DHEB

Good to know that you made it without serious harm. See this little real story in AAVSO's page for SS Cygni: Astronomy is truly dangerous

To further illustrate the point of SS Cyg behaving unusually, see below the light curve for the last year. Since late 2019 the star has had a short "mini" outburst, followed by a long broadly peaked one, followed by a long a bright "quiescence". Also, minimum brightness during the quiescent state has become progressively brighter. This is definitely not normal behavior at SS Cyg.

Variable star observers have probably noticed the unusual behavior of SS Cyg since the late part of 2019. The saga is getting more interesting as recent observations indicate heightened activity in X-ray. Monitoring of this star in all wavelengths is encouraged. From a recent VSNET alert: Link to ATel #13744: http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=13744

Looks very nice and elegant with that color. But just curious: doesn't it get too hot inside on a sunny summer day?

One key to observe some galaxies from light polluted places is to search for those that have relatively bright and compact cores (apart from those you saw also M63, M94), as opposed to those that are spread and faint throughout (like M101 or M74). The former tolerate magnification better which helps to distinguish them from the background sky.

Interesting star! I am not an expert either, but VSX lists RZ Cep as RRC/BL, that is overtone pulsator with Blazhko effect. The "double" maximum, or "pre-maximum hump" seems to be a consequence from the particular pulsating frequencies of this star. See for example: Cester, B., and I. Todoran. "The variability of RZ Cephei." Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana 47 (1976): 217-228. (Link to harvard database)

Great post, Dave! Nothing better than a nice tutorial to inspire new observers to venture into variable star astronomy.

I have had this scope for a year now and can confirm that it is very good for general wide field low power observing. It is a nice all-round telescope and specially well suited for traveling. Chromatic aberration is present and obvious when looking at bright object. With 460 mm FL it is not easy to reach high magnifications required for planets and Moon, but it is not impossible either. I use it for variable star observing and bright DSO's and I am very happy with it. It is excellent quality for the price. As for the CA you can see these photos, taken by attaching a DSLR to the scope with the extension tubes supplied: Detail of a birch tree (CA almost not existent): Detail of a roof border (CA noticeable)

I like Geoptik bags very much and, indeed, have two of them. One problem I have witnessed though is that the inner material in both bags is prone to release a lot of red specks that attach electrostatically to whatever is inside. One not nice surprise for me was to find a lot of these specks deposited on the primary mirror of my Newtonian. I resorted to keep vacuum cleaning the interior of the bags often, but I guess a more fundamental solution would be to use a different inner material. I recently wrote to Geoptik a friendly email to tell about this issue but got no response. Sad.

Indeed, it is often a bit of a challenge to share site between visual observers and astrophotographers, one that requires observance of some etiquette.

Nice family! I just wonder what is the main reason you got the new ones, as 16x80 is possibly not that a huge step from 15x70. Is the ability to mount them? Just curious

That's simply stunning. I am left speechless. I suddenly feel an urge to visit Namibia !

My humble but never failing SW 200 PDS, mounted on an even humbler but equally faithful EQ5, here shown while cooling at dusk. Image taken last time out in a dark forest, one week ago. Upon close inspection noticed that Cassiopeia made its way into the photo, behind the finderscope

Was the line "No cats were hurt during the production of this picture" missing from the footnote?

I like your "observing hut", @xtreemchaos, I guess you get the safety, tranquility and peace of mind that we otherwise only get in our own gardens or far off places. I guess that this is only for summer observing though, unless you shut the radiators during winter ! Cheers and clear skies!

Beautiful! May I ask where is this?

Something is better than nothing I understand your feelings, as my backyard during the last 5 years has been a pathetic hole to the SE from a balcony. I will soon move to a better place with zenith though !

That mount is simply superb. Excellent!

Two sources of joy: Left: TS Optics 15x70, 4.4 deg FOV. Large but relatively light, giving many hours of enjoyment since 2010. Mostly for astronomical use as finder/explorer or grab-and-go companion for short excursions. Most often hand-held, but not seldom mounted on photo tripod with an adapter. Newly collimated. Right: Nikon Monark 8x42, 6.3 deg FOV. Since 2015 providing hours of joyful birding during daytime, and the occasional grab-and-go nighttime experience. Hand-held only.

Here are my first two, globular clusters M15 (above) and M2 (below), both on 19 September 2015, single exposures, 15 seconds at 800 ISO. Nikon D40X, on the primary focus of a Skywatcher 200PDS (200 mm diameter, 1000 mm focal length, f/5) on a EQ5 equatorial mount. Just first experiments, I doubt anyone will get too excited about these Cheers!