Sunshine

56 minutes ago, Stu said:

Whilst I don’t disagree with the sentiment here, it is also possible to underestimate the capability of low end scopes based on how they perform with their stock eyepieces. Case in point here are the Heritage 130p and 150p scopes. These are supposedly entry level/beginners scopes but stick a decent eyepiece in them and they are surprisingly capable. I’ve split quite enough doubles with my little Heritage scopes; Pi Aquilae and Zeta Herc for instance which I never thought possible in such a basic scope.

Yes, very true

For me it sort of boils down to trial and error, I could never afford to simply jump in blind and buy a set of expensive eyepieces without having tried the mid grade eyepieces first. If I found i was satisfied with what I had then why spend more? having said that, if I were to spend $300 on a scope, I could not justify a high end set of eyepieces costing several times the price of the scope. One can justify high end eyepieces if they feel their scope can utilize such eyepieces to their fullest, I would look at it like tires for ones car, am I going to install high end tires costing several hundreds each on my 2012 Toyota Corolla? does the car require them? most certainly not!.

The idiot that is me either forgot this great challenge or simply forgot to report, I set a daily reminder on my phone in case I get a clear night.

8 hours ago, ajohnson said:

Not a recent image, but this was my Skywatcher Quattro 10S (still owned) on my old NEQ6 at what was a local dark site (now flood lit).

 

A wonderful image!

Great image! though I am not sure if I love Jupiter enough to drag my telescope out so early and risk waking my wife as her wrath is far stronger than my urge to see Jupiter.

Simply wonderful!!

My condolences.

Welcome to SGL! glad to have you here!

That is a great Venus capture coming from a scope which I am endlessly curious about, it must be a real planetary/lunar crack shot.

Great images and a nice wide FOV, well presented indeed!

54 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Now that would be a niche activity.

Iranian enrichment facilities, Texas oil pipelines, the CIA's UFO archives ...?  no, we want to point your telescope at Regulus when you thought you were aiming for Bellatrix !

 

btw, I'm fascinated by the third usage of "hack" given above - "an entropy booster".
Where does that come from? 

It seems I forgot that most SGL users may not know what I meant by the word “hack” which is used a lot here mainly by the younger crowd to describe something that has been modified or somehow changed in order to get the job done even though said item may not have been designed for that purpose. 

Recently I bought an optical finder for my scope which then allowed me to remove the hulking Telrad from my small refractor. having some spare time today I decided to experiment and shorten my Telrad by quite a bit, I even moved the reticle 3/4 of an inch forward towards the mirror which allowed for an even shorter unit. Replacing the AA batteries is one CR2032 3V battery which works just fine but was just temporarily used as I need a holder for such battery which is on its way, small enough to fit into the half inch space I left for it behind the reticle. Here is where my conundrum lies, as I move the reticle closer to the mirror the projected circles begin to split. This is not a big deal because I actually applied tape over the two outer rings as I have no use for them and only want the innermost circle ⭕️. 
 

What causes the circles to split as the reticle gets closer to the mirror? I have tried shifting the reticle angle, mirror angle but it remains the same, I suspect it is the lens which is causing this but,  I’m not sure if there is a remedy, anyway, I don’t  care  if the inner circle is actually two rings intertwined because I will use the oblong space between them as the target space.  So far it has been tested but just need the battery holder, you may be wondering about the base, I have never used a Telrad base but always used a small piece of double sided tape at bottom corners of Telrad which adhere to scope rings. It always seemed pointless to adhere a total of 12 inches of tape as those bases use to any scope, try and remove that base later wi to put leaving marks all over the scope. It now measures 4-3/4 inches exactly. This is still a bulky finder compared to most other thin, streamlined reticle finders but, it is far less imposing if I use it on my 102, enough so that I may avoid getting beat up at a star party if I ever mount it on my refractor again lol. 

Now it’s actually cute! like a iddy bitty wee baby Telrad lol

A wonderful image!

Nice job!

Interesting, I cannot say I have ever seen these noctilucent clouds, nor has my spell check as it tries to correct it. Maybe I have but just had no idea what they were? who knows but now I will pay more attention at dusk, what are the circumstances that lead to their formation?, I will google this.

5 minutes ago, skyhog said:

Loved cosmos back in the seventies, be interesting to see it again to see how it has aged. 

Close enough, it was 1980 when it aired, I have the series on DVD, it is interesting to see how it has dated from the POV of new discoveries and theories but COSMOS was never meant to be a textbook. Cosmos was an introduction to the universe and our place within it explained in layman's terms, keeping that in mind it ages like wine.

Oh wow, I need to watch this, I love Brian Cox, watching Wonders of the solar system and Universe brought me back to my childhood when my mom and dad ushered me to the TV to watch

a new programme "COSMOS" by none other than one of my lifelong heroes Carl Sagan. To me, when it comes to the most fascinating and enlightening programs I have ever seen I would

put Wonders and Brian Cox himself on the same pedestal as my beloved Carl Sagan.

R.I.P Carl, you've changed my life forever by mesmerizing me as a 7yr old boy, giving me the gift of wonder and endless curiosity about our place in this universe. 

To quote something my mother always says to this day "If an alien race came down and asked for someone to speak for earth I would have choosen none other than Carls Sagan"

WOW! no matter how hard I squint my eyes it seems I still cannot see the amount of detail you've captured, amazing.

A wonderful image!

42 minutes ago, PhotoGav said:

Star parties... remind me, what are they?!!?

It's when a star like Brad Pitt or such is throwing a party for other stars.

A beautiful full disc on display here, I need an HA scope again...sigh.

Nice report, super jealous about dark skies.

Detail here is great!

Finally! after weeks and weeks waiting my 7x50 finder came in. Allowing me to remove my Telrad which I might add I had no problem with except it is ugly, I get that, kind of like installing a roof rack on a Ferrari. This scope now looks the part. Jeremy S, would be proud lol, the owner of my local scope shop thought I had lost my mind putting a Telrad on my scope. It certainly looks very nice now, can’t wait to try it out.

10 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Finally got 5 minutes to open the box.... packed in the usual lovely way of Takahashi 👍

As a complement to the refractors, providing a bit more aperture (and focal length) when required... a Takahashi Mewlon 180C 😃

WOW congrats! can't wait to hear about your first light report with this beauty, clear skies! I see they've also included a load of S' in case you're ever short an S.