IB20

These are great. Sorry, I have some probably, silly basic Qs. Are these classed as chromosphere or photosphere? And what Ha module are you using?

I do find it strange that Takahashi use katakana for their logo which is a more western friendly alphabet than hiragana. Like that will sell it to us more?! タカハシ vs たかはし… I’m sold!

Quite surprised at the size of that scope against the Zero. Are you thinking about upgrading the tripod?

I couldn’t stop the Takitis, like a bad ear worm. My 16 month old will be getting a cracking f10 80mm achromat when he’s old enough though. The alt-az mount and tripod from the SB80 and the Tak are a beautiful pairing though!

Excellent. Thanks Malcolm. I must admit, I have a 76DC so I feel a TOE would be a perfect match. Nice and light and no undercuts, just how we like it.

So I think this is next mm range upgrade I’d like to address. I’m really loving the Pentax range at 10, 7 & 5, and wondering if the 3.5mm is as good? Also like the sound of the TOEs but can’t find any shoot outs or reports between the two. Another option is the cheaper SLVs, which I’ve read positive things about. It’s likely that this length EP doesn’t see lots of use and so cheaper might make more sense. I seem to have developed a taste for high end equipment though 😅. The scope I plan to use it in is 570mm f7.5 so not silly mags and manageable exit pupil. Any thoughts, comments etc would be gratefully received.

Really like this presentation, very nice.

This and the 5mm are my favourites in this brand. A superb eyepiece.

Just popped out to say goodbye to AR2975/6. 👋🏼

Just had a quick gander. The faculae around 2975/6 look superb on the solar limb.

The seeing isn’t as good for me as the warmer period last week, the higher mags not playing as nicely. Lots of fast moving clusters of cloud obscuring too. 57x was beautifully crisp though. Guess that’s the charm with a grab n go set-up, no harm in trying!

So much going on today! The Pentax 10XW and Tak 76dcu makes the faculae pop like I’ve never seen before. Stunning, really got my mojo back for WL viewing.

Have just had a bumper delivery today. Apologies for the snow!

The Veil, M1 and M33 in that order. Hopefully there are no planets up in this scenario or I’d probably waste the whole night on them. 😅

Love an asteroid observation. What scope and ep combo was this with @Stu?

Binos for me. Having been burnt by Celestron binoculars in the past I’d recommend Opticrons for a budget range.

Seeing is great today, got the Tak 76DCU out. Showing wonderful detail at 143x even good views when pushed to 178x. AR2975 appearing like a broken heart in the umbral region. AR2976 showing a little cluster of 4 umbral islands. Best WL solar session for some time for me, can’t believe how the Tak is eating up the magnification.

Interested to hear people’s views of the CQ extender module on the 76DCU. I’ve found the standard set-up pretty awesome to date but might prove beneficial for the planet season, particularly Mars? Is it just more for easier higher magnifications? I have a wish list of upgrades, but lots of other bits are in front of the extender unless I can be persuaded otherwise. 😅

Just had a look at M41 through the 76DC, I have a neighbours tv aerial obscuring the foreground but it still looks mesmerising through the Morpheus 17.5mm. Tiny white pearls on a twilight navy background, stunning. Another Messier object bagged.

Two nights in a row, and non school nights - superb. Haven’t named my Tak yet, maybe I should have a naming competition? 🤔

The Pentaxes have gone up to £299 😭😭

Possible Pup sighting tonight? Getting an elongation at around about 4-5 o clock, maybe 3rd or 4th diffraction ring. Very occasionally a grey/blue dot pops into view but fairly uncertain to say for definite as lots of scintillating.

Just bagged the E & F stars in the trap. An absolute doddle in the 8” dob. Must be some nice transparency out there. First time I’ve used the Pentax 7XW in the dob and it’s a match made in heaven. They really are fantastic eyepieces.

Here we go then, seems to have been an age since I last used the dob!

Just saw this comparison of imaging surveys on Twitter. We are going to get so much fantastic data from JWST. What an astonishing achievement.