Nakedgun

7 hours ago, AL1 said:

I was only going to buy a vixen motor drive set but could not resist also buying this beautiful GP2 mount to go with my ED103.   

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That GP-2 a recent acquisition - new old stock? And, I'd like to have a mini-pier like that for mine. Still available in the UK?

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On 03/03/2023 at 19:23, Nakedgun said:

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Lunt Solar.

Photos when I can get them.

 

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Since arrival I've had day-and-night clouds, until today. Abundant sunshine today, but poor seeing, still, I had to throw it up on an alt-az mount to have a look.

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Night observing configuration, 10 1/2 lbs.

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Single-stack mode, 15lbs.

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Double-stack setup, 17 1/4lbs.

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A brief, but satisfying session. 

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The current solar cycle is the worth H-a viewing. Observe it, if you can.

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Lunt Solar.

Photos when I can get them.

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7 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I thought I'd give this nice little Celestron 18mm Xcel LX a go..

I sold my Morpheus 17.5mm to help fund my new Maxbright IIs and other bits. This isn't a focal length I use a lot, but there is a sizeable gap between my Pentax 10.5mm and Axiom LX 23mm, so here we are. I've read good things about this range at the price point..it certainly feels well made, a nice heft to it, and has a nice twist up eyecup.

I don't expect Morpheus performance, but will be interesting to test it out..if we ever get another clear night in Lincolnshire, that is!🤦😂

Dave

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Optically, they're not bad at all (I have a set), and a good value, though the AF will be less than those you're bracketing it with. Some may have specks of dust between the lenses, my 2.3 is rather annoying if I point it at the Moon.

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The 10" and 12.5" dobs are kept in the garage, wrapped to keep dust/insects out, but readily deployable. 

The refractors stay indoors, in the "scope room" closet (doors removed for clarity). I like padded bags, seen here are 60, 76, 90 & 100mm OTAs, hanging like beef, quickly released for use.

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Next, are the 9.25" and 8" SCTs, awaiting their turn to go outside to play.

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The 6" MAK sits atop cases containing eyepieces, star atlases, astro books and other "necessaries" and on the right another padded Manfrotto bag housing a 120mm OTA can be just seen.

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Finally, the astro-binos on the shelf.

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Rain and wind all day, it even tried to snow in the early afternoon (unheard of for us), but it cleared off at sunset for the show.

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1 hour ago, Moonshed said:

My mishap goes back 25 years. I lived near Glasgow where the light pollution was pretty bad. I had just started astrophotography and back then I was of course using a film camera (the younger ones here can Google what that is 😀) and I decided I wanted a photo of the Orion Nebula.
It was a 30 minute drive to the nearest forest where the sky was the darkest for miles around. I set up my gear using the car headlights and then powered my kit using the car battery. Polar alignment was achieved by squinting through a very small lens after twiddling with the time and date rings, it took a good 30 mins. The film roll took 36 pictures and on the first night I used 12. I returned twice more over the next few days until I had used all the film. The problem was that until you got your developed photos back you had absolutely no idea how good the focus was, or the framing or the exposure. All you could see when taking the photo was through the tiny little viewer at the top of the camera. I could just about make out Orion’s Belt through it.

You cannot imagine my pain when having gone to all that trouble, three times, that when I went to wind the film back I realised there wasn’t any film in the camera! This was in part due to the fact that even without a film the picture count would still increase every time you wound the film on, even without a film! A keen eye, in daylight mind, would notice the other dial was not moving.

Such was the pain I still recall every detail, and pain, 25 years on 😉.

More recently I’ve done everything else, to forgetting to remove the Bahtinov mask, forgetting to charge camera battery, forgetting to change from BST and not understanding why the GOTO was so far off, tripping over cables and knocking the mount after precise PA etc etc.

Remind me, why did I go into this hobby😂

 

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Oh yes, film! In the early 90s a partial solar eclipse was visible from my home and so of course I took photos. Except, I didn't take photos, as I had neglected to load film beforehand.

Nothing like a missed opportunity!

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19 hours ago, IB20 said:

Probably when I first tried my Tak 76DCU, excited as anything but also hoping it delivered the views I’d paid a premium for. Only to not be able to get any eyepiece to focus and nearly laid a brick. Eventually worked out that there was an imaging adapter included which when removed turned it into a visual telescope. 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

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Not unusual, Taks have a bewildering array of extension tubes/adapters to wrestle with.

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I wonder if a pair of snap-ring pliers would gain enough purchase on the inside of the filter to screw in/out?

https://www.mcmaster.com/7131A31/

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On 24/02/2023 at 18:26, John said:

As per the poll heading, I am interested where the balance lies these days.

Thanks if you feel able to respond 🙂

I have posted my vote.

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The available choices prevent a response to your poll.

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On 23/02/2023 at 10:34, Sunshine said:

Is there one particular scope which you would consider your holy grail scope? one which you do not have and may never get your hands on but it crosses your mind leaving you starry eyed every now and then. For me, I think it would be an FS128.

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Having foolishly sold my FS128 some years back, I can say you lust for a nice instrument.

The scope I will never own but wish I did would be the Astro-Physics 10" MCT.

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All gone.....what else to do on a rainy day?

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Yes, what has your neighbor had to say about your, as yet, not fully assessed damages?

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Glad Berlebach is there to supply quality wood tripods, available with different top-plates for our needs.

My Report tripod landed at LAX yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, tracking does not yet show it out for delivery, as yet.

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Prior to today, I have always used front-mounted glass or film based white light solar filters on my scopes, and have a half-dozen of them around here for the various models they fit, each one having a slightly different level of quality, insofar as the detail revealed in the eyepiece. 

Late this afternoon, my first Herschel wedge-type filter was delivered, and I was able to use it for a few minutes before the Sun dropped below my horizon.

The difference in image quality between the two types was like night-and-day; the wedge much sharper. Glad I finally got one of these.

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Sun-finder built in:

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Comes in a padded case:

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4 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Just had a good session on Venus with the 12".

Happy to report the variable polariser I just purchased works a treat and Venus has acceptable brightness with it rather than being overwhelmingly bright. Despite some atmospheric CA, the gibbous disc was clean at x217 with a hint of shade across the centre. Very nice!

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What diameter is that polarizer, are they made eyepiece-size?

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I have a Lunt 60mm dedicated H-a scope, which provides magnificent views of solar activity. I can recommend their products.

Seen here from a recent post:

Good luck.

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5 hours ago, Sunshine said:

My memory is atrocious, last night I was relishing in a good session under the stars, had a great time splitting Theta Auriga but spent some time on it as I was unsure if there was a closer companion I was actually missing. As always I googled Theta Auriga split and found an entire thread on the subject right here on SGL! perfect! clicked on that only to find it was my own thread I started two years ago! On the exact same star, wondering the exact same thing. Anyway, I clicked on it and found I was very helpful in helping myself. I wish I had a friend like me!.

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Memory is the second thing to go.

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I wonder could some astronomer been blinded while observing in the precise direction of that satellite?

Another technological hazard to avoid.

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10 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

My latest astro purchase courtesy of @FLO ordered Thursday night and delivered by the lovely dpd driver today.

This will make my visual sessions much more satisfying if that was even possible. Seen rave reviews for the st80 and you hardly see any on the used market which tells you something. Just tested it out whilst aligning my 9x50 raci and Rigel qf. The views were so sharp and nice contrast in the daylight. I can't wait to get this one out for a visual session now. Here she is on my AZ5. 😍

Lee 

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Wait...a 50mm finder on an 80mm scope? 

I get it, the finder will be passed on to larger scopes down the line.

Smart.

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Today (Thursday) the Sun showed a great deal of sunspot activity, one group looking like a Pacific island chain.

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But, in Hydrogen-alpha, it was spectacular!

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This was my first look at the sun in quite some time. It is quite active, now. Temp at mid-day ~76°F.

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3 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

I had the opportunity last night to compare two comets currently in two opposite parts of the sky. Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF in the north in Auriga and comet C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS in the south in Tucana . They are both currently listed at 6.1 magnitude. I used my 10 inch dobsonian.

ZTF was 25° up and looked bright with a star like nucleus surrounded by a bright green coma and showed a faint tail.

PANSTARRS was 31° up and was faintly visible, glowing feebly as a diffuse spot. No other features seen. 

So the winner of the cometary shoot out: C/2022 E3 ZTF!

Joe

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Last night from my Bortle ~6 backyard ZTF was an easy catch, and in my 50ED I saw a bit of a tail for the first time since observing it.

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This isn't one of those "scopes only" threads, is it?

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15 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

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Clear skies forecast with improved seeing around 2100, so I had everything set up before dark. Went outside 1830 to have a look at the Green Comet before Moonrise. It was pretty much straight overhead, easy to find. Used 6.5x32s, then 16x mounted, then the scope. After a few minutes I then sat with a double star catalog to plan my next move, looked up to find the sky half filled with fast-moving thin cloud! Within 30 minutes the whole sky was a mess.

What a gyp!

 

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Forecast of clear skies again, tonight. Shall I try again?

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41 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

In a recent post I said I would just as easily sell my 102 if another refractor came along and stole my heart. As fine as the other refractor may be, I believe I would sorely regret selling this 102, if Sarah knew the things I've said behind her back. 🤐

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That is a nice instrument, no question.

I sold mine after getting the FC100DC. I sold-off my larger, heavier scopes some years back. No more triplets.

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