IB20

Have been comparing these two wonderful scopes over a few nights on Saturn. I have to say there really isn’t a lot in it and both scopes give the most satisfactory and pleasing result. The resolution grasp of the 4” makes the Cassini division slightly more visible but not by a huge margin. It’s a tough comparison due to the closed angle of the ring system, perhaps this will tell more when they open up later this decade! The smaller moons are definitely more visible and don’t require averted vision or a slight nudge to regain them to pop into view but there’s nothing there so far in the bigger scope that I can’t or don’t see in the 76mm. I did feel the larger scope showed a touch more atmospheric dispersion but again it’s a very marginal observation and it’s the day to day variation of seeing and that impacts this result. Last night with the 76mm the views of Saturn were just jaw-dropping; as reported by a host of other SGLers. The 9mm BGO, 7mm XW and 5mm XW just gifted astonishingly perfect views. The planet appeared etched like a 3D image, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus all on show and I could’ve viewed it for hours (which I pretty much did!). I loved dropping the mag in the BGO and seeing Saturn framed with its pin point moons. The 9mm BGO really impressed me last night, it’s a cracking eyepiece. Conditions look great again tonight so one of the scopes will be out, not sure which though but whichever it is I’m spoiled for choice! 😃

Back with the Tak 76Q. Rhea just off the underneath of the ring system so looks dimmer than Iapetus. Really hard to estimate the mag but it looks bright maybe even under +10.0. Saturn is majestic tonight, simply captivating.

Iapetus fairly easy to see last night in the 4”, certainly not far off Rhea’s brightness; so somewhere around +10.0-10.3 I’d estimate.

Yep scope out and looks good for a few days. All thanks to a hurricane…

The AZ75 holds it like a baby.

I find myself looking at the FOA-60Q more than I should, not quite a widefield instrument though 😅

In all seriousness, all my current scopes can only achieve about 2° due to me not have any 2” EPs or diagonals. Frankly it’s not really where my interest lies particularly in suburban skies and much prefer binoculars to low mag scope cruising when taking in wider views.

There’s a mag +10.5 star listed in SkySafari.

I’ve got more interested in the moon the more regions, areas and phases I have observed and learned about. At the start of my observing journey I’d look at the moon and just see crater after crater and kind of get a bit lost. Having a lunar atlas has really helped develop my intrigue and interest in observing our nearest neighbour.

I get a whopping 0.22° with the 4mm TOE!

Nice! Is that how all the doubles in the book are presented? I really like that style.

I have bagged E with the 76 but not managed F yet, it all depends on good transparency. Impressive feat for a 60 i’d say but the FOA-60Q owners might have a chance.

It’s a great way to document sunspots. I actually think how you’ve logged the daily evolution gives them real life and it’s something I’d love to have a go at next opportunity. 👍🏻

Not in my experience, doesn’t seem to make a difference in terms of heat generation. The 10XW frames it perfectly! Can I ask what tablet and stylus you use? I had a soft tip stylus with my old iPad and it would make sketching penumbral and umbral tendrils almost impossible. I draw with my finger currently and it’s incredibly inaccurate and clumsy.

Superb images again. My favourite image I ever took was of Uranus (behave), there’s just something so dramatic about it. I think I remember a poster saying you could watch LOTR in the time it takes the light to reach here which kind of blows my mind a bit. Such beautiful colouration.

Great work these @Stu, are all these with the 76DCU or Q?

I found Izar is a very easy split once I’d done it once. Even in an 8” dob in bad seeing I found it tough but one night it split very easily in my 3”, absolutely beautiful colouration on the secondary and one of my favourite doubles now.

I do feel like the clouds converge for the really big celestial events, conjunctions and eclipses particularly, IME!

Perhaps it’s a citizen science project for us all?! It does seem tricky to estimate however as although I felt Rhea was ever so slightly brighter, Iapetus caught my eye more as it was further away from Saturn’s radiating brightness; which conversely may have made Rhea appear at lesser magnitude. Dione was closer to Saturn than Rhea on the opposite side and I had real difficulty consistently seeing that.

Right now my circumstances mean I can only have really opportune short sessions, plus throw in this summer’s weather and small grab and go scopes have been invaluable. I’d have done next to no observing without my 40mm PST and 76mm frac. I love planetary observing through the 76mm, I get a great deal of satisfaction and joy from using it. I still hope to have a shoot-out with the 4” at some point when I get the chance but it might roll over to next year with the demands of two young terrors.

Just reviving this topic as it was quite noticeable last evening how easy Iapetus was to see. I was using a 76mm scope at 136-106x. It’s at far Western elongation and showed a similar brightness to Rhea which is recorded as mag +9.8 on SkySafari, so over a mag brighter than it’s recorded +11.1. A nice discussion post on CN here about the “phenomenon” https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/212334-observing-iapetus-enigmatic-magnitude-estimates/#entry2717345 Does anyone know of any resources for a more accurate Iapetian mag estimate? Presuming that SkySafari and Stellarium do not provide dynamic mag estimates.

There are breaks in the cloud so I’m having a little gaze at Saturn. Seeing isn’t the best but transparency when the clouds pass over is very, very good. Moon wise I can see Titan the brightest, but Rhea and Iapetus visible with slight averted vision through the 76Q and 9mm BGO. Quite amazed at how visible Iapetus is, wonder if its brighter face is showing? Anyone know if there’s anyway to find out? Dione occasionally pops into view but it’s swamped a little by the brightness of the ring system. The Cassini division visible at both ansae and a dark northern temperate band on show. The slight shadow underneath the ring I saw earlier in the season is harder to pick up today, possibly due to the opposition brightening of the ring system. In the 7XW the moons show even easier and there’s a real nice northern polar darkening. Perfect magnification for the conditions and altitude so far (136x).

It’s quite interesting as I’ve no real idea about EP manufacturers. I often read that x y z EP was made in Japan/Taiwan or China with Japanese sourced glass. Are the “bulk” EP manufacturers well known or are all EPs made by small artisan makers. How many EPs are made in a run? 100s/1000s? The SvBony planetary zoom seems like a punt that paid off as they are quite niche FLs whereas the Hyperflex and clone zooms have more “regular” range of FLs. Assume they must have product testers and buyers, so perhaps they tested an unbranded 3-8mm zoom and were suitably impressed but afaik that zoom is only under the SvBony brand?

This is really good. Is there anyway to change the currency settings? What criteria are the accommodations that are shown? I.E is it comprehensive for lodgings in the area or is it availability?

I’d quite like a play with the 3-8mm zoom; although I prefer a fixed length EP there’s lots of positive reviews for the SV planetary zoom.