mikeDnight

Sky & Telescope produce a foldable, laminated Moon map that is really very good. Depending on the type of telescope you use, you can choose a standard telescopic view version, or if your scope uses a star diagonal, you can choose a erect image but reversed version.

We probably all have peaks and troughs in our enthusiasm, and sometimes life just gets in the way, so no need to apologise. Your 90mm refractor should complement your binoculars well, and at 90mm you should be able to spend many enjoyable hours observing the Moon, planets, double stars and brighter deep sky objects. Welcome back!

I'm no imager but I'm sure there are several on SGL that might give a thumbs up for the SW 72ED. Pics attached were taken by holding my phone camera to the eyepiece, and looking through double glazing.

You used a very telling turn of phrase in your post Dave - "Superficial". I've been there too. The Moon used to be the object I was least interested in, yet it's the nearest world to our own and completely alien in its terrain, and even its composition still leaves scientists questioning its origin. I think it was the the Moon's complexity that terrified me, which is probably what stops others from enjoying observing it; and it wasn't until I decided to observe it with a purpose rather than superficially skimming its surface, that it started to interest me. I wanted to draw its features like Harold Hill drew them, but every time I tried, I found my scale was off or the shadows changed so rapidly that I couldn't keep up. It was a nightmare to draw, and even now I only attempt two or three drawings per year, if that. As I wanted to learn to enjoy the Moon, I decided to start small. Ringed planes were my first choice as a target; not the mountain ring but just the lava plane. I remember vividly looking first at Aristarchus. It's initial appearance was of a totally bland lava plane, but i soon realised its not bland at all, but made up of various shades. I even began to realise that there were definite sharp divisions separating these different shaded planes which appeared to me to indicate points where the plane has uplifted or dropped. And so I felt like I was discovering something for myself and that made things start to get interesting. Even when the Moon is full or near full, I will study the lava planes for subtle differences in shade, and imagine how the terrain would look if I were on the moon's surface. The craters dominate the scene so I tend to ignore them to a point. I have a thing for hunting and tracing rilles, and I spend a lot of my time following them as they traverse the mountains and follow mare shores. They are so fine and easly overlooked, but once found are irresistible to trace, seeing how they relate to eachother and the terrain around them. I now love the Moon, particularly in the first half of the year as the night's get brighter and temperatures milder, and of course the Moon rises high in our evening sky. To aimlessly fly over its surface using a binoviewer can be most enjoyable, and at times stomach churning. One evening a few years ago I was lost in the awesome view as I drifted unwittingly over the edge of the Alpes, which towered in 3D at 180X, and my stomach rolled as I felt I was physically falling over the vast towering cliff face. I think i had a verbal discharge as well. So I now love the Moon more than I love the planets, and even my sketching of it has improved, though not the the standard of HH.

I can see the central rille as a bright line running along the AV Dave, so your phone isn't too bad. Not so sure about the scope though!?? I'll give you £100 for it - The scope not the phone. Eat plenty of pineapples, as I believe there's something in them that helps with improving vision and eliminates floaters. 🍍🍍🍍

I initially went out with the FC100DZ to take a look at Mars. Using a pair of 25mm Parks Gold and a binoviewer with 2X barlow (129X), the limb of the planet was beautifully sharp. There was no spurious haze around it as it just hung almost 3D set against a black sky. Detail was easily seen so I decided to start a sketch, but as soon as I'd begun the view went a bit wobbly as clouds started to move in. There was still plenty of clear sky though, but it just meant being patient. Eventually I felt that I'd managed to tease out of the image all I could see, and had a half decent sketch. Then I turned the scope onto the Moon and spent about half an hour touring its landscape. I decided to carefully examine Mare Frigoris for rilles along its southern shore. I found two that extended from the southern shore and travelled south across the mountainous terrain towords the Alpine Valley. One terminated against a tiny bright impact crater north of the valley, while the other could be picked up again south of the valley. Elgers rille could be seen quite easily crossing the width of the valley about mid way, appearing like a N/S fine dark line, and extending both north and south both sides of the valley. I didn't notice the central rille like Stu did, but i didn't look for it. What did cross my mind though was how relatively easy these rills appear despite their distance from the terminator. Sadly play was stopped when the cloud thought i'd enjoyed myself too much, but I'd manages a pleasant 45 mins or so which is better than nothing.

Actually Yes. He had a few of them hanging from a hook close to his Grandfather clock. And i tried his Fez for size too. I didn't ask to smoke his pipe though. In fact I got the feeling his pipe was more for show, as his house didn't smell of pipe smoke, and he didnt attempt to light it while we were there. I was quite taken on by the watercolour paintings, painted by his mother, that hung around the house showing little aliens on various planets. It was like a journey back in time visiting Patrick's home. He even gave us a copy of his mother's lovely illustrated book, and signed it for us, though he confessed his signature wasn't what it used to be as he suffered terribly with arthritis n his hands and fingers.

That's a nice collection of sweeties. I suggest doubling up on your 25mm & 15mm TV plossl's and grabbing a binoviewer. The Moon and planets will take on a whole new dimension in your DZ. Or may be a Tak 4mm TOE, or possibly the set of three TOE's. Or what about a Tak Turret? Alternatively, you could simply send me your bank details and I'll spend your money for you.

Hi Robert. It was in 2007 when Patrick had noticed some of my planetary sketches - I think i was the planetary section director for the Society for Popular Astronomy at the time - and so was easily contacted. I recieved a phone call, and briefly chatted with Patrick, ended in him saying "You must come and visit sometime". I can't remember much about what was said as I was in awe that Patrick was talking to me. I know it's silly looking back, but as a teenager many moons ago, Patrick was my hero in many ways. I even had an A4 photo of him on my bedroom wall showing him stood alongside his 15" and smoking a pipe, and hung alongside that, a poster of Bruce Lee with his nunchaku's. I was a mixed up kid! Bruce Lee has now become a thing of the past, but good old Patrick's photo still hangs on the wall of my observatory as a reminder of his lasting influence. Anyhow, it wasn't too long before my wife and I were on our way to Selsey. When Patrick learned of the distance we'd travelled, from Lancashire to east Sussex, it was he that suggested we stay. It was a very enjoyable couple of days, and within a few days of returning home I recieved a phone call, and the voice on the other end of the line said " Hello, this is Patrick. I'm phoning to say I enjoyed your visit, please do come again, and next time bring your son Daniel..." Daniel is my younger son who at the time was 13 years old and had an interest in astronomy. I said I would visit again, but sadly never did arrange it. So even after our visit Patrick's focus was on encouraging my young lad. And encouraging others is what he lived for to the end. I still hold a special place in my heart for him, and gratitude for all that he unknowingly did for me.

I can't help but feel that AstroFest has pretty much run its course. To expect people to travel across the country to Kensington London, many from as far as Scotland, just seems rediculous to me. If I do go anywhere this year it will be to Kettering.

Thanks Paul. If it's clear I'll certainly give it a pop.

That's fantastic Mark! Thank you for taking the time to do a little research and post it here. It's true that Fauth was a real character. The book EPIC MOON, by William Sheehan & Thomas Dobbins, sheds more light on Fauth's life and work. He'd work all day as a school teacher, then take a significant train journey before trekking miles across country to reach his observatory, where he would spend the night observing the Moon. Amazing stamina! I sometimes look out of my house at my observatory, which is just a few strides away, and think "Not tonight". What a contrast!

Thinking back to what inspired me at the very beginning of my astro hobby, I have to first give credit to Patrick Moore and his monthly Sky At Night tv program. I had very little spare cash as I was only a poor apprentice plumber earning £21 per week, most of which I gave to my mum. However, I was able to buy my first astronomy book the Observers Book of Astronomy (£1.99). It was only a small book but the photograph of Patrick's 5" refractor set my heart racing. A week later I bought Guide to the Moon (£7.50), also by Patrick, and was totally hooked. I loved the fact that he wrote like he spoke, and I was so engrossed in the books contents that I sat in my dad's chair and read it from cover to cover in six and a half hours without moving. Years later my wife and I were lucky enough to be invited to visit Patrick at his Selsey home "Farthings", where we had dinner with him and stayed over night. He was a perfect gentleman and Chrissy my wife loved him. We chatted away in his study until well after 2am, and his inspiring spirit was as alive then in his later years as it had ever been. There are probably a great many on this forum who can blame Patrick for infecting them with the Astro bug. I did eventually get to play with his 5" refractor, although by then it was in need of a little TLC, which it eventually got. You can see the beautiful pictures of Patrick's renovated 5" refractor in Neil English superb book Classic Telescopes, by Springer, which if you haven't yet read, you should. Be warned though, its inspiring! Yours truly sat in the great man's chair. Another big influencer that comes over time is getting to know astronomers who have similar interests. As I love to draw what I see and I'm mainly interested in planets, Richard Baum and his incredible observing and artistic skill as a planetary observer was a strong motivating force. And his telescope, a 4.5" Cooke refractor, was pretty awesome too.

The Bortle scale can be very misleading however. If we all paid attention to this or that scale, seeing conditions or transparency, I suspect none of us would observe. If planets interest you then you can ignore Bortle altogether; you can observe the Moon and planets from the centre of London. Looking at a Bortle map of my town, I should barely see any deep sky, but I can, and quite well, and my main scope has only a 4" aperture.There's little you can do about the atmosphere above you, but you can greatly improve your lot by shielding yourself from surrounding stray light entering your peripheral vision. Many observers use a blanket or blackout hood that covers the head and eyepiece of the scope. Also, spending time studying the faint smudge in the eyepiece will help you see much more subtle detail, than a quick minute or two and moving on to another disappointing fuzz. Observing is more than just looking at something; its dissecting everything that's on view, and that means taking your time and enjoying yourself. The Bottle scale is a generalization, so you could very likely find that there is a sweet spot in your area. I found one near to me a few years ago, where a half mile in any direction was utterly futile, but at the sweet spot even M33 was detectable with the naked eye using averted vision. Planets will thrill you in a 150mm scope and the Moon will leave you speechless. But you could easily throw a 150P on the back seat of a car and shoot off to a darker site or astro club if your home site is a problem. And 150mm is plenty big enough for serious observing.

You could do a lot worse than going for a 150P Dob, which is both within your budget and will suit both your planetary interest well, but will also pack a punch on deep sky. Easy to handle too! On sale at FLO.

Three for each scope! Then some wise guy introduces you to binoviewers. I blame Paulasto for all my pain!

Oooh, i love controversial. I agree in principal. When I started out in astronomy the general consensus was to have three eyepieces, a low, a medium, and a high power eyepiece. I blame Al Nagler! In reality there are eyepieces suited to various types of observing, such as planetary or deep sky. Both will do the job of the other only not quite as well. Often an observer may acquire a basic set of wide angles such as Pentax XW's or Morpheus for deep sky or general observing; but also a high quality minimal glass planetary set such as orthoscopic's, plossl's or Monocentric's. The minimal glass will almost always have an edge in performance on axis, but lack the wide field. Then theres the guys who love the equipment just as much as using it, so they'll likely acquire many different sets and designs over the years. It's all part of the same hobby, and whatever helps keep that flame of enthusiasm burning is alright with me.

I recieved an old book through the post this morning. Fauth's THE MOON. It's not of much scientific interest, but i love the history of lunar study, and of course the drawings made by these great observers of the past.

I found that the Olll works better on larger aperture scopes. I know that while sketching the Veil nebula using my 5" refractor, I needed to sketch the nebula with the filter in place, then remove it so I could sketch the starfield, superimposing the stars. Only the brightest stars are visible through an Olll unless you're using a large aperture. The UHC is a much more pleasing filter for use in smaller apertures. However, i personally find that good dark adaption and prolonged study of an object should not be overlooked. I rarely use filters for most nebulae. The longer you observe something, the more you'll see. For example, you might look at the Pleiades and almost immediately see a couple of stars with a light fuzz around them. After half an hour looking at the Pleiades the entire cluster is enmeshed in nebulosity. The trick is to shield your peripheral vision from surrounding stray light, either by using a blackout blanket or hood, or driving to a dark site.

Peeling off is possible, but it may also indicate that the eyepiece has been taken apart sometime during its life. I've never personally seen the paint on a Nagler fail. However, if the eyepiece is sound, its very easy to rectify either with carefully applied camera black paint or stove paint, or an easier and safer option may be to touch it up with an indelible felt tip pen.

That's a substantial list Rob. Have you observed all these targets so far?

You could always keep your eye out for a second hand FS128. Or of course a TSA120. You are a Tak fan after all. I have to admit that 5" is a magical aperture where good refractors are concerned, but as the pic's below show, they can be hefty beasts that require a substantial mount to do them true justice. I feel there is a more obvious jump in performance between a 4" to 5" than between a 5" to 6". My FS128 pier mounted on a Losmandy GM8 in my garden. The mount was covered with a canvas bag when not in use, and over the years the electronics never got wet. A permanent pier massively reduces the need for treking back and forth during set-up. FS128 (2006) Field Trip to Huddersfield Astro Society with my FS128 on a Celestron/Losmandy G11 and field tripod, along with my son Daniel with his ST102 and Floppy Bear. (Transit of Venus 2004). Here's a scope that will impress, and very manageable, though it still needs a strong mount. My Equinox 120ED mounted on a Hercules Helix Altazimuth Fork at the Astronomy Centre Toddmorden. (2010 ish?) Another impressive option is the Meade 127 triplet. This is a beast much like the 128 in its hunger for a strong, stable mount. This one belonged to my late friend Phil, and again a permanent pier mounting really benefited this scope. Interestingly, when attached to a pier, a Vixen GP would carry it solidly. (2011).

Great find Paul. I'll give you a fiver for em. £1+£1+£1+£1+£1=£5, that's a lot Paul. P.S. If you accept my offer, could you perhaps lend me a fiver so I can pay you?

An easy starting point for observing double stars is to simply check out the major stars in a constellation. No science at this point, just breathtaking tourism. It's amazing how many main constellation stars have a hidden companion or two, and some of them can be breathtaking. It's also good to examine the surrounding field for hidden gems. Low power wide field views can be mesmerizing, and when a sneaky little suspect is found, boot up the magnification for a better view. It's like fishing; it doesn't matter if you catch a fish but its great when you do. Then sometimes you catch a big one.

I do hope you love your FC100. It's a big investment!