josefk

I'm not sure if its exactly the same models yours Franklin but i assume you've seen this? Personally i find this "challenge concept" with a "perfect little scope" quite appealing... http://www.jayreynoldsfreeman.com/Aux/AstroPDFs/RRSaga.text.pdf

i'm probably cheating with my current grab 'n' go - a spotting scope on a fluid damped video head. Ergonomically limited to less than a 45-degree altitude and optically limited to 2-degrees at the wide end and 70x at the top end but within that envelope rather awesome - a light two handed carry including tripod and stool, an erect image for bino type star-hopping and certain types of sketching, a totally flat and sharp field to the field stop, and IP67 so utterly immune to condensation. Travels well chucked in the back of a land rover on rough tracks too.

excellent!

I’m still young at this so take it with a pinch of salt 🙂 - for plotting stars at the EP I can manage three sizes under red light - small, medium, large. I can’t control any pen or pencil better than that as my eyesight isn’t good enough and in any event I have an undriven mount so there’s a limit to the accuracy of the capture (my double cluster is a fantasy view - it captures my impression of what I saw but is completely inaccurate and probably out of reach of my observing and transferring skills on an undriven mount) - for redrawing stars back at base - if it’s just to capture the plot of the relationships of double/multiple star systems I stick with little, medium, large black on white and use fine liners like @mikeDnight - for redrawing stars back at base and it’s to capture something aesthetic about them or to have them in the field with a DSO of one sort or another then I use white on black. Faber-Castel white ink brush pen (used for all stars but especially brilliant for low magnitude stars) and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen to touch in brighter stars over the top of the ink brush. It is possible to go further and add in a touch of colour or nebulosity with a pencil or pastel pencil over the top of that. They are still more or less small, med, large representations though. I fancy drawing coloured doubles stars even more close up than I have so far and for that I’m going to directly copy Mike’s approach above because it’s the most aesthetically pleasing way I’ve seen it done. 👏 small tip - pastel pencils go soggy in the field and need drying between sessions 🙂

… and I’m eagerly awaiting opportunities to get out with it @jetstream - a decent amount of grab n go so far this year but only four opportunities for more considered sessions with the TOA due to what feels like endless night time cloud. I know already it’s a performer from a session on Mars and Jupiter in January - loads of accessible detail and contrast and lovely absorbing aesthetics (presentation?) As Venus climbs higher in the evening that is on more my “determined to do” list for sure even if it’s only a short window of opportunity cloud wise. 👍

Ding dong! You might want to put the Jupiter/Venus conjunction in your diary the 1st March - should be outrageously aesthetic in that scope.

worked a treat @JeremyS - the camping mat insulated the USB dew band really nicely. Running it on its lowest setting meant consuming only ~25% of a nominally 13,600mAh battery capacity in 3hrs so i would be good to go for an all-nighter with that battery pack and this battery pack is pretty small so it mounts on the moving part of the mount. Lightweight out at the front as well! ...and a very un-Tak like £0.00 being an offcut from mark II. win win win.

ouch - hope the head's alright!

So last night the 13th Feb the (doesn't look very green to me) green comet C/2022 E3 could be framed with a good portion of NGC 1647 in a 1.2 degree FOV. Here's the sketch: I'm afraid i had to cheat NGC 1647 into the sketch this morning with a little help form SSP and i had to correct (mildly) the key anchoring stars HR 1517 and HD 30179. The decision to omit NGC 1647 from the field sketch last night was deliberate as i wanted to minimise my use of a red light and therefore keep really good adaptation on this dark night for the comet itself and in particular the comet relative to the very dim stars in its most immediate vicinity (which i did sketch at the EP) so i could estimate it's size. With its immediate framing stars it was almost the 5-dot side of die as you can see on the close up. I sketched at 58x but also observed at 125x (1mm exit pupil) and this closer view showed the detail and the dimmer stars better (as you would expect) but the pleasure was really its conjunction with NGC 1647. The core was very bright. There was background star in the immediate glow of the core (preceding it) and this was "obvious" at the EP with considered observation. I estimate the extent of the glow i could see at ~10' with relatively clear directionality to it towards the East (not south as marked on the card). No tail though or colour :-(. The night was dark at SQM 20.69 average reading but not hugely transparent. I spent ages NOT seeing various "bright" nebula in Cassiopeia except i that did see NGC 281 the Pacman Nebula. No Pacman i'm afraid but a definite large haze without being obvious exactly. I could see this nebula best at 32x with 4mm exit pupil and a UHC filter. I could still see it at 42x with 3mm exit pupil and O-III filter but i couldn't detect it at all "just" at 42x/3mm without filter. Cheers joe

👍🏼 @Stu

...and if you ever wondered at the difference between 95mm refractor and 130mm refractor here's one big difference: 95mm ready to go... 130mm ready to unpack...

DIY dew shield mark III (mk I for this scope) with secret weapon dew band under it - the combo worked a treat even with the dew band on its lowest setting in a night that turned from "damp" to "sea fog" very quickly around 22:00. Jupiter and Venus in the background.

Not sure where to stick this as it's not worth its own post and i also had to cheat NGC 1647 into the sketch this morning but anyway - here C/2022 E3 from last night. Comet C/2022 E3 was the main event more or less for me last night. Report over here (as suggested by Stu below): https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/406545-c2022-e3-ztf-again-with-ngc-1647/ Core clearly visible and quite bright and directionality of the gaseous glow (or at least the off centre nature of the core within the glow) appearing with averted vision. No tail though or colour for me.

Very nice! enjoyed that just now.

a nice mix of things there. Super. C/2022 E3 with NGC 1647 is a nice pairing isn't it.

i appreciate the comments Neal. Thank you.

This is "cold and damp off the clipboard" rather than "hot off the press" - a 75% Waning Gibbous moon sketched 05:50...06:30 this morning. Very damp outside just now so i lost the ability to fully detail the terminator (or at least i lost the ability to try to bring the detail i could see into the sketch). Basically the paper wouldn't take highlight and shadow marks very well. The same spotting scope set up and white pastel, white pen, black fineliner set up as usual on a black index card.

A rather rushed sketch this morning just to keep the cycle going - a little bit of cloud passing through but not a big hindrance. The damp was awful though. i'd lost control over my pastel and the paper due to the damp in about 20 minutes or so - means it's a bit of a (non)artists impression rather than an observation because I couldn't work up into the drawing the detail i was able to see on the terminator. I was also surprised how seemingly quickly highlights and shadows were changing on the terminator (or at least i thought they were). Made it a bit confusing this morning pre-coffee.

Cool set-up with the parasol @Nakedgun !

Hi @Kon that's very kind of you to say. These lunar sketches have been 100% at the EP which is exactly opposite to what i would normally do (normally i sketch rough and takes notes at the EP and transfer the drawing to card at home later - copy my own drawing in a tidy way basically). I've decided I would like to try and sketch the whole lunar cycle at least once at the EP before i look at a lunar map or atlas (again). A personal challenge but it will take a while. I'm sketching lunar here in white lighting at the scope so working at the EP for the finished drawing works really well except on Monday it was a bit damp in the air so the pastel went a bit soft. Previously i haven't had success trying to work on anything other than a rough drawing at the EP under the red light conditions needed for dim objects. My reading distance eyesight is very bad once dark adapted. For Lunar I'm using; Faber-Castell medium pastel (101 white), Derwent tinted charcoal (white), Faber-Castell Artist Pen Brush (101 white), Sakura Gelly Roll white highlighter and Staedtler pigment 0.1 fineliner in black. The drawings are on regular index card sized card because that's how i "file" them. Enjoy!

Nice sketch @SuburbanMak and nice evocative telling of the making of it - i like the idea of a nip of something mid session and the accompaniment of cathedral bell ringers. Coincidently on Monday for my second moon i was accompanied by the drum & bass of Stamford "yoofs" in the nearby carpark. I recognise the reading glasses juggle!

@markse68 My cassegrain is incredibly back heavy (and so mounted very close to it's rear end) and it doesn't move the EP about too much but it has a long focal length so i can't use it for low power (and lightly mounted) sweeping. I've been pondering fast (astrograph) newts for lightly mounted low power stuff as they would also be quite ergonomic sat at the side of them with not much swinging about going on but they're not without their own risks and drawbacks. Being easily deployed and comfy is a combination not to be underestimated i think (folded refractors aside). Joe

i blame a few people on here...😉 - too cloudy to get out last night (though the moon was a lovely deep orange behind the cloud); clear as bell and the moon beautiful against a blue sky this morning. Unfortunately this morning i was already at work and couldn't get out. Both last night and this morning i'm grumpy about the missed opportunity - ...What have you done to me?!

i know its not a competition but I think this is my favourite set-up on here. it just looks SO ergonomically dialled in and productive😋

Good idea for a sketching chat over here and thanks for the feedback. I reckon about 30...45mins each (last night definitely 45 mins) but i think they will get slower to do not quicker through the lunar cycle . I'm new at this lunar stuff and i realise now that the full moon is easier than a moon with a detailed terminator. It's supposed to be cloudy here tonight but it's clear at the moment so i may get a chance to test that hunch later. BTW - I think that by drawing the full disk you get the benefit of drawing at a scale that forgives a few (a lot!) of errors.👍🏼 That's also why i draw Jupiter the size of a ten pence piece and Mars the size of an old 1/2 pence piece - very forgiving 🤣