Mr Magoo

Thank you Stu, it was prominences and filaments I was hoping to see, but I'll stop looking for them now! AR 3664 is a sight to behold in white light. Reading up on the subject yesterday it's apparent that this sunspot is a once in many decades event. I've been looking at a decent Herschel Wedge for some time, it's now back on the shopping list, as is a Solarscope solar filter. I'm back out observing shortly, another fine day.

Hmm, seems refractors are the order of the day. I've been thinking about withdrawing my Tak DZ from the classifieds. Would you say the Solarscope filters are superior to Baader Solar film? Is finer detail observable?

Thanks for the heads-up. I was too late for the prom, but spent a pleasurable 2.5 hours sitting on a park bench in the sunshine, in a nice little park one street away, with my M500 Mak and a homemade ND sun filter. 3664 is really impressive. Mark, what scope and eyepiece did you use?

Thanks for the heads up Paul. That is an amazing image from a Seestar S50 (which I know nothing about). I just Googled the scope, advances in amateur observing and imaging equipment forge ahead in leaps and bounds. I saw a similar scope on a recent night out with my local astronomy club. A gentleman came along, pulled a similar if not the same type of scope out of his backpack. He set it up in minutes next right to a group multi wired imagers. He was finished within a couple of hours, folded thee scope up and popped it back in the backpack. The ultimate convenient grab and go, with impressive results.

Very interesting information about red dwarfs. I will be scouring the Web for more detail, this is the kind of stuff that fires up my imagination. Great report, thank you.

Very impressive, to have your own observatory is every astronomers dream, well done

I purchased the Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50 in 2015. Excellent binoculars. After eight years the Fujinons re in the same condition as the day I received them. I considered the rubber coated version, but dismissed it as unnecessary for land based observing (more suited to marine use, wet binoculars, extra grip). The textured finish is the way to go for astronomy purposes. You won't experience rubber rot with Fujinon binoculars, they are manufactured with top quality materials. I also own Fujinon 10x42 HC binoculars for nature and spotting astro observing targets. The FMT 10x50's are quite heavy at 1.5kg. I use them both handheld and with a tripod (with a Fujinon tripod adaptor and joystick head). Handheld viewing can only be for short spells, after a while the weight makes holding them steady quite difficult. The stars start dancing around. On a tripod the Fujinons excel. Nebula like M42 is well defined. Large open clusters fit very nicely in the field of view. The 10x50's were my first observing purchase, for a year I used them to learn the constellations. The Fujinon FMT 7x50's will also be an excellent choice. Same quality, lighter in weight, and brighter in view. I've not used the 7x50's, but I've carried out the same research you are no doubt undertaking.

I spent three weeks hiking in La Palma last year. It is a very steep island, everywhere, even short walks can be a challenge. I stayed in Garafia in the north of the island, which is mainly rural with rugged terrain. My desire to go to La Palma stemmed from the many reports and videos about the amazing night skies. I'm a visual observer, no astrophotography. I took good 10x42 binoculars for the night sky and nature, plus a mirrorless camera and one do-it-all zoom lens. It was very tempting to take a small scope, but not at all practical. Personally, I didn't want to be weighed down with astro gear while travelling. For first few nights I was out into the early hours scanning the Milky Way, and it was amazing, dark skies, thousands of stars blazing away in every direction. But I wanted the gear I had at home to do the night sky justice. 10x50 1.5kg Fujinon astro bins, 7 inch Mak, a large dob, 100mm Tak, filters for nebula. I knew what was up there but didn't have the tools. It was somewhat frustrating. My visual astronomy took a backseat. I decided to focus on enjoying the rugged terrain, pine forests, people, places, and a well earned sleep at night after hiking all day. As you plan to visit the telescopes at Roque de los Muchachos, take sunscreen and a wide brim hat with a chin strap. There are strict light pollution rules in force around the observatories and approach, you will need to check for night time visits by car. Two visits in a week would dominate your 1 week holiday I feel. If you plan to hike the volcano route trail be advised it is totally exposed, sun and wind. If you are not accustomed to mountain trekking, don't try it. I did most of my trekking in the treeline. For hire gear, I would check for places in Santa Cruz.

I find the Moon endlessly fascinating. Our rather large neighbour has a wealth of information available, images, history, observing targets. So many interesting aspects. I bought myself Luna Cognita by Garfinkle earlier this year. Though I have only managed to dip into it now and again, it's a great reference set, and encourages me to learn more. I will be plotting out all the Apollo landing sites and visiting them fairly soon, this thread is another reminder.

There is hope for us yet!

I observed my best 2023 Perseid fireball last Wednesday around 11pm. I'm out observing all night tonight until dawn tomorrow, hope to see some stragglers. My observing dark site is miles from home so camera recording is not on the cards. Have to look into portable recording equipment, some of the meteor clips above are outstanding,

I will try tomorrow evening or Wednesday. Here in the South the forecast is clear sky and low winds for a few nights. With a new Moon conditions for observing look to be very good.

30mm UFF 24mm Panoptic 17.5mm Morpheus 13mm Ethos 8mm Ethos

Agreed. I'm looking for inspiration in my observing. On a recent overnight excursion to observe some Perseid meteors, I spent most of the night asleep! I Didn't even unpack my scope. Lack of observation planning came into it, there was no list of interesting, or challenging targets. I did see one impressive fireball streak across the sky for some distance, that alone reminds why I do this. Out of this world!

Well done, and thanks for the heads up. In between clouds over the next few days comet C/2023 E1 makes a tantalising target. It's been quite a while since I've had my Fujinon 10x50's out, which is a shame as they are excellent.