Pixies

I'm pitch 47 - as usual

That's the booking system open now. I've booked the same spot as the past 2 times. Hopefully it's third time lucky, with no breakdowns or family emergencies this time round! Hope to see some of you there.

Yes - that's correct. But see here:

Just arrived from Japan:

OK - yes. That's correct - the visual back. I was talking about the internal thread at the end of the silver tube.

Not exactly. It has a female m43 with1.0mm pitch (old Vixen). You need an adapter to get it down to T-2!

Folded back for glasses-wearers and up otherwise.

The StarGuider 8mm and 12mm are the best of the range and would be a good option for your scope - giving x112 and x75 magnification But likewise, the 8-24mm zooms are a good option. For a widefield view - try a 32mm plossl type. This is a good budget one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials-eyepieces/astro-essentials-super-plossl-eyepiece.html or for a little more, the 30mm in this range: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html Eyepieces will transfer to other scopes when/if you upgrade.

I failed last night, when the clouds appeared just as I set up. Tonight's forecast was poor, but lo and behold - a perfectly c;lear night. First sketch in a couple of years!

Quick sketch of the comet tonight, plus the movement over 30 minutes.

A surprise clear night! The forecast is/was for cloud - but it's beautifully clear and transparent too. Perfect for comet - hunting... Well, 'hunting' isn't really the right word. It's pretty easy to find now. A triangle formed with Kochab and Pherkad in Ursa Minor. It's much brighter in binos and finder now. It surely must be naked-eye in dark skies. The 8" dob is cooling. But even now, with no dark-adaptation, the nucleus is visible and the coma spreads out into a fan. Will be back out there in 30 minutes...

Of course, the moment it was high enough for the dob, the cloud arrived! I'm waiting to see if it clears up at all!

yep - easy to find in 10x50s. Even with little dark-adaption and the house lights on, I can make out the fan-shaped tail. I'll be getting the dob out shortly, but will need it to rise a little higher.

Not visible here in the UK, I'm afraid.

I feel in the minority to say that around here, the skies have darkened since the LED streetlights went in. They are very well aimed and shielded. That is assuming you aren't under one! Otherwise they are blinding. I'm going to contact one of our green councillors to see if the council still has any plans to dim them or switch-off later in the night. The central control of the lamps was being touted as a great benefit when they were originally going in.

Just popped out with the binos and the comet E3(ZTF) is well placed now, without having to get up at silly-o'clock! Pretty faint and fuzzy, but visible with direct vision. Didn't have to do much star-hopping, just pointed in the rough area and found it. Using 10x50s. The North East direction for me is nice and dark, as it's over the sea.

I have it on a old Manfrotto 055 camera tripod.. What scope are you using?

Always late to the party! I haven't used the Vixen A105M on the AP mount since September. So now that all batteries sorted and various other things found, I'm at last ready to go! Hopefully the conditions are as good here as everyone else is experiencing. No plans, I'll just see what comes up. I'll probably start with the Trapezium and see how things are looking. Just raising a quick toast to the memory of JohnInDerby, then I'll be out.

Up at 5am (-2°C) to have a quick check on comet E3 ZTF. The waning moon had risen and the cold air was making it slightly hazy. Nonetheless it was pretty easy to find with 10x50 binos even with the very poor transparency. Just a fuzzy blob with no obvious nucleus - but much larger than I was expecting. Glad I hadn't set up a scope (as I had been planning) as a few snow showers suddenly blew in. Tonight looks good though.

If you get a chance, could you take a picture down the focuser (no eyepiece) in daylight and post it here?

Start in the daylight - point it at clouds or clear sky (avoid the sun!!!) Take out the eyepiece and look down the eyepiece holder, you should see something like: It should hopefully be concentric - but dont worry about that for now. If it's OK, put the eyepiece back in and then try and focus on something very distant. You may need to adjust the eyepiece out quite a way. Again - avoid the sun! I think things look promising from your photo, because I think you can actually see a reflection of light coming through the eyepiece from the objective end!

Oh no! Such sad news. I had feared the worst when his postings had stopped last year, but hoped it might have been a temporary illness. John was one of the first to help me out when I started here several years ago. He was knowledgeable, kind and helpful. The place hasn't been the same since. I still chuckle thinking about when one poster had assumed his name was John Inderby! I will raise a glass next time I'm out observing.

Ah - it has a name: Nocturnal Surface Cooling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiative_cooling#Nocturnal_surface_cooling:~:text=energy to space.-,Nocturnal surface cooling,-[edit]

The main thing is that you use a USB socket from a proper power supply device or controller. A USB port on a laptop, say, won't be able to supply enough power. As for a dew shield keeping dew away - it does this because is keeps the lens warmer than it would if the night sky was directly visible from the lens itself. If you point the scope directly up, it will dew up as quickly a without the dew shield. It's radiative thermal transfer - space is cold, so there's a great thermal difference between sky (space) and anything under the sky, so the radiative transfer is greater. This is heat radiation (electro-magnetic), NOT convention through a medium, which tends to balance out temperatures locally. That's why the ground can be colder than the air temperature above it overnight. That's why dew forms on cars in the street and not under a car port.