Peter_D

Set up my Celestron 6SE on my balcony and managed to see a very thin Venus..Mercury is currently higher and I observed it for the first time (thank you goto!). Photos from my smartphone aren't very impressive unfortunately.

Hi, Firstly, sorry for the rather basic question. I have a Celestron 1.25 inch 7-21mm zoom that I just discovered has external threads! I have a Canon t-ring and dslr - I'm just not sure which adapter goes between the zoom eyepiece and t-ring/camera. (I don't want to make a mistake ordering the wrong part.) Any guidance gratefully received! Peter PS: I see that you can buy Barlow lenses with these external t-threads also. Presumably the same adapter will work on these too? Peter

Well last evening was frustrating - a classic case of having wrong tool for the job! I had wanted to observe Venus in daylight and with a marvellous blue sky slowly turning to twilight and the sun safely behind the cherry tree, I was all set. Picked up Venus in my 8x30s - then things began to turn pear shaped, pardon the pun. Try as I might, I just could not see Venus with the naked eye (to line up with the RDF) even though it was plainly visible in the bins. I was getting more and more frustrated - even tried resting the bins on top of the C6 SE to use as finder. No luck. Top of my shopping list will be a bracket to attach a traditional finderscope to the OTA. I was able to observe Venus later on - surprised how much thinner its crescent is. It really has been a wonderful sight for the last few months - is it common that a planet stays visible for this length of time?

I reckon the crater you have circled is crater Wurzelbauer

Hi Stefann, Really enjoyed reading your first light report! Btw, there is an app called 'Moons of Jupiter' that you can use to identify where the 4 largest moons are positioned at a certain time or date. I observed a transit last year and was able to use the app to identify the moon as being Io. Peter

Video taken with Celestron 6SE using a Huawei P9, Vixen LV 5mm. Video processed with Pipp and image stack processed with RegiStax6.

I was out for half an hour last night and was spending most of my time on the prominent trio of craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina. It was only when I saw cloud approaching I switched to the eastern region of Mare Serenitatis. Rima Smirnov (aka the Serpentine Ridge) was very prominent. I took a quick photo with my smartphone. It was only later I looked at it and it seems to show quite a pronounced and abrupt colour transition in the southern region of the Mare (I am sure the camera is artificially accentuating the colour tones). I have to admit, it didn't register when I was observing it at the scope. I did some reading and this area seems to be a noted area for this abrupt change in the colour of the lunar geology. https://images.app.goo.gl/GSMnJt1Q7izEHDkP8

Super image! Petavius was exactly the crater I was observing yesterday - thanks for sharing.

I've owned two Goto mounts - a used but newer model Meade ETX-70 and my current main scope, a new Celestron 6SE. The Meade had lovely sharp views (for a 70mm) but the slewing noise was really loud and the tracking noise was noisy too - like a modem. I had to sell it nearly straight away because I know the neighbours would have complained if I'd kept it. I know it is more expensive but the 6SE is far quieter when slewing and nearly inaudible when tracking.

The last few days has been very warm. Today, the air was slightly cooler and lunar views were surprisingly sharp. Last month, at this point in the lunar cycle, I had focused on Mare Crisium. This time, I moved further south: a large crater with a very prominent rille caught my eye: I later identified the crater as the 177km wide Petavius. The rille extends from the crater wall right to the complex central peak. I was viewing the crater at, I suspect, after its optimal viewing period - it was still a very impressive sight in my C6. Hopefully will be able to revisit this crater with more aperture at a later date. For those like me who have not examined it until now, I recommend looking out for crater Petavius and its magnificent rille. Peter

Snap!

I bought two pairs of 8x30 used porro prism binoculars from Ebay Germany - think I paid 15€ and 20€ for them. The seller had a very good reputation, mentioned that both were in collimation (look for this word in the ads) and free of fungus / scratches. This might be an option. Steer clear of sellers that don't give thorough descriptions or have a pair of binoculars amongst a load of random items - better when the seller has astro gear / camera gear as they are more likely to have looked after it.

If the Tasco is a longer 11tr, they have good Japanese mirrors. If it is under-mounted at the moment, you could try and build a dob mount for it and use it on the Moon and planets if you don't plan on upgrading straight away. If you pick up a cheap short focal length refractor, you could mount that on the eq mount which will handle the shorter tube much better. This set up will give you a nice combination until you upgrade your main scope. You could use the refractor later as a guide scope on your upgrade if it is a larger Mak, SCT or Newt.

Try double / multiple star systems: Leo has several really impressive double stars if your local seeing doesn't suit finding its galaxies. A brighter Messier object that is also well placed at the moment in Cancer, Leo's neighbour, is the superb M44. Later on in the Summer, you'll have Epilson Lyrae and M57 very well placed for example. There's always something! Because of light pollution, I like to focus on the Moon and planets. You just have to cut your cloth to suit your local conditions. Clear skies

I agree. For me, seeing an artificial satellite used to be a bit of a special event - now, thanks to Starlink, it's lost its novelty. Bit of a pity. Last night, one of the Starlink satellites was on a different trajectory - same direction but slightly offset to the others I saw. I hadn't seen this before - usually they are all in a straight line following one another.