Highburymark

Thanks for the tip off. Clear skies tonight in London too!

There’s an inevitability about this. The BBC is under huge pressure from all sides to justify itself in a digital world, and niche programmes are most vulnerable as they try to attract a younger audience. So I sympathise with their plight, even if I don’t enjoy the Sky at Night much these days. It’s the excessive jocularity and enthusiasm that sticks in my craw. But then we were spoilt with Sir Patrick - an impossible act to follow.

Not cheap but the best engineering never is, and will last a lifetime. Looks great too.

Good info Don. Presume the 14mm and 20mm still sell well with spotting scope users - popular focal lengths for daytime observing

Interesting - I see some colour with the 5mm too, the only XW I own, but not that it would diminish my enjoyment of the eyepiece.

It is of course the 14mm and 20mm EPs in the current range which show field curvature in many scopes. If the new XWs are up to the standards of the rest of the range, and I wouldn’t bet against it, then they are going to prove very popular. No news yet whether the 14mm and 20mm will be discontinued.

Pentax is just about to release new 85 degree versions of its XWs at 16.5mm and 23mm - interesting announcement for XW lovers.

Thanks Alan - and yes it is a Baader. I think it’s the cheaper Skysurfer 2. TBH it’s only slightly better than the other cheap rdfs - difficult to adjust. But at least it’s light for travel.

I bought a Baader Mk IV zoom a year or so ago because it’s the only zoom I could use for night vision astronomy. But I’ve been impressed with its performance for normal stargazing too. Yes it’s narrow at 24mm, and shows some field curvature and a small amount of edge astigmatism with the two scopes I’ve used it with so far, but it’s certainly pretty sharp. With a good barlow it really can be the only eyepiece you need below 16mm or so. I think it makes particular sense if you’re just starting out, and want a better alternative to stock eyepieces, or for travel. It’s the Ford Mondeo of eyepieces. Not as posh as those BMW Delos or Mercedes XWs, but a great all-rounder.

It must have been atmospheric. Even in hydrogen alpha, which shows fast moving flares in the solar chromosphere, I’ve only seen real-time movement twice in almost a decade of observing. Even the large prominences you see in most Ha images develop far too slowly for us to see any motion at the eyepiece - not surprising when you consider that they are sometimes as big as 10 earths in height. In the photosphere, movement is slower still - sunspots develop over days. So what you saw must have been atmospheric.

Blimey Alan - sorry to read this. Thank goodness you were insured.

I often stop down my TSA-120 too - to get slower focal ratios for solar Ha. There’s a ridiculously expensive Baader diaphragm available which allows you to choose a precise aperture (I think from around 110mm down to circa 50mm), but I just use cardboard cutouts. Never tried it for night astronomy though.

The Hyperion 10mm was my first eyepiece experience beyond a set of Meade Plossls which I’d used for many years. In an F/10 SCT and 105mm Mak it was wonderful!

Beautiful scope John, congratulations. Has an elegance that newer Taks can’t quite match in my view, and I speak as an (ex) FC-100DC owner and current TSA-120 owner.

Excellent report! Baader spent a lot of time developing the 17.5mm and it was clearly worth it.

Simple eyepieces are normally best for all solar observing - hydrogen alpha and WL. Plossls and orthos are very popular. In general, complex eyepieces don’t deliver the same sharpness and transmission, though there are exceptions.

Ouch. Would need some evidence of improved views/images for that. I used to think of white light wedges as one of the bargains of astronomy, but the 2” wedges are fast approaching the cost of a secondhand PST.

There’s a new Baader solar wedge on the way, according to the company’s website. As with current model, a continuum filter will be incorporated - but this time with a narrower 7.5nm bandwidth. The filter’s also available separately. Have to say, I’m unconvinced this will offer any benefits over the current filter, despite claims it will ‘suppress the effects of atmospheric turbulence’! But would be delighted to be proved wrong. I also wonder how they’re going to improve on the current Coolwedge itself? Maybe reduce the weight a bit? Hopefully keep the price down too - the Lunt 2” is now an expensive item at £565.

Powermates are optically excellent - for £100 I would jump at it without hesitation. Only the very best barlows are as good, though I haven’t used the ES one you refer to.

Answer to the Delos question is largely ‘yes’. For some reason I didn’t find the shorter Delos as comfortable as 10mm and longer, but they are all optically excellent - pretty much indistinguishable from Delites. I hear good things about the ES though - hope it meets your expectations.

These are my favourite eyepieces. Tak TOE 3.3 and Leica HC Plan S pair in a binoviewer. They both raise the bar in areas where I do a lot of observing - lunar, planets and solar. Otherwise, Delites 7 and Pentax XW 5 are superb. And I still remember views of the double cluster with Ethos 13 before I made the dubious decision to sell it.

Sorry to hear that Jeremy, but you’ll be able to find ways around it. I believe that most Baader EPs can take dioptrx - basically any eyepiece used with a TeleVue TNVC adapter for night vision accepts dioptrx. So searching night vision on CN might reveal what others have used. I have a Hyperion 36 and BHZ (with an extra adapter from RAF Camera) I use for night vision, but I presume Morpheus might be possible too. However, don’t give up on training your left eye. I used to think I could only observe through one eye, but after experimenting with the other eye for a couple of hours and a bit of practice I found it was much easier than I had thought. I’m now just as happy using either. The other alternative is trying a binoviewer. Others can chip in on the implications for binoviewing if you have astigmatism in one eye, but the brain tends to compensate for vision weaknesses when you’re using both eyes. All this might require a different eyepiece strategy, but hopefully the quality of views needn’t be compromised.

It’s on their website at £199 and suggests they are in stock

80ED without a doubt. Those extra 20mms of aperture will open up so many objects for you. Well worth tolerating a little bit of false colour on bright stars and the Moon for.

Grovers sells replacement correctors for your scope - at £199 not cheap but for less than £200 you’ll have a new scope.