Roy Challen

Car-sized? Not really worthy of the word asteroid, is it?

I've answered no, but my normally annual holiday is to Kazakhstan to see the in-laws, also coincides with some of the planets darkest skies, I don't need to have the decision influenced. What am I talking about? Mrs.C decides when and where we go on holiday anyway😂

I am not an imager at all, so my question might be somewhat irrelevant, but what advantage would any of those refractors offer over the 150PDS, as from what I've read on this thread, it is an f/5 scope with a focuser that is suitable for DSLR imaging. Just an interested non imager, with no advice to give.

If that's true, I want one! Can you imagine turning up to inspect it? Mirrors ok, check, eyepieces present check, rifling good, check. Back to the OP though, great job! The colour looks great - I might think about doing the same to my 100RS.

Ah, beaten to it! As I am an Aston Martin fan (used to work on them as a mechanic), I was going to say the WO Ferrari edition is the least desirable scope, but an Aston scope would fall apart just as quickly😀

I tend to have quick binocular sessions, very early in the morning, as I'm out of bed by 4am for work anyway, getting up at 3am isn't too much of a struggle. But, as John and Paul have said, it's just a hobby and if I get one or two good nights per year, then I'm happy - I just try to make sure they're good nights.

Looks like you caught an early Perseid (maybe) in the Milky Way image.

For the comet, I agree with Dave - any will show it well. For general use, do you mean general astro use, or daytime use as well? I have Pentax 12x50 which are very capable astronomy binoculars, even if the field of view is on the slightly narrow side. The comet easily fits in this field. I also have some Helios 8x20, which has a much wider fov, but is somewhat dimmer. On bright targets (such as Neowise) this doesn't matter. Not much use for galaxy spotting though. For day use, I never regret bringing the Pentax out, but because they're a lot bigger and heavier, I don't often do that. The Helios, on the other hand, fit into almost any pocket, and are good enough for the job.

😀, Last night; Mrs C says: "There's no room left in the freezer". Me: "Hand me those tubs of ice cream".

Beautiful work indeed, I particularly like what you replaced the wood with.

I've been following this thread with interest, bad luck about the lens, Dave. If want to keep the 0.965 setup, I have 3 eyepieces you can have. They came with my Prinz 660, but I don't use them. Either way, I hope you carry on with this old scope.

The Independent called it "blazing".

That is a stunning image. Aside from the wonderful detail in the comet's tail, and all the stars when zoomed in, I love the standing stones and hills in the background. Thanks for posting.

Fantastic sketches, Mike, and just as impressive as all the images!

I also went out this morning, with Mrs.C. We went to the same place I went on Tuesday, and saw it straight away with eyes only, and through the bins it was spectacular. Mrs.C has never seen a comet before, so this was extra special for her. After looking at the comet for half an hour, we had a quick tour of the planets - Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter with three of it's main moons also visible. As a bonus, on our walk home, we also saw the NLCs that others have mentioned. What a great early morning out! When we returned, I quickly went up to the north bedroom and looked out the window, the comet was still easily visible in the lightening sky, well above the houses.

Don't forget the Maks! And the Mak-Newts!

I got up at 2am, saw the clouds, and thought " this is probably a waste of time". I went to my chosen observing site - a multistorey carpark - only to find it shut. I decided to walk to a nearby park that has a decent north view in the hope that the trees at the northern end weren't tall enough to obscure my view. I stood patiently, and the clouds kept on coming. There was a narrow, clear band of sky developing just where I needed it, so kept scanning along with my binoculars. At about 3:05am, I got my reward. One second it wasn't there, then, it was! A beautiful sight in 12x50s, easily the best comet for me since Hale-Bopp, and absolutely worth getting up for! This is the first actual astronomy I have done for at least a year, and confirms to me that I do still love doing it! I took a few snaps with the phone through the bins, then walked home very happy indeed. The image shows the band I mention, it's not the horizon, so I suppose it's a couple of degrees wide at best. The timing couldn't have been better, lucky me.

You should be able to use a standard vixen style dovetail - I have a TAL100RS that uses the Tal rings with a vixen dovetail without any problems. Of course, this depends on whether or not the screws on your tube rings are long enough to go through the holes in the dovetail and still be able to attach those knurled nuts on the other side. You can just about make them out in this old pic.

Thanks for that Jeremy, brings up memories of my trip there in 2018. The Jantar Mantar complex was one of the only clean places I went to in India, so was memorable for that alone. Didn't do any observing at all, far too much air and light pollution.

The slo-mo controls really are nice, aren't they? Happen to fit perfectly on my Tak mount too.

Looks very nice indeed. I particularly like the handle's 'weaver' style rail. Common on air guns (and real guns, no doubt), always thought they'd be a good idea on telescopes.

Telescope>trouser pocket>washing machine. There you go! It's in the washing machine😀

In the dog?

I can see why some people may want the box, perhaps an item 'feels' newer with it rather than without. I'm not at all bothered as long as the condition is good. The best EPs I've ever used were Zeiss CZJs, none of them had boxes, and IIRC I sold them on without boxes.

That is quite a 'collection'.