The60mmKid

Im going to resurrect this thread with these pictures of my Nikons ☺️ One is an EII, which is a superb wide-angle pair that I love for casual, handheld observing. The other is a new (to me) 18x70 Astroluxe, which I hope that I will love as much as Roger Vine does: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Nikon18x70.htm

This beautiful Nikon 18x70 "Astroluxe" arrived yesterday. 

Here it is with its little brother, the EII.

I'm really excited about the Astroluxe... a beautifully made binocular that should provide lovely views of open clusters and bright nebulae from dark skies (whenever I can get to them). This could be my new travel setup.

This is really lovely. Congratulations on such a beautiful first photo!

And let's not deny the importance of cuteness factor.

They're so cute!

I had a Borg 90FL that was good in its ways but that went up for sale when I bought a Takahashi FC-100DC. The 100mm Tak wasn't much bulkier than the 90mm Borg and thoroughly outperformed it.

9 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

I will thank you, I've never seen stars like it before and this is my 3rd reflector had a 6",8" and now the 10" with this being the 10" when I flocked it I just flocked up to the the spider so I know that's not been moved. 

I can check the secondary with my con-centre makes adjusting that easy then it's just the primary. 

I will screw the bolts all the way in then back them off two turns they will all be near enough the same length so shouldn't have any problem collimating it. 

Agree with @Peter Drew... Given what you've shared here, it now seems less likely to me that it's purely a collimation issue.

Just now, wookie1965 said:

Just wanted confirmation I am conversed with collimation I did think I had done it obviously I need to redo it thanks

😎👍 Please let us know how it goes. Best wishes!

Oh, and I'd leave the second alone for now until you're confident that you need to adjust it. The main suspect is the primary since you just changed those springs. If the position of the secondary was fine before, it may still be fine.

If you are seeing stars as lines, especially since you just swapped out the springs on your primary mirror cell, I think your mirrors must be significantly out of collimation. Not to worry, though--the collimation process isn't too challenging once you get used to it, and it is discussed on many threads here.

Saturn was a highlight this evening. I don't care that it's low in the sky. It's Saturn. We know the adage, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." My version is, "When you are tired of looking at Saturn, you have forgotten how to look."

I observe from the rooftop of my building. A young fellow came up halfway through my session this evening, so I invited him to take a peek. Like most people, he hasn't had the opportunity to look through a telescope. Needless to say, he was impressed with Saturn, although he didn't know which planet it was until I told him. We shouldn't forget how lucky we are to be able to observe... My hope is that he turns in for the night realizing that he is part not only of a big, interesting city but, furthermore, of a big, interesting universe.

Finally, a clear night.

There's a lot to love about Lyra. For instance:

• STFB 9 AE, Vega: A gorgeous sight due to Vega's sheer brilliance. The companion is a faint but distinct blue-white dot that is far enough away from the primary to easily detect.
• STFA 39 AB, Sheliak: One of my very favorites. A is bright/intense white, and B is medium/intense blue. The other nearby blue stars are optical companions but nevertheless beautify the lovely rich field.
• STF 2487 AB, Aladfar: A beautiful wide pair. A is bright/intense white. B is medium/pale blue. Shares the FOV with SHJ 289. Revisit with large binoculars.
• STF 2474 AB: One of my favorites. MacEvoy (in CDSA2) calls this a "charming reflection of optical pair STF 2470," which I think is a perfect description. The two are like nearly identical twins. Both primaries are medium/average white. The colors of the secondaries are difficult to discern at this aperture (although vivid and beautiful through a larger scope), appearing maybe pale blue, maybe pale red.
• STF 2351: A beautiful little matched pair... two distinct white/white pinpoints even at 41x, and a nice, clean split at 69x.                                                            
• STF 2466 AB: A 60mm challenge pair. B is only visible with much effort and in moments of steady seeing.

Welcome to SGL!

People on this forum are spread across the world, with many of us in the UK. I think there are various meetups that occur since there is a section of the forum on that topic. But I am not sure if they have been happening since COVID.

We must also consider whether the earth is artificial.

Just sayin'...

On 26/06/2023 at 17:40, John said:

My astro society were recently gifted this amazing setup. We are currently installing it at our observatory in a special roll-off type housing. The chair is motorised and controlled with a joystick. The instrument (which we were also given) is the Fuji Meibo 25 x 150mm binoculars - which are huge !!! 😮

Hopefully it will all be up and running for the return of darker nights in the Autumn. I'm certainly looking forward to having a go 😁

 

This looks astounding 😯 Please invite us all to the star party 😲

9 hours ago, Gonariu said:

I have seen today this thread I have read with great intrest. When I was 16, in 1983, I bought a acromatic 60/700 which I have given later.  Last year I have bought a Bresser vintage 60/900 with which I have seen very well Castor and solved just the  Lyra double-double. I am going to try to partecipate too.

Welcome to the party! Glad that you're taking part 🙂That sounds like a cool telescope!

55 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Here are a few from last night I've just posted in this section.

 

 

Fantastic sketches! Just like looking through the eyepiece 😊

5 hours ago, Elp said:

You probably are, you just don't know it yet...

Nope. Already have one 👍 Some things I know well enough.

It's good to maintain perspective on such matters... Minor blemishes on a tube are minor blemishes on a tube. I commend FLO for swiftly and thoughtfully addressing things, which is far more than I can say for a few of the astronomy outfits (including the American ones) I've dealt with. I wish I was in the market for a 5" refractor...

(The Astronomical League and Royal Astronomical Society of Canada observing lists could guide you for a lifetime, so I suggest perusing them and seeing what interests you. Also, Turn Left at Orion is a good guide for beginning deep sky observing.)

I highly recommend the Astronomical League Binocular Deep Sky observing list: https://www.astroleague.org/deep-sky-binocular-observing-program/. It's mostly open clusters, but very beautiful ones that look great through a rich-field instrument.

8 hours ago, The60mmKid said:

I don't think you need one at this time because your eyepiece set covers a good range of magnification already.

I'll repeat my suggestion here. I don't think a barlow is what you need since you already have more magnification than you need and a good spread of eyepiece focal lengths.

If you still want a barlow (despite not needing one, in my opinion), Tele Vue makes an excellent 2x barlow and GSO makes ones that are good and less expensive.

My recommendation is to keep observing and reading so that you build up experience, rather than buying items that don't currently offer any benefit to you.

1 hour ago, Ser said:

Yes - city night! ((

And saturn low in horizont, in north sky it will always low as I understand!

What about Barlow? I need it?

I don't think you need one at this time because your eyepiece set covers a good range of magnification already.

Also: The position of your target is important. When planets, stars, etc. are near the horizon, they are highly impacted by atmospheric turbulence. It's helpful to wait until they are higher in the sky if you want to increase the magnification.

Your telescope and Svbony eyepiece set are of good quality. It's likely that you didn't get a clear view of Jupiter due to one or more of the following factors:

Seeing: Turbulence in the atmosphere has a profound impact on the view that you see through the eyepiece. Some nights have less turbulence, and some have more, and it can vary throughout the night. Seeing is also dependent on where you live. There are some places with consistently steady skies and some places that rarely offer good seeing.

Collimation: The mirrors of your telescope need to be accurately aligned to deliver the best views possible. Your telescope may be collimated well enough, but it will help to learn how to collimate it. Sort of like learning to tune a guitar allows it to sound good...

Other local conditions: If there's heat coming off of a roof, pavement, etc., that can degrade the view at the eyepiece.

The good news is that there's lots of information on all of this on these forums. Learning is part of the fun!

Hope this helps ☺️

The company is actually still in operation although less overtly than in the past. It's basically a one-person show. If you search CloudyNights, you can find contact references here and there. There are also many threads there on Portaball that can help you get acquainted with the basics.

As previously noted, these are well respected scopes. Yours most likely has outstanding mirrors and will provide fine views. Enjoy!