F15Rules

23 minutes ago, Laurieast said:

On 6 February 2018, BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to MeteoGroup, after being required to put its weather services out to tender. Wikipedia

🙂

That's interesting..someone in my family is starting work at the Met Office in November!

He has a PHD in Quantum Physics and has been doing post doc theoretical research on Brown Dwarfs and other exotica for several years..I will have to urge him to push the night sky agenda up the pecking order!😁

Dave

You did well👍..

Really poor seeing here, everything low down ( moon, Jupiter, Saturn) wobbling like a jelly and the virtually full moon combining with increasing high cloud to wash out most of the stars.

So I went back in after 20 minutes..there will be other nights..😊

Dave

That's great, Stu!

Compared to Walton on T, I wonder how much "additional aperture" your new skies give you now? Eg, does a 5" scope in Crewkerne now perform more like a 6" in Walton?

I wonder..🤔

Dave

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Sounds intriguing.

I hope your handle wasn’t sticking out, Dave.

🤣

Only for the briefest time until I could edit it out!😂

Dave

Well, I did go out but not for long...a lot of hazy light cloud, a very bright almost full moon, and really poor seeing compared to a couple of nights last week..

Hope you had better conditions, Stu?

Dave

Got the FS128 out tonight to look at Jupiter and Saturn. A very bright almost full moon didn't help, and seeing was very poor tonight, all objects were shimmering like jelly!

Saturn was better than Jupiter, but little detail was seen compared to one evening last week.

Nice to see the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn (not in shot) lined up with the naked eye though🙂.

Dave

That looks to be a great location/horizon Stu..what's your local Bortle sky rating?

Hope it stays clear for you tonight..lovely here at the moment (Lincolnshire)..we've just come home from a family visit in Yorkshire a couple of hours ago, but if it's clear and the  almost full moon isn't too bright, I'll try to get out for a short look🤞

Dave

Nice story!👍

Welcome back and health and happiness to you☺️

Dave

4 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Great video by Ed Ting.

Was surprised to find I own 2 of his top 3 scopes.

That's interesting, Jeremy..

..had you forgotten they were yours? 

Dave

If I can only have ONE telescope?

I already have it. My Tak FS128. 

I've thought for years that my ideal "one size fits all" scope is a good 5" refractor.

This choice wouldn't suit everyone, but for my preferences the Tak is perfect. I really like:

High contrast, pin sharp images of whatever I look at..                                        

Observing double & multiple stars, and bright star clusters                                         

Excellent resolution on major planets and the Moon                                                     

The ability to "cut through" often sub-optimal sky conditions                                  

Relative portability and ease of mounting & handling     

When I bought the Tak 4.5 years ago, after many years of buying and selling various scopes, I knew I had  bought my personal "Forever Scope" - and I feel just the same now.

I may buy and sell other scopes in the future..but, barring unforeseen circumstances, I will never buy anything to replace it.

Dave

On 18/09/2021 at 22:25, dweller25 said:

@Sunshine Your vixen GP is a very good mount but a GPDX on a Berlebach tripod works well and looks great…..

 

+1. The GPDX is an excellent, solid and well engineered platform. Quoted capacity is similar to the Tak EM2/EM10 mounts, (c 10kg), but as with most Japanese companies they tend to be a bit conservative with their claims..my FS128 fully loaded with 50mm RACI finder, extension tube, 2" diagonal and large 2" eyepiece is at least 9-10kg, possibly more, and is very solid on my hardwood fixed height tripod..and I've used it on a GPDX as well, with no issues👍.

Dave

10 hours ago, Sunshine said:

I love my Vixen GP but that EM-2 with its stained tripod is beautiful, I will search far and wide for one.

I believe, but cannot be sure, that this Takahashi tripod is still available new.. it's the FC-L model..

https://www.robtics.nl/en/tripods/2691-takahashi-wooden-tripod-fc-l-for-em-2-em-10-mounts-twt20030.html

..and if you Google the model it does come up readily, especially in the States, but the above link is to a Dutch dealer (note that they state on the Google search "in stock", but I don't think they are the best at keeping their website up to date...). sadly, FLO don't appear to stock it in the UK.

They are NOT cheap tripods though, and, having used this one, I still think that an equivalent cost Berlebach would be a more solid platform for an FS128 or TSA120 sized scope. It would be perfect for a 4" though.

HTH,

Dave

Yes, but they do come up occasionally.

They are built to last and if like me you are visual only and like finding objects without goto, a wonderful mount for a scope like yours.

A few pics for your interest ☺️..

Dave

Hi Sunshine,

My FS128 came with an EM2 mount. It's single speed RA drive but has slo motion knobs for manual tracking on both axes too. I fitted a longer slo motion rod to my Dec axis to allow small corrections (which are all that are needed when the RA drive is on and the polar axis manually aligned with Polaris).

There is a 2x RA "speed" control button but frankly it's so slow it's much quicker to loosen the RA clutch knob and manually move the scope to where you want it.

The EM2 is not goto, but nevertheless is a lovely, smooth mount, quite similar, but IMHO a bit better than the Vixen GPDX (a very fine mount itself).

Mine also came with the original tripod, which would be fine on a 4" scope, but struggled with my 5" due to the longer tube and higher weight. So I sold mine and used  instead my trusty old fixed height hardwood tripod..on this the rig is rock solid.. I adjust height by using a variable height Geoptik Nadira seat.

HTH,

Dave

The Matrix trilogy is IMHO one of the best movie series ever..you should watch them..and Trinity...well, she was just a babe back in the day!😊

I find that Tak and Morpheus make an unbeatable combination!👍😂

Dave

8 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I might have missed it but why “Trinity”?

The Matrix....😎🤣

Having had 3 weeks of cloud in August followed by a busy early Sept domestically and then 5 days away in a hotel surrounded by lights (!), I was pleasantly surprised when we got home late yesterday afternoon to see that blue skies had broken out - and the forecast was for some clear spells last night.

So I decanted "Trinity", my FS128 Tak, from her Oklop holdall and installed her back on the Tak EM2 mount.

I decided to have a spin with 1.25" only EPs, including:

Vixen LVs 5, 10, 20mm

Vixen LV zoom 8-24mm and Carton Zoom 7-21mm

Morpheus 9mm (dual barrel 1.25"/2" fit)

Baader 2.25x Hyperion zoom

Session ran from 10.20pm til 11.55pm. Conditions were good seeing, fair transparency (slight haze plus waxing 2/3 moon meant no Milky Way was visible). Humidity was very high, as it has been in our area for weeks. This meant that a heavy dew began to form very soon after I started observing, but although my RACI finder did steam up, the main scope objective stayed clear.

I observed the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Iota Cassiopeiae, the Triple system recently discussed on John's thread "What Refractors do best".

The Moon. I'd been prompted to check out "The Moon Maiden, a light-shadow phenomenon in Sinus Iridum", which was going to be visible last night, see below (with full acknowledgement to Stephan/Nyctimene)..

The Moon Maiden, a light-shadow phenomenon in Sinus Iridum, will be visible again this evening:

I was intrigued by this and found it quite readily, handily placed on the terminator. Here's a (rather poor) shot I took on my Android phone..if you expand the view you should be able to make out the outline of the Maiden's hair, face and neck along the bottom centre of the photo..an interesting diversion/phenomenon.

Next up was Jupiter. I always find Juoe very sensitive to seeing conditions, and rarely can I get much over 130x from my observing site without the image getting very soft.

Last night was better, and I saw 3 main moons strung out to the south east of the planet (I assume the 4th was behind Jupiter itself?)

The disk at 148x (Carton zoom at 7mm) was nicely defined, with 5/6 belts, and some real colour variances from creamy white to pinkish to mid brown.

I then moved to Saturn, always a beautiful sight and better able to take more magnification in most conditions. This time was no exception, and although much fainter to the naked eye than Jupiter, it presented a very sharp image with the Cassini Division very obvious on each side of the rings, and a single band evident on the planetary disk. Titan completed a lovely vista which was framed beautifully in the Morpheus 9mm/2.25x Barlow combination at 260x, even though the planet wasn't very high up. 

Finally, to Iota Cassiopeiae, a new to me triple (my thanks to John for his recent thread "What Refractors do best" on this forum a few days back). This thread prompted me to look up this interesting triple system, and it is surely everything that John enthused about. Suffice to say that I got a wonderful view at 260x of this showpiece system in good seeing conditions, with just a single, quite steady diffraction ring around the primary, and the two companion stars very sharp points of light.

It's sessions like this that rekindle enthusiasm after long periods of inactivity, and I now consider my batteries well and truly recharged!

Thanks for reading 😊.

Dave

8 hours ago, JeremyS said:

I suspect what you see depends on how many beers you’ve had….

You are a model of sobriety, John.

😊

Well, I was as sober as a judge, but it took me a little while to get a handle on it!🥴😁

Dave

1 hour ago, Stu said:

That’s about right! I shall be content with the very nice toys I have!

Well, Stu, let's face it, having a lovely 130mm Russian apo is no Lzos...

Dave

Thanks Jeremy,

It was lovely to get outside with a clear sky again. Getting quite excited about the forthcoming winter season..I just hope we get some better skies than last winter..

Dave

Well, it took a couple of weeks to get the chance, but I finally got out last night with Iota Cassiopeiae on a short list to view.

I'll report on the session separately as this is John's Iota thread..

Iota was the final object I viewed, and wow, talk about saving the best til last! Seeing was pretty good last night, although at the time of viewing Iota, there was a heavy dew forming and transparency wasn't the best.

You can see the dew on the scopes' tube, but fortunately the objective stayed clear.. (the scope was pointing at Iota in the shot).

I found the system very easily (thank goodness for RACI finders!) and used the following eyepieces over the next half hour:

Vixen LV 5mm, Vixen LV 10mm, Carton zoom 7-21x, Vixen LV 8-24 zoom, Morpheus 9mm. I also used a Baader Hyperion zoom 2.25X with some of the above.

I found that the best image was with the Morpheus 9mm combined with the 2.25x zoom. The image I saw was very like John's one above, but this was at 260x.. a single faint and rather steady diffraction ring was around the primary, with both the closer and farthest companions being tiny but well defined points. Just beautiful!

I did get up to 468x ( Vixen 5mm with Baader 2.25x), and the system was quite viewable: however, the "less is more" mantra really was true last night, and 260x gave a wonderful view.

Thanks again John for your original report ☺️!

Dave

I did actually show the image to my wife John..when I enthusiastically asked her ( fresh in from outdoors) if she could see it, there came the slightly withering reply.."hmm, I suppose so, at a stretch - and with some imagination"! 🥴😲😊

Dave

Thanks for the heads up, Stephan.

I've never heard of this phenomenon before, but I did see it this evening quite clearly.

I took a not great shot of it with my Android phone..it's the feature at the bottom centre of the shot..I was using my Tak FS128, but the Orientation was skewed a bit as I was looking into the diagonal from the side, due to the low elevation of the moon, just over our house roof..the hair, head and face seemed very distinct in the actual visual view🙂..

Dave

Got Trinity the Tak (FS128) out tonight after weeks of inactivity..

A very heavy dew tonight, (you can see the condensation on the scope tube) although the big dewshield did it's job and the objective stayed clear..

Dave

Typically, I'm not at home and it's very clear tonight..went for a meal, came out afterwards to see a glorious sky, Jupe and Saturn very bright and lots of stars, despite the waxing 🌙..

Meanwhile my FS128, "Trinity", is snugly cocooned in her new Oklop padded bag, away from any prying photons!😱🥴

Dave