Roy Challen

I've been a member here for 10 years today! Happy SGL anniversary to me😄

3 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

Thank you @Stu @John and @IB20 for the answers, and sorry @Roy Challen for derailing the thread about your great sketch!!!

No apology needed! 😉 

6 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

Did you have the same passion with white light observing? I'm loving white light but I don't see it becoming my favorite type of observing, and I wonder if an Ha telescope is a completely different "game"...

I have been observing in white light for many years, on and off. It is a completely different game, as generally, features in WL are largely static over an observing session, whereas in Ha, things can change very quickly.

I do have a hankering for some Baader solar film or a Herschel wedge, to use with my FS60, but I don't want to buy a wedge if it doesn't come to focus due to the very short focuser travel with the Tak.

The advantage of WL with the Tak over Ha with the Daystar is that higher mags are possible. I find that it's very rare that the Daystar can go over around x70 or so.

11 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

That's really great! Makes me wanna get an Ha telescope 🫠

Since I got the Daystar, it became my most used telescope by far. Over three years in, it still gives wow moments 😀

Late morning, average seeing. Daystar Solarscout, Baader 32mm plossl. 

I've switched recently to using just graphite pencils rather than pastel colours. Easier to draw finer details. 

Loads going on today!

2 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

This is great! And it shows an area of the hobby that I’m interested but haven’t yet experienced. 

Having seen the results you get with a phone, I'm sure you'll obtain better results than me. Go for it!

1 hour ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Clearly, the flare is a parting shot from AR3664.

Not necessarily! Hopefully it will continue as it comes back round😀

Great set of pics 👌 

1 minute ago, Earl said:

Lottery tickets !!!

Doesn't count unless it lands on you! 😄

Not sure if this should be here, or in the solar imaging section, but it was taken on my very basic phone, through my Daystar Solarscout.

Heavily edited on phone to enhance detail as much as possible. Everyone knows that live views are substantially better.

X class flare observers, that is! What were you thinking?😜

Caught the X1.54 around 12:45pm

A happy bunny here!😄

Fantastic, thanks for posting.

Just now, Nik271 said:

Yes another X flare right now 8:14am, even stronger!

Sadly , I'm at work now, no Ha scope, but I have some small bins to do projection with.

10 hours ago, Nik271 said:

was cracking open and you can see the brightness inside the Sun

Love this description 😀

Yes, looked fantastic, lots of activity in 3664, nice detached proms, and the big prom on the receding limb. Great stuff!

Nice one! Weird isn't it? Most of us dislike artificial objects interfering with our views of the sky, yet I do like a plane transit 😄, I also saw one yesterday. Maybe it was the same one?

An interesting read, thanks Michael. Definitely agree with it being an absolute bargain. Is there any other eyepiece that does so much, for so little? Probably not.

I got a brief look in this morning, lots of sunspots visible, a couple of small proms, but didn't see any flaring.

Top of my list would be a really, really bright X-class solar flare, I guess that's just a matter of time. Best so far: middling M-class. Will this year be the year?

A really, really bright comet Hale-Bopp style, would be next, followed by a really, really bright supernova - Betelgeuse, I'm looking at you!

Lunar occultation of Jupiter or Saturn, or if it is even possible, a Jupiterian occultation of Saturn?

Or a Shoemaker Levy 9 size event, preferably on Jupiter!

Actually, let's combine No2 and No6! Now that would be something!

On 11/04/2024 at 15:21, josefk said:

how about solar transits of Venus and Mercury? I've never seen one and won't be able to see a transit of Venus now in my lifetime. Mercury transits next in 2032.

 

I feel for you. I took the day off for the 2004 Venus transit,  watched the whole thing, got loads of photos. That is a career highlight for me, not the only one but still right at the top.

I've never used Hyperions, but the fine tuning rings sound like a great idea. Why don't other manufacturers use them? Patents?

What a fabulous instrument! I agree with a plossl and zoom being the only necessary eyepieces, that's all I bother with in my very similar, but not quite as beautiful, achro.

I imagine once you've collimated it, Izar will be stunning. My scope shows it extremely well at x208.

17 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

I was not referring to the threads on the back of the scope.  I was referring to the "visual back", the piece that threads onto the scope, into which the diagonal inserts.

On its outer end are 10mm of thread that do nothing other than to force the inserted diagonal to be 10mm farther from the back of the scope.

The thumbscrew that holds the diagonal is closer to the scope, in the solid, un-threaded, portion of the visual back.

Removing the 10mm of threaded section on the visual back, which was intended to be used with some obscure camera adapter,  allows the diagonal to move in toward the scope,

which shortens the focal length of the scope and yields a wider true field with every eyepiece.

The Baader adapter to which you refer, I believe, threads directly to the scope and replaces the visual back that comes with the scope.

The Baader adapter I had fits between the visual back and diagonal - see image below. The scope in the image is a 90mm but I believe the visual back is the same for the 127mm as well. I might be wrong on that though.

I have no experience with Lunt scopes, I have a Daystar Solarscout. By far my favourite eyepiece in this is the Baader 32mm plossl, but I also liked the Vixen 30mm NPL - it just has more reflections than the Baader. I've also used a Televue 25mm plossl (didn't get on with it), Meade 26mm Series 4k plossl ( not that great but useable), Baader 18mm BCO  (good in good seeing), and an ES 16mm 68° (good in good seeing).

Hope that helps 

On 24/03/2024 at 18:36, Don Pensack said:

 

The visual back that holds the diagonal has 10mm of useless thread on its outer end. 

I agree with everything in your post except this. Baader sell an inexpensive compression ring adapter that screws directly on to this thread, making a much nicer way of holding the diagonal. Looks nicer too!