Highburymark

Yes they do Stu. Particularly looking forward to WL

So it only took me two and a half years. But I’ve finally got hold of a couple of Zeiss microscope eyepieces to see how they perform with binoviewers - particularly for ha and white light solar observing. These are OMNI 25mm surgical EPs, made in “West Germany” - two words guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of any England football fan of my vintage, but happily invoking the opposite reaction when etched into the housing of a period Zeiss EP. I think SGL’s resident Zeiss expert, Stu, has had a pair of these, though now has the wider W-Pl model. In brief tests today, they delivered beautifully clear views - marginally nicer, I thought than my Fujiyama 25mm orthos - but really need to see how they compare at high powers in perfect seeing.

Beautiful shots David, particularly of the prominences

I didn’t realise there had been such a disparity across the U.K. John. We’ve been very fortunate - even on days of 95% cloud, there’s usually been short periods of clarity, and I’m set up so I can be observing within about a minute. I sympathise, and hope things improve for you.

Just been looking at my notes for 2020 and realised that today was the hundredth time I’ve been able to observe the Sun in ha this year. Thanks largely to clear weather, working from home, and increased solar activity, it’s been a memorable 2020. More excellent views today with two superb filaments and large proms.

Good to see the old boy again. Those were the days - when Saturn had a mere 20 moons.

I agree. They are predominantly small operations selling a very wide range of goods and mostly doing a good job. Plus many have upgraded their websites in the past couple of years.

Hope you had longer observing time than the rest of us Steve. Apart from the proms which Peter referred to in the original post - two of the brightest I’ve seen for a long time - there were a couple of huge (but fairly faint) pillar prominences on the other limb.

Think I had less than 30 seconds - but well worth it! Superb proms.

Don’t think they’ll be moving when they find out what they can charge for spare rooms during solar eclipse week Carole! 🥂

We’ve missed out on our annual trip to Menorca this August. Thought it would be more prudent to stay at home this year. But planning ahead, I’ve just discovered that on August 12th, 2026, the Balearics and northern Spain will experience a full solar eclipse! ! Tempting to book ahead......

Excellent news! The best description I’ve read of the sky with night vision is that it’s: “filthy with stars”. You have a lot of fun ahead of you. Do keep us informed of how you get on. Afraid my strength weakened after my post above - I’ve now ordered the Chroma 3nm 2” ha filter for use with 55mm/67mm TV ‘superplossl’ and Panoptic 27. Here in London I need all the help I can get. But there are also cheaper narrow options. I’ve just been reading about a new brand - Antlia, which apparently does a good 3.5nm.

Couldn’t see it on Gong either Peter - it was just one of those nice surprises you sometimes get with solar observing. Within ten minutes it had broken up and become unremarkable. I’m hoping an imager might have caught it. I think ‘streamer’ would have been a better way to describe it than pennant - a delicate but distinct strip of plasma suspended just above the spicule layer.

Cloud dodging here - unfortunately looks like it May have already lost its shape - sometimes the Sun is too dynamic

Amazing prom at the moment - sw of the disc, right next to the largest prom group is this very long and thin pennant prom raised just above the ‘surface’ - need reasonable magnification to see it - never seen anything like it before

Whether it’s scientifically feasible is one thing. Who will pay for it adds another dimension to the challenge.

Excellent report Dave. Sounds like you have a near perfect range of powers for binoviewing from just one pair of eyepieces - congrats on a fine set up

Interesting Peter. How do stacked filters perform compared with a single 6nm? Would there be benefits to adding a 7nm to my 3nm?

If not Stanley, then what about ‘Bjorn’ Mike?

Lovely little Equinox 80ED, passed on to pastures new, Takahashi FC-100DC, and understated TeleVue 85, in night mode and day mode with 70mm Solarscope filters

Fantastic bit of kit Dave! Wasn’t aware of it before you posted these pics. Looks like the perfect mount. Have you bought it with a particular set up in mind?

Here’s an even more fortunate close shave - thankfully the meteorite just managed to miss the visitor centre 🥵

I thought the same Peter. Only had 10 minutes of clear skies before the Sun disappeared, and I was looking at the active area at 140x - a completely crazy power for a 70mm set up. But details remained sharp and bright enough through binoviewers.

Shop around and you should find great deals on Gitzos too. I bought mine in a pre-Xmas sale from an online camera store for half price. Previous generation 4 and 5 series models are all exceptionally robust

I fell for the Germanic allure of the “Skysurfer“ too Jeremy. Thought all my finder troubles would be behind me. In fact it’s only marginally less cr*p than most of the other RDFs on the market. Have gone back to 6x30 SW RACI - though not for solar of course.