Zeta Reticulan

BHZ definitely rocks!

I'm pretty sure these focusers are made by Long Perng. They are a lot better than the 96mm GSO rotating focusers IMO. Mine was bought as a 'Sky-Watcher' although there is no actual brand name on it.The fine focusing is excellent, although the rotation is not as smooth as my MoonLite. The housing is fairly long but works well at f/7.5 with no back-focus or in-focus issues so far. The focuser draw tube is significantly longer than the GSO.

Yeah lol. It kinda figures.

All of my ED doublets have FPL-53 glass except for the SW 72ED DS Pro Evostar. I'm strictly visual so a doublet's fine for my needs. The 72ED can show a small amount of CA, although it is very well corrected. The others (Altair Starwave 102mm, SW 80ED DS Pro, Altair 60 EDF) don't. I don't know what type of glass is utilised in the 72ED (it has a Schott crown). If a small amount of CA doesn't bother you FPL-51 (or an equivalent) should be fine. I can tell the difference though. It's noticeable when comparing the 60 EDF (above) with the slightly larger 72ED.

I think Newton gets a free pass for inventing the Newtonian telescope. He was just lucky that his last name was the same as the telescope. Not so sure about Douglas Baader. There has been speculation that Newton borrowed the design from an Italian astronomer. Newton was also heavily into alchemy, although I don't hold that against him (I'm an Aquarius). I don't know what James Webb's personal views were. "On September 30, 2021, NASA announced that it would keep the JWST name after running an investigation and finding "no evidence at this time that warrants changing the name".[40][41] Former administrator Sean O'Keefe, who made the decision to name the telescope after administrator Webb, stated that to suggest that Webb should "be held accountable for that activity when there's no evidence to even hint [that he participated in it] is an injustice".[40]" ~ Wikipedia I don't think we should let ontologically constructed culture wars interfere with the potential knowledge a scientific achievement like the JWST can bring to humanity (and Zeta Reticulans). 🛸

That's just scary.

It's a classic. Personally, I think Saffron made a good job of it. It's a possible contender for the new Zeta Reticuli national anthem.

At one time Tele Vue had two Mars filters. A magenta one and an orange one. These were referred to as the A and B filters. Eventually they were discontinued and replaced with one magenta coloured BPL-0125 Bandmate Plantary. This was also eventually discontinued. I believe it is the filter on the extreme right below. The others being the Celestron (centre) and Orion Mars filters. I have to say that the TV is the best magenta filter I've ever used. I don't know who made it for TV (BASO maybe?) but they made a good job of it. Mind you, it wasn't cheap.

Wasn't he Gary Webb's brother?

This all depends on the scope. I can definitely say my 19mm Panoptic is in the running. Of the 90 sessions I've had this year, 26 have been with my 72ED DS Pro. The three most used EP's with that are an ES 24mm, a 4mm TS Planetary and a 3.2mm TMB clone. The 19mm Panoptic has been out a few times with it. The 19 sessions I've had with my Altair 60EDF all have been with just two eyepieces (19mm Panoptic, 6mm Vixen SLV) and a 2x TV Barlow. My 102mm SkyMax has been out for 15 sessions this year, predominantly with a 7-21 SvBony zoom. So, not totally sure about the second and third, but the 19mm Panoptic has probably been out the most.

You're welcome. A Wratten #8 or fringe killer/ minus-cyan filter is a longpass filter blocking visible wavelengths below 465 nm. Blue light is between 450-495 nm and cyan light is between 490-520 nm. Yellow light is between 570-590 nm and light produced from low pressure sodium lamps is around 589 nm (589.0 ~ 589.3 nm) on average. Light pollution, Moon & Skyglow and basic contrast filters are designed to attenuate sodium light skyglow. A Wratten #8 will attenuate or block blue/cyan light below 465 nm and a contrast filter stacked behind it will further attenuate the 589 nm length of sodium light.The effect the stacked contrast filter has is to reintroduce a very slight blue tint to the image effectively slightly naturalising it. This is more or less true for Wratten #12 and #15 filters as well. A Baader Neodymium/Fringe Killer (or similar) stack is an option. A cheaper way is a Wratten #8, #12 or #15 stacked with a generic Moon & Skyglow filter.

You might find this attachment useful: testreview_baader_anti_fringing_filters_astronomy_technology_today.pdf

I have the BHZ and the Pentax XL. However, I was quite impressed by the Orion/SvBony 7-21mm. I don't know who the OEM is (somewhere in China obviously lol). These are identical and can be used in a binoviewer. At 21mm the FOV is a bit restrictive, but they Barlow well and have excellent acuity and colour separation that belies their retail price. The SvBony is usually cheaper than the Orion.

The Zeta Reticuli system. I might be able to see my house.

I think a neodymium takes out some of the yellow end of the spectrum, so can act as a light blue filter in some respects. I'm guessing the contrast effect is important as well. I use a Baader Neodymium for doubles in below average seeing. The first filter I ever used on Mars was a Wratten #11 yellow-green. The second was a neodymium. Then I stacked them. Apparently our predominantly nitrogen atmosphere exacerbates the blue end of the spectrum, especially viewing Mars for some reason. So yellow filters can help with that. Baader have a specialist range of anti-cyan filters approximating to #8, #12 and #15 Wratten filters. These are: the Fringe Killer, Semi-APO and Contrast Booster. I'm not totally certain if these were originally intended for use with achromatic refractors of varying apertures. The intriguing aspect of the Baader yellow longpass filter is that the 495 nanometre line is virtually green. Albeit the extreme end of the green spectrum that is basically bordering yellow. A yellow filter absorbs all coloured light except yellow. Yellow is the colour wavelength between 575-585 nm. Green is the colour between cyan and yellow in the spectrum. It has a dominant wavelength of roughly between 495–570 nm. TBH any filter is better than none for Mars. Traditional 'Mars filters' have a purple-pink hue and are good for highlighting dark albedo features. Blue filters seem to help with white surface features. I like orange filters as well. I think I used all of the above filters during the last opposition lol. They're all good.

Very nice, good contrast.

I'd recommend a Baader Contrast Booster filter, or maybe the Semi APO. Failing that any Wratten yellow or yellow-green filter. The Northern Polar Hood clouds and southern polar cap were visible a few days ago in my 80mm Evostar.

Very nice. I can see this with my 60mm ED doublet and a 19mm Panoptic.

Was the TS dielectric made by GSO?

I've always wondered about decloaking my 19mm Luminos. It's basically a paperweight at the moment.

I have a couple of Barsta StarGuiders. I was disappointed with the 25mm in an f/5 refractor as it showed quite a bit of astigmatism. It's fine in a Mak though.