Louis D

Beat me to it. 🤪

I could see this being a problem in Texas as well. We hit 112° F in 2011 and had a total of 90 days above 100° F that same year. It was brutal.

In the US, Southwest Airlines still allows two free checked bags and one free overhead bin carry-on bag. All other US carriers charge for checked luggage and the low cost carriers also charge for overhead bin carry-ons. If you do the math and need two checked bags and a bin-sized carry-on, Southwest is generally the way to go for domestic flights.

Since I've never used the Celestrons, I cannot confirm that. However, there is a strong possibility they are related making the 7mm and 9mm basically the same. I just like the adjustable eyecup design on the Meades better, so I bought a set of them for comparison to the BST Starguiders (Paradigms). Those two focal lengths were noticeably better in head to head comparison with the 5mm and 8mm BSTs.

I've read that the big Dob guys scrub down their bathtub and then line it with towels before partially filling it with detergent water to give their big primaries a good soaking. The towels protect both the tub lining and the mirror from each other.

Generally, prism diagonals have a shorter optical path length (OPL) than mirror diagonals of the same clear aperture. IIRC, A 90° Amici prism diagonal should have the same OPL as a plain 90° diagonal. A 45° prism diagonal may have a longer OPL because they use a Schmidt prism, IIRC. Which type(s) of correct image diagonals were your using during your testing?

Vixen SLVs are $175 before tax from most reputable retailers here in the US. You can get used Pentax XLs for that money quite regularly. I forgot to mention used Vixen LVs. They generally go for under $75 each on the astro classifieds here in the US. They view like Pentax XLs/XWs, just narrower in field of view. They should perform excellently at f/4.7. I've had my 9mm version for 25 years.

They just put a new zip-tie on it when done to avoid attracting attention. Legitimate checked baggage inspection does the same and puts a note in the bag informing you.

If you can find used copies of the discontinued 9mm and 6.5mm Meade 5000 HD-60 eyepieces, they are real gems that perform very close to Pentax XL/XW and Morpheus levels at f/6. They were under $100 each when new. They're also quite usable with eyeglasses. They should still perform well at f/4.7, but I can't confirm that as I don't have a scope that fast. If eye relief isn't an issue, there are a whole lot of options out there; but many, like the Abbe Orthoscopic suffer a bit at f/4.7.

You're lucky they didn't disappear in baggage handling. Theft from checked baggage is a big issue in major US airports. The X-ray machines show them exactly what's inside, so they alert an accomplice to do the dirty work later in handling.

I was once on a puddle jumper flying up the Hudson River corridor. Before the flight, the pilot walked back to the passenger area (18 passengers as I recall in 6 rows of 3) and rearranged us left right and front to back to get the weight distribution correct. All carry-on luggage was piled into a bungee corded closet in the back. It flew slower than single engine planes using the same corridor. Looking at internet images, I think it must have been a Short SC.7 Skyliner:

The GSO made StellaLyra CC is very good visually for the money. It also helps to flatten the field somewhat. I've no idea how well it works for prime focus photography, though. If you are also a visual astronomer, it could serve double duty for you.

For low power finderscope usage, draw tube slip focusing is usually good enough, so go ahead and remove the focuser. You adjust it once, lock it down, and never bother with it again. It's how I use a Celestron 90° Amici prism diagonal and eyepiece with an old Russell Optics 60mm finder scope made from a 60mm binocular objective.

The Clement Bellerophon III requires only 1" of backfocus and yet has 1.5" of focus travel. I'm not sure they have a Synta refractor adapter, though.

I have never had my carry-on bags weight checked that I can recall, only my checked bags. When would they weight check your carry-on bags since you never put them on a scale during check-in? Do they have a different process in Europe than the US?

Check the weight against what you feel comfortable lugging through an airport and shoving in an overhead bin. My back isn't what it used to be, so I can't carry much weight for those sorts of distances anymore.

Too bad the airlines neither own nor maintain the concourses, or that would have been a great response. The local city will be on the hook for repairs instead.

It's something to do with the edges going beyond my eyeglass frame above and below with the ES-92s. They're $800 before sales tax here.

If you think the 12.5mm Morpheus is engaging, try the 12mm ES-92 which is breathtaking in comparison. When I swap back to my 14mm Morpheus, the view seems claustrophobic. It's all relative to your most recent experience.

What's your total eyepiece and accessory budget? I prefer to invest in a few really pleasing eyepieces to start with and then fill in the gaps as funds become available rather than buying a bunch of so-so eyepieces that will end up being resold down the road.

I hear you. I had a panic attack getting everything out for that group shot. I literally took photos of each case ahead of time to help me get everything back where it belonged. Even then, I realized some reorganization was in order; so a couple of eyepiece swaps happened.

I remember those in the Orion catalog (maybe not with your wife wearing them, though). So we have you to thank for them?

Pretty much the reason I refuse to join the local university based astro club. The leadership is very officious and takes all the joy out of observing. The suburban clubs are much more laid back.

Did someone say world's most disparate EP collection? Let's see, there's Tele Vue, Pentax, Vixen, Meade, ES, Baader, Astro Tech, APM, Edmunds, Rini, Russell Optics, Antares, Celestron, Surplus Shed, US military surplus, Orion, Agena Astro, Bausch & Lomb, and no name generics in my EP collection.

You only have to use long eye relief eyepieces if you have strong astigmatism in your observing eye. It is listed in your eyeglass prescription as CYL or cylinder in diopters. 0.5 diopters or less and most folks don't notice it. Above that, you'll probably want to wear glasses at least at low powers. So, check your prescription to find out which way to go. That said, many folks like the relaxed viewing experience long eye relief eyepieces provide. You don't have to cram your eye in close to the eyepiece eye lens to see the entire field of view. You don't have to worry about getting eyelash gunk on the eye lens with each blink. They like being able to look to the sky and then the eyepiece without having to flip their glasses on and off.