IB20

It was on ABS. There’s a 25, 10 & 4 on there still too last I looked.

Been after a 6mm Vixen for a while.

Such sad news. Was one of the stalwarts of the forum when I joined and one of the posters that contributed to me solar observing and purchasing a refractor. RIP John, thoughts with his friends and family.

Absolutely clear but blowing a gale. Can’t be more frustrating conditions than these. Not even entertaining the idea of going out. 👎🏼

Yep really eye catching and was instantly drawn to it. Loving lunar observing with the 76DCQ!

Some more from tonight. The Pringles crisp fella on display too.

I have this scope (still do) and discuss here. I loved having a 3” refractor so much I ended up getting a premium APO. I still use the mount and tripod from the Starbase too as it’s excellent. For doubles it splits epsilon lyrae at 80x and split Rigel and Izar without much fuss. A really capable achromat that comes with everything ready to go.

Decided I wanted to upgrade the camera on my phone due to my wife’s camera making the iPhone 11 look rubbish. Also changed app to ProCamera as it works alongside the Pro’s camera which captures in RAW format at 48MP (I think!). Windy conditions so seeing not amazing but managed a couple of nice handheld afocal shots. Always seem to catch the moon at this illumination! Tak 76DCQ and 10mm & 5mm XWs.

As I viewed Mars throughout the evening and night the Northern polar hood that was visible earlier on seemed to reduce in visibility and eventually vanished. Any members know why? Is it a seeing or a positional thing or is it something that is happening to the polar region itself?

Must say Mars is looking extremely good tonight one of the best times I’ve ever observed it. Managing 300x with the 4mm TOE in the 200P with fantastic albedo detail and colouration.

Another go tonight and playing around with some of the app’s numerous tools.

Conditions were looking great this morning, not so much now. 😒

I have 1200mm, 800mm and 570mm focal length scopes. I live in the UK and really enjoy planetary, binary stars, lunar and WL solar observing. I need a lot of eyepieces! 😅

Both last night and tonight have seemed clear as a bell but for various reasons I haven’t been able to get the scope out. Had a fantastic stroll around with the two year old pointing out Mars, Jupiter and an amazing looking moon though. Sometimes naked eye astronomy is just the way it should be.

Yes it was more being a novice with the app, there are 10s of drawing tools and I need a lot more practice, certainly creating the planetary disc. You’re right too, the sketches I would term composite sketches as I have to observe for long periods of time to see all the albedo detail available.

Can’t wait to work my way through this. I really like how it’s set out.

I have a 12.5mm & 7.5mm ultrascopic, they are exceptional EPs. I am keeping my eye out for the 30mms but they are pretty rare on the 2nd hand market.

Some superb responses, thanks all. I’m thinking I might try the 18 or 32mm BCOs, does anyone have any experience with these? I have the 10mm & 6mm and I really rate both so assume they are just as good?

Thanks @RobertI, I’m really enjoying the app. There are so many drawing instruments that sometimes I forget what I’ve used previously. In a way I quite like that though as it leads to different styles. Admittedly never been the most skilled when it comes to drawing etc but I certainly enjoy it when it comes to astronomy. Really good suggestion at a zoomed out drawing; I will try at my next session in real time, hopefully soon when this horrid blanket cloud abates. Might even try some lunar in the future but it might be way beyond my skill level. 😅

Couple of digital sketches of last night’s Mars. Complete cloud coverage tonight so tried to draw a version which conveys the brightness and diffraction spikes.

Skywatcher 200P, despite the dew formation there were some brief pockets of stable seeing. The 5XW and the dob work amazingly well together on Mars.

It’s called Sketchbook on iOS but it’s available on Google Play. It’s free to download but I paid £1.79 to access all the tools/styles although there was plenty in the free version too. Enjoying it so far!

Surprisingly OK seeing despite a silly amount of dew forming. Only really observing Mars as it will start to recede soon. Some nice albedo markings and that polar hood still very prominent. Having a play with a new digital sketching app as want to start sketching more of my observations too.

Fantastic video of Sirius and companion here.

That’s a brilliant response, thank you. I guess my issue is, to achieve focus in the 76DC with the Revelation BVs I am having to add the bottom element of a Celestron Omni 2x barlow to the light path and I’m not quite sure what that is doing to the magnification - it seems higher than 2x with the 15mm plossls I have but I’m very inexperienced with BV set-ups.