josefk

I think (and I can make careful checks for you if you like) that the 2" 2x TV powermate moves the focus point out by ~65mm i.e. it is making a circa -65mm contribution to the light path when used before the diagonal. This is "a bad thing" for my usage but maybe useful for you. Cheers

You have my sympathy - i feel your pain and admire your stoicism!

They sound like long odds - i'm not sure i would have the patience. Is there an upside re. the darkness of your skies on those precious ~20 nights?

What a lovely gesture. Bravo @mikeDnight 👏🏼

Fascinating read this morning so thanks for the links to those articles @markse68. I do love the transfer of your sketches to globes @mikeDnight what a brilliant way to record and demonstrate the observation experience. Hats off to you!

Very nice. Unlike Steve I’ve failed to detect this (I think twice) this year visually. I’n reality i’m underpowered (don’t have enough aperture) for it so it is lovely to see your image of it this morning. 👍🏼

That sounds great @SuburbanMak - the dark sky stuff especially. I have north Norfolk about 90 mins away and i *i think* this would get me to Bortle 3 (or at least rural rather than semi rural) but i haven't made the effort yet with anything other than binoculars; i will this year. Per the tricky Messier I have a shortlist on sky safari pro of things with a "difficult" reputation (not only Messier objects) or targets i have already myself found difficult and failed to see at least once. I attempt a few on this list first on the darkest nights but only a few - one slight frustration is it it can become a series of failed observations even on the darkest nights so i don't flog it to death. I finally bagged M74 from this "dark nights" list in December but I found it very difficult from the spot i was at. Cheers

thanks @FLO. The 2" extender to enable me to insert a powermate before the diagonal (both mono and BV). While the focus point doesn't move much with a powermate inserted after the diagonal it was unexpected and a bit disappointing to find that it does move quite a bit (outwards) when inserted before the diagonal. It moved further than i've had spacers to accommodate till now and i really (only) want to use the PM before the diagonal to keep leverage forces low. The Tak 5LE because i was mightily impressed with with a Tak Abbe ortho earlier this week - the narrow FOV of the abbe was obvious but what is in that FOV was "wowser". Really tiny perfect pinprick stars. I'm hoping for more of the same with this LE and at a slightly more generous AFOV.

In the bird spotting world we keep lists for everything - life lists but also county lists, country lists, and crucially yearly lists. I appreciate astronomy is a bit more of a long game but after consolidating birding lists for 2022 over the holiday period I took a look at my astro observations in a similar way and i wondered if it would be fun to start a post along these lines? I always enjoy what everyone posts in the “what did you see tonight?” forum. In 2022 I enjoyed: 49 nights (or mornings) of observing activity (counting these triggered by another thread today on clear nights) 306 unique objects observed ~100 sketches ~500 observations in sum (it’s a bit subjective how i count this) Top five 2022 highlights: The parade of five planets in a single sweep of the bins on the 25th June and again 28th June. Just awesome in the quiet early morning on the 25th and i had the pleasure of sharing them again with an old gent biker on the Bilbao ferry the morning of the 28th (he was on deck at 04:00 having a smoke - even though he was in his sixties he had never knowingly seen the planets before and sharing the bins view with him seamed to make quite a deep impression. His ‘wow” reaction at Jupiter in particular made a big impression on me). Orion region through more aperture and using more elaborate kit than i’ve had use of before so really getting repeatedly knocked off my observing stool by the endless detail available in this dramatic area. Jupiter in dawn blue light early August. For a tiny fraction of a second (out of a total of 45 minutes) it looked like a slice of pristine marble worktop. A Europa shadow transit was a bonus. The Lunar/Mars occultation - i enjoyed this immensely (far more than i expected). Solar system clockwork indeed. Getting the habit of picking out super tiny nearly stellar PNe at inappropriately low magnification. This "sport" tickles me no end. More fun than doubles (possibly)! 2023 plans: Sketch 90% of my observations (not including open clusters) Finish the Astro League double star programme (almost certain) Finish the Astro League PNe programme (probable) Get to 50% of the Herschel 400 list (hopeful) Anyway please share your own turn of the year reflections here if you wish. Happy New Year all. Joe

Post retirement (a long way off yet unfortunately) 6 months a year spent down in the Iberian Peninsula and/or Morrocco (sp. the Atlas mountains) would tick a lot of boxes...

...Just 49 nights for me in 2022 (13%). i felt like i was consistently exploiting the clear nights but obviously not. Must try harder 2023 to keep up with you guys! i enjoyed 3x "all nighters" (1 per Spring, Summer, Autumn). I still need to do a winter one - maybe starting with Mars and finishing with C/2022 E3 (ZTF). January hasn't started well and the outlook doesn't look promising 😞

i wonder if that an effect of the bino bandit Rob? i use a hood with my binoviewer and when doing so i'm definitely conscious of condensation needing more active management.

First light for the TOA-130 last night. Mars was fantastic - the best i've seen it. 83x Bino in the refractor was incomparably better than 140x mono in the Cassegrain. With mono and with a little more magnification through the refractor (111x) looking at Mars I was immediately reminded of the way the man in the moon is drawn in children books. Unfortunately my copy below of my rough EP sketches (00:00...00:30 GMT) captures less of the spirit of it than the rough and ready EP sketches and captures nothing of the brightness. Unfortunately i couldn't bring much magnification to bear overall to gain more detail - with current kit i am running out of magnification capability at 111x and 125x (will be fixed shortly). Other targets for first light were: M42, Theta1 Orionis (bronze stars here against white nebulosity), M32 & M31 (but couldn't see M110 against this bright moonlit sky), Jupiter and Uranus, 38 Lyncis ("easy" split even while being tight), Iota and Zeta Cancri (lovely colour in the Iota Cancri pair, Tegmen/Tegmeni 2-way (AB)C split only), 62 Tauri and loads more of Mars. I really enjoyed the Tak Abbe Ortho 18mm in a 2x Powermate at 111x vs an 8mm Ethos at 125x on Mars. Food for thought regarding how to build out the higher mag end of the EP box.

You saw more than me @Froeng - i like your sketches.👍🏼

Getting ready for first light last night. "...my god its full of tiny stars and they're all different sizes and colours..." First light comprised; M42, Theta1 Orionis, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, M31/M32 (but not M110), 38 Lyncis, Iota and Zeta Cancri and then Mars, 62 Tauri, and Mars!, Mars!, Mars!

Since it’s been probably a fortnight since I’ve been able to get out - I have really enjoyed your observations and descriptions this morning as the “next best thing”. Thanks.

A bit slower than @Franklin EP post from Japan and these via Ely but still super happy to secure them nevertheless as they are discontinued and still hopeful of getting these onto Mars for a good period in January. For binoviewer use at 56x, 83x, 167x and 203x in various combinations and for cyclops stellar PNe hunting (alternating one with O-III fitted and one w/o) at 2.3mm, 1.4mm and 1.1mm exit pupil.

Also 100% this. This year i have found having a programme (started out with one and now have four) is a fantastic aid to being methodical and far from being constraining is actually a brilliant way to extract more enjoyment from observing on the cloudy nights in between sessions as with a progamme of objects there lots to read about and follow up on or plan (including the human side of first observers of particular things). Having several alternative programmes on the go at once means there is always something to focus on throughout the lunar cycle.

100% this approach. I use graph paper at the scope and index cards in the warm and dry the next day. Index cards (rather than a sketch pad) facilitate storing by RA so the collection can just grow and grow in an orderly way. I have to say at the end of the my first year being more serious and considered with this hobby the observations from this year where i have sketches (about 30%) are worth far more than the notes only ones (though of course i enjoy those too) and i will concentrate more and more on sketching/plotting/making diagrams both for the benefits at the EP to enforce really looking and the benefit at home as nice aides memoir. Your sketches further up are great @mikeDnight. A great range.

Fantastic! The eighth one down capturing all that activity is awe inspiring.

...and now its ready for grab n go... This is the SKB 3i Series 4213-12 Utility case (cheaper than the Peli equivalent and IIRC slightly more sympathetic (squarer) dimensions). The OTA fits well and i didn't make a complete mess cutting the foam surprisingly. It does mean it will need a finder QR foot though (i suspected as much beforehand so not a surprise).

Thanks @Sunshine. I DO like the planets right enough and am looking forward to getting better at deeply observing there. I would be a total newbie on the moon though. Till now I don't even look in its direction or anywhere close even naked eye when it's around to preserve dark adaptation. On the other hand there is an occultation/conjunction with Uranus New Years day (depends where you live which you get) so if the sky permits i could start there. Cheers

Thank you @Space Hopper and happy to oblige with pics. I plan to use these together on the AZ100 more than half the time in theory. Binoviewer in one side and mono in the other - playing to their strengths for whatever i'm targeting. I'm really looking for improved contrast in the refractor as i know i will give up some scale. That and the ability to get wider than a degree TFOV and the ability to observe the brighter planets without damned great big diffraction spikes. I don't mind them too much on stars but hate them on planets. Cheers Joe

thanks Rob - with the weather outside at the moment and the outlook in CO it may be all i get to do for a few days☁️☁️☁️