Nyctimene

I'd suggest some brighter open clusters (the same type of target as the Pleiades). The easiest to find will be the "Beehive" cluster M 44 in the constellation Cancer, in the SW and to spot without optical aids (sailors in ancient Greek took this as a sign for favourable weather conditions). Not far away (8.2° to the SE) is the densely packed cluster M 67. More to the W, the open cluster (oc) M 35 in the western part of Gemini is a brilliant target. When you found it, you may try to spot the smaller and fainter oc NGC 2158 SW. Always beautiful is NGC 7789, "Caroline's Rose" in Cassiopeia, easy to find close to the star Beta Cas (Caph). Hth. Stephan

Glad, that so many members were lucky enough weather-wise to spot the ray! Was out with the 5.1" Heritage early enough to confirm, that the phenomenon had not started at 20.45 CEST. Fifteen minutes later, the clouds had left the moon invisible, and rain was starting. Ok.; I have seen the ray three times up to now, and will wait patiently for the June 15th occasion. I didn't manage the reverse phenomenon, the Pitatus ray, up to now. The times for observing are less convenient, during the morning hours (waning moon!), but it seems worthwhile to get up early; have a look: (c) Frank Mc Cabe; https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/554510-craters-pitatus-and-hesodius-during-lunar-sunset/ http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/animation/Pitatus.gif Next occasion will be May, 2nd, 03h 26min; the moon will be very low, so you'll need a free horizon to the SE. More data here: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/pitatusp.htm Stephan

Hesiodus crater ray this evening (18.54 UT). Weather forecast not promising here in SW Germany; best wishes for clear skies to all of you in other parts of Europe! Stephan

Just came in from a short (30 mins) observation of the nice triangle: thin crescent moon - Jupiter - comet Pons-Brooks. The APM 16x70 MS ED gave crisp views in the clear evening sky; Moon and Jupiter fitting in the same field of view (4.1°). A tad to the W, the comet's coma and star-like false nucleus came into view. Brightness of the coma around 5.0 (a tad brighter than the defocussed Pi Ari (5.3 mag) close by). Tail visible for 15-20 arc min, but several times, especially during moving the tripod-mounted binos, even longer in averted vision, up to 1.5°(?). Three totally different objects of the solar system, almost in the same field of view; fascinating. Stephan

Jean-Henri Fabre's book on astronomy from 1872, in the German translation by astronomer Graff 1918. Fabre was a famous entomologist, one of the beginners of behavioural research. He earned his living as a teacher in southern France and had to care for seven children, so he wrote several didactic handbooks, to improve his financial situation, including the astronomy book. The "Homer of Insects" was proposed 1912 for the Nobel Price in literature. A very interesting personality; modest and introverted, nonetheless friend of some famous persons, e.g. John Stewart Mill. His house, now a museum, close to Orange in the Provence, is well worth seeing. Stephan

Another favourable occasion to observe the Hesiodus ray will be in about two weeks, Wednesday 17th April, during the evening hours. The given time 18:54 (UT) may vary a bit, so have a look an hour before or after this time. The phenomenon itself will last for several hours, and will start as a bright patch on the W wall of Hesiodus, slowly expanding to the crater floor, and finally showing the triangular form, as shown in the drawing above. If you miss this occasion, the next one will be June 15th, 19:12 (UT). Exactly my impression; so let's hope for clear weather to "open the door" for many of us! Stephan

Just came in after a very pleasing hour, observing the moon with the 18" Obsession. Some high haze, but the seeing was rather good, and the Docter 12.5 mmf/82° gave at mag 164x crisp views (the whole moon fits in the field of view!). Hesiodus A showed it's concentricity distinct and permanent, the Rima Hesiodus was easy, the same with Rima Birt, close to Rupes recta, the Straight Wall. E of the crater Kies, the dome Kies Pi was distinct, even the summit craterlet. (Lunar 100 No. 60). Copernicus and Bullialdus crater wall terraces were marvellous. No sign of "Gruithuisen's City", even when adding the 2x Abbe Barlow to give 328x. Plato's floor showed the four "largest" craterlets (was too lazy to try for the smaller ones). The Alpine Valley remained invisible. Very satisfied - no hassle with "floaters" even at high magnifications, and a smoothly tracking Dob - hard to beat. Thanks for reading Stephan

Spotted Triton in September 2021 with the 12" f/5 Hofheim traveldob, using the hints I found in Phil Harrington's book "Cosmic Challenge" (No. 156), mainly, to observe during Neptune's opposition, and Triton in greatest elongation (max. 17"!). Mag 330x showed the 13.6 mag moon clearly with averted vision. Stephan

Without doubt, the 8" f/4 Hofheim Instruments traveldob. Weighs just 8kg in toto, and can be taken out, fully assembled, in one go. Allowing mags from 27x (field 2.9°) up to 400x. Sadly, no longer in production. Stephan

+ 1 for that. I'd suggest the widely used SkySafari app (the Plus version). With it, your device's display can be set to give you exactly the field of view and the number of stars or other objects as will be visible in your scope's eyepiece. Star hopping is very easy with it (start with an eyepiece, that will give you the lowest magnification); and, as Wim pointed out, start with brighter objects to get some practice and experience. Enjoy the journey, and welcome to the forum! Stephan

I'm owner of the smaller Heritage 130 P Flextube, and the compact Baader Q-Turret 2.25x Barlow works very well with this scope. Small and lightweight, giving sharp views with the 66° UWA 9 and 6 mmf (244x mag!), as well as with the 26 mmf/62° ES LER. Compared side to side, it is not much behind it's famous brother, the Zeiss Abbe VIP 2x Barlow. Reasonably priced; but you'd need some patience, when ordering from these: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p5503_Baader-1-25--Q-Turret-Barlow-and-photo-converter---2-25x-und-1-3x.html Hth Stephan

Hello, Merkhet, you are right - there are no filter threads in the APM 16x70 MS ED; the only downside I've found up to now. So, no dimming moon filters (no problem for me, as the full moon's glare is IME very well tolerable), but likewise no narrowband (UHC, O III) filters, that would be fine for extended DSO's. All in all, the 16x70 binos have been my best astro buy during the last ten years. I was somewhat concerned about the individual focusers (had only central focuser binos up to now), but totally unfounded. All the adjustments are running smooth, but with enough tightness/resistance, and it's easy to find the "snap" focus. Flat field, star images sharp for more than 90% of the field of view. Vivid colours, almost no chromatic aberration (only very bright objects, e.g. lunar limb). Very good eye relief, no "kidney beaning" etc. Lightweight and rugged. It's a real joy to use the 16x70, just look and forget the rest! (the same applies to daytime use, which can be addictive with this Porro). Stephen Tonkin, our binoculars guru, was quoted by a member of CloudyNights: If he would be allowed to own only one binocular, this would be the APM 16x70 MS ED. Hth. (of course, no affiliation etc. etc., just a pleased owner) Stephan

Just came in from a 30 minutes Lunar session with the APM MS 16x70 ED, having repeated another session two days ago - full moon was yesterday. Despite some haze and high cirrus clouds passing by, I got astonishingly good views. The different tints of the lunar maria floors were distinct, as were the large crater ray systems of Copernicus, Kepler and Tycho. E of Grimaldi and Riccioli, I spotted the small craters Lohrmann A (12 km), Grimaldi C (9.3 km) and Damoiseau E (13.6 km) as a line of three bright spots. Reiner Gamma could be made out, even it's "tail". Sinus Iridum gave a great view; and S of Promontorium Laplace, the two craters Helicon (24 km) and Le Verrier (20 km) showed faintly. To my surprise, even the tiny crater Helicon B with just 5.4 km diameter, was visible - with a 16x magnification! In Mare Imbrium, I spotted the mountains M.recti, Teneriffe, Spitzbergen, Pico and Piton. In M. Fecunditatis, Langrenus was distinct. I got glimpses of the double crater Messier/Messier A, but not of the ray system. All in all, very pleasing views with the excellent 16x70, tack sharp, with almost no chromatic aberration (I had to look for it), relaxed viewing even with glasses. Added a Manfrotto video fluid head and a tripod with center crank column (very important!), I'm glad with this grab-and-go set (under 5 kg). Many migrating birds due South crossing the moon disc, flying fast - and twice another winged creature, with a zig-zag movement pattern, very small, I'd guess a high flying bat (-or a halloween harbinger - ? ;-)) Thanks for reading Stephan

Thank you, Nik271, for the excellent information. Where did you look it up?, seems to be a very useful website! I'll try again, and will wait for a very low angle of illumination. Patience is a virtue - just spotted for the first time Rima Sharp (!) with the 12". Rather good seeing, allowing mag 250x (6mmf UWA). The Rima was visible for five to ten seconds in moments of very quiet air several times, clear, but at the limit of vision. I'd compare it to the search for Rima Messier with the 18". Pleased and content! Stephan

Observed the waxing gibbous moon yesterday evening with the 12" f/5 Hofheim traveldob. Slightly hazy/cloudy (cirrus) skies, average seeing (concentricity of Hesiodus A flashing up at mag 167x). The terminator was very close to the two lunar domes Montes Gruithuisen Delta and Gruithuisen Gamma. Once again, I tried to spot the summit craterlet at the peak of Gruithuisen Gamma, about 900 m diameter (Rükl; other sources say 2.2 km), with magnifications of 167x and 250x, without success as usual. A small, but bright albedo spot at the NE slope was misleading me first (it's not visible in the LunarMap HD app); but after consulting the Luna Cognita handbook, I found this spot mapped well (fig. 16.27). So, one of the lunar nemesis features (for me) remains unresolved still after many years of trying. Has anybody on here spotted the summit craterlet? (should be possible with 12"). Thanks for reading Stephan