Paz

I've seen the odd youtube astro video but they mostly have been about astrophotography which isn't my thing. I've not heard of many of the channels mentioned here but I will be checking them out. When it comes to youtube and hobbies though I have had an interesting experience regarding another hobby (chess) where I will play the game online and get right into it, then I'll get into watching it on youtube, then after a while I would realise I had stopped playing it myself and all I was doing was watching other (better) people playing it on youtube! So now I don't play anymore because I know all that will happen is I just end up watching other people playing it on youtube instead.

A naked eye supernova for sure!

I was worried about the usb connection flapping around so I got myself a right angled usb which is easier to keep still (you have to check though that it's the right orientation of right angle so that it sends the line the right direction).

I used a usb tester meter to check out my quark when I got it. If it's colder outside it takes more power to warm up the quark plus at the same time the battery might work less efficiently so it is a problem worth testing/eliminating. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B098T7P29L/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWwp13NParams

Very nice set up.

Great report, those dsos always remind me of the summer holidays. I can't do really late nights so have to wait to later in the summer to see things around Scorpius and Saggitarius.

Very nice, that's a lot of targets. I'm mostly going for easy showcase doubles recently and even just those keep me busy.

I set up for some doubles last night with a 102mm f7 reflector and 17.3mm and 3.5mm Delos (for 41x ands 204x). I had some of the showcase doubles from the Cambridge Double Star Atlas saved in a list in Sky Safari. I line up my finders using Vega and have a quick look at M57 to check the conditions. M57 looks really solid so I end up looking at that for a while and then dropping down to see if I can see M56. I do see M56 - clear in averted vision and sketchy in direct vision. I then go straight up to the 3.5mm Delos and go back to M57 not expecting much but there it is with some structure which I was not expecting to see, this was great. I go back down to M56 but could not see it this time as it was too spread out by the magnification. I used up most of my time on these distractions so only got a quick look at the "other" double double STF2474 and STF2470. A very nice view, the two pairs were very far apart in the field and I would have been better off at lower magnification but I tend to pick an eyepiece for a session and mostly stick with it rather than spend time changing eyepieces for the perfect view of each thing. A good session and the first time on Lyra DSOs this season. I also had a quick sweep across the area of Deneb/Sadr/Albireo but a proper go at Cygnus will have to wait for another time.

I use baader fluid and these wipes below, but the main thing I do to keep eyepieces clean is I always blow them with a blower when I cap them off as bits of dust blow off easily if you do it when they have not been on the glass for long. Once they've been there a while they stick more, and if you let an eyepiece dew up then anything on it at that point gets stuck on even more so I try to avoid letting them dew up also.

This is a difficult one as it involves trading off different things, but I would say a big Newtonian on an eq mount would be a serious undertaking, quite difficult and physical to set up due to weight, bulk, awkwardness, more hassle balancing everything off, the eyepiece rotating all over the place, etc. I think there's a lot to be said for a go-to dobsonian although it may not tick every box perfectly. It is true eyepiece height varies a lot on a big dobsonian but my observing chair (a bog standard skywatcher one) allows me to go from almost sitting on the floor to almost fully standing just fine.

I would vote for either a ST80 or a 70-72ED scope, the reason being it has to be significantly more grab and go than an 8" dob or else it will be competing with the dob. An 8" dob is already a pretty convenient/easy to set up. I think the ST80 is a fine scope for what it is, and it is super light so it makes it possible to use a lighter mount making everything easier. ED/APO scopes tend to be heavier due to better/build quality, beefier focusers etc, and so need a beefier mount which reduces how grab and go the set up is.

I don't know why some eyepiece lineups have oddities. Vixen SLVs being an example. The top and bottom of the range make more sense but the range in the middle goes 12, 10, 9, 6! I wonder why the gap from 9-6 and why there is a 9 and there isn't an 8?!

Thanks for posting, this is very helpful to know. Glad to hear that you got good treatment. I paid extra for the retina scan at my last appointment. They said it wasn't clinically necessary but I was interested. They could see my floaters (but not bad/sinister ones) and they found a freckle on one of my retinas but advised it was a benign thing. But I'll keep having those scans whenever I have a check up as it didn't cost much and one day it might make a big difference to how soon an issue is picked up.

I only use sky safari in the field these days as it is so easy to use, but for paper maps covering the basics I would say the S&T pocket sky atlas is my favourite, a convenient size and easy going scale with all the popular targets. Next is the Cambridge double star atlas which also shows all the popular dsos plus double stars. It's a bigger size and a lot of it is taken up with tables of double stars but the maps are great in themselves.

Could I ask how big is a big prom? I have seen enough white light activity over the years to know a big/huge sun spot when I see one but I am relatively new to Ha so I don't have a handle on what is exceptional yet...and can you tell if some initial activity is going to take off into a big prom from how it looks or acts beforehand?

Here's my Ha set up. The bits at either end are the same as for white light. The different bits are sandwiched in the middle which are... Firstly a baader diagonal with T2 connectors on both sides. I have a T2 prism diagonal in this picture but I'm alternating with a BBHS mirror diagonal and I haven't worked out if I have a preference yet. There's a TS Optics 35mm T2 extension 1.25" eyepiece holder coming out of the diagonal. Then there is the Quark. I found myself a right angled USB charging lead that makes for a more secure fit in the field because it keeps the USB lead flush alongside the Quark instead of it sticking straight out to the side and constantly getting in the way. Then the rest (eyepieces, binoviewer, and nosepiece) is as per the white light set up... The nosepiece into the Quark has polarising filter at the back of it. Usually a filter would be on the front end of a nosepiece but the Quark eyepiece holder is not deep enough to allow room for one there. The Quark magnifies by about 4.3x so slightly more than the white light set up but in a similar ball park so I mostly use the same 3 eyepieces, 40mm NPLs, 30mm SLVs, and 20mm SLVs but in this case the 40mm's get the most use. Magnifications work out in the 102mm f7 scope at about 77x, 102x, and 154x and in the 72mm f6 scope at about 46x, 62x, and 93x. There are a few downsides to this set up. The weight and off axis weight - and it is worse than the white light set up because of the length of the Quark and having a 90 degree diagonal moves the binoviewers and their weight even further off axis. The 90 degree diagonal angle means I have to look down at a steeper angle more often more which is more tiring so I take breaks more often with this set up. With a 1.25" nosepiece into the telescope this set up is precarious and at significant risk of swinging down but that's been solved by switching to the T2 to 2" connection into the scope. .

I thought I would share a post on my solar set ups for white light and Ha. I use these with a 102mm f7 refractor and 72mm f6 refractor. Here's my most common white light set up at the moment. I'll add another post to this thread with my Ha set up when I get a moment, but in summary I have it so that the binoviewers bit and the 2" to T2 bit are standard to both set ups and all I have to do is swap out the bits in between them to go from white light to a Quark Ha set up. I have a Baader 2" to T2 nosepiece that stays in the scope with a UV/IR cur filter on the end. This has a heavy duty T2 quick changer to connect to diagonals so I can clamp anything onto it solidly. I used to use a 1.25" nosepiece into the scope for solar but that's not as strong as I would like when using binoviewers so now I use T2. The quick changer is great, easy to use and solid as can be. Then I have a Lacerta 1.25" Herschel Wedge with a nd3 filter built in, which connects by T2 on both sides. Then I have a filter changer so I can easily swap in/out filters without having the hassle of dismantling anything. I mostly use a Baader solar continuum filter but quite often like to view with no filter or a yellow filter. Then I have a 2.6x glass path corrector tucked in between the T2 extenders. I think in reality this magnifies in this set up by about 3.4x due to its position. Then I have a 1.25" focuser and a 1.25" nosepiece going into it that has a polarising filter at the back of it, which I can loosen from both sides so that I can rotate the polarising filter independently of both the wedge and the binoviewers. I am constantly adjusting this filter to get the best view. At very high magnifications with binoviewers I may sometimes take this out as I will want all the brightness available but most of the time it is in. Then it's a Baader Maxbright 2 binoviewer connected by another heavy duty T2 quick changer. Then I use 40mm NPLs, 30mm SLVs, and 20mm SLVs which work out in the 102mm f7 scope at about 61x, 81x, and 121x and in the 72mm f6 scope at about 37x, 49x, and 73x. The 30mm's get the most use. I label my eyepieces left and right and always have them oriented the same way every time just so everything is always consistent. This set up gives great views. The main down side is the weight and how far off axis the weight is which means I have to have the binoviewers pointing straight up when I would prefer to point them to the side so I can look straight into them rather than down into them. However the Lacerta Wedge brewster angle helps here as it means I am actually looking more often closer to straight ahead than down compared to if it was a 90 degree wedge.

I use binoviewers and a wedge but I have to use a 2.6x glass path corrector to get focused and so I'm usually using long focal length eyepieces in the binoviewer to keep the magnification down. This photo is a f6 refractor focusing with 12mm to spare using 20mm SLVs, and this set up allows me to rotate a polarising filter that is between the binoviewer and the wedge independently of the binoviewer and the wedge. It would be possible to shorten the light path quite a bit further if need be but that would entail a less flexible set up and potentially doing without any filters except for the UV/IR and nd3 which I never view without.

Great report, that's a lot of targets and persistence to keep going until 3.30 - you will almost never see me out that late. Sky Safari has a built in doubles list you can bring up called "Best Double Stars", but I often use the Cambridge Double Star Atlas to find doubles targets and then I tag them in a custom list in Sky Safari.

That Skylight scope looks epic! I had a look in Ha for a bit this morning and it was interesting on the surface where 3007/3012 are, plus some broad prominences on the leading limb. I swapped to white light and could tell straight away the seeing was not so good, but I'm relatively new to Ha so I was not so sure about assessing the quality of the seeing until I swapped to white light. No binoviewers for me today, I'm keeping the set up more simple while I get the hang of Ha observing then I'll go back to using them more often again.

Thanks, I do actually have a thin wedge looking towards about east-south-east from my garden that is trees/fields which means observing the sun in the morning and over better terrain is possible from home but only for a short time if I'm organised and time it right.

I have never heard of Meerkat before, I've just looked it up, very interesting!

I noticed over time that the best solar observing sessions I've had always tend to be when I am observing anywhere away from home and I've had lunar sessions away from home and noticed the views were consistently better also. I live in a relatively new estate (maybe 20 years old or so) where the plots are quite small so the houses are quite close together, gardens are small, and everyone tarmacs as much of their drive as possible to maximise parking. This means lots of surfaces putting out heat during the day and well into the night and this has a significant man-made impact on the seeing but heat pollution isn't something I've ever really heard talked about. I find that looking out over a nice grassy field or forest tends to be best for avoiding ground heat, or even better observing from the side of a hill where the ground falls quickly away from you so your line of sight more quickly passes above the murk is good. So I've been scouting good locations for solar and lunar observing away from home, looking for spots with easy parking next to southish facing fields and forests, or southish facing hill faces. Light pollution isn't a concern and safety isn't a concern and this kind of observing is at more civilised times of day (safety is one of the reasons I don't go to dark sites on my own). I wondered what others think about this. Sometimes I read reports of great solar and lunar views that I rarely seem to match at home but when I go somewhere what I see is closer the the results that I read from others.

Good report, that's a lot of doubles. That would wear me out too as I find they take a lot of concentration! How did you find the 2.5mm SLV, I have one of those but have used it only with f5 scopes, I haven't tried it in an f7. It sounds like it held up ok?

I agree, many filters are designed for or marketed at photographers. I recently got a 2" Baader IR/UV filter and it seems to have been rebranded for astrophotography which left me wondering for a while if it was ok for visual (I think it is). When looking at LP filters in the end I was guided more by looking at the spectrums they pass than by whether they were marketed at observers or photographers.