Paz

I've got a feeling everybody is doing this!

I have 2 Naglers, 8 Delos, 1 TV Plossl, 11 SLVs, 4 NPLs, 1 microguide, probably 10 or so plossls, so maybe 35 to 40 in total, and there's a number if bino pairs in there.

Nice report and your observations about colour are good. I never used to see colour in stars except for the extremes, but the more I observe the more subtle the colour differences are that I pick up.

I have sometimes thought that our bad weather kind of protects us from overdoing it, I can imagine that soon enough it would be exhausting being out into the early hours night after night!

I think the single best thing anyone can do to enjoy this hobby is retire!... and the next best thing is to relocate somewhere with good skies! I do the same thing with binoculars if I am short of time - take them out for very short sessions looking at easy objects or scouting out places I will be star hopping around the next time I am out with a scope.

That is a useful take on imaging that I had not thought of and I can see the appeal of it. I read observing reports of early morning sessions by others - it would open up a much bigger set of opportunities. In 10 years of observing I've never yet managed to get myself out of bed for a really early observing session, I will try harder!

That's a good point, I moved more into observing solar system objects (and double stars) initially due to light pollution but the ability to therefore observe at more sociable hours has been a significant benefit.

For the last year or so I've been mostly avoiding observing very late in the night having had a heart issue that has motivated me to change a few habits to try and be healthier. I've changed a number of other things lifestyle-wise but getting more sleep has had the most effect on if I feel right. As well as the physical effects of poor sleep, I think it has been a driver of why my memory is not great - often my other half will say "do you remember xyz...?", but often I won't remember it, and since I've been reading through my observing notes recently there's quite a lot I have observed that I don't remember. A lack of enough sleep has been compounded by the usual other things such as working too hard and looking after the kids when they were younger etc, but I was wondering how do you find astronomy affects you in the short and long term in terms of disrupting sleeping patterns and do you have any tricks to minimise the impact?

I've done something similar to this to separate some stuck t2 adapters. If you are squeamish read no further...! I filed a number of notches around the perimeter of one side that was otherwise smooth and impossible to grip. On top of that I wrapped a thick rubber band around it and got an adjustable spanner on to it. All of this put together did the trick.

I have all 3 magnifications but I use the 2.6x gpc the most, so much so that I have 2 of them so that I can leave 1 permanently in my herschel wedge.

Great report, that's a good result and a good reminder of what is possible.

Hard as it may be to believe, there is a C8 discreetly hidden somewhere in this picture.

It's always interesting to read general press articles on subjects that you have some knowledge of from work or from hobbies, it provides an insght into how an outlet chooses pitch a story. It makes the sun sound a bit dangerous!

I initially planned to get pairs of Televue Delos for binoviewing and I had a lot of good times with a pair of 17.3mm Delos but I found that they make for a big heavy lump and a wide afov isn't all that necessary for me for binoviewing. So now main binoviewing eyepieces are 40mm NPL and 30mm NPL and then 20mm 15mm and 10mm SLVs. I still have the pair of Delos but use them rarely. The above eyepiece pairs plus the various glass path correctors and juggling optical configurations covers the bases for me in all my scopes.

I've had a lull recently but I was out today after work for some white light solar with the C8. AR3363 is big and with some clear faculae near it towards the limb as per your photo.

4.7kg ota, and 5.8kg with rings/dovetail/handle is a noticeable advantage in weight compared to the other currently available versions of the 125mm f7.8 doublet (it looks to be more than 2kg lighter). My C8 is 5.6kg with its dovetail so this 125mm apo is similar in weight albeit the mass is not as centralised. I think it would be fine for visual on the likes of an EQ5 or Skytee 2. The closest I've found to what I've been looking for to date is the carbon fibre explore scientific 127mm f7.5 doublet. In comparison the Stellamira 125mm scope looks to be about 1kg lighter and costs only 2/3 of the price 😲. Obviously there's more to consider than just weight but on this point it looks pretty good.

That's a good point. I miss first contact by about half a degree from home... ...but if I went to St Ives it is doable... the only problem being that sky safari doesnt show you the cloud that's going to be obscuring your view...

I think if I collated the details of location and seeing conditions from my notes it would show this. I quite often observe away from home at what I think of as cool sites or still sites, for this reason. Some of them are very close to home but the effort of a short journey can be worth it. At my house I often pick where I observe so that my line of sight avoids being over heat sources if possible or passes as high as possible above them.

I'm interested to see what this scope weighs, what the glass actually is, and understand with the carbon ota and glued objectives (if that is the case) if it will stand up to solar observing. I've been looking at 5" doublets for a long time and the thing putting me off is weight. Anything light enough to work well on an EQ5 would be a potential prospect for me.

I've been a member for quite a while the journal has some great content with depth that you don't get in many places these days but a number or articles are tough to understand or appreciate unless you have very specialist knowledge.

I find the tuning knob at -4 or -5 works best for me. At first I didn't notice much difference and for quite a time the amount of detail presented in Ha was more than I could take in anyway. But the more I have observed in Ha the more apparent the difference between the settings becomes.

I set up for a session on the moon this evening not expecting the best of views but just being out in nice warm weather. I recently resolved to change some of my observing habits so I was armed with a sketching pad which I have been using more often lately, and I resolved to identify and properly observe more new objects using the Lunar 100 list. I found a useful webpage of the Lunar 100 with a map of where they are plus a list describing/naming each item under the map. Lunar 100 (wilmslowastro.com) I've been going back through my observing notes and ticking off what I have seen already but this is my first time deliberately picking objects on a list for viewing rather than I view what I like which might or might not be on a list. I picked the Mare Serenitatis area as the terminator was just about past it so I thought anything there would be a good start. I was set up with a C8, 1.7x GPC, binoviewers and 20,mm SLVs for 173x and was using an EQ5 for tracking, which meant I could easily concentrate on what I was looking at. The seeing wasn't perfect, and with thin cloud coming and going it varied constantly, but I was quite focused on getting some new targets so the seeing didn't really register much with me, whereas normally it would be a preoccupation dwelling on the seeing conditions. Sulphicius Gallus dark mantle (Lunar 100 - Number 71) - it sounded like a villain from a Harry Potter book but it is in fact a Lunar dark feature from volcanic sources. I had a read up and apparently it is rich in titanium, iron, and volcanic glasses. I spent a long time on this and did a dodgy sketch which I won't inflict upon the internet. The dark mantle was vaguely apparent from the beginning but it was really obvious by the time I finished sketching having concentrated on it. It's now going to be one of those features that really stands out every time I pass that area by. Bessel Ray (Lunar 100 - Number 41) - a white ray from impact ejecta but the source of this is not known for sure. I could see the thinner ray north of Bessel more clearly than the broader ray south of it but I don't think it was ideal lighting to see this now, I think at full moon it will be most obvious, and whilst I didn't know that it is called this, I am sure I have clocked this previously at full moon. This is one of the reasons for using a hit list - how many things have I looked on the moon at where I missed out on appreciating it through not knowing what it really was. Every DSO I've observed I know what it is quite well, but there's so much on the moon that it's easy to pass over the things that you see. Linne (Lunar 100 - Number 82) - a classic small crater with bright ejecta all round, I've read about this in the past and I'm sure I've seen it before. According to the Lunar HD app the terminator has just passed but the Maria floor here was still dark. The lip of Linne was only just lit and confirmed by its relationship to Linne G/H/F/B/A that stitch a line across the Maria nearby. I went up to 10mm SLVs for 345x just to be sure. The view was poor, this higher magnification plus the moon getting lower and the cloud getting thicker made it like watching an old black and white tv with bad reception, but there was no doubt about spotting Linne. Valentine Dome / Linne Alpha (Lunar 100 - Number 89) - a volcanic dome with a rille running through it. I couldn't see this at all but looking it up now I can see I was looking south of Linne when I should have been looking north plus it looks like it might be a tough target when the lighting isn't favourable and I am not sure if the terminator was far enough over to see it at the time I was out. I'll have to come back to this one. In the end I was out for a coupe of hours, which is much longer than I usually observe, and the time flew by - always a sign of a good session.

I drove to the village hall for a quiet bit of lunar observing this evening, it was nice to get out and about. I took the C8, the scope that historically I have used the least but it's seen an increasing amount of action recently. The moon was steady but a bit washed out with daylight. I noticed in Sky Safari that Venus was on the same declination as the moon so it was easy to slide over and check out Venus. I saw some detail at about 200x with a nd1.8 filter, I think my eye/brain are at last tuning in to what is possible on Venus.

That's some really good bookshelves! Here's mine, but my favourite book won't fit in the shelf, that being Antonin Becvar's Atlas of the Heavens. Of the books on the shelves Burhnam's Celestial Handbooks are my favourite, I also found a copy of the 16th edition of the Norton Star Atlas to go with them.

I just watched this, very funny and I would recommend it. I hope he makes it to the canaries.