Zeta Reticulan

This Barlow? The screws look the same.

Probably. This is a 31.7mm GSO Amici. I bought it new seven or eight years ago . It has one of the old smaller thumbscrews. It doesn't look like pot metal. It's only comparatively recently GSO have been equipping these Amicis with the larger thumbscrews. I should imagine it was an economic decision.

This is Mars rock! Sorry, I'll get my coat.

I have the Altair version of the 102mm KUO. It's a really nice scope.

Big bolt case? lol

It wasn't always the way with GSO though. Many moons ago a lot of their stuff was often regarded as a bit cheap and dodgy. Although this isn't really the case now, some of their products are still a bit suspect. Case in point: the 3x ED Barlow. The build quality is pretty decent. However, the element itself suffers badly from chromatic aberration. It's really not suitable for astronomy. I'm not the only person to notice this either, so it's unlikely to be a QC issue. Regarding the thumbscrews, I have no idea where GSO source them from. They are quite distinctive. A few years ago they started to replace their original thumbscrews with the larger 'aluminium' ones. At least I assumed they were aluminium. If they are in fact pot metal I should imagine it was an economic decision. It's a very real possibility the pandemic has disrupted supply lines. I've noticed that many SvBony thumbscrews are un-chromed bare brass, as are the spigots on new Vixen mounts. A year ago I bought this GSO 20mm Plossl. Basically my OCD cut in and I wanted to complete the set. I had all of the others. It's a great 20mm Plossl. It's also silver and has an odd eyeguard. GSO made the Celestron Omni Plossls at one time. I wonder if they used an old stock Omni housing for my unusual silver 20mm Plossl?

Basically, you can't really reply to a thread like this without mentioning geopolitics. Which will get the thread locked. So there's no way to realistically participate. The same thing happens on many computer security forums. Someone tries to discuss a cyber security problem, which inevitably leads to mentioning various forms of legislation. Which inevitably leads to politics. Which inevitably leads to the thread being locked. It's always the same. “That's some catch, that Catch-22,'" Joseph Heller, Catch-22.

I'm pretty sure I have eyepieces I've never actually used. They seemed like such a good idea at the time though.

I think your crystal ball is accurate. lol

I watched again recently. I think you're right about the peas.

I think the European Ice Age comes next, when rising global temperatures shift the Gulf Stream. So scientists say. I'm not a scientist, so it's difficult to say. Sounds about right though. I do know what Soylent Green is made out of though ...

I have a bino case a bit like that. It started off fairly straightforward. Several years later ... lol

This has always concerned me. I've never had any problems with GSO thumbscrews, although the only GSO diagonals I own are resin-bodied Amicis. There are an awful lot of thumbscrews on my GSO focusers though.

I don't know anything about AP. But this Altair tele-extender might be the solution. I have the 3x version. It's very probably sold under a different brand name in the US. Explore Scientific have something similar. They are probably made in the same Chinese factory lol.

I'm already on it ... (maybe)

I agree with Louis about a 32mm Plossl. I didn't originally recommend one as I don't always get on with eye positioning with most 32mm Plossls. The eye relief is a bit long for me as a rule. However, the 30mm Vixen NPL I find doesn't suffer from this. At one stage I always took the 30mm NPL out with my short tube refractors. I still find it a very useful eyepiece. The 40mm NPL is the only 40mm Plossl I find I can use comfortably. I have Celestron (Barsta) and Tele Vue 40mm Plossls and the Vixen is still used more. 40mm Plossls aren't very popular as they have a limited field. They can be useful on slow scopes though. The 40mm Celestron was bundled with my 9.25" Evolution.

Yep, that's the one! Does yours have a vase-type carrying case and MZT8-24 written on the screw top? These obviously all issue from the same factory. FWIW I think they're pretty decent zooms. The only real differences are cosmetic. The Meade has an aluminium barrel rather than the chromed brass of the others. I should imagine Meade requested this from the OEM. The Celestron has 'Celestron' written on the lid. I bet they don't cost 20 quid to actually make.

Don't get me started about the 'Black Diamond' paint finish. At least there's some white bits on my Evostars lol.

I love my Evostars, but I get what you mean. Interestingly, when I changed the stock focuser on my 80ED DS Pro it made it a fair bit more joyful lol.

You're welcome. Apparently, due to libration and nutation, you can never see the Moon exactly the same twice. Unless you live over 186 years or something lol.

You're welcome. Clouds defeated my attempts at Mercury. The sky was clear until I set up lol. I switched to a zoom and a Lumicon #11 filter to try to find Petavius. There's only a brief period that the terminator highlights the rille. After a couple of days it is too washed out to see properly. You can see it quite clearly in your picture.

And there was me thinking our system was a shining example of interstellar exceptionalism lol.

Yes, I was led to believe our solar system was a bit of an oddball compared to discovered exo-systems. Not sure about Uranus. It does make me wonder about the relevance of the Drake Equation if our system is a bit of an anomaly though.

That explains a lot, thanks.

Nice. I saw this with my 60mm doublet while I was searching for Mercury. I didn't find Mercury but I could see the Petavius Rille highlighted by the terminator.