Sunshine

This past summer I have been viewing Mars in my 8 inch dobsonian and even then, Mars was an underwhelming speck, an orange dot. Unfortunately Mars is not close enough in it’s orbit relative to earth for much detail to be seen, especially with 80mm of aperture.

I’ve done some nice lunar and planetary work, nothing award winning but tracking did help. It just seems easier than stripping and taking videos.

A red dot finder like the tried and tested Telrad has been my method for decades. Lately with the invention of the Starsense phone module my object searches have been a revelation! Starsense module on my starsense explorer has been absolutely amazing. Never have I been able to so accurately find and see so many objects in one night, and it just works night after night without a hitch, amazing experience.

Thank you! I have a scale and can weigh the individual bits, but as you mentioned it may not be much of a weight save if I change out the baader click lock for whatever Tak bits it will take to bring the CAA down to 1.25. It may be 6 of one or half dozen of another 😁

Hello and welcome!

How would this orthobarlow compare to a TV 2x powermate? or is this basically Tak’s answer to the powermate?

No disappointment lol, a huge welcome to SGL!

You’re kidding! another Newcastle with a Sunderland not far off?? what sort of cruel joke is that? omg, and I got all wound up.

Tyne? i live in Newcastle Ontario Canada and Sunderland is about an hour north of me.

Welcome!! and OMG lol, when I saw “Newcastle” I immediately assumed it was somewhere in the UK, but I see you mentioned Sunderland which is not far north of me. Here I am also in Newcastle, the port by the water, you mean I have an astro buddy mear me? I have been a member here on SGL (my astro family) for some years. How about we start our own astronomy club? 😂

Love this shot, looks much bigger than a 210 in this image.

Welcome!

Beautiful images! I particularly love the orange bubble thing.

Beautiful and ghostly image!

Welcome to SGL!

Does anyone else here use a camera rotator on their Tak scopes? it’s something I always thought about for my 102 but just couldn’t justify the $500 plus for. My 128 came with one and I find it fantastic for rotating the diagonal. But I also have a Baader click lock on there which is redundant but its what allows me to connect my 1.25 diagonal, i need to see if there’s an adapter from camera rotator down to 1.25 diagonal. Somehow I feel there is too much going on there, extra weight, if I could have the diagonal on the rotator by way of a ln adapter I could do away with the click lock.

You are too kind 😂

Thanks, in your image I highlighted the string of pearls I noticed at the eyepiece, as though they were following the GRS, these were very pretty and well defined. These are features I have never been able to spot, before.

Your TSA120 should provide just about the same views as my 128, 8mm isn’t a huge improvement and your 120 being a fine triplet would pretty much level the playing field. One thing I would love to do is have my 128 and a TSA120 side by side, I don’t think there would be much difference, really.

Tonight I have had a night of fantastic seeing, Jupiter was my one and only target simply because it was a sight to see and my eyes could not be pried. Jupiter presented details unlike anything I have seen, no kidding! no shimmering or under water effect allowed for super fine details I never saw, before. Among them was tiny white circles in the SEB like a string of pearls chasing the GRS, in my dumb sketch below (can’t sketch worth beans) they are represented as dark spots but they were white, even the north temperate belt was an easy feature to spot. On the NEB I could clearly see dark wisps coming off the edge of the belt, there were three, one large and two smaller ones. Within the NEB and SEB themselves I could see the finer strands which these belts were made of, details within them which eluded me, in the past. Wow what a difference an extra inch of aperture makes, combined with great seeing. Pentax 3.5 XW 300X magnification

Having a closer look at this case which came with my scope, it is built like a tank and is heavy. It seems as though they make them custom as the 128 fits in it like it was laser cut for it, im confident in its ability to protect the OTA. Im thinking this case must have been a pricey investment for someone, glad they had it made.

In eight weeks I should have my TOA130 dew cap, I can put the existing one made of neutron star off to the side, i will use it when traveling with the scope.

Somebody call NASA, ask if they’re missing a telescope!

She is clever, she used the gouged table as an excuse for a new table, she is sneaky about spending, i would almost call her an amateur astronomer 😅

This night I was hurrying to finish a list of errands my wife had left for me, as I left every shop I would gaze up into the sky and I would notice the half moon and what seemed to be a clear sky, my pace would quicken towards the car. When I arrived I set my scope out and allowed it to cool for a good 45 min from a balmy 23C to minus 1. My first target was the moon, inserting my 9mm morpheus revealed conditions not as clear as I had hoped but workable nonetheless. Luna looked as though it was behind a curtain of rising warm air, its features wavering and deforming but not as bad as I have seen on some other nights, there were moments when seeing would stabilize long enough for a glorious sight. One thing that struck me immediately was the contrast, a sharp, smack in the face contrast I had never seen. My 102 was contrasty but this scope separates itself and it did so unmistakably and immediately, the black around the moon was so black, a liquidy black which became even more evident along the terminator (a fav movie btw) with the 5mm XO during those moments where seeing steadied the contrast between sunlit regions and dark was absolutely stunning. No particular regions were studied, examined, targeted tonight, my eyes were overwhelmed by the crispness and sharpness during those fleeting moments of steadiness as I slowly swept along the terminator. Did I mention contrast? it was striking and I can’t seem to let it rest, dark regions were blacker than the black background on which these words are being typed, I can’t recall ever seeing such a pure black, before. When seeing did steady, lunar details would jump out, it seemed as though I could see the tiniest of rocks scattered about, cracks on sloping crater walls, what seemed like hairline fissures radiating from craters, it was marvelous!. On to Jupiter! This same contrast caught my eye as I observed jupiter, fantastic contrast which made Jupiter almost appear as a 3D globe, during moments of clarity I was able to make out something I have rarely seen in my 102 and then again not to this degree, the detail within the NEB and SEB, usually these two features are bands, just that, bands. Tonight I was able to see them as the truly are, featurfull bands made of smaller features, each band displayed some smaller components, light and dark beige and gray stands, dots (what must be swirls) and tiny festoon features. Aside from the SEB and NEB, multiple other bands were visible, I counted 7 but much thinner than the main bands and Jupiters north pole (apparent north I know the image is flipped) displayed a dirty gray darkening as though Jupiter was capped with darker clouds, there was so much to see. This night was not among the better nights I have experienced in terms of seeing, but regardless, the FS128 left an indelible mark, it hinted as to it’s capabilities on those few and far apart nights of great seeing and I can’t wait. My TSA-102 will never be forgotten and if I could get it back in the future I will, because it is what it is, a fine instrument. though it seems the 128 will not leave me yearning for my 102, it has proven itself even under less than desirable conditions, it left its mark. Regarding any color or anomalies about the scope, I could only see one particular thing and I can’t attribute it to the scope itself, around the lunar limb I could see the thinnest sliver of what seemed like a yellow tinge but, it was only when the limb approached the outer edge of the field stop, as I moved the moon closer to center, the tinge would slowly disappear until there was no more color. Jupiter displayed nothing like this, it was clean but then again, Jupiter is almost always centered in the field stop, when viewing the moon with my morpheus ot almost fills the FOV and only then did I see the slightest, thinnest sliver of yellow which would go away if I moved the limb closer to center. By 11:00 it got cold! and seeing worsened to te point where I could no longer focus, it was a wrap.