michael.h.f.wilkinson

Superb stuff!

Had a brief gap in the clouds this morning, so rushed out with the Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars to see if I could spot AR2765. Somewhat to my surprise, I could pick it out very easily, so it seems to be growing rather than diminishing. Fingers crossed for a clear patch long enough to get out the solar scopes for a better look (forecast not good, however)

My M33 effort from last autumn was also shot with the EQ3-2 This was shot with a 0.6x focal reducer, but the distance between reducer and chip clearly isn't quite right, given the poor star shapes in the corners

I would think that is a good decision. I haven't used this particular Olympus model, but it has a high reputation. One of the first binoculars I tried were my parents' 8x40 Olympus bins and they were great. I have no trouble using 10x50 binoculars without a tripod, and the 6.5 degree FOV is plenty. I have seen reports that the Practica has inferior optics to the Olympus

I have banged my head on a counterweight. "Only" about 12 kg worth of steel, but unpleasant, nonetheless

I have had a Celestron GP-C8 for nearly 25 years, and it is a great all-round visual scope, and no slouch on planetary imaging, although I do set it up in three stages (set up tripod, add mount, attach scope, which takes about 10 minutes). For most DSOs it is very good indeed, and only in some cases does my Meade SN6 6" F/5 Schmidt Newton provide better views, simply because of its huge field of view. Note, however that the C8 needs cool down time, which is short in my case, because I store it in a garage with little or no heating, but can easily be 30 minutes if stored inside. The SkyMax 180 will need a similar cool down time, if not longer, given its higher mass. Regarding planetary detail and contrast, I would guess a 10" Newtonian has higher potential than either the 180 mm Mak or the 8" SCT, assuming good collimation and optical figure. Aperture is king, I find. The main issue is the seeing, however. At these aperture the atmosphere is the key factor in determining image quality. If seeing is poor, the best optics won't help. I remember seeing Jupiter through Olly's TEC 140, when it had just risen above the hills to the east, and the view was absolutely dreadful. Nothing to do with the scope, everything to do with the seeing.

It's just African swallow that don't migrate 😜

I have had balloons before, but without the proms and pelicans like eclipses

It is not just the small exit pupil, it is the short eye relief. I use a 6mm Delos on my C8 when the seeing is really good, and that has a generous 20 mm eye relief, which makes finding the right spot much easier.

Absolute zero chromatic aberration doesn't exist for a doublet, ED glass or not ("Ye cannae change the laws of physics capt'n" as Scotty would say ). Being F/10, all aberrations will be reduced, possibly to the level of being invisible. It will also be much kinder on the EPs, resulting in sharper views with far less astigmatism towards the edge of the FOV

I used to have a homemade 6" F/8 Newtonian, and M13 was generally visible as a bright glow, with what I like to call "diamond dust" sprinkled over it. Faint pinpricks of stars best seen in averted vision. A really beautiful sight, both at just 48x and at 133x When I got my 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain, I turned it immediately to M13, and the view was jaw dropping, with a myriad stars visible.

My ASI183MC (non pro) has a T2 thread and came with a T2->1.25" nosepiece. I am not sure the Pro version is any different in this respect. The manual can be found here: https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/manuals/ASI183_Manual_EN.pdf

It is very difficult, I needed very transparent skies, had little or no light pollution, and an extra 10 mm aperture. Even then it was a difficult, averted-vision only object.

Cheers, Mark. M101 is generally one I use to test sky transparency. It is such a diffuse object, that can be very hard when there is the slightest haze, and then some nights suddenly spiral arms can be spotted in the C8.

I have spotted it twice now, both times with the big 16x80 binoculars. First I spotted it near Algol as a tiny glow where there shouldn't be any DSO on the night of May 20. Very faint in the pale grey sky near Capella last night. I couldn't be bothered setting up the imaging gear I had brought along. Disappointing indeed, but still another comet bagged

I don't have a Quark, but my Solar Spectrum 0.3 Å combined with a 4x Baader TZ-4 tele-centric gives similar focal length and bandwidth on my APM 80 mm F/6. I have tried a TV 25mm Plössl, and a Vixen 25 mm orthoscopic, and both perform really well. The Vixen SLV 15 mm does a good job as well

Drove over to Aduarderzijl, north of Groningen again yesterday evening and arrived early enough to spot Venus close to the horizon. I got out the 16x80 binoculars and could easily make out the crescent, but it was quite distorted by atmospheric refraction. I then picked up Mercury, and admired the crescent moon with earthshine. I then took some photos with, first with the phone and as can be seen, the conditions were rather better than a few days ago I then shot some more with the camera which I will share later. When more stars came out I got out the binoculars again, and started hunting some Messiers, starting with M3, followed by M13, M92, and M65 and M66. I then admired the moon a bit more, before returning to the Messier hunt, quickly bagging M5, M4, M10, M12, and M14 (it was really turning into a night of globulars). Just to get a little sequence of of Messiers from M10 to M14, I also hunted down M11, which is of course an open cluster, but almost looks like a globular in bins, it is so compact. Moving to Sagitta, I got M27, which was a real stunner in these big bins, and M71 (small, but neat little globular). I tried M57, and could spot the nebula, but not really resolve it. Moving to Ursa Major and environs, I had a go at M81 and M82 (very nice indeed) and M101 (easy despite the skies not being fully dark), and of course M51. I tried NGC 2903, close to the moon, so I had little hope, but I could actually make out a faint glow in the right spot. Skies must have been really transparent, because even M4, which was low in the sky with some city lights interfering, and which is one of the more "anaemic" globulars was really easy. Between these observations, I tried finding coment C/2020 F8 SWAN a couple of times. and each time I thought I spotted a faint haze in the right spot, but it was too faint to be sure. Towards 0:35, after a quick look at the Double Cluster, NGC 663 and M103, I returned to the spot to the right of Capella, and could make out a fuzzy haze with ceertainty. Quite small, no tail apparent, and a far cry from the naked eye comet some had expected, but definitely there. As it was really turning could, with quite a string wind from the north, I decided to call it a night and packed the gear up, and drove back home.

Great catch! I would actually go for a red filter, rather than the 80A, as it cuts down the blue of the sky, and the longer wavelengths are less susceptible to seeing effects.

Got a second battery today, a 12V 20 Ah replacement for the (dead as a doornail) battery in my SkyWatcher PowerTank. The charging circuits are shot, but otherwise it works, and you can readily charge it though the red and black jumpstart cables. Saves me creating a box with plugs etc. It also delivers 6 V and 9 V outputs, which can be handy

It probably weighs more than the entire mobile set-up, unless I bring multiple mounts and scopes. However, the 105Ah version was on offer, and cheaper than some of the smaller options, so I thought I might as well get some extra grunt in the battery. Especially if I want to run the laptop and dew strips from it as well

Was delivered in an appropriate container this morning by courier. It weighs in at 23.1 kg (just over 50 lb).

A bit boring, perhaps, but I am rather pleased with the 12V 105 Ah deep-cycle battery that has arrived, which should happily power my mobile setup

The first Zooniverse link is just to get an account. Because this project is still not officially released, no link to Space Fluff appears on the site. There is another link on the SUNDIAL blog just a little further down the page I admit, slightly hidden under the Space Fluff icon (not my design). The direct link to our project is this: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/sundial-itn/space-fluff

Had another go at spotting Venus with the binoculars at the end of the street where I have a less obstructed horizon towards the west and northwest. I took both the little Nikon Monarch 7 10x42 and the Helios LightQuest 16x80 bins. I first found Venus with the wider field Nikon, and then got out the big bins. Venus wasn't visible to the naked eye. I walked back home and made a final attempt at picking the planet up, and to my surprise I could pick it out just above a chimney across the street, first with the bins, and then with the naked eye. I attached my monopod to the bins and had a longer look. The crescent is extremely thin at the moment, really beautiful. The view was much more stable with the monopod. I did notice that even at 16x I could see a lot of turbulence above the roofs (unsurprisingly). I then swung over to the moon, and admired the craters along the terminator. A short session, but fun nonetheless.

I thought 85 degrees would be a tall order for 5 lenses in 3 groups. It seems I was right