Froeng

Here is my set of 50deg goodness… I am wearing glasses, so the short fl Plössls don’t do it for me. I may sell off the 10.5mm TV and the 7.5mm Ultima as you have to crawl into the eyelens!

A very nice eyepiece set! Those Baader eudiascopics are legendary!

Now looking at Mars with 500x in the C8. It is remarkably steady. Although the C8 is clearly out of its depth at this magnification. Polar cap visible and dark markings on the surface. Any Mewlons around tonight? Should be quite the spectacle…

I agree, I can also see a tiny polar cap and a dark feature just to the South of it. I am looking at Mars at 335x and it is quite steady, but soooo small!

The moon does look good tonight!

Wellcome to the club!

A few planets and some hazy planetary nebula tonight. The forecast did look mixed, but after what feels like a loooong time, I thought I would grab this opportunity to put the scope out and see if anything could be glimpsed. Started off with Mercury at around 20.30, which was boiling away at low altitude. I could hardly see the phase in the C8 (this had been out for the best part of three hours by this time). Then Venus, dazzlingly bright, but also extremely wobbly and distorted due to the terrible seeing. Uranus was very faint in the fading daylight and very small. Next up was Mars. Although still quite high in the sky, a general fuzziness prohibited any details from showing themselves. Castor was an easy split, but, again, the general view was like looking through a boiling mess. By 22.00, it was just dark enough to have a peek at the Eskimo-Nebula in Gemini, which showed a nice blue-ish colour. A later attempt to photograph NGC2403 was then quelled by the appearance of high mist and more and more clouds. Packed up at 22.45. Anyway, it was good to be out and using the kit after a long while!

Sounds exactly like the story of my own astro-life! One thing I always tell myself when this happens is “it’s just a hobby! I am not depended on observing anything. But when the conditions are right - it will be wonderful again…”

Haha, I hope it is not leaking because of all the astronomers and their tripod feet…!

Looks amazing, but better be careful with those spiky feet on that roofing membrane. Some wooden underlays are highly recommended…

Good luck tonight and the coming ones. The moon is still around and I have a busy few days ahead. So, unfortunately I will have to give this a miss… Enjoy! Frank

Amazing sketch!

There is hope! not directly affecting the UK, but non the less… https://www.darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2022/12/IDA-EU-policy-initiative-FINAL_20-Nov-22.pdf

Vixen SP-DX with SP60l refractor and Vixen 45mm Plossl eyepiece. I was looking at double stars tonight the 60l is a f/15, 910mm refractor. I have recently acquired a second copy as my original one has a few dents, due to it being used in guide-tube-rings. A fine instrument, showing very nice Airy-disks and first diffraction rings. Highlights of the evening included Algieba, Castor and Tegmine... Plus a cursory look at the moon, which took 150x tonight. Hardly any false colour in these long refractors!

Petition signed

I did not say that! 👻 I am just speaking from my own experience. I, too have been using my mid-80s C8 from new and I have a case full of Vixen LVs, which I love. They are brilliant on a tracking f/10 scope, but in a Dobsonian? You will need wide field AND good compatibility with fast f-ratio. I would think some nice TV Ethos or Delos eyepiece should do the trick..! 😎 I don’t know if you would need a Paracorr at f/5, but you may need to plan for it…

One more thought to add. I agree a “large” newtonion would be a good upgrade to your C8. However, please bear in mind you may need new (better corrected) eyepieces and possibly a coma corrector to make use of the likely faster f-ratio. This could add a significant cost element…

I am confused! Meade SCT (not Maksutov) added internal weight? Yes - or No? ???

I think it was this one:

It does count! I do the same and anything that get’s you away from the ground seems to provide a seeing benefit. I think it is said the ground turbulence stops almost completely about 20m up. There is a guy in the middle of Paris who’s posted some astonishing videos of Jupiter on youtube. He took these from his high rise balcony. He did use a Mewlon 300 though…

And yes - the clouds did clear for me here in the UK. As the moon was bright, I had a look at some double stars: Almach, Miram, wasat, Theta Aurigae, 118 Tauri. Then we had a light shower, but I was prepared with some plastic covering. On to Propus, and dazzling Castor! Also Mars, earlier Venus and Jupiter (showing Ganymede’s shadow). All in the C8 with Binoviewer at 225x mag… packed up at 21.30 as it was 2deg C.

Waiting for the clouds to clear…

To compare this thread's subject to the actual "Holy Grail", ie the humble carpenter's cup, wouldn't we be talking about something like: a) Galileo's original telescope that he used b) Newton's original "newtonian" reflector or c) the Hooker telescope Edwin Hubble used at his time. I admit non of the above people were Jesus, but then we are comparing ordinary telescope to holy cups...?

Thanks for the enjoyable report Magnus! May I ask what focal length your Newtonian is? Thanks Frank

I used to use the manual setting circles on my Super Polaris DX for about 25 years, with starhopping "the last mile" with an Atlas. Often struggled under my sky conditions (has anyone heard about lightpollution?) Switched to GOTO with SkySafari about six years ago and I would NEVER go back. What a revelation!