laudropb

Some of my collection

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

In this weather I tend to observe in short sessions up to one hour max. I then go and have a nice cold beer and cool down before venturing out again. 

27 C here today which is hot for this part of the world.

Hi Dave. Another great video. When I saw this prom today I was sure it would lift off. But it’s still there 2 hours later.

I have had this with a couple of Skywatcher mounts. I cleaned off the copious amounts of grease on the gears and replaced it with a small amount of Aeroshell 33 and it has never occurred again.

The fine weather continues. I have managed 7 days in a row solar observing. Just as well because the night sky here is still blue at midnight.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. Great video.

Great captures Dave.

It doesn’t look like a meteorite to me, but it is difficult to tell from your photos. If this was a recent fall I would expect to see fusion crust. Also the orangish colour  looks like weathering over a prolonged period. Have you tried to see if it is attracted to a magnet ?

Sorry to hear that Michael. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks John, was it the zoom or the XL10.5mm that you bought from me?..or both?😅

I don't think you can go wrong with most Pentax astro products..they just deliver, without fuss, and consistently high quality images..👍

Dave

It was the zoom. I think I might have bought an XL 7 from you as well.

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Pentax Japan SMC zoom 8-24mm🤩👍

Saw this for sale in mint condition , with all original packaging and just had to have it! It was bought new in 2021 and has been little used by the original owner.

I've owned 2 of these in the past, one of them I bought new from FLO in a sale in 2016.  Sadly I had to reluctantly sell both of them, but always wanted another as they are just so good. The build quality is superb, (best I have ever seen,) the weight, at 550g is great as it will mean I can swap between my Maxbright II binoviewers and my cyclops eps (which are all large) with minimal balance adjustments on my FS128.

With the Baader Zoom 2.25x barlow I can go from 24mm right up to 3.55mm focal lengths, giving me from 43x minimum up to 292x maximum in the FS128 - perfect for high power doubles splitting and Lunar/ Planetary viewing.

The fov at the 24mm setting is only c40 degrees, but pin sharp. I already have  superb Axiom LX 23mm and 31mm UWAs at c 84 degrees for low powers anyway, and will use this zoom mainly for medium (c16m) to high powers.

I've sold my recently acquired 7mm XW as it was too close to the 8mm max of the zoom, but have kept my wonderful XL 65 deg 10.5mm.

My equally sharp BGO 18mm (which is a narrower fov but just superb when barlowed to 8mm) is now at risk, being the same 8mm fl when barlowed as the new zoom at its highest setting of 8mm and 60deg fov. I'll do some comparisons before deciding whether to keep the BGO or let it go (they are SO hard to find nowadays!).

So here's my new cyclops viewing lineup..

See how the "big boys" protect the little BGO..🫠😂

Left to right..

Pentax Zoom, Pentax XL10.5, BGO 18mm, Decloaked Celestron Axiom LX 23mm, and Decloaked Axiom 31mm.

Am well chuffed!😊

Dave

Hi Dave. I still have the one I bought from you a few years back. I use it all the time and it really is a great eyepiece.

Hi checked mine after reading your post. My violet filter also is a deep blue. It’s an Astronomik make so was not sure if a direct comparison was safe.

Lots of good comments already and I would only add that if you can find a dark spot and can stay out of direct light sources you will be amazed by the difference that dark adaptation can make. I live under Bortle 5/6 skies but there are a few dark corners in my garden where I can avoid street lights neighbours lights etc. It makes a great difference to not only my naked eye views of the sky helping to star hop more easily but also my telescopic views.

Left my SW ED72 out after a solar session. Had a quick look at the moon but want to see if I can get the SN in M101 with this scope when it gets darker. I have managed to get it with my DOB and my ED 120 so here’s hoping.

You also have to consider how much energy has been imparted to them to allow them to escape the Sun’s gravity and also the high speeds they are travelling at. I think we both agree that they are wonderful spectacles to watch and one of the many joys of solar observation 

I suppose you have to remember most of these proms and detached flares are actually larger than the Earth and it will take time for them to dissipate.

I have used the Atas when observing the moon over the last few nights. It is certainly the best I have ever used. I still use my other atlases for references when I am writing up my observations to gather more details of what I have seen. I can  happily recommend this book to all lunar observers.

Welcome back.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

Another great set of images Dave . I have just compared them to sketches I made this morning and I must be getting better because they match up quite well lol.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

Set up for my first solar session in almost a year. Well worth the effort. Lots of activity to sketch and watch throughout the day