Littleguy80

Will be interested to hear how the comparison goes. A recent thread left me wondering whether to do the reverse and sell the APM HDC 20mm for the 22mm Nagler. It probably means it’s been too long since I last bought an eyepiece 😂

I guess the most likely explanation is it’s a very small amount of air so seeing those effects is much more difficult. The effect is probably negligible compared to everything else that could affect the views.

Thanks Geof! Wow! Love your photo. Great colours!

Was out observing the Moon when I noticed the Red Aurora alert. Couldn’t see anything visually but picked it up on camera. First time for me! Well chuffed!

Nice. Thanks Steve! The figure I found for the APM must have been wrong. That’s defo a nice weight saving. Other than the 20mm 100 degree eyepiece, I’ve happily dropped to smaller FOV to have improved optical quality. The smaller size was an added benefit

Out of curiosity this thread had me looking up the Nagler 22mm as I have the APM 20mm. From specs that I saw, the Nagler weighs the same? I’m assuming it’s physically smaller. Just thinking about the OP wanting to reduce size and weight.

Haha no worries. This might be a little better.

Here you go

Despite the seeing being a bit poor this is making for a very enjoyable Sunday ☀️

Haha I can relate to this. Whenever I try to image I always go through these struggles and feel like I’ve wasted good observing time. On the flip side I have taken a few images over the years that I’m really pleased with so I guess it’s a case of taking the rough with the smooth!

Thanks Paul. This one had been collimated in a lathe so should be good. Will definitely give it a check to make sure though 👍

I’ve often looked at Laser Collimators but have never tried one. So for £13, I thought I’d give it a go. I’m curious to see how well collimated my Dob is using this.

Thanks Steve! Really chuffed with it! As you said, I’ll never need to worry about the mount for the Tak now. Just get on and use it 😁

I’m gonna need to buy a brass cog filter now for when I go out observing

First thing I did when I came in 😂

I hesitate to share this as my eyepiece looks so dirty but I did take a quick snap of Mercury through the scope on 24th March. Showing a nice phase

That’s some tough competition, particularly the XO. Very much looking forward to your report. Have a great week in the canaries

Thanks Stu! It looks fab. Looking forward to giving it a go

Couldn’t believe my luck when this came up on ABS on Easter Sunday! I have a birthday coming up so I’m putting it away for that. Should give some time for the clouds to clear 😉

Photo from last night of the Tak and a very tiny Comet Pons-Brooks. The tail can be seen with some zooming! Jupiter is above the Tak

What a fabulous night. Caught the GRS on Jupiter while it was still relatively high, followed by Mercury as thin crescent. Comet Pons-Brooks was just superb showing off its tail beautifully. Later on, cruised through Virgo picking up over 25 galaxies including Markarian’s Chain with the 10” dob. Moving onto M51 which showed wonderful spiral structure. Finished up with M81 and M82 which the dark lane in M82 easily visible. The dob has been under utilised lately but showed its class tonight. 2 planets, a comet and over 30 galaxies. Very happy!

Thanks John! Sorry to hear you can’t catch it where you are now. It’s really reached the point of looking like a proper comet. My 12 year old son took a look and knew what he was looking at

Pons-Brooks was nothing short of spectacular this evening. Looked amazing through the 4” frac and 10” dob. The tail prominent in both. My best look at it to date. Grab a few snaps with my DSLR too which I’ll need to process. I really love comets!

Caught Mercury in binoculars and the scope tonight. A tiny crescent now, just 15% illuminated according to SkySafari. Just poking through the low lying cloud in the picture

No problem. Let me know how you get on when you get it