mikeDnight

I find the images interesting because they show what appear to be a similar grouping of stars. The three bright stars to the top right in your images seem to perhapse be the three stars to the top right in my sketch. My star placing isn't totally accurate as I was in almost complete darkness and placed the stars as much by feel as by vision. I didn't feel I could turn a red light on as I'd have lost the dark adaption. The field of view for the sketch represents 1.7° with a magnification of 30X. Your image does show the comet speeding across the field and being able to backtrack its path across the star field would be interesting. After I looked out from under my blackout hood, the sky had gone milky with thin cloud, so it wasn't the best night to use a 4" to hunt a comet.

Thanks for the images Dave. I should have left my drive running for an hour to see if i could detect any change in position. Hopefully someone might have a wider field view then I could trace its path backwards by 4 to 5 hours. The strange thing is that there's nothing in that area in my scopes range. The stare positions were placed in the dark, so not entirely accurate.

That's gorgeous Paul. Saw it through the trees but not through the scope.

You may be able to remove the entire cell from the tube assembly without removing the lens itself from the cell. Have you any images of the lens and cell assembly that may help in offering advice. Also, if you do remove the cell from the tube, it would be best to mark the tube and cell with a marker pen // so that when you screw the cell back on , the marks line up again. That way you'll know the optics should be aligned as they were before you began. I would steer clear of removing the actual lens itself from the cell, as the elements are factory aligned, and if you inadvertently rotate one element even slightly, you stand a chance of creating wedge issues. You will notice the lens itself will likely have alignment marks // on its edge, often in more than one position. These should match up perfectly after a lens has been dismantled otherwise the lens will not work at its optimum.

I have mixed feelings about coloured filters, and initially I thought the red filter was a bit disappointing, but the result isn't too bad. It may have been that the red was quite intense and seriously dimmed the image, but in a scope larger than a 100mm it might be well worth checking out. ☺

Sadly not Jeremy! Although I haven't aged beyond 18 (on a good day) mentally, I fear the dry rot and woodworm has already set in physically. I can still walk for miles at a fair pace, and even up hill, without puffing and panting, but after a day at work my back lets me know I'm not as fit or as strong as I used to be.

Thanks Kerry, I tried to get the field stars as precise as I could in the dark, and the object I saw was sandwiched between two stars of roughly equal magnitude which made it quite memorable. So it's looking like I've unwittingly picked up a galaxy or something that I haven't seen before. I checked on my star charts but there was nothing in the region but the occasional tiny galaxy, which I assumed would be beyond the grasp of my scope. I can't remember ever seeing a galaxy situated between two stars like that. Perhapse its a new comet! Comet SGL!! That would be nice!!!

Could anyone confirm if the misty glow in the sketch below is Comet Atlas. This observation was made last night 25/3/2020, using a 100mm refractor at 21X & 30X, and with a prism diagonal, so image reversed. I swept the sky repeatedly where the comet was reported to be, on occasion sweeping across M81 & 82 a number of times in my search. Eventually my eye caught sight of this misty patch situated between two stars. I checked my deep sky charts and there appears to be very little within the range of my scope in the area, other than the comet. I was unable to detect any hint of a nucleus or tail, only what looked to be a nebulous coma. Also, there was no hint of granulation or form as there may be with a galaxy or star cluster. So, is this potentially Comet Atlas, or have I swept up a DSO? Thank's in advance for any light you may shed on this.

After a beautiful day and virtually no contrails due to the grounding of the planes, the sky was simply perfect as the Sun dropped below my western tree line. I'd already set the 4" refractor up in the observatory in anticipation of a night of observing, which began early, even before sunset, with Venus. The first daylight observation below was made without using any filter, but the observations that follow on represent the visual impression given by the various coloured filters listed.

When I first started out in astronomy at the age of 18 back in 1980, the skies were much more transparent. I had a pair of 12X60 binoculars that I'd bought second hand for £12 and a 60mm Astral refractor that I'd bought from Dixon's camera shop for £120, (a fortune for me at the time!) The refractor gave me my first real look at the Moon and ok views of the planet's, but the 12X60 binoculars were the instrument that really gave me the most joy. I was fortunate enough to meet a local astronomer who took me under his wing and showed me how to observe. He had a pair of Swift 70mm binoculars mounted on a concrete pier inside a flip top observatory. With those binoculars I saw every Messier object that dared to rise above our local horizon. And after I'd spent an evening at Derek's observatory, I'd get home and immediately set up my own 60mm binoculars on the back patio and find for myself everything Derek had shown me. M1 for me back then was no trouble at all, as I had young eyes and dark, transparent skies. I still have good eyesight thankfully, but my skies are now polluted with satanic contrails. I genuinely think I'd struggle to see M1 today in a pair of 60mm binoculars, but that's because of pollution and not because 60mm binoculars can't show Messier objects. Given clear, transparent skies and a dark site, I honestly believe a good pair of binoculars are one of the best instruments a beginner could equip themselves with, and even better than a telescope in some ways.

You've got a task on your hands with this one! The two scopes are so different in their abilities that I'd find it a real struggle to pit one against the other with any meaningful conclusion. The 80mm will make a great grab and go. It will show the belts on Jupiter very clearly, along with shadow transits and the great red spot. Saturn's rings and Cassini's division and albedo markings on Mars are also within its reach. With a binoviewer and 2X barlow the 80mm makes a wonderful lunar scope too! The 150mm Newtonian is in a whole different league. This will show detail within Jupiter's great red spot. Saturn's rings will be divided into the A, B & Crepe ring, with the Cassini division completing a circuit. The Enke minima will easily be seen in the A ring, and possibly on a good night the Enke gap. Saturn's globe will show an equatorial belt and possibly a temperate belt, and there will be noticeable polar darkening, and much more. Jupiter will be more akin to a Voyager image with festoons, garlands and white ovals, and Mars will take on a complex mixture of dark albedo patches and fine channels (not canal's!), with ice and clouds, and a globe that revolves as you watch. Deep sky will be a joy in the 150 and virtually nothing that's worth looking at will be out of its range. Now if you were to do a 4" refractor vs a 6" reflector thread, you'd undermine the work of the United Nations in seconds.

Yes, I'm most definitely more of a Pantax fan than Televue. But like many things in this hobby, it really boils down to personal preferences and where our comfort zone lies. Last night for example, I spent an hour and a half just sweeping around aimlessly. I was using my 17.5mm Morpheus for the first hour, but found as I tired, I struggled to keep my eye on axis, which caused blackout. I also became very aware after prolonged use, that i had to roll my eye around to see the full field. That's not so bad initially, but after an hour, it becomes tiresome and uncomfortable. After swapping the Morpheus for my 25mm Parks Gold and 18mm Celestron Ultima, the slightly narrower true field became much more comfortable to observe with (no eye rolling), and M81 & 82 would still both fit nicely into the field of view. Now I'm in yet another quandary - do I keep the 17.5mm Morpheus or sell it to free up funds????

I had most of the Nagler eyepieces once of a day and really liked the 13mm and the 9mm, but felt the 11mm was in a bit of a no mans land, so I rarely used it. Then when the 13mm Ethos came out I immediately bought one and sold the 13mm Nagler. The 13mm Nagler was a real cuty compared to the ethos, but the ethos to my eye gave a purer view. It was also novel at the time to have a 100° eyepiece. Out of all the Nagler eyepieces I've owned, my favourites were the 7mm smoothy which I personally preferred to the later version of the 7mm, the 13mm, 20mm and 31mm. Today I don't possess a single Televue eyepiece, but if I were to reacquire any, I'd get the 20mm & 31mm and forget the rest.

That must be the scoundrel in you John. It's probably genetic! 😊

I managed an observation of Venus on Sunday evening against a bright blue sky. The Sun had dropped below the hill and high tree line to my south west and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. Although the image through the scope was shimmery at times, there were still moments of steady seeing when the subtle detail repeatedly confirmed its presence.

Hi Graham, I always take a look at my lens by shining a red torch at it. If its clear of dew, I cap it and bring it into the house. It will stay clear providing I don't uncap it while its still cold. If however it does have signs of dew on the lens, I'll bring it back into the house uncapped and allow the moisture to evaporate over night. I never wipe dew off as it will disappear by itself over time. It's really important never to cap a dewed lens, or you'll encourage fungal growth. So cap it if its dry and leave it uncapped if its dewed, once the dew has gone you can cap the scope and rest easy. Never leave a telescope tube that has ice or moisture on it in its carry case. Once back in the house, always leave it uncased until the tube is dry. If you uncap a cold but clear lens when youve just brought it back into a warm room, it will immediately fog over, and youll need to leave it uncapped until the moisture evaporates. I cant remember my NP101 ever fogging over, but i was always careful to check the lens before i capped it. You've got a great scope by the way!

What a wonderful story David. It's things like this that boost faith in humanity, proving there are still some decent people in this world. Thanks for posting.

Here you go John, one scoundrel pic' just for you.

I'll get my scoundrel outfit on shortly and get the Dob' out ready for tonight.

I do hope you chaps dressed for the occasion, with dinner jackets and dickie bows, and a stiff British upper lip in the face of our current situation. (I really need something better to do with my time!)

Sorry Jeremy, I've just come in after entertaining my grandson with his 60mm Astral and 70mm Bresser refractors. I couldn't resist going out as soon as the Sun dropped below the tree line to my west. The sky was still blue but I found Venus with the naked eye within a minute or two. I've attached the daylight sketch along with a sketch made a little later in a dark sky. The seeing was a bit temperamental with mainly a turbulent view, but in moments of steady seeing detail do show itself. The daylight sketch had better seeing, allowing higher power viewing with a 2.4mm HR (308X). The later sketch had to be dropped to only 218X. You can imagine how disappointed I was!

Venus was initially in a very turbulent and fast moving jet stream and only hints of detail could be made out. Eventually though, the seeing steadied and features began to immediately reveal themselves. Things got even better as thin cloud started to cover the planet, and the features in the sketch repeatedly confirmed their relative positions. As usual, no filters were used in this observation other than the natural light cloud cover. The phase appeared to be crescent as the cusps extended as sharp points beyond the terminator, yet the planet is still above 50%. There was a bright region on the northern limb that at times appeared to leach out into space (a). Bleeding from the terminator shadow were several dark wisps of shadow that curled around the bright clouds along the terminator. Bright region (b) appeared to extend more deeply into the terminator than the others. The sketch shows mottlings across the daylit side which remained in their relative positions throughout.

That's great! Not easy by any means but becomes more obvious with careful observation. I've noticed that as light cloud crosses the field of view, I often get a slightly improved view of the cloud detail. I know the late Peter Grego was an advocate of the variable polarizer for viewing cloud top detail, so I was just googling variable polarizer's and came across this. It seems a VPF can help in revealing subtle detail, but what caught my attention was the attached image, because this image is pretty much how I see the cloud top's without a filter, only not quite as dark, but I see the mottling and bright regions without much trouble usually. There was something else that I learned last night while watching a program about light. UV light gets dispersed by earth's atmosphere as the planet nears the horizon, and I hardly ever view Venus below 30° due to a hill and high tree line to my south west and west. So, in theory the UV spectrum won't be as badly affected as it would be when the planet is closer to the horizon. And generally the sky background is brighter when the planet is higher, so Venus isn't as glaring, which in theory may be at least part of the reason I see cloud detail relatively easily, similar to the attached pic, but without a filter.

That's a fascinating image Stephen. I was immediately drawn to what looks like high cloud on the limb, giving the appearance of a bright region bulging above the general limb itself. And the planet looks to be a crescent despite it not yet having reached dichotomy. This has fascinated visual observers for decades, as even when at dichotomy the planet will generally appear to be gibbous or crescent. I'm also fascinated by the darker cloud bands extending from the terminator. Excellent!

Great write up & great pic's Jeremy. And that 76 is sweet!