LukeSkywatcher

LOL. This is a bit like Room 101. Let's put concrete into room 101.

Ask 1 question, get a multitude of answers. That's fair enough and expected. The 3 things here to consider are: 1. Safety (must be paramount) 2. Work involved (no heavy heavy lifting) 3. Cost (as cheap as possible) I still think bark mulch is the way to go. I wont harp on about it but i used crutches for 30 yrs and i still use them often. I know what surfaces work well for me using "4 legs" and which ones to avoid. I'm no expert, but ive taken a hell of a lot of falls in my time (no i wasnt drunk..........well not every time) and i have yet to break a single bone in my body. I'm like a stuntman or a paratrooper (LOL)......they are trained to "tuck and roll". God forbid that you should ever take a fall. Most peoples natural reaction is to put their hands and arms out to save themselves from sustaining a head injury. Thats fine on concrete. You may break a finger or wrist or arm, but no head injury. On any other surface, tuck (tuck your hands and arms into your arm pits) and roll (twist your body mid-fall so that you land on your side). Your arm/shoulder will take the brunt of the fall but your head will be safe.

Its also quite easy to lose your footing on gravel and you could end up with ankle,knee or hips injury.

Gina i remember you saying this last winter and it was a concern. Paving slabs may be ok but they can still get wet and slippy even with just a bit of mud on them. They are also heavy. I'm thinking "mulch" bark wood chippings could be a great way to go. Yes, it gets wet and dirty but offers a non-slip solution. It also shouldnt be too physically demanding to lay down a nice thich layer of it. Most DIY stores/garden centres sell it in rather large bags. The store gopher should load it into your car and then just cart it one barrowful at a time from the car to the area you want the path in. Its used in most kids playgrounds now because its a safe surface to take a tumble on. It absorbs any shock from a fall/tumble and you are very less likely to cause yourself an injury.

The Sun seems to be breaking through right now. Could be good views westwards......... Dont think i'll bother. I'm happy with what i saw.

I would have really struggled to image it. Glad i didnt try. The image of it will live in my mind til i die.

Im glad i watched S@N last night. It's the only rocky inner planet that i have never given much thought to or about. Its a weird little ball of rock (not much rock to talk about). If i understood the programme correctly........a day on Mercury (6 Earth months) lasts longer than a year on Mercury (2 Earth months)?. I'm sure i have that wrong.

You saw something. For most of us it was always going to be an event where we saw something (not the whole thing). That's good enough. I didnt plan to observe the whole 8 hrs anyway. I can now tick Mercury of my list of observed planets. Ive seen it in the evening after sunset but only naked eye. OK.......today it was a black dot.. I'm happy with my transit day

Thats blue(ish) sky there and your solar filter looks like its well solid. You didnt give it a go?.

It seems that the best views were to be gotten in the NE of the UK. Just goes to show that its not always "grim up north". I'm pleased with what i saw. I never planned to be sat at the scope all day for the whole event. Ive seen a transit now........i can move on. It wouldnt be in my top 5 things ive seen.

Looks like my fun and games are over for the day. Way too much thick cloud now which shows no sign of moving. Least i saw something which is good considering i have never really bothered with this sort of event before.

Just been out and spotted it myself. Lots of cloud around drifting over the Sun, but Mercury is there at about 3 o' clock in my scope. I'll check back later if the clouds vanish. No sunspots to see due to lack of them or too much cloud.

Thunder storms building already over north kildare. I feel like a storm chaser instead of an astronomer today.

As a non-imaging type of guy..........ive never thought about sticking my 70mm on my SE mount and slapping my 450D on it. Thats an idea i'll work on. Thanks for that.

Ive always just been a visual observer but this thread has inspired me to very casually dip my toes into the "dark side" with the gear i have. As a non-astro imager i have to say that this thread is the best ive seen to get people to give it a go.

I dont wanna be seen to be using favouritism, but i'm really quite most impressed with your images. I also have an 8se and would love to learn your tricks of the trade. Your images are inspiring.

I really just had to ask because im just blown away with the quality of images on this thread. I was sure some of you were cheating (did i just say that out loud).

Hands up anyone who is using an Astro trac or barn door system!!!!!!!. They qualify as an EQ system. Anyone!!!!!

I dont do imaging. I'm the last person to ask about imaging. I'm sure on the day i'll figure out what works and what doesnt IF i want to capture an image.

I'm not planning on imaging the event, but its such a long event that even for me as a non-astro imager there is plenty of time to take things slow on the day and attach my 450D to the scope/wedge and experiment without being rushed or getting flustered. I'd absolutely no interest what so ever in the Venus transit. I wasnt convinced that watching a little black dot cross the solar surface even counted as astronomy. I had never even done any solar observing at that time either. I'm into this transit, but wont be watching it start to finish. If there is a nice sunspot or grouping which the planet may intersect during transit........that will be worth watching/imaging.

I am NOT an astro imager but i do respect what you people do. Ive been looking through this thread for about 10 mins and all i can say is the statement "you need an EQ to image" could not be further from the truth.

I have the same tripod which is fine but it does limit how far up to the zenith you can point your bins (i have a set of 20x90). During last summer while doing some solar observing i thought to myself: "what it i unscrew the handle (the pan and tilt handle) and rotate it 180 degrees (so instead of facing me, faces away from me). A couple of minutes later.....i had done it and the end result is that i can now mount my 20x90 bins on the 8115 and point them upwards 90 degrees and observe at zenith. It takes a bit of getting used to panning and tilting with this configuration...........but it works. Essentially.........the pan/tilt handle is no longer being pushed downwards and hitting the tripod........but is being pulled upwards where it has all the space in the world to move about.

I gave up bringing astro gear on holiday with me because it doesnt get used. At most now all id take is a set of 10x50 bins.

I had my solar gear outside today for the 1st time since maybe June 2015. Not a lot going on up there but it was great to be out again with a BIT of winter sun heat hitting my face.

The weather has been dry and clear the last couple of days. I know there aint much solar activity right now but i think this weekend if it remains dry and clear i will have to take the solar gear out and have a look.