Highburymark

Sorry to hear that Stu. If there is damage to the etalon, it will be fixable - but will keep fingers crossed that it’s ok.

Really awesome sight this afternoon during brief gaps in the cloud. The main body of the prom is still very dense and solid. Often when we get proms this big they are more dispersed but this is a monster.

Stunning images Ken.

Thanks for the heads up. Still an awesome sight today. It’s not just vast, but dense too, so could be around for a couple more days.

To be fair it was the older Steeltrack model I had - before the ‘diamond’. Had two of them and both were decidedly unbuttery. Haven’t seen similar complaints with the newer range.

Sorry if it was a bit of a let down.

There used to be a Moonlite I think, but it’s not manufactured any more. There is a 3” Baader Hyperion focuser, which might fit? Worth calling Baader. But it’s as expensive as the Feathertouch. The Baader Steeltrack I had was poor - I wouldn’t recommend it even if it were compatible with the TSA. Finally, you might be able to use a smaller Feathertouch - FT2025 type - it might look a little incongruous with a larger scope but can hold heavy loads well. Question is whether there’s an adapter?

Thanks for posting this interesting link. There’s also the amazing Exoplanet app which I have on my IPad which has much of our galaxy plotted out into individual stars - and as you move away from our solar system, you can watch the shape of familiar constellations changing. Also allows you to visit stars and exoplanets individually. And you can home in on Sagittarius A - out very own black hole, and watch how close stars are moving around it at mind boggling speeds. It has helped me understand the night sky and constellations in a new way. You can buy add ons to cover galaxies and galaxy groups if you want to go bigger.

Suspect it may just be cosmetic - just like the new blue Tak refractor colour a couple of years ago. The Epsilons do seem to have very long lifetimes between model upgrades. The good news is they hold collimation incredibly well. I haven’t adjusted mine since I bought it - and that was secondhand.

Nice! I like the new colour. Can’t see any other changes from first glance. Maybe collimation system? Here are couple of pics of mine from similar angles.

Good advice above. Sunspots are predominantly photospheric features rather than the chromosphere you are observing with an Ha telescope. So they are much better in white light. Unfortunately PST etalons are very variable, so no two examples will perform the same. But you should be able to resolve prominences and filaments easily with a double stacked scope. There is a possibility that your main etalon (filter) has decontacted. It’s always a risk, particularly if handled roughly during postage. So if you continue to see no detail, it’s important you tell the retailer and return the scope.

Was my first astronomy book too Jeremy! Enjoy.

They are in production again - but the price is incredible - 840 euros from APM, plus import duty…..,

It’s just T2 diagonal - QC - T2-2” Baader nose, which then fits into the focuser.

Great for showing the night sky to the public or kids who want to be impressed. But I think they leave a lot of seasoned astronomers cold - those who love the hobby because of live views. I count myself in that latter group, but then I love night vision astronomy from my urban location, which itself divides opinion among keen observers. There’s a lot of technical debate about electronically enhanced astronomy and where the dividing lines should be. For me it’s something more instinctive. I react emotionally to live views, and not to stacked images, otherwise I’d be interested in digital scopes. But I can see why they are so absorbing as outreach tools.

TeleVue 85, hewn from granite, top all-rounder, planets, Moon, solar Ha and white light. Tecnosky 60ED. ultimate G&G, I use this hand-held with a night vision eyepiece.

I’ll bite. TSA-120, T2 Baader BBHS diagonal, Tak TOE 4mm or 3.3mm for 225 or 272x. Sometimes binoview the planets too, Leica HC Plan or Delite eyepieces.

Think it had a single rubber grip, but was similarly tall and svelte. Very rare now and highly collectible. There was also a Swarovski version for their spotting scopes.

I think it was 7.7-23.1mm and looked similar to the above Louis but I never actually saw one in the flesh.

Actually the supplied Skytee clamps aren’t that bad these days - I think they’ve been upgraded in recent years. Fine for a light scope, though ADM and other alternatives obv much better

Lovely disc - congrats Nigella

In terms of high quality zooms which rate alongside fixed eyepieces, I remember a Meade 4000 zoom from the late 1990s which cost around £240 at the time - over twice the price of a case of 8 Meade Plossls. I couldn’t work out why it was so expensive - only later found out it was made by Swarovski.

Ok - dim question - just 2” to T2. Always interested in your white light reports Stu so do report back if you get the wedge working with your Vixen

That filter will be fine on its own Dave. Needs to be securely fitted, and also cover any finder scopes with the film if you want to use them. The view will be bright, so you might want to add a polariser, ND filter, or better, a Baader continuum filter which turns the Sun green, but helps bring out the faint granulation of the surface under good seeing.

Cheapest way into hydrogen alpha is an entry level scope - Lunt 40, or PST. There are the Daystar options, Solar Scout or Quark, but they are highly variable in quality and not recommended for beginners. White light is much cheaper. You can use Baader solar film with Newtonians, or a Herschel wedge with refractors. These will only show sunspots and photosphere detail around them, not the prominences and filaments you see in hydrogen alpha. Still a great way to get into solar observing now that solar activity is increasing