Pixies

Are these the only dobs that Celestron produce? (apart from the little baby Firstscope)

Good list - you must have been knackered! I find with the springtime faint galaxies, it can be a case of seen something... next! Other object types deserve longer observing times, though. Tight double-stars, planets, etc. these benefit from time at the eyepiece. Just wait until later this year when you've had your eye on Mars continuously for 20 minutes, waiting for moments of good seeing!

Looks pretty good to me. Do a star test. if you are finding that you are having trouble keeping the rotation square when you tighten up the 3 adjusters, make sure they haven't been overtightened in the past and cut some 'gouges' into the base of the secondary mirror holder. (Not that I've done that when starting out! 🙄 ). It means that you can never fine-tune the rotation of the secondary mirror as it will always settle back into the same position. An easy fix - inserting a steel washer between screws and mirror base. A milk-carton washer improves adjustability, too.

Thanks to Neil - I managed to bag it tonight. That's my second SN, and first this year. The sky up here is now without astronomical darkness until mid August, so I wasn't hopeful. However, I could easily see 2/3 of the Leo triplet, which gave me a little more confidence. M60 is easy enough to find. It was visible directly around x100. I could just make out the host galaxy NGC 4647 with averted vision. For reference, mag 11.1 NGC 4638 was just visible with averted vision too. Also, a close star, TYC 0878-0293-1 (from Sky Safari) was just visible with direct vision at mag 11.8 I was getting brief glimpses (averted vision) of a stellar-like object within the haze of NGC 4647. Moving up to x150 increased the visibility, but still only with AV and it wasn't constant. It reminded me of trying to observe the F star in the trapezium. Any higher magnification resulted in a loss of contrast. But I'm pretty confident I saw it. It was a definite stellar-like point within the smaller galaxy, slightly dimmer than the nearby mag11.8 star.

A quick Google comes back with Quasar "3C 273". Stella-like and visible at magnitude 12.8, so a suitable 10" target. 2.6 BILLION light years!

NGC 4889 - Caldwell 35. An elliptical galaxy in the Coma cluster. 330 million light years away! I observed that (and nearby NGC 4872 - 320 Mly) last year with an 8" dob at a dark site in the Scottish Borders. A galaxy far, far away. Suitable for the 4th of May!

I'm in Melbourne at the moment. It was 17°C at midnight, so it was nearly t-shirt weather, here. I had a simple binocular session to try and cover some Messier objects elusive from 55° North and also a few Southern gems. Unfortunately, I'm in a Bortle7 location, so just big bright stuff, really I'll do a full report when I get home, as all I have is my phone just now. Seeing Scorpius in all its full glory, at 45° altitude, red Antares glaring down was a highlight. As was the teapot of Sagittarius, high-up and on its side. Messiers: 4, 80, 62, 90, 6, 7, 8, 20, 21, 69, 54, 16, 17 and 9 And the all-new Southern objects: Omega Centauri - wow! It's huge. Makes M13 look like it's tiny baby brother! Centaurus A. The southern Pleiades. All the nebulosity around Eta Carinae and surrounding clusters. The Pearl cluster. Lambda Centauri cluster. Bed now, but I have the alarm set for 5am to get some planetary action later! Nighy-night!

@SuburbanMak You've even got a mention on the Actual Astronomy podcast!

I'm off to Melbourne at the weekend for a week. Unfortunately it's for a funeral and to help sort out my mum's affairs after she passed away this week, However, in order to cheer myself up, I'm going to take my binos with me (10x50). Where I'll be staying is central Melbourne (Bortle 9) but I should be able to borrow a car for a night and head out somewhere darker. So how's about another 'must-see' list, but this time for bino objects?

Going out for a quick session as the sky is clearing. Perhaps a bit of high haze, but I'll just be going for some doubles.

If I had £5k going spare, I'd get: https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/unistellar-evscope-2-smart-telescope-with-77mpixel-electronic-eyepiece-by-nikon.html and https://www.cameraworld.co.uk/canon-15x50-is-all-weather-binoculars-with-cashback-15501.html Maybe. or maybe not. Not much help, I'd admit. I'd have another idea the next day. But of all the things I used at Astrocamp (incl a 16" dob) these 2 were the things that blew my mind.

mis-post

Phew! I was a little worried. Hope all is well.

Sounds great. Just wait till you get the dob onto M57!

Brief 'unboxing' type review, here:

Excellent report. I'm messing about with a slow 80mm just now and you've suggested some good targets. M94 in Canes Venatici should be a suitable target galaxy. I can see it in 10x50 binos in Bortle 6.

I would say that the secondary mirror is slightly twisted. you'll need to sort that out first. you can also see that from the reflection in the second image: The above light-blue ellipse shows the outline of the offset secondary. It should be inline with the focuser, once the secondary if facing it correctly. More like:

First time for Lunar X and V for me earlier tonight. Vixen 80M. Both were much brighter and clearer than I expected - pictures don't really do them justice. Well, not any pictures I can take!

The lunar X and V were incredibly bright and conspicuous. Have been using the Vixen 80M tonight and bout to go back out for some double star splitting.

I love Amsterdam. It's a great place to just hang out and take in the (relaxed) atmosphere. And I'm not talking about THAT If you want museums/history, the Rijksmuseum has enough to keep you busy for the 5 days. There's also the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House. The latter can be a bit harrowing, obviously. Get some Malaysian food too. Kantjil & de Tijger in Spuistraat is great. The fantastic Cafe Hoppe (pub) is nearby, which is a must-do, in my opinion. I just like hanging-out in the canal area to the east of the city, on to The Jordaan further east. Lots of cafes, quaint shops, etc. The INK hotel is well placed for all that. For sight-seeing tours, there are lots of boat/canal tours, which are are loads better than the usual open-top bus tours, which get stuck in traffic-jams in most European cities. A bike tour is good too, if that's your thing. Note - it's been 5 years since I was there last, so things might have changed.

These were originally a stool available from Ikea, called "Ringo". Not available any more - but I have one in the garage. I used to use it as a stand for a big indoor plant. I might resurrect it as an observing stool, since my daughter appears to have 'inherited' my proper drum stool 🙄

I was about to say that VID_20220305_103720165.mp4

Was -7C last night, apparently. Everything was frosted-up when I went to bed. Electric radiator and electric blanket did the job. Nice dark skies but a little haze. Was good to look through a 16" dob, although not sure I could handle having to use a step ladder to observe! Really fascinating to see an EV scope in action, too.

Getting breakfast at Tebay. Should be there for 1pm, fingers crossed. Have forgotten stool 🙄

Et voila... Lens caps are off, to prove it's not just a collection of lens caps.