Littleguy80

The Araldite repair held up through its first session last night so looking good 👍 FLO pointed me in the right direction for grub screws which arrived today. Order is restored. I have spare grub screws if anyone else finds they need one (M2.5 3mm)

Pack of grub screws to replace a missing one from my Tak MEF3 microfocuser. If anyone else is missing one then give me a shout as I have spares

Out with the Tak for a short session. Seeing was average so didn’t linger on Jupiter or the Moon. Popped the 30mm APM UFF and the Tak came alive. The Owl Cluster looked so delicate with its pin point stars. I passed by a few more clusters until I arrived at Iota Cas. The Nagler zoom gave a lovely split, the bright white star with a yellow and a blue companion. Back to the 30mm and I traveled along Kemble’s cascade to the cluster NGC 1502. For a final challenge, I went after the planetary nebula NGC 1501. It was really challenging with the bright moon. I eventually cracked it with the Docter, VIP Barlow and TV UHC filter. A normally easy target became a brilliantly fun challenge due to the conditions. Great little session.

Thanks Damian! Great to hear from you Sorry to hear your session didn’t go to plan but glad you managed to get a few targets in before the cold took hold. 62P is sitting quite nicely off Leo’s tail and is quite bright. Not a challenging target but I always observing comets. Hope you and the rest of the dob mob are keeping well.

Amazing image! I’ve observed in this quite a few times recently. Awesome to see it like this. Really like that Hubble’s Variable Nebula is in there too

I’ve emailed FLO so fingers crossed. I think it’s m2.5 so hopefully shouldn’t be difficult to find a replacement.

Araldite seems to have worked its magic. Will need a session or two to see if it holds but seems pretty solid

I’m trying to find a couple of replacement parts for some of my astro gear. I got a secondhand MEF 3 microfocuser for my Tak but it’s missing one of the brass screws for attaching it. Seems to be ok with only one but would like the second for to make sure it holds ok. The plastic part on the securing bolt on my SkyWatcher Extension Tube has come loose so I can’t get it to stay tightened up to the mount. Wobbly mounts are now fun. Any suggestions on where I could source either of these greatly appreciated

Pirate shark anyone. Can’t beat a onesie for warmth 😉

MEF 3 for my Tak FC100DF. Another nice improvement to the Tak. Fitted and tried it this evening. Definitely helped with hitting the sweet spot with focus once I adjusted it to my liking. It’s missing one of the tiny screws that tighten it onto the focuser. Doesn’t seem to cause an issue but will try and source another one for added security's. I just need to stay away from anyone with a feather touch focused now 😂

Thanks for the comments everyone. I should give full credit to @Cjg for the delicious homemade soup. A man of many talents!

Belatedly got around to writing up a report for this session. Report here for anyone interested:

It had been several months since I last visited my local dark site at Seething, the home of the Norwich Astro Society. Clear skies and knowing that some friends would be observing there was all the reason I needed to pack up the car and head out. I took both my 10" dob and Tak FC100. These scopes sat alongside @Cjg's Astro Physics Stowaway and a stunning 20" Dob. For a bit of fun we pointed the Tak and AP at the Eskimo and Blue Snowball planetary nebulae. The views were just fab in both. Such a treat to look through two top notch refractors. With the dob now cooled and my eyes dark adapted, it was time for some serious DSO observing. Starting with the beautiful green glowing M42 with the Running man nebulae. Next came the Flame nebula. Faint but I was soon comfortably picking out the dark lanes. The 25m TV Plossl and HB filter came out and I began tracing the edge of IC434. For 10/15 mins, I traced up and down. The notch of the Horse Head seemed to come and go. I called over T, the owner of the 20" dob. She looked and then swapped the TV eyepiece for her Pentax. Some more careful nudging and then came confirmation of the sighting. I took a look with the Pentax. It took some time to adjust to change in the FOV but eventually I got it again. The big dob was also pointing at the Horse Head. The HH was, as you would expect, an easier spot here though not an easy target. The view in 20" gave me more confidence of what I'd seen in my 10" dob. After the joy of great refractors came the joy of great reflectors. I sat happily with a foot in both camps! The rest of the evening was filled with touring some other less challenging targets. With the HB filter still in place, I swung back to M42. The view was nothing short of breathtaking. It was like seeing a whole new object. It seemed to extend so much further than I've ever seen it before. No doubt the dark, transparent skies helped. The cluster M46 with the planetary nebula, NGC 2438, within it was awesome in the dob. The PN showing so clearly without needing a filter to see it. M1 showed as textured oval, so much more impressive under dark skies. We all took a break and enjoyed cake, homemade soup and some laughs in the clubhouse. It was a great throwback to the times spent observing pre-covid. The Rosette with a UHC filter easily filling the FOV with my 30mm UFF eyepiece. Thick nebulosity around the bright cluster at its centre. The Christmas tree cluster raised a smile as did Hubble's Variable nebula, the 37 cluster (NGC 2301) and Hagrid's dragon (NGC 2169). I grabbed the Tak and moved so that the tail of Leo sat above the trees. From there, I was able to find Comet 62/P. A small but fairly brightly circular fuzzy patch. For a final hurrah, I pointed the Tak at the Leo triplet. M65 and M66 were bright and easy. With a bit of averted vision came NGC 3628. A really lovely night of observing made so much better by sharing it with some lovely friends.

I thought tonight might have been a bit of a come down after the dark site trip last night but I thoroughly enjoyed. Just an hour or so with the Tak FC100. I wanted to see if I could pick up the Crab Nebula with it from my suburban skies. Comfortably so was the answer. Highlights after that included M46 and M47. Adding a UHC filter to pick up the planetary nebula within M46. With the APM 30mm UFF, I could fit both clusters in the FOV. Hind’s Crimson Star was fab, showing the traffic light red that I remember. Comet 62P off the tail of Leo also showed well in the Tak. My recent addition of a Berlebach tripod has made a big difference to how I feel about using the Tak. It’s heavier of course but so much more stable. Two nights good observing on the trot makes for a lovely late Christmas present.

The skies didn’t disappoint, though not perhaps the best I’ve seen from this site. Got to see the Horsehead through a friend’s 20” dob and then managed it in my own 10” dob. Orion through a HB filter was stunning. Comet 62P through my Tak rounded off the night. Will endeavour to write a full report tomorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed getting out under some proper dark skies with friends.

Headed out to my local dark site for the first time in months. Car loaded with more astro kit than @FLO would take to an astro show. Fingers crossed for good transparency!

Nope. Clear skies will arrive sooner or later, they always do, and then you’ll love it without thinking about how much you paid for it. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it’s very rare to question the astro equipment you have on a clear night other than to ask…do I have enough?!? It’s only when it’s cloudy and we’re feeling a bit grumpy that we consider selling stuff. The other possible exception is planning to sell something to buy an even bigger or better something else such as telescope and eyepiece upgrades. Just keeping checking the skies, not the weather forecast, and soon it’ll come good!

Thanks for the posts @John and @Nigella Bryant Got home from an evening out and they inspired me to get the Tak out for a look at Jupiter and the Moon. Saw the shadow and think I could see the barge too which was exciting to me!

For me it’s the challenge and the sense of achievement when you finally manage to see that little bit of almost nothing. Throw into that the sense of awe, when you consider what it actually is you’re seeing, and it’s not hard to see how we get hooked!

Thank you! I love that idea!

Been having a play with processing my photo from yesterday. Pretty pleased with how much more I've been able to get out of it

Clouded out around 9:30’ too for me. Got some shot with my DSLR and 10” dob. Had a punt at processing one.

I nearly gave up and headed into the office this morning. Lovely clear skies now!

I’ve been pleased with it so far. There have been 3 comets that I’ve tried it on now. My approach to using it has been to treat it like a narrowband filter as it’s very similar to an OIII filter. The impression of the comets through the filter matches that. The filter takes a comet you can see without the filter and increases the contrast. Darker background so the comet stands out a bit more. I haven’t really felt like I could see a lot more of the comet with the filter. Whether this would change with a brighter comet or under darker skies, I can’t yet say. As with an OIII, you get green stars. There have been a couple of comets that I’ve failed to see without the filter and still couldn’t see with the filter. I’ll keep trying with this but so far it hasn’t made a difference with bringing dim comets into the visually detectable range. Overall, I’m pleased with it. The increased contrast makes for a nicer view.

Inspired by @andrew63’s post yesterday, I got out earlier in the evening to observe Comet C/2023 H2 Lemmon. Using the Tak FC100DF and APM 30mm UFF, it was located easily in Hercules not far from M13, which I also observed. It was bright but quite diffuse patch. The Baader SWAN filter nicely increased contrast on the comet. Some quick views of Saturn and Jupiter afterwards though seeing wasn’t too great. Comet Lemmon is well worth a look