Roy Challen

And as if by magic, one appears in the classifieds.

Gratuitous shot of two of my mounts. Up front is my Vixen Polaris (shameless plug - it's for sale). Behind is my Takahashi 90S, supporting my f/16 Skylight. Although it doesn't look it, the counterweight for the Tak weighs almost as much as the entire Polaris setup.

Amazing! The detail and contrast are superb, is this the effect that double stacking has? The prom in No.7...wow!

My f/16, where it belongs.

Because it's sunny.

The images are great, but the animations are simply stunning, especially the third one!

Agree re: the filaments, they look fantastic.

1 hour ago, Jeff5567 said:

 the AZ GTI is way easier to set up, & tracks perfectly 

Could a Solarquest mount get any easier? You just turn it on...and that's it! Nice image though, whichever mount.

You can see the difference just from you picture. What paint is that? Google lens brings up sake😂

Well, this is a very subjective thread, I've sold many eyepieces that some would consider keepers. Including me. No doubt, you've done the same. I sold a half set of CZJ orthos, best eps I've ever looked through. If I ever get to that stage again... somebody stop me!

As it stands right now, I'll be keeping all my Baader BCOs esp the 32mm plossl. And my Meade RGO.

So. I'd most likely sell my Vixen 30mm Plossl, or.... possibly my 7-21zoom.

But I still need them for general observing. So, no, not getting rid of any eyepieces at the mo!

5 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Thanks Alan and Roy. 

I'm sure you'll be fine, but as an avid solar fan, it'd be good to hear what you have to say on the subject. 

I would love to be in the position to entertain/educate others about our nearest star, or even just structural engineering-my field of expertise.

Good luck, Nigella! Is it online, or being recorded so we can access it later?

Great image Vin, what time was it captured? It looks more like what I saw earlier that morning.

Quite low down from the UK but looking forward to it anyway.

Aargh! Went shopping, patchy cloud here at the mo.

Was it this? That area looked good this morning but the seeing wasn't great.

5 minutes ago, Franklin said:

@900SL was meaning the Vixen Advanced Polaris mount Roy.

Ah, fair enough😀, I'm obviously not advanced!

Ah! I see this thread and think 'easy answer' , then see I already posted on this thread.

See previous post. Answer is still the same.

1 hour ago, 900SL said:

Yes it's from the Vixen Polaris 🤪

45 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Yes, I've got a 1kg weight, it came with my AP mount.

 

Really? I have a Polaris, those weights don't look like mine.

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

My most used scope is my FC100DZ and prior to that my FC100DC. Effortless to set up and awesome optic's, which make the FC100 my favourite scope. That being said however, I enjoy both my Genesis SDF for its jaw dropping wide fields, and my 150mm Edmund achromat for its resolution, but neither can match the quality of the FC.

 Edit:  I almost forgot about my recently acquired 60mm Carton Comet seeker. With a binoviewer it too makes an impressive lunar scope believe it or not, and its about as grab and go as grab and go gets. It's a lovely scope for rekindling the joy I first felt from 40+ years ago.

I do believe it Mike! My Skylight is my go to lunar scope, at f/16+

Looks like aperture is king, but portability is still better!

My Daystar Solar Scout, by far my most used scope (25 out of 38 sessions this year so far). Why? It's on a Solarquest mount and carbon tripod, so the whole lot weighs less than 5kg, and I can be observing the sun in Ha almost straight away. The sun, being easily the most dynamic object that we can see as amateurs, deserves this attention imo.

Sounds amazing! I recall only one night in 18 years of observing that was like that. It was only last year too. I took my scope to the max mag available (6mm ep and 2.25x barlow  = about x375) and still the image was sharp.  The scope was my Tal 100.

Superb!

Had it been shown on GONG, it would have extended outside the field of view.

Well, it was all over very quickly, but another large prom near the south was evolving very rapidly.

Catch it while it lasts! 8:48am