mikeDnight

Nice pic's Paul! I caught a few minutes late on but the seeing was wobbly.

I think perhaps a little too much of a tough time. He's a really nice chap and loves his refractors, but I suspect SGL humour may not have been recieved as it was intended.

The Tak 76 is a handle, and I've not yet needed a handle for either of my FC100D's. They are so cute I can just cradle them in my arms. Takahashi do offer a handle though, which attaches to an optional accessory ring at the lower end of the tube. FLO sell the accessory ring for the FC100D's but I'm not sure about the handle or the finder bracket attachment. Perhaps special order?

I do like the clam shell and the Tak green & blue, but the silver rings also look quite classy, and match the scope very nicely.

That's a nice first light report, and I'm glad you saw detail in M82 in your Bortle 9 skies. An inspiration to others I'm sure! I know you were happy there was no Moon about, but in the next few days I'd imagine you won't want the Moon to disappear ever again. ☺

I'm really glad you like your Mars globe so much Paul. But i didnt know Lowell used Kudos. I use the more common place Old Spice. 😀 I don't know how many Mars apparitions I have left, but perhaps I'll see enough to knock out a few more globes. And may be they'll be passed on to other Mars enthusiasts in time. I'd love one of Lowell's globe's, or even just to see them in the flesh. And even though he saw things that weren't actually there in the form of his many canals, I still greatly respect his enthusiasm, and the passion for Mars that he passed on to others. I wonder what the world of astronomy would be like without the influence of Percival Lowell?

The polar regions are more difficult but by combining the 2016 observations, where the northern hemisphere was tilted toward us, with last year's southern hemisphere display, its just a matter of carefully linking the features. Then there's the variation in the size of the polar caps to consider. I'm still thinking about that one!

I try to make enough observations during an apperition so as to view all features on or as close as possible to the central meridian. Of course it's not always possible to catch everything so accurately placed from a sketch, but it is relatively easy to link features together if the majority are placed reasonably accurately.

Thankyou ShrewView & Mark, After drilling the globe to feed a steel rod through to attach the globe to the base, I was able to hang the globe from a wire and spray paint it. Once dried, I simply position the major features from my sketches on their respective meridians, then using a cotton bud to rub graphite onto the paint, giving a soft telescopic appeal. A putty rubber removes excess graphite and sharpens edges. After that, to seal the graphite I spray the globe with clear gloss lacquer. I've yet to spray on the polar caps and perhaps label the features.

Thankyou Marki! That's a really good question. I may add to it during future apparitions but I'm not certain. It's probably a better idea than making more globe's as I'm running out of room to display them.

It's still a work in progress and incomplete, but I wanted to share my latest observing project. In 2016, when Mars was so low from the UK that it was bouncing off the roof tops, I had was able to make around 36 sketches using my then FC100DC, showing the northern hemisphere detail. Some of you may remember the 5" Mars globe that I made depicting the telescopic prism reversed view of that year. After the more recent apparition with Mars being much larger and better placed for observing, I was able to make many detailed observations of the southern hemisphere using an FC100DZ. Essentially identical telescopes for planetary observing! Below is the Mars globe I'm working on showing the combined detail from both apparitions, and although not finished, its beginning to take shape. Again, the globe depicts the prism reversed view as seen through the refractor, and so makes an easy reference for use at the telescope. The globe is made from an 8" stainless steel ball, bought from a garden centre.

There is a company who makes observing hoods, but I don't have one of those. I use a blackout blanket, which is actually a black pet blanket. I've thought about turning it into an actual hood, but haven't yet got round to it. I've only had it ten years! It is very effective in helping with dark adaption, as after half an hour under the blanket observing, my surrounding, normally dark garden, becomes blindingly bright .

Yes! There are two or three tiny grub screws on the top of the focuser body. They may be glued over, but you can push an Allen key through the glue. Whichever you turn you'll need to be completely certain you turn the others by exactly the same amount, or you'll end up with image shift. A More Blue micro focuser may be a better way to go. The best way to adjust it would be to remove the pinion and the locking knob on the top. Then release the pressure on the draw tube by unwinding the grub screws equally. Move the draw tube in and out by hand then gradually tighten each grub screw equally, while after each turn, test the tension by pushing and pulling the draw tube. When you're happy with the tension, replace the pinion and the locking knob and test at high power. There should be no image shift.

Barry, have you tried barlowing your longer focal length Morpheus? I did this some time back with my 17.5mm and was very happy with the result on targets like M27, M13 and M1. I have both the 17.5mm and the 12.5mm, although as yet I haven't tried the latter with a barlow, but if its as good as the 17.5, it might be an option if you need a 6mm ish eyepiece with good eye relief.

I too found that my 10mm Pentax XW gave wonderful views of nebulae and galaxies in my FC100DC. The darkness of the sky background was just right to bring such targets to life. I rarely used my 7mm XW except for M13, on which it gave a fabulous view. My most used eyepieces for deep sky with my 100mm refractor were my 31mm Nagler (glorious for star fields and comets), 20mm Nagler (spectacular on M42), 10mm XW (great for general deep sky), and 5mm XW for ring and dumbbell nebula's . The 3.5mm XW was wonderful on double stars! The Morpheus line would be my choice today with the 17.5, 12.5, 9 & 6 or 4.5mm.

At 65X you'll have a nice dark sky background, which should show off nebulae and clusters beautifully.

You could give them to me Jeremy and I'll send you photo's every couple of years. They'd see plenty of starlight here, even if it is through sucker holes.😆

I feel the same way about real books. The feel and even the smell of real books is something you don't get with a Kindle. Like Jeremy I read Starlight Nights at least once a year, usually in the colder months when I'd rather sit by a fireside these days rather than freeze to death outside. I was first introduced to Starlight Nights by my observing mentor and friend Derek Hartley, when I was 18 years old, I'm now 59. I've read it every year since. Im really pleased youve found a copy and that you like it so much. 😊 Below is a picture of Derek with his Takahashi Sky 90 from four years ago. Together we've walked countless miles around his concrete pier over the last 40 years, hunting everything within the light grasp of various size telescopes, nearly always refractors.

If you observe using a blackout hood, you'll maximise your potential dark adaption and you could even exceed a 5mm exit pupil. Much of the trouble occurs as stray light hits the eye from the side. Just to illustrate how effective a hood can be, I've observed IC434 and the tiny black notch of the Horse Head using a 100mm refractor from the suburbs of Burnley in Lancashire using this method. As far as high powers go, I really think a barlow is a great idea. Modern barlow's, even the less expensive Skywatcher Delux are excellent, and because it won't break the bank it should be part of every observers kit. Most modern multi element eyepieces use an inbuilt barlow in their design, so Barlow's are not a bad thing. Again, if you ever get the urge to observe double stars, you'll really appreciate a high power eyepiece or barlow. Don't underestimate your telescope or your skies. My 100mm on an equatorial holds 500X with ease on binary stars and they are a joy to observe, so 300X on an 8" Dob is certainly doable.

That's a blast from the past! I had a 40mm Vixen Kellner back in the mid 80's which came with my secondhand 102mm F13 Vixen Pulsar achromat. A fantastic refractor and a terrific eyepiece, or at least it was back in the day. I think it was Peter Drew who made me a 1.25" adapter that screwed onto my eyepiece so I could use it as a push fit. I know that memory can be a touch unreliable, but in my mind that scope and that eyepiece gave me the finest view of M81 & M82 I've ever had. Possibly due to its minimal glass design, that eyepiece was as clear as crystal. Again in my memory.

It was a challenge but the seeing was reasonable. The real problem is that that aspect of the globe is generally pretty bland at the best of times. Still, it was fun and something to do. ☺

Another cold clear night and Mars was coaxing me to take yet another peep at it's shrinking globe as it distances itself from us. In the eyepiece the disc was very tiny, and it was a fine balance between getting the maximum magnification and image scale to match my local seeing. This evening, using a shorter eyepiece than the 3.4mm HR just washed out the subtle detail. And although not a patch on its former self when close to opposition, there's still a hint of darker albedo features and bright areas; the main features being (if I'm right, and I'm not always), Aeolis & Mare Tyrrhenum on the equator and southward (dark), and the bright area in the north is Elysium.

Have you ever read Leslie C. Peltier's Starlight Nights? Born on a farm in Ohio in 1900, Peltier became one of the greatest amateur astronomers of the 20th century. His passion was Variable stars and Comet hunting. If you haven't read his autobiography you're missing a real treat. In his book he states, "blessed is he who is born on a farm." Even though not born on a farm, anyone living on a farm is equally as blessed. Even the picture on the sleeve of his book gets my heart racing. There's just something sexy about a refractor set against a star lit sky, that no other telescope can match.

By all means leave the mount set up, but I can't think of anywhere worse than a cold, dark, damp-aired observatory, where a dewed objective lens has no opportunity to thoroughly dry out - especially if the refractor is capped while dewed. Even when not dewed, an observatory is not a good environment to leave a refractor, unless there's a dehumidifier running, and even then I'd still be uncomfortable about it.

Just don't leave the scope in an observatory, and never cap a dewed lens trapping moisture inside, and you'll never have a fungal growth problem. I really wouldn't seal the lens in any way. If moisture does find its way between the elements, as moisture has a tendency to do, it may well be trapped permenantly inside if you attempt to seal the objective. Plus, doing anything to the lens will not only void any warranty, it will kill any resale value. If your lens dews over on the outside, rear side, or between the elements, bring the scope back into the house and leave it uncapped at both ends until all evidence of moisture disappears, and you'll never have a problem.