Sunshine

3 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

 

it is just breathtaking, detail is such that I put my glasses on because I felt I was missing out then WHAM!!! it was 4K solar nirvana!

7 hours ago, Chaz2b said:

I thought I’d join the jet set and bought a Telrad reflex sight. But just one question, can I change the two AA batteries for one Li-on battery?, I’ve got lumps of them round the back! I want to make use of them.

Theres even space in there for my sandwiches! Big ain’t it!

chaz

Nice! the Telrad is an unsightly brute who fell from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down but, I have always had one as they are reliable as heck and just plain do the job.

These are so darn pretty, especially the full disc images, I get a sense of three dimensionality from them as though I want to reach out and hold the entire sun in the palm of my hand.

This would burn, though. 

Great string of targets! I made a note of these for future sessions.

Wonderful lunar session this past Thursday! Schiller had me puzzled as to its peculiar elongated shape.

1 hour ago, John said:

One where I've noticed a change, in position angle at least, is Zeta Herculis:

Great sketch of Zeta Herc, funny because this double was my next target after Zeta Bootis and I notice my observations match perfectly with your first 2016 sketch.

This matches what I saw perfectly at about 300x or so, identical position within the airy disc, I remember thinking it resembled a snake which had swallowed something big.

Criticism?? something tells me you won't be hearing a whole lot of that, these look fantastic!

Ah Zeta Bootis, trained my glass eye on this wonder just a couple of nights ago while observing doubles but, it is not a double! or is it? I won’t look up any more doubles without first doing some reading. 
 

It was a night of decent seeing this past Friday, steady atmosphere and fairly good transparency, I spent a good two hours enjoying doubles with the highlight being the long awaited double double in Lyra. It was Zeta Bootis that I cannot recall seeing before or I would not have bothered, instead I spent an hour trying to split an inseparable pair visually as stated by SkySafari. It turns out this pair are special in their orbital superlatives, their eccentricity takes them from 1.4 AU to 64 AU!! wow, this is an ellipse which has been stretched like a rubber band. 
 

As it turns out, their closest approach occurred last in 1897 and again now in 2021, just in time for a foolish double hunter by the name of Eddie to spend an hour splitting his head open trying to split the impossible pair, just my luck. After looking at them at the edge of my 102’s ability in terms of magnification and then a bit, I was floored by how these two nearly identical class A2 giants (according to SkySafari) look like one star at the eyepiece. 

9 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Can choose depending if I’m in a Tak blue day or a Tak green day

I have been waiting for my Tak 7x50 finder for over two months now 😡😢

I gave up calling the local shop for an ETA as they sort of hinted their phone has a block number feature, regardless, it was kind of like beating a dead horse anyway. 

WOW! that is more detail than I thought was possible with white light, amazing and inspiring as I am looking at option for doing some solar imaging with my 102, great image!.

Welcome to SGL! your englerish seems way better than mine and I have been speaking the language my entire life.

Nice images! just the other night I too was observing the moon with my 102 also, I recall studying Schiller and thinking "what the!" yes I just quoted myself. it made me wonder about

the angle a meteroite would have to strike to carve out an elliptical crater, maybe 30 degree? who knows but, it was fun to speculate.

All for a 6-8” dobsonian, the majority of us would agree it is the quintessential beginners scope and will provide years of enjoyment. In time she will surely find herself upgrading eyepieces, adding accessories and such which can be had for little money especially on the used market. You both will enjoy countless nights under the stars with such a scope discovering all it can reveal which is enough to last you years to come. 
 

Once she (and I say she only because you are inquiring for her) as I assure you both will share in this journey equally. Once you have a better grasp of the hobby and it’s instruments you will be far better equipped to tackle astrophotography. Baby steps are the best way to tackle this hobby without being discouraged. Have a look at an 8”donsonian and a book called “Turn Left at Orion” on Amazon, I can think of no better start, I assure you both will be hooked, you will be excitedly posting your first light findings right here on SGL, we’ll be just as excited to read it!.

4 hours ago, laudropb said:

Some reading for a summer evening

Aw I could have saved you some money, they’re made of a whole load of really hot stuff!

15 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

A couple of good books recommended by a friend, ideal for the cloudy, rain windswept nights and days to keep me going and, keep me from purchasing more astro accessories. 

Ohh I need both those books! thanks for posting!

Fine image, I loved my 150 skymax, only gave it up to fund another scope at the time but, I miss it and will have another in the near future. They certainly do a fine job on lunar and planetary.

Really neat!

5 hours ago, HollyHound said:

So I can fit the 6x30 finder on the FOA-60(Q) and remove it easily... a Takahashi FQR-1 quick release finder shoe.

Plus, although I have the tube cradle, I want to try mounting the FC-100DC on the AZ100 using these More Blue tube rings and dovetail... very lightweight 👍

 

ARRRGGG!! I just purchased rings for my 102 which I thought were sleek and light but, I see those are a boatload lighter after looking on their site and I like them even more!!

Oh no, I have to stop looking at this thread! It looks like I'll have a second set of rings now.

Wonderful images!

That was a great read, it is a cute, wee little Tak with the heart of a lion, I want one too!

That is a beautiful image!

7 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Touchè

Oh no, you weren’t being argumentative in the least bit, you brought up a great point which I hadn’t thought of, a good point it is.

2 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Possibly so but as he said how is it (much) worse than being set up on your patio/driveway or whatever anyway?

Touchè

Hello, I would think that rising heat would cause a problem, when observing I can see how the image deteriorates as I am aimed over nearby rooftops.  Putting yourself in the middle of that rising warm air pocket may be a problem, especially concrete which absorbs heat very well and radiates it out throughout the night.

What took you so long? welcome to SGL!