Whistlin Bob

Wow- that's just a remarkable image! Love everything about it.

Mind blown!!!

Bought this scope as my first 9 years ago, and have owned and observed through many others since, but nothing has ever given me better lunar views then my humble sw200p. 

Arcing siren the young moon tonight against the twilight and the run through Fumerius, Petavius, Vendelinus and Langrenus just take my breath away in my Nirvana 4mm ep at 300x. 

Petavius central peak looks like a volcano!

Edit: @Mr Spock scooped me by three minutes!!! That was what I was looking at 😀

I've not tried a RASA, but I'd really like to!!!

I possibly have comparable experience- for a couple of years I imaged with a flocked Explorer 200p on a belt modded HEQ5, also in an obsy. The all in weight (scope, camera, filter wheel, small guide scope) was around 10kg, and longer than a RASA, so a bit of extra moment. I'd got the mount running pretty sweetly: with a lighter load it would do in the range of 0.5-0.8 RMS. With the newt it was more like 0.9 to 1.2 RMS- I found this acceptable. The mount was clearly under more strain, but there was no deterioration in a couple of years until I acquired an eq6, and the mount still works well today.

1 minute ago, Flame Nebula said:

Your comment is greatly appreciated! 

No problem.

I have a Bresser 127L (not APO, but a good scope) and a Skywatcher 200p (probably a comparable "level" in the market) , and they're really quite different beasts. To directly answer the question- yes planetary detail. On the very best nights the frac wipes the floor with the newt on Jupiter and Saturn for reasons described here in other posts. On an average night the difference between them is less. Strangely this reverses on lunar views- I'm not sure why, but whilst the frac yields really good lunar views, the newt, with a 4mm ep on a good night is utterly breathtaking.

I'm not sure "prettiness" is a thing you can see, but if it were, then the frac wins there too- stars are a little "hairy" in the newt due to the obstruction, even when you don't see the spikes, whereas in the frac they are beautiful orbs. Unfortunately I also see a little chromatic aberration in the frac (it's an achromat), which is absent from the newt, although this is fixed well enough by a semi-apo filter. 

As others have stated, the greater light grasp of the 8" is balanced by the contrast improvement in the frac:  I once ran them side by side on the Pleiades and both gave pretty good views at low magnification on the reflection nebula around that cluster. Marginally, I preferred the aesthetics in the frac that night.

However, if the purpose of this is to help with a buying decision, then I need to point out that I use the frac much less than the newt, for 2 simple reasons:

- The newt can be set up in a fraction of the time as it sits assembled in my garage and is simply lifted out and plonked on the lawn- it's then ready to go. 

- The newt is much more comfortable to use- most of the sky can be seen simply by sitting on an adjustable chair next it. With the frac, for objects near the zenith, I'm almost on the floor to get to the eyepiece.

HTH

10 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

imagine this post I'm writing now, may be perceived as over-sensitive

No- I think it's important that you posted it, as you have demonstrated that you were sincere in your question. I hadn't interacted with the post, but when I saw the title I thought it perhaps an attempt to launch an argument, as this is a subject about which folks can sometimes become dogmatic and impassioned (although less so on this forum). I suspect the posts above made the same apparently incorrect assumption. 

I've got hooked on this little fella, and tonight went after him with my ETX105- so 4 inch mak not frac. I would have to say elongated not resolved on a night off fairly steady seeing.

As the joke goes: it's easy to make a small fortune from astrophotography, just start with a large one.

More seriously, my local club converted to a micro charity to help us fund an observatory and support our outreach work. We sell prints at local events, and it does yield a little profit. It's a good way of promoting our group and acts as a conversation starter with interested folks. I suspect the hourly rate is rather unimpressive!

2 hours ago, josefk said:

i posted them over here

That's worked a treat, thank you very much 👍👍

12 hours ago, josefk said:

That's a great book @Whistlin Bob - if you use Sky Safari and would like the monthly observing programme of that book in SS lists let me know - i have slowly slowly created those lists over the last year or so. 👍

That would be really excellent. Was thinking last night that's what I need to do. That would be really helpful 🙏

For my birthday last month I got Steve O'Meara's Observing the Herschel 400. It was a beautiful night tonight, so I was able to make a start. 

5 little NGC galaxies around Leo, then mugged into favourites- the triplet and m51, then finishing by watching M3 drift through my binoviewers half a dozen times.  

I needed that!

2 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

One of my biggest fears

Same here...

1 hour ago, woldsman said:

The U.K. is an island located between weather fronts

Can't argue with any of that either...

BUT

The question for me is whether the hobby is still viable in this country, and that's still a strong YES for me. I do both imaging and observing , keep notes of what I do, and have done since 2018. On average, during that time, I manage some astro activity around 4 times a month, with around half of those being really good. For the last six months, that's fallen to around twice a month, so it's been a poor year, and obvs we're all feeling it. But I've still had fun, I've seen and imaged new stuff and I've made new friends through the hobby. I've just had to be a bit more patient than usual; I try and comfort myself with the probability that the next 12 months will be better then the last. 

That being said, to pull it back to the topic of the thread, the answer is lots of clouds!!!

I meant stuck on a total of 91, although m91 eluded me for a while! Finally saw it 3 years ago, although it was one of those averted vision smudges. Must go back and have another look as it's the right time of year.

Excellent work- that's a really great achievement. I got stuck on 91- the remainder aren't viewable from home- so I need to get myself to a dark site!

Have to say, I'm all for taking your time over this- many of these objects are so much more rewarding with a looking look.

And I completely agree about the Leo triplet 👍

I don't have a 4 inch frac, but I was inspired by this thread,and after a dreadful March we finally got a clear night.

I was observing with a 14" dob, and thought I'd see what it could do on Tegmine,which I've not observed before. The third component was a nice easy split, but the 2 close stars were suffering a bit from the 'hairyness' that you often get with dobs. Problem solved with the aperture mask- which gives 160mm of unobstructed F10 aperture. Even with this the split wasn't easy- but with a little patience the little black line gradually emerged into view 😃

A nice little surprise session tonight. Forecast very mediocre, but skies really looking good - if in doubt always trust mk 1 eyeballs! I got the 14" out...

Inspired by the Tegmine thread I decided to start there and managed to get a nice split, wheeled over to Castor and enjoyed those cats eyes for a bit and deciding I was in the mood for some doubles I slid across to Algieba. I was enjoying myself but the view abruptly disappeared behind some cloud. It looked good overhead, so I treated myself to a nice view of m51. I was using 7mm Celestron xCel, which I always feel is a little underrated, and I was getting some nice hints of spiral arms when the clouds hid that as well.

Couple of drops of rain had me packing away sharpish- as the forecast was now predicting an imminent downpour, but ten minutes later it was all clear again. Didn't feel like setting up fully so first had a little play with binoculars around Auriga (couple of clusters bagged) and then managed to find the beehive. Very nice!

I've been watching this thread for a little while now and thinking it could be the answer to a decent grab and go/travel rig for me. Finally pulled the trigger at PAS today. 

Very pleased as it's allowed me to mount my little Mak and 70mm frac side by side. My plan is to use the Frac as a super finder as well as a rich wide field instrument. For the Mak I've used a smaller L bracket then the one that came with the mount. Aligning then didn't seem too bad in the daytime- looking forward to when the perma cloud finally lifts!

6 hours ago, Flame Nebula said:

What sized dob did you use to see it at home? 

It's the same kit- a 14" dob 😃. 

Reading this topic just reminds me again that what most of us do is the equivalent of playing football with our shoelaces tied together. It speaks to the wonder of what's over our heads that we bother at all. 

My experience of really dark skies is limited but a few years back we were holidaying in Cumbria and I had a superb time with my dob- thinking back to it still gives me a tingle. 

To answer the op question: Stephan's Quintet and NGC891. At the time I would also have said the Horsehead, but the experience of doing it in Cumbria helped me find it at home, and on average I manage to catch it about once a season now. 

I wrote it up at the time- definitely my best experience with a telescope, and probably my best report as well! I really need to do this again...

It'd be my 14" Dob all night long! Does everything except solar so well and still fits in the boot of my car with the seats up.

The row of houses that can be seen from my back garden has probably never been called a landscape before, but here's the view I get when I look North whilst observing, and I've seen lots of the universe from here. This is 80*30 second shots using a 12-24mm Canon lens on a 100d and merged in GIMP, and tweaked for contrast and to try and get rid of some of the light pollution.

Nice one. 

Checked my observing logs- both of these entries were with 14" dob:

26/3/20 - Ngc2419- intergalactic wanderer- my that's faint!

22/2/22 - Ngc2419- intergalactic wanderer - still very faint!!! How the heck did Herschel see that?

Clearly it's an every other year thing to go back and check it's still faint!

Tried many times, seen it just once. In 14" dob, with 160mm aperture mask and 4mm ep, so 400x. Spent ages repeatedly watching it zip across the field of view, convinced that it would be easier next time. That's was around 4 years ago, and I haven't seen it since!!!

Don't know about twinkling, most nights Sirius looks like a glitter ball in a dodgy disco!

14 minutes ago, Mr_Cat said:

Seeing that I'm the only person that appears to enjoy a glass of something while observing

Definitely not, but we do seem to be a minority! Glad to hear that at least someone is getting some observing in.

I've found that truss dobs are complete rubbish... when you forget the trusses. Once met up with a pal at a dark site half an hour away, unloaded the car and traipsed across a field and only realised my error when I started to assemble the thing.