niallk

I bought a reflector (15") for deep space objects - aperture rules. Works great on planetary and lunar too - but gotta plan for cooling it down well I've a little 50mm solar refractor for dedicated H-alpha observing as well. They both bring great enjoyment. I wouldn't say no to a 120ED either if i saw a 2nd hand one at a good price I've never actually looked through a (non-solar) frac!

I carry stuff in 5 trips to the car: * Mirror box * UTA * Rocker box * Truss poles * 2 cases: EPs & Accessories I store the scope assembled indoors, and it takes < 10mins to be ready to drive ...my new favourite local dark spot spot is 20 mins away.

... don't prisms work by total internal reflection?!! Sorry, couldn't resist

For less money you could get a 12" and gain 2 orders of magnitude over a 120mm for DSOs Yeah I know you say you don't like a mirror, but if DSOs are a favourite a mirror is hard to beat.

I used to use an app in night mode red and the screen set to minimum dimness. Now i plan with charts & an app, write a list in black marker on white paper, and use an LED torch at the scope- which can be set very dim, plus i have Argo Navis with again a very dim alpha numeric display - it is thoughtfully designed. I find this arrangement much better for me for preserving night vision vs using an App at the scope, though I'm sure looking through some attenuating screen filter could help. Or keeping your observing eye closed - pirate patch ?

Fantastic!

Yes!! Me too. 45% more light tempting as a travel scope, which is what i got my 130p for. Defo would have bought this... the 130p is great bang for buck it has to be said - it's an elegant design. I like the extra spider vanes on the 150p. Ideally the focusser board would be a little stiffer too.

And i'll be trying again sans-filter!! Interesting comments too @Don Pensack thanks!

I think these are the regions I am detecting with the O-III: interested if anyone else sees them with/without a filter. Its a wonderful target. Apologies for the crude drawing on top of the beautiful Hubble image:

Yes an O-III is astounding on the Veil! I have found the O-III helpful to try to discern some structure at 340x, cutting light from the very bright central star. To me it looks like two ellipses at right angles to eachother, within the overall larger elongated shape. I've never seen the 'splash shaped' much larger outer shell except in images! Below is a very crude sketch on the phone. The outer ellipse drawn marks out a diffuse bright area filled with green to my eye at the EP. The two inner ones show edges I catch fleetingly - not obvious to me, and some nights are better than others. I don't recall being able to see them without the O-III, but maybe i just didn't get a good enough dark & transparent night! Will try again soon i hope

The Cat's Eye is a treat 8-9mm and 12-13mm should be good choices, and pushing the mag higher can be worth it too. I was going to ask if you have an O-III filter? With a 300mm mirror it could be a good call for planetary nebs.

Never heard of that phenomenon before - wow! Amazing photo ; thanks for posting

Definitely agree that details reveal themselves the more i look, and minute focus tweaks are critical to teasing out the finest details.

OMG missed it yesterday - just saw GONG now... praying for a gap in the clouds today!!!!!