mark81

Fantastic sketch! I would be chuffed with that !

I guess many people suffer this way. I suppose you could take a couple of positives... You do have a great scope and you can get away to rural locations. With a bit of planning and some degree of luck and determination, you'll get there. I've got the opposite, rural skies, 80mm scope 😥 I guess your using a decent light pollution filter? Good luck with the rest of the challenge!

Achim, Very nice sketch! You captured some great detail Marj

Back in 2004, 2029 seemed like such a long way away...

Another good read, Thanks, And a nice review of what looks like a pretty good chair

2am and observing before a day at work..... Nicely done

Very nice Mike. The more I hear about the Tak, the more I want one?

Very nice ?

Congrats on grabbing m51. That's one I've never seen myself - I have tried a few times but it seems to have a way of avoiding me...

Nice sketch Mike. A good job on that very subtle detail..

Hi Paul I have used a pair of 8x40s, the Olympus dpsi, which give a very pleasing FOV, about 8degrees if I remember rightly and they are going to be that little less weighty than a 50mm but of course you are sacrificing that extra apeture needed to pull out those fainter objects.. if the unstable image was an issue I would stick with the heavier larger bins and tripod mount them...

Yeah, very slim I'd say. M46 itself only ever shows as a smudge through my 80mm - maybe something to do with how low it sits on the horizon. With the correct filter, a different location and the right mag? Hmmmmm. Better leave that one to the big dobs

I've always thought that one of those smartphone neck holders would be ideal - much bigger and stronger of course...

It's an interesting subject Kronos. I am very lucky to have Bottle 3/4 skies so many of the large DSOs like the Beehive, Andromeda etc are clearly naked eye visible. My 10x50 binoculars here for example, can resolve mag 8 stars on a good night and mag 9 as very small grey pixels, but in outer London visiting family where the bottle is 8 I really struggle with everything through the bins so more aperture is essential. Also reading other members observing reports from light polluted areas I have sometimes been surprised how little can be seen, so I would imagine an 8inch newt under bottle 3/4 to be amazing. I think the 130 heritage will be very pleasing under dark skies - so many people sing it's praises and I wouldn't be surprised if it would rival your dob. Mark

Very nice sketch. The galaxy looks fantastic

I would hate to go ahead and give poor advice or suggest you give up on your scope for a new one, but you might find looking at these objects (and many others ) quite a challenge with a 50mm scope. The money you will spend on a couple of eyepieces and a Barlow will put you well on the way to picking up a real nice starter scope like the Heritage 130 from Sky watcher ....

Hi, welcome to the forum I guess the first questions most will ask are... What Scope do you have? and what objects are you most interested in looking at?

They look great! Look forward to reading some reviews and reports

I've been reading this thread for the last few days and I'm in total disbelief at the way you are being treated. I know many others have said the same but I'm practically speechless. The scope is damaged. Send it back. Here's a new one. Very sorry. End of. Why all the drama?! I look forward to reading about your new scope when all this is over...

Thanks. I thought about the legs last night when I was out with the AZ3 and st80. Camera tripod it will be.... And being attacked by the slow Mo controls doesn't look too appealing either ?

I came across this on FLO, I guess a binocular bracket would go with this.... Maybe I'll give them a ring .. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/camera-adaptor-plate-for-az3.html

I really want to mount my 10x50s and am kicking myself that I gave my camera tripod away a few years back, all I have now is an AZ3...Has anyone tried this? And if so, what sort of adaptor/adaptor plate did you use... Thanks Mark

So I've spent many hours out with the ST80 using it for what it does best. This year I have been wanting to get into something new, something I could learn lots more about and thought about the Moon. I realise that when you think of Lunar observing, an ST80 may not spring to mind... But here goes. I started out today at 16.15, with my 6mm UWA which gave x66. Nice crisp craters down the Terminator. I picked out two large craters which looked like a pair of black eyes looking back at me and scanned my Moon Maps and found them to be Aristotles and Eudoxus. Mag wasn't enough to see any detail around or in them so I bumped up the 6mm with a Barlow and with some very careful focusing was very pleased with the result considering the scope I'm using. I saw some nice subtle detail below Eudoxus which I believe to be some peaks. I picked out the flat expanse of Mare Frigoris and even the crater Mitchell which sits right next to Aristotles. I took a few sketches and borrowing an idea from an old astronomy book I have I came up with this.... Thanks for looking

When my neighbour turns off the Christmas lights....

Yea, I heard it's gone for now in the UK. It does still exist, I think , in Australia ?