Paz

That is big! I think it would take nine of my 14" scopes combined to gather the same amount of light!

I've got an off axis mask I often use, mostly for lunar and doubles at low to mid magnification. That is 137mm so I could get a full aperture filter and use it full aperture or use it with my existing aperture mask and have both options for the price of one.

Does anyone have experience of solar observing with a big reflector and a full aperture filter. I was wondering about options for improving the white light views I gan get compared to my st120/Herschel wedge which is currently my best white light set up. Swapping the st120 for an apo may happen at some point but a full aperture mask for my dobsonian would be only £130 or so, or I could make an off axis for just the cost of a square of film - £20. The detail I can see on the moon with my VX14 far exceeds what any of my other scopes can do, even with an aperture mask so I got to thinking about using it for solar. I'd be interested to hear any comments or experiences.

I've found quite a consistent pecking order for the wow factor when sharing views with non astronomers. That is moon first, then Saturn, then Jupiter. After that it's not so consistent but the easy dso's do well, like m13, m42, and the double cluster. I've sometimes tried showing more exotic things like tight doubles or galaxies that are just faint fuzzies and these have tended to be a flop relatively speaking.

I don't have a monocle but I do have a pair of those clip on sunglasses that I clip on to my glasses when driving in bright sunlight. I get a lot of mickey taking from my family about how old they make me look but I don't care!

I have a few things on my wish list but probably a 4 inch apo is top of it.

Clear sky nights are in the minority where I live but I will skip an observing opportunity if work or family commitments clash, or if I can't afford to be tired. Yesterday I did a bit of solar in the day, then lunar/planets at dusk, and then set up my mount in the back garden to do some doubles later. But I could tell I was tired so in the end I brought my kit back in and made sure I good a goods nights sleep.

If you have any eyepieces that someone with a paracorr also has they might be able to give you a setting for one and then you will have a starting point. I know how the focal positions of most of my non TV eyepieces compare to my TVs and so know their rough paracorr settings. Or if you do try to calibrate it yourself the double cluster is a helpful target as there will be lots of reasonably bright stars from edge to edge. It is true you would have to reset your focus every time you change the paracorr setting but each setting will only have one correct focus position so if you are methodical you should be able to run through the range and not have to go round in circles.

I agree this is a good idea. I've been using a red film on my android phone for a couple of years with sky safari. I take off my phone's case and tuck the film inside the case in front of the screen and snap it back together. This way my phone is solid and the film can't be moved/lost. I'm not sure though if my film is this dark type or something a bit lighter... I'm going to check it out.

Experiences will vary but here's mine... I do most of my observing from light polluted skies with apertures from 60mm to 350mm. The brightest stars I can see naked eye vary from around mag 4 to 4.7 or so. The apertures I use most often are 120/127mm and 350mm. Open clusters look very much better with more aperture, despite the light pollution. I can see more stars and more colour. Globular clusters are also much better. They may be grey fuzzies with smaller aperture but can resolve into innumerable stars with 350mm despite the light pollution. Where more aperture starts to struggle to have an advantage if there is light pollution is on lower contrast objects like nebulae and galaxies. From home I've never seen structure within a galaxy even with 350mm. I can see size and shape, and condensation but that's it. I find more aperture just makes for a brighter fuzzy. The very bright nebulae with high natural contrast (e.g. M42 and M57) benefit from more aperture but most nebulae are not like that and don't benefit so much. However more aperture does allow higher magnifications with deep sky filters before the image becomes too dim.

Ooooh that's nice - congratulations on the new scope!

I notice this when I come home from observing somewhere dark. I'll get out of the car and look up and the sky looks jet black, at first sight better than where I came back from, but then you realise you can see a lot less stars and it's just that I've lost my dark adaptation.

I would say not an az3 for the reason you have noted already. However a 4 or 5 would be fine.

Epic report - this could go straight into an astronomy magazine and not be out of place. I am jealous of how much gear you managed to pack into the car, on my holiday all I could take was a 50mm monocular, but on the other hand I got two late night observing passes compared to your one! 😀

Great report, thanks for posting.

I am a fan of tracking platforms and use one with my dobsonian for the same reasons. The onky down side in my case is it raises the eyepjece hejght out of my reach at zenith meaning I need a step for high altitudes. However that said the biggest benefit is to be had observing at the equator where things move the fastes but eyepie e height isnt an issue. By the time you get to the zenjth things have slowed down a bit and past that towards celesrial north things slow right down and its easier to get by without tracking.

I can't compare but I've got a 1.25" Lacerta wedge and am very happy with it.

Great report - those exotic southern objects are like reading folklore about mythical far away places!

Great report of a session with a clear plan and a determined effort to see it through. I think comets can be tough, I've had a hit rate of finding/confirming less than half of the ones I've tried to see.

I got into solar system objects and dso's first and then doubles later, they are great targets and are doable in a wide range of conditions. I'm a fan of having a go at any target in any scope and have tried my st80 on just about every type of target from planets and doubles to galaxies and nebulae.

Great report, we are all jealous!

Most of my eyepieces were bought second hand and all of the had the box with one exception... my 31mm Nagler! I was like a coiled spring waiting for one of these second hand for a long time and got beaten on the draw more than once when they came up. So when one came up and by pure luck I saw it on abs within minutes of it going on I scrambled to message the seller and I wasn't fussy about the box as there were other buyers ready to buy it if I didn't. So my 31mm is excellent condition wise and has caps but no box. I didn't get a discount for no box but I've been very happy with my purchase.

Great report, that's a good haul of targets!

I've just been checking Lamont out in my moon maps, it does look like a tough one. I'll be keeping it in mind if I'm observing at a good time for it.

I'd vote for a 30 or 31mm first, then consider the small focal length end of the spectrum once I'd got a feel for how much the scope/conditions will take. I don't know if you need a paracorr at your focal ratio, I have one with a f4.6 dob and it is a helps with both field curvature and coma at that focal ratio.