Highburymark

There’s a story on the Sky and Telescope website at the moment: “Will the next solar cycle surprise us”, which floats the prospect of the new solar cycle being one of the most active in recorded history. Only a theory, but a mouthwatering one. Certainly the increase in activity recently has been fast and consistent. PS - nice sketch Ade!

Don’t think you could go wrong with Delites (my particular choice for planetary - I have 18.2, 7, 4 and 3mm - excellent performers), XW or Morpheus Martin. But I tend to agree that you should be able to see Cassini with your existing kit, particularly with the 150 Mak. Though it’s obviously harder when the planet’s low. I wonder if you got better views of Mars recently as it’s been higher? I wouldn’t necessarily advise a plossl at 8mm (or orthos below 10mm) unless you’re happy with tight eye relief. The TV 8mm plossl is too tight for me. What you really need is to try a few new eyepieces at the same time as your current ES EPs. I would expect them to be pretty good, though I’ve never tried them before.

Very nice. Looks a bit like a slightly slower SW Equinox 80 with the similar rotating focuser ring. Focuser looks similar too. Maybe someone with more knowledge than me about the Revelation’s pedigree will explain a connection?

After sneaking half an hour’s solar viewing this morning with the TV85/Solarscope (I know, I know, it’s Christmas, but the Sun is pretty amazing right now), I read an article on the Sky and Telescope website this afternoon saying the new solar cycle might be one of the most active ever. Fingers crossed, and here’s to a great 2021 for refractor lovers everywhere, whether observing by day or night.

Wow - very nice. Almost as good to look at as to look through.

They look great! Very nice surface detail. If your seeing supports the high magnification and you get a decent etalon then Quarks can be terrific - looks like you have both. I know what you mean about missing a dedicated solar scope though.

Great thread Dave. Mine are two Ultima 30mm and two Zeiss OPMI 25mm (1970s or early ‘80s) for binoviewing

Great report! Definitely solar for me, getting increasingly interesting month by month as activity grew. I bought my first Ha solar scope in 2014, so wasn’t around to see Cycle 24 rev up. Being able to chart the process this time has been a joy. Certainly that massive prom captured by Nick above was a highlight, but the past few months have seen some superb spots, active regions and filaments. Otherwise, because of the virus, I haven’t taken a telescope out of the city all year. But had fun binoviewing Mars and the Moon, and some memorable night vision sessions on the brighter dsos.

With an F/6.25 doublet, colour control is never going to be perfect. I thought the Equinox 80 was a terrific visual scope given its speed, though I became more aware of the CA after a few years’ use - more so during daytime observing than night. Not enough to put me off the scope though. Among the alternatives are the cheaper triplets - ES, TS etc. Or the slower doublets - F/7.5 SW 80ED et al. Lots of choice out there. Above this then things start getting pricey - TV85, Tak FC76. And the Vixens aren’t cheap either. Worth having a look at the TS website - they produce a wide range of ED doublets and triplets from 72mm up to 90mm which pretty much span the small semi-apo market, and they generally have a good reputation.

I have the Oklop too Paul for a long frac with solar filters, but I also have a nice Manfrotto one which I use for my 4” Tak and is shorter - see pic. Bought it from Park Cameras in London. £60-ish.

Wow. Congratulations Richard - stunning images and what an impressive scope.

Thanks Mike- Had a few Delos (17.3, 10, 6) before I moved to lighter set up - but the XW range seems to be just as highly rated. Particularly at shorter focal lengths. And PARTICULARLY in a 20” dob that is 2.5x bigger than the biggest scope I’ve owned (a C8).

These are the sharpest eyepieces that I’ve ever used - Zeiss 25mm OPMI microscope EPs. Think they were made in the 1970s (made in ‘West Germany’) yet the views are just exquisite. Long eye relief, beautiful coatings, very comfortable. Great option for binoviewing with a GPC/barlow, adding spacers to vary magnification. But only 50-55 degrees so can’t rival modern wider field EPs. my other go-to all-purpose EPs are Panoptic 24, Delite 18.2, and TV Plossls. But realise my experience is limited. Have never tried a Morpheus yet - it seems as if their reputation continues to grow and they are now considered among the best widefields. Never tried an APM, ES or Vixen either. Seems like there are more options than ever these days for the discerning buyer to not choose TeleVue.

As many of you will be aware, there was a solar eclipse in South America today. If you google ‘Gong ha solar’ - the site which shows the latest images of the Sun in hydrogen alpha - and click on the Chile image (location of each camera around the world is top right), and then hit the ‘movie’ icon underneath (two spools of tape), it shows several hours of solar footage in a few seconds. Something rather wonderful about seeing an eclipse on a cold and wet winter evening here in the UK.

Welcome to the bright side of astronomy - great time to be starting out

Heads up - the STEREO solar website is showing yet more activity just around the south eastern limb of the Sun. Should be with us by the weekend.

The Feathertouch is a lovely, if expensive, upgrade. It’s certainly capable of handling bigger loads than the Tak focuser. One thing to highlight about cabin portability is that the DC has a separate unscrewable section between the focuser and main tube (as shown in pics), which I notice the DZ does not. So am wondering if the DZ still might be too long for air travel, even with the focuser removed and dew shield retracted?

Terrific images Vin. Another Solarscope lover here. Had to take a deep breath before investing but it’s been so worth it.

Superb - thanks for posting

No doubt, if you get a good Quark, it would outperform any small Lunt. That’s a reasonably big ‘if’ though, even today, after Daystar seems to be delivering greater consistency than a few years ago. My LS50DS and LS60DS both beat my Quark for surface detail, but for proms the Quark (with a 100mm refractor) is incredible. The downsides, apart from variable quality and bandwidth are well known: Need for a power source, 10 mins warming up time, high magnifications with the internal barlow which means you need excellent seeing. Yes, it’s really handy to have a dedicated solar scope that works immediately - but in practice the Quark is pretty easy to set up. It’s a difficult decision. A lot of people love full disc views, but if you can track down a great Quark, then it would be superb in your lovely apo.

Happy birthday Nigella. Nifty collection of astro gifts you have there. I had no idea that Baader sells an imaging Ca-K filter. What a great way to get into Ca-K a little more affordably.

For me - double stack 50. No contest. Unless you can see the possibility of a double stacked 60 in your future?

The challenge with single stack is to get a good example - whether Lunt or Coronado. Many only show faint surface activity, while the best examples can almost rival double stacks. It’s the luck of the draw unless you can test your purchase first. Adding a second etalon almost always transforms the views of filaments and ARs, even if the single stack etalon on its own was unimpressive. At least, this is my experience after many years of solar observing with 50, 60 and 70mm single and double stack Ha systems. And the cloud trick Peter mentioned is spot on - it also further enhances double stack views! Of course the other great tool for solar observing is a binoviewer, which is a relatively cheap way of getting better views.

So difficult to say. The more experience you have with solar scopes the more you realise each example is different. For me, double stacking transforms the views of surface features, but no doubt the Lunt 50 is a nicer scope than the PST. So if possible, I’d say get the Lunt 50 and save up for double stack. Even if it’s not affordable for a while, it offers that option for the future. 10mm is a lot of aperture difference at this level.

Panoptic 27 is a light and very well corrected 2”. It’s the only 2” EP I still have since I moved away from heavy eyepieces.