sure, post them up. Some of these provide insight as to what one can expect from a given mag/aperture combo as a way of whittling down your choice(s).

10x50s make a great weapon, in my view, if you have just this, allowing one to go deeper than the popular 7-or-8 power wider field units, while also giving the prey enough context to be appreciated.

If skies are light polluted with fewer waypoints, I find a 6.5x32 extra-wide field helps to get to the area more easily, then use 10x50s to take in the item. If more perception is needed, a 15-or-16 power glass can be brought to bear without too much additional trouble with regard to size/weight.

https://binocularsky.com/index.php

https://shopatsky.com/products/binocular-highlights-second-edition

Keep us posted. 

Good luck.

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Got up early again this morning to catch the 5% illuminated Moon along with Venus & Mercury:

Moon & Mercury:

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I can state that my GAS is under control - I have not ordered anything during the entire 2024.

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Clear skies overnight but poor seeing, so I contented myself with 16x70 views of Neptune and Saturn, then Uranus and Jupiter with the four Galilean Moons stretched out west of Jove.

This morning I watched the lunar occultation, and re-emergence, of Antares.

While occluded, a snap of Venus and Mercury. Mars came in to view a bit later through 15x56s, but not naked-eye in the brightening sky. I could get no photo of it.

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Today, I answered the nine-question email survey.

All I want them to change is to lose the accursed undercuts.

We'll see.

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2 hours ago, plyscope said:

Telescope Express have a special on the little 6x30 ED so I bought one to compare with the APM 6x30 that have had for a couple of years.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p15261_TS-Optics-6x30-ED-APO-Outdoor-Binoculars---Magnesium-Body.html

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Same mfr?

What are your findings?

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My neighbor an I sat in my back yard from 2100 to 2330 and observed perhaps 50, in total. Best shower of the year.

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