Kimboman

Hi After a successful evening last night  the local forecast was very good for tonight.

In anticipation ,I set up my Celestron 6se early to ensure  the tube would be at the right temperature

At around 6.30 I went outside to start viewing various items that I had pre selected.

Out I went and within 3 minutes all my neighbours had switched on their security lights and  the whole sky was rendered useless.

I was so frustrated that I packed up and abandoned the session

Hi The forecast was good for a clear nightI thought I would set up my Celestron 6SE on goto to have a look at Orion M42 before the local trees make it impossible to view.

I was not disappointed the views were just great , the Trapezium was crystal clear and so was the surrounding nebula  green in colour and  and  well defined.

After a while I then turned to the beehive cluster which was pin sharp  then on to the Pleiades.

 It was good to se Leo well placed showing that Spring is here. the plough was also really clear .

I was very fortunate to see a very clear meteor then as the norm the high clouds intervened and that was the end yo a great night

Hi absolutely fab photos ,we are very lucky to have the Moon so close to us it never ceases to amaze me every time I view it I see something different  i always wait its return so I can view it at all its phases.

thanks for sharing

Hi very early tonight the Moon was in a prominent position to observe albeit very bright obviously due to its phase.

As previously stated I obtained a Celestron 102 GT on a goto mount and have been very impressed with the views obtained . the moon was really clear and crisp with a decent sized image using a Celestron 25mm eyepiece and a Celestron 15mm eyepiece

Which filled the eyepiece,the ca was there but not distracting.

I recently obtained a Sky-Watcher80ed pro through a SGL member and have been very impressed with the build which is very good.

Tonight I set up both scopes on the Moon just to compare a doublet with an ed doublet and I have to admit that the Celestron 102Gt won hands down the larger aperture won the day.

As I don't do AP I could not comment on the results but I feel that the 80 ed might win but the ca was evident

Hi this is an amazing interpretation of the moon

Hi  I enjoyed these articles, and have obtained a Celestron 102mm GT telescope .

The dovetail had to be replaced with a longer one and a pair of tube rings and this came on a goto mount for the princely sum of £25.

the original tripod wasn't suitable and I adapted an old Meade tripod and this holds it quite well 

I was well impressed with its performance and its a definite keeper and it is f9.8 and the CA isn't that bad.

I would like to give it a new paint job by having the tube powder coated but I am worried that the heat could displace the internal baffles which are made of steel but the tube is aluminium,

has anyone had a similar tube powder coated without any problems arising?? the dew shield is plastic so this would have to be painted or I can make a new one from Ali(second tripod is an old surveyor one)

Hi Once again the early evening looked promising to view the Moon.

I set up my Sky Watcher 127 Mac on goto and aligned on the Moon and almost immediately the high cloud came over so I took a quick photo of the Moon and the crater Bullialdus was almost dead centre this always interests  me.

Top right (in my scope) the cup handle was really prominent but as usual the clouds won

The photos are snapped with my iPhone 

Hi In my location the weather forecast was clear from early doors so I set up my Celestron 6se in anticipation.

At approximately 5pm the moon looked great and I thought that it would be a great session.

It was downhill all the way ,it clouded over and then turned to rain.

At 9.00pm low and behold the Moon was glorious,out came the 6se and the viewing was spectacular but a tad windy I had some fantastic views of the moon but the clouds came over and that was the end of this brief session

Nice report it is obvious that you are hooked like the rest of us

the moon is a great object to view and never fails to impress

you will have lots of nights like that one the planets are also mind blowers also

Thanks  due to our poor weather they are not getting enough use cheers

So there is a man in the moon after all  great picture

nice photos  I saw both similar images 

Hi I was on my way back home from a days walking in Derbyshire when I noticed the moon  and I thought that it may be possible to view it later on.

At 6 0clock the Moon was in a great position for viewing, the only problem was the wind,I first tried an 80mm ed scope the view was crystal clear in a 15mm eyepiece but the wind bounced the tube around.

I then set up my Celestron 6se and this tube had hardly a tremor.I used a 16-25 32 and 40mm eyepieces the views are absolutely stunning, there was a large 

circular crater on the terminator and after a while the central peak  was becoming illuminated the wind was increasing and I was worried that the set up may get overturned so I called it a night shame really as the Moon was great to view.

Hi nice topic ,I started out in this hobby or pastime some 60 plus years ago and have mostly been a visual observer apart from the good old film days with my Zenith camera which I still possess.

My first scope was a 70mm Tasco refractor then I upgraded to a Fullerscope 6 inch newtonium which is still in service .

After many years of being a magpie I have accumulated A 6 inch Celestron 6 se goto which I love,I also have a Sky watcher127 0n goto which is brilliant the I have a Celestron 102GT refractor which is f9.8 which is also great' but a tad long.

I have a Meade ETX 90 ota once again a great little scope and have a skywatcher st80 nice and portable and have recently obtained a Skywather 80 edpro brilliant small scope and various sizes of binoculars.

So you can see the sky is the limit on choice of scope I use all of this tackle when Skys allow all have their good and bad points but all are well portable . I have now made an observing chair which I should have had from day one makes observing so much better  so you can see the choice is vast luckily I have good dry storage space

Hi great report 

Amazing and the background galaxies you must be well pleased thanks for sharing

Great photos, you have a similar problem me that of local street lighting 

Thanks Stu Very clear here at the moment but tonight is reserved for a beer or two cheers

Hi once again there was promise of a clear night so I set up my Meade ETX90 ,and my Celestron 15x70 pro binoculars.

The Moon would not be visible from my location untill 8.45 so I used my binoculars to star hop.

The areas  in Gemini,Orion the Pleiades  and the Hyades were great to visit again to get wide views  of the fields.

The moon was in view so I set  the telescope onto goto to track it ,the views were not the best and clouds soon rolled in,I tried a shot with my phone and then called it a day as I was so cold (it must be an age thing)

Hi I went out early as soon as I could see the sky glow of the Moon but it was not yet visible from my location .

I set my SkyWatcher 127 on goto and waited until the Moon became visible over the neighbours roof.

The viewing wasn't to bad not to bright and the seeing was good a most enjoyable couple of hours.

Hi they are great sketches and they were all instantly recognisable well done 

Hi the weather forecast for this area tonight was clear skys.

I set up my Celestron 6se and my Celestron 102GT refractor and set up both goto on the moon which was well placed from my location.

First I viewed the Moon through the 6se and the image was spectacular , I had collimated this scope recently and was keen to see if I had been successful having used Polaris a few nights ago and all seems well.

Next I used the Celestron 102 Gt  at f9.8 there was no noticeable CA and once again the images were really good and was well pleased with the couple of hours spent on the Moon.

The next target was Orion but the Moon washed it out. I took a couple of photos with my iPhone .

Hi again earlier this evening it looked promising, I set up my Celestron se150 as I wanted to check its collimation, Polaris was visible as I use this as my target .

I had just locked on to Polaris as the clouds started to roll in obliterating Polaris, but just beneath Polaris was a clear patch and a marvellous meteor zoomed past so it was worth the effort

Great image