michael.h.f.wilkinson

Should last for a couple of hours, so gunning for the California Nebula for the first time. Hoping to get 3 hours of data at least. I wasn't expecting this amount of detail in a single 60 s sub

It has been caught while still rising. The latest photometry from the Zwicky Transient Facility gives a current brightness of around 12.8. It is a type 1a, so after reaching its peak it should last for a week or two at least, and then decline slowly https://lasair.roe.ac.uk/object/ZTF21aaabvit/

Might have a chance tomorrow night according to Clear Outside

These Vixen mounts are just great. I have had my Great Polaris mount for over 25 years, and it has been a brilliant workhorse. I later got a GP-DX, which is even better. Here they are side-by-side, Celestron black GP mount at the rear, GP-DX with Meade SN6 in front

Unacceptable

I probably have as many, but keep them cunningly hidden

I will use this as evidence that I don't have too many scopes, next time the missus suggests so, and the ones I do have are NOT in her way (all stored in the garage)

Cause of the Hertfordshire Murders?

Very nice indeed. That is making quite an entry

I have just been playing with the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter, and made this chart for use with my RACI finder And these for use in my SCT (with and without SDSS image)

As the SN is a point source, it should take quite some magnification, and sky background need not be a huge problem

Regarding the original question: my slightly larger C8 from a reasonably dark suburban garden has shown me many DSOs. Of course, when I take it with me on holidays to some dark spot in southern France, the images are way better, of course. I also have a 6" scope: a Meade SN6 6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton, which also gives really nice views of DSOs. It should be roughly equal in performance to the C6, except it allows a much wider field of view (up to 3.3 degrees). This has never been a very popular scope, but it is the best Meade product I have ever used (although their Series 5000 TeleXtenders are very nice as well, and the 14 mm UWA (also S5K) was very nice and sharp, but lacked a bit of eye relief). The SN6 is a great comet hunter, a great wide-field DSO scope, and has been my DSO imaging workhorse this year

Forecast for Friday and Saturday night is looking good here. Fingers crossed! Might also go on a bit of a comet hunt

Just spotted that a bright supernova designated SN 2021 J in NGC 4414 is mag at 13.2, so well within reach of my Celestron C8. Or would be if it weren't for these interminable clouds. I bagged NGC 4414 in 2012, and it was fairly easy according to my notes. More information here: http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html It is apparently just south of the core. Fingers crossed for some clear skies after midnight

Why not consider a Mak-Newt.

I use a mini-giro mount on a photo tripod for lightweight travel, and a wooden tripod in the garden. Works very well, even with two scopes

It will give you a much wider field of view, but quite a bit of chromatic aberration if used at higher magnification. I also have a refractor as a wide-field, grab and go scope next to my C8, but it is an 80mm F/6 triplet. More expensive, but gives an even wider field, and is also good on sun, moon, and planets

Just managed to capture a tad over 47 minutes on the Horse-Head and Flame Nebulae, using my APM 80 mm F/6, TRF-2008 0.8x reducer and modded Canon EOS 550D on my EQ3-2 mount. Stacked and stretched in APP, with a little tweak in GIMP gives me this Not bad for such a short session in suburban conditions. I added these data to an earlier load, reaching a total of 7 h 37 min 27s, about half of which was captured using an Optolog L-eXtreme filter. This gives me a clearly better result. Still need to tame Alnitak (and grab much more data from a properly dark site)

Actually managing to grab some data on Horse-Head and Flame Nebulae again

Baader film for me too. Cheap and good. The only better option is a Herschel wedge, but they should ONLY be used on refractors

You can also scout around for second-hand binoculars. Sometimes you can find really good deals in charity shops. People often underrate the old binoculars (like the Russian ones), and you can sometimes pick up a nice pair for a tenner

I will check with my colleagues tomorrow

Thanks for the heads up, but the forecast here is dreadful, so I doubt I will be able to see it.

I wanted a reasonable all-round visual scope, with potential for planetary imaging, and the ability to transport it easily in a small car. The Celestron GP-C8 fit the bill neatly, 25 years ago. It now has some company, with the acquisition of first an APM 80mm F/6 triplet for wide-field observing and DSO and solar imaging, an EQ3-2 mount, a GP-DX mount, and a Meade SN6 6"F/5 Schmidt-Newton for DSO imaging and visual comet hunting. The GP-C8 is still the main scope for visual, and certainyl for planetary and lunar imaging.

I doubt I would have been able to put an 8" Dob tube in my old Peugeot 106, along with all the camping gear when I went to France to see the eclipse in 1999. The OTA is way more compact and lighter, the mount head is quite modest in size when you stow it, and the tripod is a very light manageable unit as well. The Dobson OTA is quite a beast in comparison. The base is also quite bulky.