IB20

People should threaten to quit more often, this weather is fantastic. 😅

Same deal as the previous night. Rhea slightly further away from Saturn but stilled slightly dimmed by proximity. Again this made Iapetus the 2nd brightest moon of the three visible so I’d put it about somewhere around 9.8-10. Very, very occasionally there was an aberration just off the left shoulder of Saturn, which may have been Tethys. It was a very rare sight so might not have been, interestingly it was something I glimpsed in both fracs though.

Yep, I have used the 76Q on WL solar and haven’t experienced any heat issues, the wedge hasn’t over heated. I’ll caveat this with I haven’t had a full day session in today’s type heat though so I can’t 100% be sure that no problems would arise. Having only one wedge I’ve only been able to compare the two scopes on a handful of times, usually in ordinary seeing which has certainly levelled the performance of the two scopes in terms of visible granulation. I’d expect the 4” to show good granulation in good conditions, something I don’t really see in the 76mm. Now 3” Tak v 4” Tak might not be a fair fight but I’d be interested to see the comparison!

Oh for sure, I have compared M13 and M57 and globular clusters are very much better resolved in the 4” but will get round to some more targets when I get chance. I was scanning the sky just randomly with the Starwave and I could see so many stars despite the very bright sky background. If I ever pull my finger out and go to a dark sky site I would 100% take the Starwave over the Tak. The wider views and better light grasp afforded in the faster 4” would allow me to see some of the emission nebula targets I’ve never been able to see from my back yard. I might look at acquiring a 2” diagonal, really push the boat out and convert it into a wide field scope. I have to say for a small scope used for solar system targets, I’d be very surprised if there was anything better than the 76Q. It really does punch above its aperture. I’d like to see a FOA-60Q v 76Q space off; maybe one of the Takophiles would be so kind as to buy two Q extenders and give us a comparison. 😁

As Saturn has climbed in the sky and the surrounding heat loss has reduced or not affecting the views so much both scopes are showing ever improved images. The Cassini division showing much better and increased magnification up to 150x is now consistently stable. Had so much fun swapping between these two fabulous scopes - there is something just irresistible about that gold colouration on Saturn cast by the Tak. I just keep returning for one more look… The moon and Jupiter are just beginning to rise but sadly I have an early start tomorrow so they’ll have to wait. 😔

Got the 7” out tonight…

Well they both came out! 😅 A direct comparison tonight but the seeing isn’t quite there as it was last night. I have the 9mm BGO in the Tak for 106x and the 7XW in the Starwave at 102x. Again, pretty much identical views, the Starwave is yielding a brighter view but the Tak’s dimmer image is showing better contrast. The northern polar darkening and planetary banding looks clearer in the Tak to my eye, the ring in front of the planetary face is more defined in the Tak too. Occasional atmospheric heat wobble creates a very slight red fringe on the western anse of the ring system in the 102ed-r; the Tak is absolutely colour free. I’m having to be hyper critical here, it’s really a very, very slight dispersion effect but I can detect it. From my comparisons on other targets it’s obvious that in my average local seeing conditions that the Tak copes with the heat escape from neighbouring houses and from my own paved observing area better.

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!