Stu1smartcookie

the best lunar image i have seen

Yes i hope so mate , its the first time i've ordered from them , but (so far ) their service has been impeccable . I like their little traffic light system on their stock .

Is that just down to that item , Joe? ...I placed an order with them yesterday ... delivery expected this Thursday ! which i think is incredibly fast under the circumstances . Stu

Absolutely a case for both , Alan .. but I think smaller apertures were kind of looked down on . I think we would all settle for a 20”dob or an 8” frac if our sky conditions , busy lives , light pollution and we all lived in bottle 1,2 or 3 areas allowed . Smaller aperture scopes can show so much . Small scopes make you work but also give so much satisfaction. Most of the comments on here are from people who have used large scopes but have found their “sweet spot” .

Lol , I nearly made it 58 the other day !! I’m so glad that people are” fronting up with using small scopes” .. it’s almost as though people had to whisper it before lol . To be honest I only view and image from my garden but if I want to go to a darker site then it’s no problem.The portability , the time setting up , especially an alt az mount . The fact that you can be viewing when there is only a short window of clear sky forecast . It’s a win win for us all . Stu1smartcookie... liberated lol

Having read through this entire thread I think it’s something that should be read by everyone just starting out in Astronomy. The success the op has had with absolutely brilliant advice is rewarding for all of us and a lesson to be patient and to plan ahead . Even the smallest scope can give you fantastic views . A great suggestion by @orangesmartie to make the most of the moon . And everything I read from @vlaiv was very informative . Great work guys .

A nice little Dew shield for my Nexstar 4se and a 9x50 Raci .. ex FLO ... usual prompt delivery 👍

Jupiter is a (very early ) morning planet and as such wont be visible in the evening until later in the summer . Those nights can't come soon enough ! I miss it . Still plenty to see though ... watch out for the really thin crescent moon near Venus and Mercury in the next couple of evenings

Had a chance to see Mercury again tonight .. the seeing was terrible and I didn’t catch a phase .. more like a yellow blob but , it’s better than not seeing it at all ..

I've just bought the RA finder ... expecting it tomorrow ... great price looks good on the StellaLyra .. hmmm another scope i've got my eye on .

Mercury visible from my upstairs window ,last night , quickly got the zs73 out and just caught it between houses ... didn't up the mag ... i was just thrilled to see it from my location . Will try tonight although having two clear evenings in a row is like winning the lottery ie not likely

better not count your chickens just yet , John ,,, there is a mean wind blowing these clouds your way i'm sorry to say .

I totally agree ... my weather app said clear tonight but since then its changed to cloudy again ... plus its blowing a gale zzzz Its such a frustrating hobby ... not only do we have to contend with our own errors and that of the equipment but also the clouds ... if one doesn't get you , the other one will

Yes , i watched a YouTube Vid by "the Lazy Astronomer " and he took one apart ...i noticed how thin that thread was

Neil , living in a bortle 6 and above a goto is becoming a necessity . I never see it as cheating ... it actually can be damn frustrating at times but i wouldn't be without one . Having said that i am planning on having a manual mount too .. sometimes the thrill of finding something by yourself is fantastic .

Definitely getting one of those finders .. and such a reasonable price

Just had a look at my weather app .. after a day of rain it’s predicting a clear sky tonight !!!! Not sure I believe it , but , I am hoping especially with the temperature at + 13 ! What’s it like where you are ?

lol oh how i want to hear your stories of Paris Bordello's ... lol The build quality i talk about is more an aesthetic quality ... a great lump of cheap plastic adorning your nice scope shouting" Look at meeeeee " whereas a nice rigel sits very politely on your little refractor and i reckon you knew i had a williams optics scope .... damn going to have to cover it with a black bag now ! still it will match the telrad

Great thread .. of course we are ALL on your side here . what I would say is .. seeing a live event is history in action .. seeing it via someone else’s eyes is a bit er second hand . Let me give you an analogy . I love live sport . I went to see my local team play in the FA cup once ... the game was on tv and I could have stayed home to watch it . But being there actually seeing something live , being part of something was 100% better than Viewing on a tv . Seeing a grey smudge through a scope and viewing little details from a planet that’s millions of miles away gives the viewer immense satisfaction . Those photons of light are aiming at YOU .. they’ve traveled a bloody long way and it’s taken them thousands if not millions of years to get to your eyes . We at least owe that distant object the courtesy to view it for ourselves .

ok ... going to have my say . I've owned a telrad ... very good too ... but , and there is a but ... its the worst looking accessory to grace your scope and quite possibly has some of the worst build quality you are likely to come accross . Look , honestly i do like them , but why haven't they made them a lot smaller so people like me can use them on smaller scopes ... oh , wait a sec ... they did .... its called a RIGEL .

Fantastic .. what time did you capture the ring nebula ? It’s certainly on my list .

Good call ... a tripod makes observing with Bino's an even more pleasurable experience .

As we approach the summer the nights get shorter and as such true darkness is a very short window. Use the program Stellarium ( or sky safari , as indicated above) to indicate what is in the sky at a certain time from your location . Binocular astronomy is very worthwhile as you will get wide field views , but seeing Deep sky objects will be a challenge . The likes of the Orion Nebula is probably long gone by now and will reappear in the late autumn , but , there is still plenty of things to hunt down in the sky . And don't forget the Moon ... its a great target to observe , especially identifying the various landmarks . Good luck and clear skies

Yeah for sure .. but it was a discussion about prices and I’m afraid prices are governed by fuel costs as well as supply and demand . I know it’s not Astro stuff but it’s all relevant . But , I do take your point . And I’ve already resigned from future comments about this . This thread keeps on running and running though . Lol

Anyway ... this is a great thread that i am retiring from as its getting a bit like twitter ... and as a contributor i am as much to blame . Summing up ... either buy astronomy gear at higher costs or not . ... Hey , this could catch on , a plain and simple choice