Sunshine

Beautifu image! I agree with the above post, star colors are wonderful.

I love this image, very nice detail in this, great work!

Good to know, thanks! regarding dew forming when eye is brought to eyepiece, I have encountered that a few times.

Here's a question I almost feel dense asking but, is it vital for eyepieces to reach temp also? i tend to set my scope out but, leave the eyepieces inside for the time being. Can a warm eyepiece cause visual distortions of any kind until it too cools down?   Interesting to know if some designs with larger voids between elements can trap warm air.

22 hours ago, SimonIRE said:

I have the TSA 120mm which I use for lunar and solar imaging. I got it about 6 months ago. Last night, I looked through it for the first time (yes - sacrilege to have left it so long). I was blown away. Super sharp, perfect colour correction - really very very good. I also have an LZOS 152mm which is a great scope, but boy, is the TSA120mm something special. 

For imaging I would go with an FSQ106 if you are aiming for a "forever" scope.  I also have this and it's a joy to use. 

 

My word! you've had the TSA-120 for six months and just yesterday you looked through it, I cannot fathom this!. A stark contrast to me setting up marbles on neighbours fences, looking like a mad man only to satisfy my need to look at anything through my 102. 😂🤣

That is very pretty indeed!

Its been almost three years now, has anyone tried this yet? it is still for sale which means they must be producing it, still. 

A mission to Mars is the goal for starship. Considering the success they've had with previous technologies despite years of failure, they have every reason to press on with kamikaze like zeal.

6 hours ago, Pixies said:

Secondhand, but in excellent nick

 

I would love that book, is it still published?

Hello and welcome to SGL!

12 hours ago, Louis D said:

fracs and Maks

There's a category SGL is missing, can pass for a tasty dish too! 😂

Amazing, this brings to mind Saturnian moon Enceladus which is thought to have an moon wide ocean under its ice sheet.

Very nice!

Nice! it does look brand new, a little astronomical time capsule.

16 hours ago, jock1958 said:

Cheers Mike. I emailed FLO a while back about this, they weren’t sure and told me to message Tak Europe, did that but have haven’t heard anything back so far 🤷🏻‍♂️
Might do a trawl on CN and see how they went about contacting Takahashi Japan directly. 

I inquired about this same thing regarding my 102, I was told by Tak America that Tak  only issue certificates for new scopes. They mentioned they get asked that several times a year from people like myself who bought used and, the original owners lost the paperwork.

Funny, I just wrote a possible answer regarding satellites rotating and panels catching sunlight which would appear like flashes then deleted it. When I took a closer look at your location and realized you're a few hours drive from me and, I now remember being perplexed a few nights ago by a set of delayed flashes to the north east of me which were unlike any satellite I've seen in my 20 years looking up at the sky.  It suddenly hit me, it was fairly low on the horizon, like a bright light which was being faded in and out.  Each time it took about two seconds on then a few seconds off then again.  I am well aware of satellites reflecting light but, this appeared totally different and rather strange. 

Who knows what it was, not blowing the UFO alarm but, it's fun to speculate!

Wonderful image! diffraction spikes work so well with the sisters.

Hello folks! I searched for a thread regarding Alt az mounts as i am interested in getting one for my TSA-102, I have a Vixen GP but unless I am imaging planets it is quite heavy with counterweights. Having said that, I was thinking of something like the Porta II but, I hear they are not very steady when using with a scope larger than 80mm. Keep in mind the TSA-102 is a triplet so its around 11.5 Lbs bare, I need something that can manage 12-15 Lbs when considering finder, rings, etc. If i can use my existing 2" SW steel tripod it would be great, I would love to hear some opinions from those who have similar scopes on alt az mounts.

clear skies!

Happy Birthday! amazing, that looks just like my first scope! it probably performs better too!

What a little gem of a scope that is! congratulations! I feel the excitement from thousands of miles away! look at that Russian doll box, they know how to pack them. Enjoy it, it looks simply beautiful and you must be holding 

it like it was a newborn.

I let it defog if it was cold out then leave it in my basement or what my wife calls "the dungeon",  where I can hide toys since she rarely wanders down there. It is an expansive and unfinished for habitation concrete walled bunker below grade. She saw a mouse down there once, screamed like a banshee and never went down again, great spot to hide my toys.

15 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

It is a GP-DX (10kg rating) and holds the FS128 well.

Personally I would not put a TSA120 on a GP (7kg rating), but the GP-DX would be fine.

Good to know, my local scope shop mentioned that Vixen underrates their mounts, I had my 115 Eon on this mount which weighs in at 15.2 lbs, looking at the tSA120 it seems to be 3 Lbs lighter!. This is not to say that i was overloading my GP with the Eon 115 but, it seemed to handle the weigh without issue, I just don't want to overload it because who knows what effects it can have on the mount in long term. The fact the TSA120 is 3 Lbs lighter than my 115 was is surprising.

36 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Bumpers -  wife had ankle surgery and then caught it on the protruding foot plates 😔

I figured you lost your scope in the dark yard at night, bright tennis balls are easy to spot. 😂

Is that  GP DX mount? I have a GP and always wondered if i could comfortably mount a scope in the 120 range on it, if i ever run into a TSA-120 do you feel that my Vixen GP would handle it well?. Can the "DX" version 

handle more load than the GP? interesting because I see folks load their GP mounts beyond what I would feel comfortable doing, maybe I am underestimating the GP. 

3 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

And you would be very welcome, Eddie😊🇨🇦

I must add, that FS128 is stunning! I wasn't aware a 128 existed as i thought the TSA-120 has always been the end of the line before the "TOA" series. It is an older scope I guess, is it a fluorite? if so, a 128 fluorite must be

about all an amateur can ask for.

24 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Nice clutter free man shed Dave and a tidy paint job on the floor! 

I was thinking the same thing, put a television and, a comfy seat in there and I will rent it from you when I visit the U.K, no kidding.