michael.h.f.wilkinson

A clear sky greeted me after dinner, even though all forecasts were for solid cloud. I rushed out the Meade 6" F/6 Schmidt-Newton on the Vixen GP mount (rather than the GP-DX, which isn't as easy to use manually) and quickly aimed it at M45 with the Nagler 31T5 and 2" extension tube in place. To my joy, I could reach infinity focus, and the image was beautifully sharp. I don't think collimation was spot on, but I couldn't see any clear aberrations. Even at the edge of the huge field, stars remained pretty sharp. M45 was beautifully framed in the 3.34 degree FOV. I would have swung over to the Double Cluster, but clouds were rushing in, so I packed up the scope. Really chuffed at this first light.

Just set up the Meade 6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton on the GP-DX mount. Looks rock solid, and finding balance is easy. I tried focusing the scope, with 2" extension tube and the Nagler 31T5 "Panzerfaust" on some lights at about 200 m distance. That I managed and the image quality looks good, but I might need a slightly shorter extension tube to reach infinity. The other EPs seem fine. The Nagler 31T5 gives a magnification of 24.6x and a field of view of a whopping 3.34 degrees, 2.5x the maximum field I get with the C8. I saw no obvious vignetting with either this EP, or with the Vixen LVW 42 mm. The latter gives 18.1x magnification and 3.75 degrees FOV, at a rather large exit pupil. As can be seen, the EP is quite a bit of a beast, and does perturb the balance, but the motors of the Vixen GP-DX mount don't complain. I really hope the skies clear soon.

That should be great. I use my Solar Spectrum H-alpha filter in my APM 80mm F/6 stopped down to 75mm with a Beloptik tri-band ERF, and it is a huge step up from my SolarMax-II 60mm, you should be in for a real treat, especially when the next solar cycle really kicks in

How long does it take for an added scope or camera to appear in the menu. I tried adding my Meade SN-6 Schmidt Newtonian, but it isn't showing yet (or has that feature been switched off).

I think material being expelled from the surface might well be the explanation.

That is really neat

I just watched a video suggesting Betelgeuse won't go SN for quite a while. First, the gravitational waves possibly(!) detected in the Orion region don't seem to come from Betelgeuse itself. Second, Betegeuse is a very odd red giant in that it spins much faster than most, and shows much more nitrogen in its spectrum than it should. These phenomena could be explained easily if Betelgeuse is the result of a merger of a binary progenitor. The lain star would be 16 solar masses, the second about 4. The merger would increase the spin rate (some estimates suggest the surface velocity of 15 km/s, which would be HUGE, and contribute to matter escaping from the star), and also cause violent mixing of the materials from deep layers. This would bring nitrogen from the core to the surface, and simultaneously inject fresh hydrogen into the nucleus. Seems to be one of the more sensible videos, despite the click-bait title

Cracking image!

Should give awesome wide-field views. I have just tested the position of focus by attaching my EOS 80D, and it seems to be well outside the tube. With the focuser fully extended I get a sharp image of trees at some 50 m away (fog doesn't allow much more). Infinity focus should be some 12 mm further inward.

Interesting to hear about the F/3.5 version. I would expect the F/5 to be at least as good. Have you used yours for imaging, or just for visual?

Just replaced the rather short dovetail bar, which did fit on the puck of the Vixen GP mount, but not on the much longer ADM saddle on my GP-DX, with a much longer one, left over from a project that didn't go anywhere. It should be much easier to balance. I also fiddled around with the collimation, and I think I got that sorted. Now all I need is a clear sky.

I had seen this on offer, including Cheshire EP, AstroZap dew shield, and Bahtinov mask on a Dutch website, with the asking price dropping steadily. On my birthday (January 21) it hit €165, and my restraint gave way. I collected it today, and it is in perfect condition, with upgraded dual-speed focuser. It should fit neatly between the APM 80 mm F/6 triplet, and the Celestron C8. I intend to use it for wide field viewing, and imaging of smaller DSOs. The GP-DX mount should easily handle both the weight and focal length of this scope.

Nice captures. The weather forecasts seems to be off a lot lately. Frequently Clear Outside says there is 100% cloud, but I get pretty decent skies, other times Accuweather gives "Clear Skies" when it is totally overcast. Most annoying

I don't see this working. You are simply admitting a larger chunk of the primary image into the field stop of the EP. The magnification is the same, thus the apparent surface brightness is just the same. Suppose I move from 50 deg AFOV (apparent field of view) to 70 AFOV at the same magnification (say the difference between 20 mm SLV and XW EPs). The latter allows twice the field of view (in square degrees), thus letting twice the amount of background light reach the eye, spread over twice the AFOV, so the same surface brightness. If anything, this will make matters worse, as dark adaptation might suffer. Now replace the 20mm XW by a 14mm XW. This gives the same true FOV as the 20mm SLV, thus admitting the same amount of background light to the eye, but spread over twice the AFOV, thus halving the surface brightness of the background. Stars, being point soruces are more easily spotted, therefore. Nebulous objects become a bit more apparent, as the eye picks up slightly larger diffuse structures with a given contrast ratio with the background more easily. I think this is the reasoning Al Nagler used when stating UWA EPs help fight light pollution.

Superb images!

That is absolutely lovely

My current collection consists of Helios LightQuest 16x80 HR for astronomy Nikon Monarch 7 10x42 for birding Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars for solar Bresser 10x50 (1990s vintage 7 deg FOV, pretty decent) for outreach and the kids COMBI-Foto 7x50 (Yashica-built, late 70s vintage) for outreach and the kids TS 15x70 (BA-1, version with better coatings than most) for outreach and the kids

Absolutely. I have the old Vixen wooden tripod with my Vixen Great Polaris mount, and a similar, lower one with my GP-DX mount. They are pretty solid, and damp out vibrations beautifully.

Stunning shots, really affecting my latent aperture fever

These filters make the stars blue-green because they pass O-III and H-beta light very efficiently, blocking much of the rest of the spectrum. They also pass H-alpha and S-II, but the dark adapted eye tends not to be very sensitive there. Sometimes I do pick up some red on bright stars

After my first spot of the comet with big binoculars a few days back, I haven't been able to repeat a definite detection, possibly due to some high haze affecting the skies in my suburban back garden. I just had another shot, as the skies were unexpectedly clear around 22:00. I thought I could pick up a bit of fuzziness close to a star, but couldn't be sure. M81 and M82 were visible with my 16x80 bins, but not as bright as usual, so conditions weren't great. I decided to drag out the C8, and have a go. After aligning the finder scope on M42, and admiring that awesome object with the Nagler 31 T5 "Panzerfaust", I swung over to the Double Cluster (which barely fits into the FOV). I did a short star hop from there, and found a patch of fuzz overlaying a little asterism a little way from open cluster NGC 957, as no nebula of sufficient brightness is mapped in this area, this had to be the comet. It also coincided neatly with the position at which I thought I spotted the comet with the Helios 16x80 bins.

I was quite skinny, I have expanded since (as my hair thinned 😜), but have knocked over 20 kg off, and while I might not get as skinny as in this photo, I am steadily getting back into shape.

Just realised this picture was taken about 40 years ago . The crosshairs in the finder scope I built out of an old pair of 10x50 binoculars were quite literally cross hairs, made from what was then visibly plentiful, but now alas a dwindling natural resource 😉

Very much faded, but it shows me with the 6" F/8 Newtonian I built as a 17 year old, on the roof terrace of my parents' place. I had a lot of fun with that scope.

If you have APT, connecting to the camera from APT should be enough. APT shows the shutter count of connected cameras