Sunshine

This is interesting, never have I seen a focuser in the middle of an OTA.

William Optics - High-Quality Refractor Telescopes, Telephoto Lens, Binoculars, Eyepieces, Diagonals, and other Optical Accessories. - William Optics

I wonder what sort of pandemonium would ensue if we all changed our handles and avatars overnight. 🤣

Nice! I remember taking a phone image with my first solar scope which was a coronado PST, I took me some time to get it right but with some simple editing to sharpen it up and an whole load of cropping i was able to shoot this. Now the earth to scale circle was an estimate, just me trying to be Mr. Astronomer. 🤣

Enjoy your new solar scope! I believe the helical focuser will soften up over time, so I heard others say.

Welcome to SGL!

57 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

I agree. 2.8kg makes it the lightest 4” apo on the market. Just to give an idea of what 20mm more aperture means in size, here’s the DC next to a TSA-120 - itself a light triplet at 6.7kg - but two and a half times heavier than the DC.

What a great difference in size between those two, you could have fooled me and said the smaller one was an 80mm.

14 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

When does “Molly” turn up ? 🙂

Molly will not be coming, Solara is on her way, a Lunt60.

Welcome!

Does anyone use the Lunt 60mm modular for night time observing? I have one coming and while I wait I have lots of time to think about what I can do with a 60mm with a FL of 420mm. My Goto is my 4" which begs the question, what sort of specialized observing would a 60mm 420mmFL scope serve? pardon my ignorance but I have never used such a small, short tube refractor for night time. At 420mm would it not suffer from horrific CA?  someone set me straight. Maybe it would make a good planetary imaging grab and go if I fit three 4x barlows on it. 😂

On 26/01/2023 at 08:50, CraigT82 said:

Baader T2 Zeiss BBHS prism + 2” T2 clicklock, and StellaLyra 3mm LER (55deg) EP. Not pictured is Baader Sky surfer RDF that arrived today too. All for the Starfield 102.

Just waiting on the StellaLyra 30mm UFF to round off this latest period of self-indulgent and slightly reckless spending 😬😂

Wow, you really know how to please a refractor, all that at fine kit in one delivery is almost too much for any refractor 😂

Amazing!

(first image) I could just hear David Attenborough saying "the wild and nocturnal newts await sundown in their natural habitats" 🤣 

I would have loved to have a peek at M42 as you described the nebulosity being lovely, in such a large newt.

Wow! that is some effort but I can clearly see the variation in the stars brightness which is more obvious than other stars and feature within the frame so I would say in my eyes it is a legit capture. Amateurs like yourself exemplify what can be done with some ingenuity and determination, impressive.

40 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

Exactly. The difference is that I am in the North West, they are somewhere on the opposite side.

Aww don't take it personally, when telescope nerds get frustrated due to weeks of clouds we don't go to pubs and start brawls (hard to observe with a black eye) we make fun of each others gear. 🤣

2 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

Unbelievable! Some guys here on the SGL were laughing at me because of my dew heaters attached to EPs in my binoviewer... Where do you live? 

If you need em, you need em!

Welcome to SGL!

Welcome back! 

This is a wonderful image, so well exposed for the core, great work!

5 hours ago, apaulo said:

i have had a starfield 102 for a while now, i find it a nice scope to use, but for £900 it could have a much better clamp. the starfield takes a lot of tightening to grip. i have had my e/ps slipping round on several occasions, in fact  a Pentax XW i have fell out, so i was not impressed, luckily there was minimal damage done to the e/p. i have seen others rightly suggesting to upgrade the offending clamp, but after spending £900 on a telescope should we really have to do that. i think not.

Definitely a nuisance but I wonder which scope is perfect? we all find faults in even the most expensive units. 

Congratulations on a great scope and a great first light experience! welcome to the 4" frac club, I have handled that telescope before and was impressed with it's fit and finish. Reading your first report proves it has the optics to match, I think you found a new best friend! 🔭

You may have to use your new starfield to see that refractor emoji.

Great to hear! I find it is always a treat to see either E or F stars in the trapezium, sometimes both!.

Beautiful! I feel as though I could zoom in right to it's core, and those star colours are wonderful.

These are great! I particularly like the mono image and I noticed you may have caught an edge on galaxy right there in the comets tail. It seems this comet is dragging an entire galaxy in it's wake!. 🤣

On 21/01/2023 at 07:59, Telescope40 said:

Hello. Couple of deliveries for my 7x50 Finderscope on my Tak 128. 
Set of dust caps from FLO  and a Takahashi FQR-1 quick release bracket from ENS Optical. 
Think I’m done for now on the kit front.

Look to use it all as much as possible now. 
Clear skies all 

John 

This is great, I won when Tak is going to start finally designing such accessories as part of their line.

Wait a minute! you track the station with your eye to the RACI and the camera in the focuser correct? this must be how some do planetary imaging through their manual dobs!. Thanks for the lesson, you may have just inspired me to use my manual dob for some imaging (not DSO) of course.