geoflewis

Lovely report @Konand just shows that you can still see some exciting stuff even with Mr Blobby in the sky.....

That's beautiful @Skipper Billy. I was viewing it through my 22x85 binos earlier....

I've just come in from a brief 1 hour session with the binoculars and the dew shields worked a treat. I had issues with my specs misting over, then when I gave up wearing those I had a similar problem with the bino eyepieces misting due to my watering eyes, but there wasn't a hint of dew forming on the binocular's objective lenses, so they were a great success 👌

Thanks Stu.

Thanks both. Yes, definitely one of the visual lolipops. It's one of the first faint fuzzies that I located with my naked eyes well over 50 yeas ago and then likewise one that I first looked at through my first telescope back in 1971. It remains an enduring favourite of mine and always will be.

Thanks Paul, I'm pleased that you like it.

Thanks Peter.

Last year I purchased a pair of 22x85 observational binoculars from FLO to ride on my Orion Monster Parallelogram Mount. The combination is superb for all sky observation right through the zenith, but during unfavourable conditions the objectives can quickly mist over due to dew formation. The binoculars don't have integrated dew shield and despite looking around, I haven't been able to find an inexpesive solution. Hence I asked a few of my astro 3D printing friends if a solution could be achieved that way. @Silent Running (thanks John) came to the rescue, designing a pair of long, slightly tapered dew shields, sending me a test print to check that the internal diameter would easily fit over the objectives, before printing the final items, which arrived in the post today. Here are a few images of what they look like... The internal diameter was deliberaly slightly oversized to all me to fit a couple of patches of sticky-backed felt, which holds them perfectly in position whilst allowing them to be easlier slid on/off the binoculars. I now can't wait to try them out under a dark, clear sky to see how well they protect the objective lenses from dew formation.

Hi all, I haven't been on here much recently, which is primarily due to almost no imaging for 2 months. However, I finally got out the past couple of weeks and got back to DSO imaging, after several months dedicated solely to Mars. My 'return to DSO' target was the Double Cluster (NGCs 869 & 884), which is one of my favourite visual targets with my 22x85 binoculars and something that I haven't imaged for 6 years and back then with a DSLR camera. The image is LRGB with approximately 1 hour each filter (all 3m subs L=22, R=18, G=17, B=22). Captured with my QSI583wsg-5 camera through my 4" TSAPO100Q telescope. It took me several nights over 2 weeks to get even this data, mainly due to the continuing rubbish skies, but also not aided because on 2 nights I forgot to turn on the dew heater strap, so probably 70%+ of the subs from those nights were unusable...!! Thanks for looking.

Stunning detail Avani.

Just signed the petition - I currently don't have a significant street light problem as I live on the outskirts of a rural village with no street lights in the immeditate vicinity, however, LAs should still be encouraged, if not required, to instal shades on any newly installed street lights, as the light domes from the nearby towns continue to increase.

Very nice Peter

Thanks Mick

Thanks Steve, yes, that was a lovely surprise to see 🙂. I too had cloud and ended up imaging through cloud, with them no longer being visible naked eye, but I had to be quick as after another 10 mins they dipped below the tree line as seen from my observatory.

There is nothing fancy about this image, which other than being slightly cropped is straight off the camera. The image is a single 8 sec exposure at ISO 800 captured through clouds with my standard Nikon D90 DSLR, attached to my 4" TSAPO100Q telescope with a x2 TV Powermate in train. The 8 sec exposure allows Jupiter's 4 Galilean Moons and Saturn's rings to be revealed, but with the consequence that Jupiter is over exposed. Callisto is to the left of Jupiter, with Io, Europa and Ganymede seen in order away from Jupiter's right side. Thanks for looking.

Thanks Jeremy

Thanks. I've annotated the below image for Olympus Mons. It's not the best image, but at least I've got it 🙂

This is my 1st successful session imaging Mars since 4 Nov, so well over 2 weeks ago. It is also quite possibly my last session imaging the red planet this apparition, but you never know.... Mars is receding from Earth quite quickly and now only displays a disc diameter of 16 arcseconds, about 75% of what was seen at closest approach early/mid October; that said, it is still about as big as it will appear at maximum, when it comes around again in approx 2 years time. Seeing on 22 Nov was poor to fair at best, but I have finally managed to get an image with Olympus Mons fairly central and also a hint of the 3 Tharsis volcanoes. Thanks for looking.

Peter, that is an excellent revision of what was altready a great image. It really shows that it is often worth going back for another look at the data; very well done.

Excellent map and animation. I too have been following Lucasz’s tutorial to prepare a map and animation, but also only have a very poor image of the Olympus Monster region, so hoping that I can capture better data in the coming week.

A very nice image Nigella. It's intersting to be reminded how much bigger the SPC was back then - it's almost completely gone now....

Thaks Pete, Yes, it seems that the worst weather conditons in the UK the previous couple of months, coincided with when Syrtis Major would have been visible from here. I also haven't had a very good look at Olympus Mons, so I have everything crossed that I get another chance at that this coming weekend into next week, when it will have rotated back into view from the UK.

Thanks Pete

Thanks Mark, yes, Gale Crater it is - great research

Hi Mark, yes I found another image showing it which I added as an edit to my post, so certainly seems real enough....