Barry-W-Fenner

Stunning image, out of interest, how much of the milky way and what volume of the stars are visible to the naked eye? I'm curious as that is a beautiful image but I genuinely don't know how much is photography and how much is what we can see. I hope that doesn't sound ignorant of me, I honestly don't know. Also what bortle level would that sky be. Thank you Baz

To hunt down Neptune for the 1st time would be an achievement for me. Not seen it yet, let alone a mag 17.7 asteroid 😂 Baz

Great report Jeremy, A few experienced observers have now mentioned how good Mars looked last night! I am hoping for the same tonight as I would like to take a look. On the few occasions I have viewed Mars i have been looking at it around x167, I haven't been fortunate enough to have the conditions to view it at x230 yet. As you say some stunning details in this planet, The contrasting, Reds, Greys, White caps are a joy to view! Baz

Great report and enjoyable read SAS. baz

Hi all, Just though I would post my experience with the Baader product today. I purchased the set and an air blower/pump for the grand sum of £22 with post. My 14mm Morpheus had accumulated quite a bit of gunk on the lens in the two months I have owned it. After giving it a clean this morning I am delighted with the result, I was very reluctant to start cleaning my EP but the wonder clean was simple to use and very effective, the lens is once again spotless and I now have the confidence to clean my other EP's with this product when the need arises. I am fortunate to own 3 of the Morpheus range now and find the £22 outlay very modest to keep these and my other EP's clean and muck free. Baz

Some cleaning products for my pride and joy lenses. 👍

Great news Mark, Glad you managed to find it from home. I am yet to see this wonderful target. Hopefully this winter. Was you using your OIII filter when you located it from home? Baz

Nice report Mark, An enjoyable read. I was also using the 12" dob, I managed Jupiter & Saturn and a number of deep sky objects last night which included the Cats eye neb, A real favorite. Unfortuanletly I had to pack up before Mars was above the houses. 😞 The GRS on Jupiter stood out very well at x167 for me. How was Neptune looking, This is the last planet to see for me and it keeps evading me 🙂 Again, Great report and nice to see some of us getting back out under a clear sky. Baz

Thanks for the advice Don, very informative as usual 👍 For the time being I will see how many opportunities I get to use my 5mm bst for higher power viewing (x300) Going by your ratios, would the Morpheus 17.5mm be sufficient to cover the 20mm area? Or would that be to close to the 14mm and not really long enough? I may be tempted to purchase the 4.5mm Morph in time to 😁 Regards Baz

Morning Rob, I have been reading through your thread with interest. As you say we are on a similar path refining our EP collections. My intention was to use the 3 Morphs as my main set, The 9mm being the goto providing x167 - The 6.5 gives x230 on better nights of seeing, Which are few and far between at the moment. The 14mm x107 for low power viewing. My intention was to use the remaining BST range between these 3 to give more options. However so far I have literally used the 8mm BST once and that has been all. I have not had the conditions to use the higher power of the 5mm & the 18mm isn't particularly good in the 300p. Furthermore, not to take anything away from the BST'S as they are amazing value for the money, I am totally immersed when using the Morphs due to the excellent fov, eye relief and contrast provided. I haven't been interested in using the BST'S Morning John, There certainly seems to be a pattern with most 12" dob users following a very Similar step on power. If I was to follow this I would have my 6.5mm - 9mm - 14mm and ideally something in the 18 to 20mm area for low power along with the 30mm I think I will check out & have a read up about the options above that @Louis D has kindly recommended to replace my 18mm BST. Thanks all. Regards Baz

Hi Robert. I dont have any experience with the APM range but have heard very good things about them and would quite like to try one at some point. I have recently acquired the Morpheus 9mm to use in my 200 & 300p so far it has given the best views I have had of Mars and the moon at x167 mag. Mars was a beautiful copper colour with a grey band going through the disk, the white polar caps were also visible against the copper colour. The detail was fantastic. Using the Morpheus is very comfortable having the nice wide 37mm lense and around 20mm of ER. I can see the 9mm being my work horse going forward. I am very impressed with it. The 6.5mm also give great views conditions permitting. I think you will be on to a winner with either of the Morph or APM. Hopefully some more experienced individuals will be along soon to advice. 👍

Cool, I think I will hunt down a cheap blower also for EP cleaning 👍

Hi all, I was hoping for some help and advice on my current eye piece set. I have now acquired 3 Morpheus eye pieces 6.5,9 & 14mm I really like these eye piece and would like to build a minimalist set around them. Ideally I would only like 5 or 6 EP's to suit both my 200 & 300p scopes. The main reason in reducing my set is because I would like to spend more time at the eye piece observing and less time messing around swapping out EP's. I must confest on the few occasions I have observed recently I have been very happy just using the 3 Morpheus EP's. With that In mind they are definitely my go to EP's now. I feel that my 2" 30mm aero ed will cover my low power needs for large nebula and views of open clusters. So now you know my essentials, can I have advice on my current EP spacing. Any help and advice appreciated. Thank you Baz

Hi John, Is that blower to clean eye piece lenses? Cheers Barry

Lovely report John, sounds like a very enjoyable night's observation. I spent a bit of time trying to find Neptune Saturday night, unfortunately the moon made it very difficult to locate even the brightest stars in that direction, Neptune escaped me again. I am also yet to see the Veil & Saturn nebs, they are both on my list for this autumn /winter. Great to hear you encouraging words on the blue snowball, another one of my favourites there! Some great detail and colour to be seen in this target. I had a similar experience with Mars in the early hours of Sunday. Some beautiful detail showing. To my eye it is a copper disc with a grey band running through it, the polar cap was also showing nicely which gave a stunning contrast in colours. Quite a bit to be seen! Cheers for the enjoyable report 👍

Mars in the 9 & 6.5mm Morpheus looked stunning this morning at 4am in the 300p beautiful copper disc with a clear grey band through the center. The ice caps just about visible at about 2 o'clock. Some great colours on display. The moon was stunning also, so much surface detail with the 9mm. Some of the best views I have had of these two targets. Baz

Evening Dantooine, You are correct I have two others, 3 in total. 6.5mm,9mm and 14mm I don't know a huge amount about eye pieces, there are far more experienced people on here than me. However I am completely sold on the Baader range, the eye relief and observing comfort is excellent, the large 76 degree AFOV is brilliant and gives a lovely view up to the field stop, lots of rich colour in stars and a dark black background. You hardly notice the FS and get a really immersive view. I have mainly used my 14mm to give around x107 mag for low power viewing. On the couple of occasions the sky has been cloud free and I have had the chance to use the 6.5mm seeing hasn't been to great to be honest but I am confident that it will give an excellent view. I purchased the 9mm to be my mid power workhorse in the 300p, it should give a nice x167 - if the sky stays clear I will give it a go tonight! I may be swayed to purchase either the 12mm or 17.5mm next but that's for another thread 😁 Regards Baz

RELEASE THE CLOUDS! I couldn't resist, 9mm Morpheus, a beautiful package from Baader and FLO as usual. Can't wait to try this out. I am a big fan of the Morpheus range!

Thanks gents, some sound advice there, I will purchase some of the Baader fluid. How often do you clean your lenses? I feel that I should wait until they have a bit more debris on them before I clean them, after all the less that I touch them the better I guess! As I mentioned the performance hasn't been affected in any way. Thank you Baz

Hi all. More of a curiosity question, my baader eye pieces seem to be getting quite a bit of dust and pollen on the lense, it isn't affecting the performance in any way, it just makes them look a little messy. How would you go about cleaning them? I don't really want to use a cleaning cloth on them as I wouldn't want to put anything on the coated optics. Pic attached. How do you all clean your pride and joy eye pieces? Baz

Hi Louis How often do you use the 9mm Morpheus? I will be using it mainly in my 12" dob which will give a nice x167 - I can see it becoming my main eye piece going forward. Baz

Hi Alex, I currently have two of the Morpheus range, The 6.5 & 14mm which I have used in both my dobs. I am finding them a joy to use, very comfortable eye cups, great eye relief and nice wide 76 degree view. They are giving me a nice dark contrasty views. To be fair, for the money you cant go wrong with the BST range, They are fantastic eye pieces. The Morpheus does provide a slightly clearer image but its main advantage is definitely the 76 degree fov. I am totally immersed when viewing with them and the 60 degrees which the BST'S give now seem very small in comparison. I am going to purchase the 9mm Morpheus when funds permit and that will be my work horse. In time I might also add the 12mm Thank you Barry

Hi all, I have just spent the weekend in Holsworthy, Devon in a beautiful thatched roof cottage. The bortle rating was between 3 & 4 and had an sqm reading of 21.5. Needless to say I was absolutely blown away by the dark sky, There was literally hundreds of stars covering the sky, the main constellations vanished! I did manage to sneak the 200p in the car between the kids along with two eye pieces 6.5mm and 14mm a very minimalist set up. My biggest problem was figuring out what star I was actually looking at in my finderscope! I could have really done with having my rigel finder to navigate the sky but I left that at home! To be fair I spent a lot of time just looking up at the sky with the naked eye, objects just seemed to "pop" out at me, I managed to see andromeda with averted vision, no scope required. Seeing the milky-way was a mind blowing experience and one I won't forget. I hope I can get out to some dark sky's again soon! Finally a pic of me set up waiting for darkness. Thanks all.

An essential purchase IMO, trying to look through the straight finder really messes with my already weak back. The raci is a welcome improvement and I am sure you will love it Merlin. I swapped the bracket over to the black one from my 200p so I have a black raci and bracket on the 300p and a white straight through finder and white bracket on the 200p 😁

Excellent question Rob, I will be watching this thread with interest. I to have been thinking of reducing my set for my 8 & 12" dob. I had a full set of BST eye pieces and frequently found myself swapping out eye pieces and trying to get the optimum power. I have since purchased the 6.5 and 14mm Morpheus eye pieces and have so far had two sessions with just these two eye pieces, I found I spent far less time messing around wondering what was the correct mag and just enjoyed time at the focuser. I would like the 9mm Morpheus as they perform wonderfully. Then I am considering thinning out my combined set of morphs, BSTs and my 30mm 2" aero Ed Less is more I hope. Regards baz