Zermelo

Currently just one or two low clouds about, and the Mak is cooling. CO, Meteoblue and BBC all saying that the (non-existent) cloud will clear by about midnight!

M1 seems to be one of those objects that exemplifies the value of dark skies. It is certainly large enough (420″ × 290″), but I've read previously that city-based members have had trouble finding it. I spotted it quickly in a 6" (Bortle 4). Messier's equipment in the 18th century was quite basic. It's difficult to compare with modern kit because telescopes from that era seem to be recorded by focal length in preference to aperture, and we don't necessarily know their quality, but it has been suggested that his might have been equivalent to a modern 3.5" refractor. What he did have was better skies than most modern observers. Given that yours are pushing 22.0, I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of the Messier list were detectable in decent binoculars. By its nature, the list is dominated by extended fuzzies, so decent skies and optics with good contrast will help. I'm sure there'll be someone here who has tried.

Over the last month I've managed to get outside twice, and that's just down to the weather. If I had the commitments of some other members here, I would be observing even less often. Living in the rainy UK, I want to make the best use of every minute at the eyepiece, so the case for goto (or pushto) is a strong one. We spend a lot of money on equipment, and most of the time it sits in cupboards. I feel much more guilty about that than I do about using pointing and tracking technology. That said, I think there's merit in having an unassisted scope as your first, while you're learning how the sky works. And you don't want to be helpless later on if the tech is having an off day.

I have the same scope, but I've never tried to test the resolution in daylight, just at night with tight double stars. In ideal conditions, on pairs with equal mags, I've split down to 0.9" more than once.

Obviously, many will disagree with his characterization of the market as "Televue and the rest", though he did preface that with "eyepieces are a very individual choice". For me, one of the interesting aspects of the hobby is precisely the availability of decent alternatives to the premium-priced kit, and in the trade-off between any extra improvement in experience versus the (usually substantial) incremental cost. But it was an interesting watch, and worth it just to see his (incomplete?!) array of eyepieces, and the bemused comment "I don't even know how some of this stuff got here". I think many of us can relate to that, whether or not we have succumbed to the green and black.

There was some speculation previously that the Opticstar versions might be cheaper because they lacked the waterproofing/purging of the ES EPs, but their web site says they do have it.

Hello, and welcome to SGL. You may get more responses by posting your question on this thread:

I've found that a few times recently. Either the BBC forecasts are failing to predict the high stuff, or deliberately choosing to ignore it for the headline forecasts.

Yes, I found the same.

I thought the 16" Dob was already "the Beast"... you might have to hit the thesaurus for this one 😊

I've seen very little about the UAE's Hope mission in the news, but this just came up in my feed. I think the image with Mars in the background is impressive. https://astronomy.com/news/2023/05/a-new-look-at-mars-moon-deimos-highlights-its-mysterious-origin I'm looking forward to seeing what Japan's MMX mission can deliver in a few years' time.

Hello, and welcome to SGL. Are you trying a "brightest star" alignment, where you point to the first star yourself, or a "North level", where the mount slews to the first star?

That would be for the 'Pro' version. The other versions are cheaper, and they do have half-price sales now and again. Even the 'Basic' version includes the "Tonight at a Glance" facility mentioned by @RT65CB-SWL, which may meet your needs: "quickly find tonight's Moon & Sun info, calendar curations, events and the best positioned deep sky and solar system objects". If you think you will use it to control the scope, I think it's worth paying the extra. There's a comparison of the features in each version here: https://skysafariastronomy.com/skysafari-7-comparison-chart.html

Have you tried this: https://telescopius.com/

Nice report. My own 150i has been a great companion on the learning journey. I only have to get mine to the end of the garden, but I take the OTA separately. I leave the mount and tripod connected, as they are a bit fiddly. I always level as best I can, though some day it shouldn't matter. Three star alignment is available for equatorial mounts, to correct "cone error" - stick with two star. The initial alignment gives a "whole sky" model, but you can use further stars to refine the gotos in a specific sky area, if you are looking for several targets in the same constellation, for example. They used to be called "pointing accuracy enhancements", not sure if they still are, and are described in the manual. I do this myself. Mars is now small, and not easy to focus on, especially in indifferent conditions. There is an altitude limits option in the settings, which (when the catalogue filter is set on) does control some aspects of behaviour like goto. It may also filter the suggestions list. Yes, you'll be challenged by the fuzzies. Doubles, the moon, planets, some own clusters and planetary nebulae will be better suited. Precisely. Learn the sky, learn the craft. Try out other people's scopes when you can. Then you'll be well placed for your next purchase.

The forecasts are all over the shop for this evening, but the sky is mostly clear at the moment and the Mak is cooling.

Which one did you go for?

An update to my previous post. I found a used rubber washer with exactly the dimensions I needed (extracted and retained from some previous plumbing job ... "I might need something like that one day"). The extension pillar is now rock solid at both ends. The tube is made of aluminium, and I was slightly concerned that the threaded hole at the base was being stripped by the steel threaded rod rising from the tripod, during my experimentation. I wouldn't like to keep making and breaking those joints with each session, but fortunately the design of the extension allows me to disconnect the top part, by loosening three lock screws, so I can leave the main body attached to the tripod and the top part attached to the mount. I'm surprised that the extension only ships with a washer at one end. Actually, the sales pic doesn't even show that:

Conditions were rubbish here tonight, but I wanted to give the new AZ-GTiX and tripod a first outing. I'm very pleased with it so far, it feels very solid. It was tracking well, even at x500. As a bonus, the finder shoe on my Mak is now in the right place! The Telrad is now underneath, but I can sort that.

No, I'm not sure. I think people would either start a thread in a specific forum section, if the book had a particular topic, or otherwise in the Lounge. Books also get mentions (and sometimes subsequent discussion) in "What did the postman bring?" The existing Resources section is quite static, and I don't think members can add to it, except via a request. If a new location were created, it could cover simple announcements like yours, and also member reviews of books (there is already a place for member reviews of equipment). You could put a suggestion here.

There's a Resources tab at the top of the screen, with links to online tools and other useful websites. Books do get mentioned in individual forum posts, but I'm not aware of any place where reviews are consolidated. Is there an example on another website that you can linnk to?

I've just bought an AZ-GTiX with a SW 1.75" leg 3/8" bolt tripod. When I fitted the supplied mini extension between tripod top and mount base, I noticed some sag when I added the OTA. I tightened everything up as much as I dared (there are warnings about over-tightening the thread into the base of the mount) but no different. I happen already to have the aluminium extension tube supplied with the AZ-GTi, so I tried that instead of the shorter one. Lovely and solid. The problem is, the lower face of the extension is painted metal, as is the top of the tripod. When I turn the mount manually in Az (which I will do, as I use the FreedomFind) the extension itself can turn on the tripod, which is going to kill the alignment. I notice that the top face of the extension has a nice rubber washer, moulded to fit into recesses in the extension body. The lower face has nothing, which seems to be a problem. There isn't much overlap radially between the base and the tripod top, because of the central well in the latter, so I would need to find/make something of a suitable size. Before I start turning the loft upside down looking, has anyone else hit this problem? I'm not sure if the tripod bundled with the AZ-GTi(X) has the same profile on top.

... perhaps not to you or me, but to anyone who's saying there are "too many scopes", I imagine anything larger than a BCO 6mm might be fair game. (in the interests of full disclosure, I don't have this problem with Mrs. Z)

Depending on the OTA and configuration, somewhere between 4.6kg and 5.6kg, but I'd also like to try two at once.