michael.h.f.wilkinson

Lovely image!

Been there, done that!

Nice crisp disc. Is this a mosaic? There seems to be a horizontal band across the image.

Even high-pressure sodium lights are reduced quite a bit by an LPR or UHC filter. The former are better for galaxies, clusters, and reflection nebulae, as a rule, the latter for emission nebulae

Holiday, much needed

I will be off to Italy shortly, so hopefully it will be a bit easier, as it will be higher in the sky

Very impressive indeed.

They can last months., so fingers crossed

Nice collection

Very nice detail! Those little maks punch well above their weight

Spotted the galaxy a few years ago with the Celestron C8, nice edge-on spiral

Made some comparison/finder charts using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter 3 deg FOV, orientation as in RACI finder 1 deg FOV, orientation as in SCT with diagonal same, with SDSS image overlaid As can be seen, the SN is really close to the core

Lovely set of images with quite a bit going on. Itching to get a chance to point my solar scope at the sun again (maybe Sunday, fingers crossed)

A mag 12.8 supernova is visible in NGC 7814 in Pegasus. More information here: https://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html#2021rhu Will see if I can spot it when clear skies return

Good capture under those conditions. Cloudy here, glad you got some sunshine. Nice to see such activity

Yes you do, the corrector plate only serves as ERF, you need Herschel wedge, Ca-K module, or tele-centric lens and H-alpha etalon as well

Nice and swift delivery from Baader, the Triband SCT for solar H-alpha, continuum, and Ca-K has arrived It comes with a Losmandy dovetail bar, which sits fine on my GP-DX mount. Might want to add a dual purpose saddle to the lighter GP mount as well. Note the reflective coating on the corrector plate, which doubles as an ERF. Clouds and rain abound, of course. Can't wait to see what detail I might get in H-alpha, switching from 80 mm to 8" aperture.

Very nice one indeed

OK, I have bitten the bullet and ordered one. Should arrive late next week

Really lovely, with loads of detail. The AVI is clearly better than the GIF

Do you even need a finder scope? I don't have one on my 80mm F/6 triplet. With a really wide EP (and especially when combined with my 2" Amici prism), the scope is its own 15.5x80 RACI finder with a 5.3 deg FOV

Had a look myself this morning. Some stunning proms and indeed a bright little bulge in the SE. Cloudy here now, otherwise I would be looking at the sun again

Looks like a lovely little scope. Looking forward to first light report

It is just an ERF, so an etalon is needed behind it for solar H-alpha, or a DSO H-alpha/O-III/S-II filter for narrowband DSO imaging. I have a Solar Spectrum 0.3 Å filter, a Lunt Ca-K Module (B1800 type, so not the entire sun in the FOV), and a Herschel wedge and solar continuum filter for white light, so that should do nicely. I will probably get a TZ-3 tele-centric lens to get to F/30, although I might first use a Meade 3x TeleXtender.

I just recently found this page on the Baader website: https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/telescopes/baader-planetarium/triband-sct-schmidt-cassegrain-based-multi-purpose-telescope-for-sun-and-deep-sky.html Much like other adaptations using an H-alpha type ERF coating on the corrector plate, Baader have put a tri-band ERF coating on it, allowing observation and imaging of Ca-K, Solar Continuum, and H-alpha. It could also be used for deep-sky imaging by using narrowband filters (or treating the tri-band ERF as a kind of UHC filter, transmitting O-III, H-beta, H-alpha and S-II). I have seen some dazzling solar shots taken with this type of scope. So I am sorely tempted. I was considering building a 6" dedicated solar refractor with my Beloptik tri-band ERF halfway down the tube, which would work in a similar fashion, but would be heavier, longer, and only really fits on my Vixen GP-DX mount (the Vixen GP would struggle). The larger aperture would be nice as well, although I am not sure it would be great for CaK, except on days of great seeing. Another advantage of going for the Tri-Band SCT is that it would free up the tri-band ERF for continued use in the 80 mm APM.