Highburymark

You’re right to be cautious. Not specifically about buying used, but about all solar scopes, including Lunt. There is a large contrast in the bandwidth and finesse of etalons with every brand. It’s the luck of the draw whether you get one that really delivers on detail and contrast, or something that just meets minimum standards. In that respect, if you can buy secondhand and test the scope first, you’re in a better position than buying new. Lunt 60 is a nice scope, though with significant variation in the quality of single stack etalons. Double stacking makes a huge difference if single stack underwhelms. But it’s expensive. The new Lunt modular models here in the U.K. have hiked prices again, but you do get a separate ED night scope for your money. I found it was no more expensive to buy two external, unobstructed Solarscope (Isle of Man) 70mm filters here in the U.K. than a double stacked Lunt 80 (two internal, smaller etalons). Though Solarscope prices are very much higher outside the U.K. Wish you best of luck. It’s a fascinating part of the hobby, and despite the outlay, worth every penny if you can find a good scope.

Superb images Marty. The ‘double stacked’ blocking filters seem to be an amazing breakthrough - exciting to see them making such an improvement to contrast.

Just one clarification - NV is exactly like looking through a normal eyepiece - it doesn’t record anything unless you add a camera, as Gavin has done. Wasn’t sure if that was something you were suggesting with point 3 - allowing you to look back at previous observations?

Definitely the 2.6x GPC is a better solution. Many people find it difficult to merge images from two high power eyepieces. It’s easier using lower f/l eps and adding magnification through a GPC and/or barlow. Also the small eye lens of the Nagler zooms might be detrimental to viewing comfort. My highest power pair is two 11mm Delites which I use up to 225x on the Moon and - when possible in good seeing - 135x for solar Ha. But most solar sessions are around 60-70x. Binoviewing the Sun is wonderful - brings a whole different dimension to the experience. Worth being aware that the 1.7x GPC is actually only 1.5x, so doesn’t offer quite as much help if you’re struggling to reach focus.

Odd that it’s not really showing yet on Gong Dave, especially as there’s a nice spike prom associated with the new AR - at a 45 degree angle.

Thanks Stu - just grabbed a quick look. Looks very promising indeed, and steady seeing today so able to go up to 120x.

Thanks for the info. Impressed at what can be achieved.

Really nice Nigella. Could you briefly explain your set up - you’re getting some lovely surface detail from that filter. PS - nice to remotely meet you the other week on the Solarchat meeting.

The ability of life to thrive in the most unlikely environments on Earth doesn’t in my view change the fact that the chances of life developing in the first place - anywhere in the cosmos - is staggeringly unlikely. As for intelligent life? When we consider that the Universe is 13.8 billion years old, the Earth 4.5 billion years old, and of the 3.7 billion years that life has existed, Homo sapiens only appeared 300,000 years ago..... it took evolution nearly a third the age of the Universe in perfect conditions (on Earth) to produce Stephen Hawking, Stephen Fry, or any other brainy bloke called Stephen for that matter. As the equally intelligent James Lovelock says: “Had the evolution of the solar system or Homo Sapiens taken a billion years longer, we wouldn’t have had time to develop the technology to cope with the heat from the ageing Sun. Ancient though our Cosmos is, it’s simply not old enough for the staggeringly improbable chain of events required to produce intelligent life to have occurred more than once. Our existence is a freakish one-off.” Am still fascinated to find out how the rest of the Solar System developed, and we should carry on exploring, but can’t help but think discovering evidence of life is extremely unlikely.

Nice report Roy - and congrats on the new scope - a great start. Lots to look forward to this year as the new solar cycle revs up.

Lovely images of those impressive proms. My seeing was pretty poor too. I’ve had days like this - when you begin to question your equipment, or when one scope performs better than another for no apparent reason. It seems that short term seeing differences are almost always the culprit, as next time out I get different results.

Very nice indeed. Have admired these for a while.

I agree totally, though I guess in a thread titled ‘ED v Apo’ there is bound to be discussion about the small differences between refractors at the top of the market. For what it’s worth, not once did false colour spoil the views through my Equinox 80ED. I think I’ve said elsewhere that I saw 60 odd Messiers through that little scope. Sliding dew shield so easy to carry on aircraft. Relatively light, so very happy on a £100 camera tripod and basic alt az mount. Cools down (or heats up) to ambient temperature very quickly. Pretty good focuser. Just a great all rounder.

Yes - it seems so John

My SW Equinox 80ED was a great scope - but was not a full apochromat. On tough targets, it would show some false colour. But it was F/6.25. In comparison, F/7 TV85 clears up almost all false colour and F/7.4 Tak FC100 is colour free in focus.

What are your skies like? If dark, and you’re not expecting to resolve more challenging DSOs, then an 80ED can be a great second scope which would complement your Mak nicely IMO. My first two ‘proper’ telescopes were a 105mm Mak and an Equinox 80ED and they gave good service - but 80mm is not enough aperture to go very deep unless you have dark skies, and even then there’s a limit. Open clusters will be stunning, and bright targets like M42 will also give fine views, but galaxies and globulars could prove frustrating. I saw 50-60 Messier objects with my 80ED in darker locations, but - for example - I was never able to resolve M13 into separate stars until I got a larger scope.

Was it just the OTA or the mount too? They are both pretty robust, so there’s a good chance you’ll be fine.

The Chroma price rises are crazy! Can only presume they are pulling out of the mainstream market. My 2” 3nm which I bought in the autumn has gone up over £500. If you can find Astrodon filters at acceptable prices then they’d be a first class alternative - on a par with Chroma

Love your images Nigella and these are superb as usual

The Pentax deal currently being offered by Microglobe is an absolute steal. The very best solar eyepiece available, with perfect zoom range for £149 is the cheapest I’ve ever seen it. It’s in a different class to the Lunt zoom, for less money.

What a great set of eyepieces. Clearly the result of lots of homework and experimenting - and cherry picking the best for every occasion

Skywatcher prices have been so competitive for so long - significantly below the rest of the market. Maybe Synta has calculated - in these unprecedented times - that among all its brands, Skywatcher can absorb the biggest price hike? Just a theory, as the increases seem surprisingly high. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the market responds.

Their prices are all over the shop John. They list T6 Naglers as £448 RRP, generously discounted to £368 - £65 more than other retailers.

Seeing a Delite 11mm in the classifieds (thanks Tony) was too much of a temptation. Got another for lunar and planetary binoviewing. Despite a relatively modest 62 degree fov, they seem significantly wider when binoviewing, and beautifully sharp to the field stop.

Magnificent prom on the south east limb at the moment - and many areas of the UK should be clear tomorrow, if if it’ll be a bit cold. It’s been growing for a couple of days now so hopefully should still be impressive tomorrow. Really worth a look on Gong now to get a preview.