Pixies

I might see if someone could knit me a one-eyed balaclava! Even better - a one-eyed balaclava with the single eye-hole having a long stretchy extension to go over the eyepiece: Might come in useful at halloween, too!

Oh - is that script Vixen logo new? Very nice!

Sorry - didn't want to sound like I thought you had no mechanical knowledge 😬 this might give a clue, or suggest some other scopes to ask about? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bobs-knobs-collimation/bobs-knobs-stellalyra-celestron-sky-watcher-newtonian-collimation-knobs.html#:~:text=Although not listed these are perfect for my Orion Optics (UK) 8" Europa Newtonian which although of some age is giving excellent service.

John - can you measure across the flats of the nut? If you have callipers, can you measure the diameter of the bolt?

1.25" dielectric diagonal here for a £24: https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=178971

For info. I tried my 2" UHC (no name) and it fits both 30mm and 35mm Aero ED eyepieces.

Ah! So you're the one with all the BGO's!

I have both the 30 and 35mm. I'll test them out once I get the dog to bed!

Just as long as the neutrinos don't mutate!

A very useful table.

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The Baader Universal mounting bracket in that link is 37mm long - which is a pretty standard size for most Synta finder shoes. the screws are 22mm apart. Do you have a picture of your RDF base compared, and perhaps the original shoes that it fitted?

I'm in Edinburgh and they are indeed rolling out 'smart' LED lighting with a CMS. However, they don't intend to use the controls until the roll-out is complete and it's been delayed due to Covid. Neither have they said how they plan to use the control system. Edinburgh doesn't have any lights that turn off overnight - but dimming sounds great. Fingers crossed.... Only one zone is left to do now (Oct-Dec) and guess where muggins here lives! 🙄 Looking forward to the demise of the old streetlight in the back lane that lights up most the garden!

That's a Hexafoc focuser. But make sure he has the extension piece, as it's not there in that photo. See Heather's photo for the extension piece: With the focuser racked all the way in, it would still be visible. If he doesn't have it, you can get them aftermarket.

Alacant's picture has the Hexafoc focuser, too. It looks different to Johninderby's because it has the extension tube fitted. I assume John didn't need it since he was using a solar filter/diagonal. Ask the seller to take a picture. Always recommended anyway, to make sure it's not a scam.

It was faint. My skies are supposedly Bottle 6, but it that direction I'm looking out to sea, so it's a much darker view. My southerly outlook compared to that is poor.

I found 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko tonight, too. Your description is very accurate - like a small unresolved globular cluster.

My hopes and plans for Saturday night had been to try and go to a local dark site. However, lots of things transpired against me and in the end I settled for the usual back garden session. A cloudless night, no moon, plus heavy rain all afternoon meant I was hopeful for clear skies and it certainly turned out that way. Started with Jupiter, but the seeing was pretty poor. Looking up I could faintly see the Milky Way passing through Cassiopeia and Perseus, which is pretty rare. So it was looking like a very clear night, in the usually best North / East direction. I had been thinking about trying to observe the Mag 10 comet , 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It wasn't going to appear over the rooftops for another 2 hours, so I had plenty of time to pass. Started with the colourful double, Amlach. Seeing was very average, but an easy split nonetheless. Then moved up to M76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula. Haven't observed this one before, so another Messier ticked off the list. Bright and clear even without filters. Oii and UHC improved contrast and showed a little more of the wider parts, but I couldn't say that one preformed better than the other. Had I been at the dark site, I was hoping to try and find M33 for the first time. I've spent a few nights in the back garden with binos and scope trying to observe it this year, to no avail. But tonight I found it! After all my practise, I know exactly where to locate it and tonight I could see a faint brightening in the space between a quad of stars in Triangulum. Averted vision and nudging helped confirm. Was using my 30mm Aero ED having left the 35mm inside. I'll try the latter next time. After that success, I thought I'd go for another faint galaxy that I've never ben able to find. M110 next to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. M31 was big and bright, the clearest I've seen it here. M32 was the usual little fuzzy ball, and tonight I managed to observe M110, too! Next to a stretched triangle of stars North of M31's centre, I could see a faint patch of light, even with direct vision. No obvious core but a definite bright patch. About 70x appeared to give the best contrast for me. As I was in the area, I had a quick peek at Uranus. There was still a little wait for the comet to appear. Auriga was rising over the roofs, so I spent a little while there: NGC 1664. My favourite cluster (if you can have favourites). The kite cluster looked great in the big 2" eyepiece. Lots of stars visible, over the background of the Milky Way. M36 - of the 3 main clusters in Auriga, I think this is the least impressive. M38 - much better. Still not a patch on M37, though - but that was going to have to wait for another night. Zeta Tauri rose over the roof around 01:30 - the tip of the bull's Southerly horn. I forgot completely about M1 (Crab Nebula) - which is a shame, as the sky was so clear. But now I could have a shot at the comet. Churyumov-Gerasimenko was pretty straightforward to find, using Sky Safari. A round fuzzy ball at the correct spot with averted vision. It was late and cold now, so I wasn't planning on hanging around any more and observing it's movement. But that's my first comet of the season. So - after my initial disappointment, it was a pretty good night. heaven knows what it would have been like at a dark site!

I have an Astro tech one from my ST80 and I swap over the ST80's visual back, which fits the Vixen draw-tube. I've tried the original wee diagonal and the 0.96" eyepieces, but much prefer the modern ones. Look at the difference in sizes! Here's what I got with the scope. Three EPs in teh cool Vixen bolt-cases, diagonal, polarscope illuminator . All in the bright green circular tub which fits the tray on the Vixen SP tripod. There was a screw-on EP solar filter, too. I've kept that for completeness, but locked away in my man draw.

If you want photos/measurement of teh end cap for 3d-printing, drop me a line. Did you get the original eyepieces and diagonal with it? Mount?

Nice. Snap! Slightly different finder setup, though. Got his a few months ago, for less than the cost of an old ortho eyepiece. Included a Super Polaris mount and tripod that I'm trying to restore. See you in the "Show us your Vixen Scope or mount" thread!

I didn't dither, just not observant enough!

@cwis - Have you tried the trick of loosening off the objective cell and giving it a shake?

I started observing just as lockdown started and have never done so in the company of anyone else (kids excepted)!

Nothing in the reports I can see. But report it here, and you'll see if anyone else submits a matching observation: https://fireballs.imo.net/members/imo_view/browse_reports