Froeng

Hi Fedele, is this example better than the previous one?

I agree with Stu and Mr Spock! In particular on grass or soft ground, spikes are more stable from my experience. But even on a hard surface (paving slabs, concrete, etc) I prefer spikes.

Nice setup - in a nice backyard!

Wow, amazing report! It must have been a cracking night! Thanks for posting this write-up!

Just going inside now. The seeing has been amazing. The sharpest Jupiter I have seen for years. Clear and sharp cloud textures, the GRS a saturated orange and some white ovals and festoons between the EBs. Saturn was lovely, too, but too low down and wobbly. Saw Cassini and a cloud band on the disc. But Jupiter… !

Jupiter is also magnificent! Just watched Europa disappear in Jove’s shadow. Now GRS is on show! The seeing is constantly improving whilst Jupiter climbs higher and higher… Saturn is behind the house😠

Well, the video might not be 100% in focus, but I’m loving the music! 😎

it is quite a humble little piece. Also no lens edge blackening and the coatings are not multicoloured. But hey - for less than 40USD I won’t complain 🙂

A quick test of my new 72mm Plössl in the C8 tonight. “A 72mm Plössl?” you ask, “what is that useful for?” just for fun really. It is 2” and about 45deg fov. Interestingly the “field stop” is not working as intended as the clear aperture of my 2” diagonal (and probably the C8’s baffle tube) restrict the view further to about 35+ deg. Nonetheless , the view is sharp. I will need to get a soft eyecup printed - the measured distance between the top of the eyepiece and my glasses is about 43mm! The purpose of this eyepiece is to create a maximum exit pupil (without the 6.3 reducer) of 7.2mm, which should be useful under dark skies… I bought this quite cheaply from the States (shipping was the same as the eyepiece!) at Surplus Shed, a very interesting and friendly shop. I also almost got blown over by the wind, so left it at the quick test.

Have you tried slewing the mount with the directional buttons on the handset (ie manually)?

Good find! You may also be able to source a new Boxdörfer MTS3+ then, as the the reasons Mr Boxdörfer stopped selling to the EU were similar…

Set up at 21.30 last night. The sky had some high clouds, but thankfully the wind was stating to die down. Looked at a boiling Venus crescent for a while, but no cloud detail visible. Epsilon Lyra looked at bit fuzzy in the C8, so the seeing even high up wasn't great. Albireo nice at low magnification. Went to bed around 23.00 and got up at 3am to open the new Jupiter season. The scope was now perfectly "chilled". 18deg ambient temperature at 3am in the morning is really quite nice! Jupiter was only a very fuzzy ball unfortunately. When I turned around and looked to the SW, I saw dark clouds appearing. Knowing the forecast had said there may be a slight chance of rain, I decided to pack up at around 3.30. All done and back in bed by 4am. I then heard the thunder right overhead and the rain started hammering down! I was glad I had not slept through the alarm clock this time! This could have been a disaster...

All the factors above are important in my opinion! However, I also found it makes a difference to observe off-the-ground. My home observing is done from a mid-town 3rd floor balcony. You may think this sounds terrible, but I would say on average, the seeing seems to be better than my previous location where I observed from the garden. I read somewhere that 20m up (which I am not quite) is the transition zone between the air disturbed by the landscape’s features or relief and a more steady layer of atmosphere which typically should much improved seeing. As they say -YMMV

This is what the 1980s finders look like:

The old Vixen 30mm finders are very nice. Unfortunately though, most of them do not come with standard brackets! I don't know how old the 120S is, but if it is from the late nineties, you may be able to find a 6x30 Vixen finder that was actually made for one of these OTAs

After the “under water” moon and Venus last night, I slept through my planned Jupiter session this morning😴. Alarm clock was turned down in volume 😖Woke up at 4.30 and couldn’t see the giant anywhere. So, back to bed again…

Venus and the moon both look like you are observing under water tonight...

Hi David, what an amazing journey. Excellent post! I hope you will be able to continue your journey for many years to come and many more thousands of galaxies! I guess in previous centuries you would have been considered a true professional astronomer… Take care and many clear skies Frank

I thought it might be worthwhile to share our plans for an upcoming observing night. Could be an inspiration for others… My short list for this bright night as per SkySafari below: What are your plans for tonight?

Had a casual tour of some brighter targets last night. Light pollution and the moon did not help with the fuzzies… In no particular order: the Moon, Venus, M13, M92, Mizar, zeta Her, NGC 6543, M57, M27, Eps Lyr, and my all-time favourite NGC 7008 (can’t wait to look at this under a darker sky again). Call me old-fashioned but I really like the view through the tunnels of the 1.25” 45mm Vixen Plössls (about 35deg afov) in the Binoviewer. Makes things look like abstract paintings…! All viewed in the C8

WOW

Nice report! You are correct, the skies were not as transparent as they could have been due to the high humidity. Good luck for tonight!

one form last night...

A friend and I had a four hour deep sky session at a site in rural Cambridgeshire. Big safari with galaxies, globs and planetaries. Still tired! Highlights included: M13, M3, M27, M57, M81/2, M51, M94, M102, M64, M87, Markarian’s chain and other brighter fuzzies. At 2am high haze and later fog ended the night for us. Brilliant after so many weeks of clouds…

Are these made out of zerodur? And how do you collimate them?