GordonD

I like that picture. Gives a real flavour of what you might actually see if you are lucky. Very natural.

Amazing trip! This is a great read, thank so much for posting it.

These are great. And the detail you are getting in a 4 ich is very impressive. Do post more if you do them. Feeling a bit inspired to try myself, now.

That is gorgeous - well done!

Great picture.

Excellent. Great to see the aurora so far south.

It has a lovely natural look, whilst keeping lots of details. Well done.

X cellent.

Thanks John. Yes another season with fingers crossed. Not managed this yet but not for want of trying! As for Rob I suspect my 120 is too small and 'hairy' definitely describes the star in the Dob. Still a good reason to ignore the cold and get out there. 🤞

Excellent. Both of them!

I have had one these mounts for a few years now and pretty much always used in AZ mode. It tracks in both axis for sure.

Excellent!

Goodness. That's enormous! There must be a much smaller market for a mount like that. Interesting to see if they can compete on quality when the volume is small.

Just noticed FLO are listing a 185mm version! Priced at £5049 - hmm that sounds cheaper than you might expect. I am not sure that sounds right for a scope that size ...

That is a great idea and the scope sounds like good value for a triplet. Will be keeping an eye out for any reports on the optical quality.

Good luck! Especially with the confusing galaxies in Virgo. I find some on his list are surprisingly faint and I wonder how Messier managed to see them with his equipment. And no I haven't done them all! Excellent target to go for though.

Excellent - well done!

Great read - thanks for posting it. Sounds like a couple of wonderful sessions.

I have kept my dob in a plastic garden storage shed for 3 years, and another Newtonian prior to that for several years. The shed is dry and well ventilated. Shower cap type covers at both ends are essential for keeping out creepy crawly beasties and the little slugs that are surprisingly mobile. Other than that it has been fine. As others have pointed out, this makes it much closer to ambient temperature out of the box. When I bought the dob I planned to put it out there from the off. There was simply no other way a 12 inch dob (SW Go To) was ever going to be practical. Hats off to anyone who moves ones of these beasts from indoors out in to the garden for the evening. I chose to accept that it would deteriorate over time against not having one at all. Although in fact it has not yet suffered so I am ahead of where I thought I might be. Rather against the grain, I have also kept my refractor out there as well for a the last 2 or 3 years. Now that is in a flight case (as supplied by SW - not fantastic quality but certainly good enough) so is much better protected and it hasn't suffered at all. I do definitely let it dry completely, usually indoors, if it gets damp in use before putting it away again, though. The mount for the refractor and a previously owned EQ6, however have suffered some corrosion or rust in certain areas, especially on some of the screw threads. Even this has not been too bad and is only cosmetic. A bit of protective oil might have helped here. So after many years of moving stuff in and out of the house, I came to realise that making it as easy as possible to get the kit ready for observing meant it would be used more and I would enjoy their use more. And that balance has proved good for me. Of course if I had one of those lovely Taks, or some LZOS kit (drool ...) I might feel differently abut that balance.

A wonderful read - thank you so much for putting it together. Although I am (not surprisingly) a bit envious

Lovely image(s) - well done!

That's an excellent photo. The detail on Jupiter is great and Ganymede is a bonus.

That's a lovely report, a pleasure to read - well done! You found and looked a great range of objects for a 1st night. They say your first view of Saturn is something you will always remember. Thanks for posting this.

Lovely image, so much detail, well done.

Your images are always wonderful - so detailed and lifelike. You have great skill. I always enjoy looking at them so thanks for posting them.