Roy Challen

Err, you will be getting some proper tube rings for this won't you?😀

Yeah, great job, looks fantastic. I'm sure the views will be as good too.

Love the combination of old and modern on the Clarkson, and the yellow label on the Prinz😄

Stunning!

Amazing detail.

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

There is no right or wrong answer for eyepiece selection.  Whatever works for you is perfect.

Exactly, but beginners ask their questions and we give our answers.

Top to bottom: more settings, broken heart, crazy frog, fried egg🤪

Stunning image, and thanks for the explanation.

Great images Ags.

Nothing is 'future proof'.😊

Even us visual only observers are chopping and changing all the time as 'funds' become available.

I would decide on what it is that you want to image, if that's really what you want to do, and decide on the scope needed to do that. Then buy a mount capable of doing that, then, and only then, buy a scope that'll fit on the mount in the best way possible.

Check out other people's images, those you'd be inspired by and see what they use.

Oh, you lost me at 'not visual'.

I couldn't recommend an AP kit, but visual, I can do that!

If it were my 5k, it'd be going on solar HA. Without a doubt.

But whatever you spend it on: happy birthday!

Oops! Just noticed I wrote Baader 30mm instead of 32mm. Not that it really matters...

27 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

A session of stellar proportions! Now if only I could have such luck with the weather.

To be fair, in the SE of England, we've had a reasonable run of good weather recently. Today's session was number 32 this year.

I rarely bother posting my observing reports, they are usually just a factual account of what I saw in the order I them in. Nothing creative.

But, today, the sun gave a display that can only be described as awesome. An overused adjective, for sure, but in this case, for me at least, entirely correct. Here's a copy n paste of my report.

Another really good session. There is a large AR on the approaching limb. As I began my session, a large prom by the upper spot began to fade, and was gone within 10 minutes. This region looks like it’ll be impressive over the next week.

Appendix

An alert from SGL member @Highburymark got me back outside to try to see the huge prom he had sketched. By the time I set up, it had gone. I watched for a few minutes and saw a new prom start to erupt from in between the two large sunspots of the approaching AR. Extending quite some way out from the limb, it was quite something to watch over the course of about 9-10 minutes.

There was a balloon transit at 15:24, heart-shaped. I bet it said ‘I love you’ on it!

At 15:52, I noticed the base of a small prom near the upper of the two sunspots get brighter. It got much brighter over the course of the next minute or so, appearing white. Plasma started extending out from the base, further and further, looking hook-shaped. I would estimate that it extended at least three times the width of the nearby sunspot, maybe more. The top two-thirds began to detach from the base at about 16:00. It was completely detached, and the base had faded by 16:08. 

I took a few smartphone pictures while it was happening, but they do not do this event justice. I was in complete awe of what I was witnessing. I have seen real-time change on the sun before, but nowhere near this scale. 

Astronomy has given me many ‘wow’ moments over the last 19 years, but this tops the lot.

Top is completely detached

Can you tell I'm not an imager?😂

5 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Images will be interesting Vin. That huge prom has pretty much disappeared in half an hour

Yeah, I came back out to see that, but it had already gone. No worries, the sun is firing away now!

The base was white when it started, flare?

Top part is now detaching.

Enormous prom erupting NOW

23 minutes ago, Ags said:

It felt like standing on the rim of a volcano, looking down into the lava lake. There is one particularly fiery group just on the eastern limb of the Sun.

 

 

Looking into a lava lake is probably almost as good as looking at the sun in ha! Those proms on the approaching limb were cracking a short while ago, weren't they?

Re; floaters. Stopping down makes them worse, so I don't tend to go below 18mm with eyepieces.

Yep, looking good right now, prom appeared and disappeared within 20mins. Two large spots at present.

11 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

don’t know if all airlines are the same, but the days of ‘bargain’ air travel seem to be well and truly over. 

No, airlines are not all the same. Certainly for long haul, which I do all the time, the minimum seems to be 23kg checked in, 8kg hand luggage, plus a 'personal' bag of 5kg ie. a handbag. Trust me you can fit a lot in a handbag!😂.

My favourite airline of the last 10 years was Ukrainian, but Turkish Airlines seem even better. Of course, this is destination dependent.

Seeing was excellent here earlier, although cloudy now

Great report of two complementary telescopes.

Are you sure about the date though?😋

46 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Not very familiar with alt-az mounts, apart from my little porta, but I'm wondering if there's any info out there on balancing the scope in azimuth with weights. I'm aware that the azimuth balance does not have to be as critical and exact as when balancing a scope in RA with an equatorial mount but I'm trying to get it spot on so as not to put any extra stress on the motors. I've just received an APZ base for my Vixen AP mount and have been playing around with it today. With the FC100DC on board I've got the balance point in altitude when the scope is at 45 degrees but finding the balance in azimuth is not that straight forward. If I weigh the ota and place the same weight at the same distance down the counterweight shaft that the scope is from the centre of the azimuth axis should do it, I think. What are folk's thoughts on this? or am I just being over finicky? If it was purely manual it wouldn't really matter but as I intend using it with the motors I just wanted to do the correct thing.

 

I agree, nice set up. I think the way you're balancing is fine, that's what I do with my Mini AZ and Skymax 90.

I have a vixen polaris which I balance differently. I put that in EQ mode and balance it as normal. Then just undo the clamp for EQ and put it in AZ.

Couldn't agree more. with @catburglarI haven't tried the eye-guard extender, haven't really needed to, but perhaps I will just to see the difference.

I've also not used the 10mm or 6mm BCOs in the Daystar, seeing or exit pupil definitely won't allow it, IMO, so I haven't experienced vignetting with them. And, yes, I use them all the time in my long achros with no vignetting whatsoever.