Littleguy80

Great report, Dominic! You’re so close now! I really like your cigar (and bodes) celebration

Good stuff, Chris. We’ve had a busy summer hols so far so I’ve not been able to get out to Seething. I’ve been tracking tracking 21P for about a month from home though. To start with it was tiny and took averted vision to see! Looking forward to getting back to those dark skies again soon!

Thank Mark. Very useful link. I’ll have to see if I can get the dob on that one.

Sounds like an interesting target, Mark. SkySafari has it down as mag 16. Are you expecting the Comet to be brighter than that?

Very enjoyable report. My wife came home last summer to find me asleep, lying on the garden path, during the Persieds meteor shower!

Updating as I type! It’s neat that you can adjust the chart position to make it accurately align with the real objects in AT mode. That would have been a huge help when I was trying to spot Mercury last month!

I’ve always been fascinated by Space and Physics. I’m a child of Captain Jean Luc Picard and the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew. My imagination was constantly fuelled with dreams of traveling the stars and wondering about the technology that would take us/me there. As an adult, I regularly take in information on science through books, TV, Podcasts and online articles. One of my sons refers to Brian Coxs as being “Daddy’s Friend” even though I’ve never met or spoken to him. All this meant, that I jumped on the smart phone apps that you could point at the sky and find out what you were looking at. I regularly went out and identified planets. People in my neighbourhood who wondered what I was up to would often get a triumphant point at the sky and “that’s Saturn!”. I remember seeing the Pleiades and telling people at work you could see all these tiny stars if you concentrated. Then came the years of running outside to watch the ISS pass overhead. I’d often bring the kids out to take a look too. One Christmas Eve we told them it was Santa Claus. My son panicked and ran straight to his bed to make sure he was asleep before he arrived! Despite all this interest, I was 36 before I got a telescope. My wife asked what I wanted for Christmas and I said nothing because I’d seen the credit card bill. She was most insistent though. So late one night, I did 20 mins of Googling to find a telescope that would show me the rings of Saturn! That was my only criteria! On Christmas morning, I opened up a rather large box containing a SkyWatcher 130M on EQ2 Mount. The kids weren’t happy that I had the biggest present that year! It took until March for me to see Jupiter. It wasn’t the planet but those 4 little moons that blew my mind. I joined SGL soon after that as I looked into eyepiece upgrades. I don’t do hobbies by halves and have built up a good collection of kit and knowledge in a fairly short amount of time. This Christmas will be two years since my first scope arrived. I lead a busy life with 4 young children and Astronomy is something that I’ve been able to share with them but also gives me some much needed time to be me. It’s a wonderful way to relax, seeing amazing sights and is a constant source of learning. What more could you ask for!

I sometimes come in feeling like a session hasn’t gone well and then look back on it in the morning with fresh eyes and realise it went much better than I thought. Iota Cass can be a tough one. I’ve missed the third one more than once.

I’d say that was a pretty successful session. Plenty of reports of seeing no detail on Mars so you’ve done well very nice sketch too!

Stunning image and interesting read on the centre of the Milky Way. http://www.sciencealert.com/a-brand-new-telescope-just-captured-the-clearest-image-of-the-milky-way-s-centre-ever-and-it-is-breathtaking

Very enjoyable report, Alan. I had whiz around Cygnus last night, taking the Crsescent, Veil, NAN and Pelican. I was using traditional eyepieces and an OIII. Lots of fun though!

Taking a look too, Dave. I agree that it’s at its brightest to date. I’m looking forward to seeing your images. I feel like the core is next to star of similar brightness. Almost looks like the core is split in two.

Congratulations, John. Many thanks for everything you've shared. I'm sure the amount spent on eyepieces by SGL members based on your excellent reviews and advice far exceeds your post count From a personal perspective, I've seen an awful lot that I wouldn't have done without your reports for inspiration or advice on how to see/find targets. Thank you.

Hi Geoff. They’re fantastic eyepieces which seem to be gaining in popularity. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you decide to invest in them. I’ll have a few sessions with the 13mm and then do a write up for you I’d encourage you to have a read of @jetstream‘s excellent thread on the 20mm. This was a big factor in my decision to go for the Lunt/APM eyepieces.

The quest had continued and another round of buying has taken place. I’ve added the 13mm APM HDC which gives me the suggested set of 3 100 Degree eyepieces. Initially I wasn’t sure I needed it but as time went on I often found myself wishing for something in between the 20mm and 9mm. I also added yet another Ortho. A 9mm BGO. I noticed that with bright targets like the planets, the 9mm Lunt would sometimes give some odd reflections. I also have a preference for Orthos when it comes to planetary viewing. The last of my recent purchases was a Baader VIP Barlow. I love that you easily vary the multiplying factor by adding or removing extension tubes on this Barlow. It’s reputation for being optically excellent was also a big factor in getting it. My only challenge with the Barlow has been getting enough back focus. I’m probably going to order an 80mm extension tube. I have a similar issue with the 9mm Lunt which will only focus in 1.25” mode with my current extension tube. My one remaining target is an ES82 30mm. The 2 degree TFOV and large exit pupil will be very useful for some of my favourite and planned targets. Maybe not an eyepiece that will come out every session but a useful one none the less. When that arrives the Telrad and torch will leave the eyepiece case and I’ll buy a new foam insert. Then I’ll tell myself that my collection is complete