Zeta Reticulan

You might find this and this useful.

Yeah, it's long. It's an entire element and actually threads off from the housing. The Tak' is a bit weird. It needs an extension tube on most Tak' f/7.5 refractors. Or my 80ED DS Pro. The SvBony Barlow housing (sans element) used in this picture as an extension was not successful. It achieved focus alright but had vibration return issues. The Tak' Barlow can be used conventionally in a 2" diagonal. I believe it was designed for the Tak' flip mirror. However, if used in a 1.25" diagonal its narrow field lens housing can make contact with a prism surface.

And those aren't all my Barlows lol! The Vixen Deluxe is superb, as good as the TV 2x. It was designed for shorter focal ratio scopes I believe. It achieves focus in my f/6, 150mm GSO Newtonian where my TV 3x and 2x won't. The 'Vixen' shorty was probably made by Barsta. All shorty achromatic Barlows can have CA/vignetting problems at times IME. I forgot this one. lol (I have even more)

Never mind. There will probably be another one in a few days anyway lol.

Depends on the Barlow quality. Most modern inexpensive achromatic Barlows are fine. Many eyepieces actually have integral Barlow type tele-negative (Smyth) lenses anyway. Some are amplifiers, such as the Tele Vue Powermates and increase magnification without much vignetting or increase of eye relief. The simpler 'shorty' type are useful in diagonals or when weight is a factor. Obviously any addition to the light train will have some impact. It isn't always that noticeable. Sometimes chromatic aberration can be a problem. The GSO 3x (below, middle) is basically a spectrometer in use. The other GSO Barlows are fine. Maybe a little bit of CA in the 5x. The distance the Barlow element is from the field lens governs the magnification factor and any possible vignetting issues. Many Barlows are generic and sold under different names. The Vixen Deluxe below is made in Japan. The Vixen shorty next to it is sold under a variety of brand names and is made in the PRC. The Takahashi Barlow below is deigned to be used primarily before the diagonal. I have a few Barlows. As a whole I don't notice any real contrast decrease when using them. A lot depends on the eyepiece used in conjunction with them, prevailing conditions, the target, and the scope used.

I'm not sure the flange will fit the 80ED DS Pro. This and this will though. They are both manufactured by Long Perng. I'd check that there are holes for the finder shoe on the 'Astro Essentials' version though. Some of the earlier versions of this focuser had no provision for a mounting shoe.

Thanks Louis. LOL ... my ADHD strikes again! Ooh look ... shiny! Normal service will resume as soon as possible ... ROTFL. I bought this GSO 42mm SuperView a year or so ago specifically to observe nebulae in the Summer Triangle. The idea is that I compare my Baader OIII (narrowband) and ES OIII (broadband) filters with it in my 80 ED DS Pro. I've never actually used it. I keep forgetting I bought it. I'm getting worse ...lol.

Yeah, 'made' and 'assembled' can mean different things. I assumed these were made in Japan. As it clearly states 'made in Japan' on them. Of course, they may have been 'assembled' anywhere. It may be more economical to have the constituent parts manufactured in Japanese factories, but then assembled in the Philippines. BTW, the XF (smaller zoom in picture) exhibits a fair bit of CA for astronomical use. Pentax don't shout about that either.

Chinese junk?

David Knisely has written a lot on filters.

This looks great. Can I buy the hard copy from Amazon? Edit: Found it!

TBH I can use a narrowband OIII with my SW 80ED DS Pro. Admittedly I need an exit pupil of at least 5mm and I live in the greenbelt, but it can be done.

It seems like it's pot luck with pot metal.

I'm pretty sure there is an Android version of SkySafari 7 Pro. The paid version has a very good Moon map. With loads of information on lunar features. Screenshots show SkySafari 7 Pro running on Chrome OS.

There is Moon Atlas on macOS.

Sounds like a re-entry vehicle of some sort. The flames would be around the heat shield.

Several years ago (4/6/15) around midnight I witnessed a fiery object tracking from west to east and at one stage it was virtually at the zenith. It was witnessed by another person. I never discovered what it was, I assume it was something re-entering, unless it was a particularly large meteor.

You gotta hand it to those Chinese rocket delivery blokes!

Good point. I might have to splash out on a fallout shelter. I'm guessing they're all now made in China, right?

If anything lands in my backyard I'm keeping it.

I believe APM had the exclusive rights to distribute them for a couple of years.

I see Jung more as 60's counter culture psychedelia than jazz.

Cool rant dude.

For years I've wondered about the Hyperions. How are they in scopes at f/7 and faster?

I always liked the bigger GSO thumbscrews. They were smaller at one time. I never knew they could have problems. Now I'm a tad concerned.