IB20

Think I am being unfair on it, it has certainly brightened in the 10 days or so between my viewings. We were so spoiled by Neowise though that it’s really hard for me not to compare it to that. Let’s hope it continues to brighten.

I have the Opticron Oregon 15x that I purchased from FLO for about £89. Probably my biggest bargain in Astronomy gear. They are awesome, in fact I’ve just been using them to spot Comet A1 Leonard. A fantastic budget brand of binocular IMO.

Rudely awakened at 5:00am by a restless little guy so took the opportunity to observe Leonard again. Located by triangulation from Phi Serp and 40 Serp, Leonard is sandwiched between the two. Nucleus and tail do seem a touch brighter since I last viewed it - still fairly diffuse however but I’d approximate it is closer to mag 6 than 7. The beauty of binos and a south east facing garden is I barely even had to get cold!

I found bad seeing exacerbated both AD and CA at times, especially Jupiter. Didn’t have any problem with either when viewing Saturn. Venus on the other hand…

Hoping my heart gets taken by my incoming scope, my wallet certainly has.

Just a quick look at Venus now, fighting through the wobbly seeing and prismatic atmospheric dispersion but showing as a lovely crescent phase. Hoping I get to opportunity to observe as the crescent gets even thinner.

As a bonus I’ve just seen a beautiful crescent moon, illuminated with earthshine. This getting up early lark might have legs.

Thought I’d give C/2021 A1 Leonard a dart seeing as I’d woken up at 5:50am and the skies were crystal clear. Using 15x bins and travelling zenith-wards from Bootes, M3 was easily located, looking excellent in bins I must say. To the northeast of M3 a diffuse, slightly elongated smudge was detectable in the same FoV. If M3 is reported as mag 6.2, my estimate for A1 Leonard is around 6.8-7. It’s expected to increase to mag 4 so definitely one to keep an eye on.

Astronomy Now on a Black Friday offer, £37.99 for 12 months and access to digital copies of last 6 issues if anyone fancied it. https://shop.astronomynow.com/product/astronomy-now-subscription/

I have the 15 x 70s Oregons and although they do give arm ache after a while with hand holding i’ve found they’re manageable for 10-20 minute sessions. They’re great.

Just had a crack at Sirius. Wow I’ve never seen it so bad, it looked like a rainbow! Terrible seeing and blustery conditions but it appears crystal clear outside. Even Rigel didn’t allow a decent split. The trapezium cluster looked splendid amongst the nebula however, saved my little 20 minute session from just frost bitten digits.

Low weight is something that I have really been looking for in an OTA recently, especially to make a grab n go set-up. Sometimes it isn’t purely the optics that can aid a sale.

Oh not everything has to be the most expensive that I use, I’m equally happy using my much cheaper 8” dobsonian reflector and a £50 BCO eyepiece which has shown me amazing sights. I have a real mishmash of an EP collection, lots of cheaper used bits and it’s not wall to wall Pentaxes or Ethoi. I enjoy trying new things though, tinkering and experimenting to see what works for me and what doesn’t. Trying to eek out some visual improvement is part of the hobby for me and something I enjoy.

After getting into astronomy a few years ago my first experience of trying out premium end optical products was purchasing a used Televue DeLite, primarily to satisfy my own curiosity. I’d read a lot about how these high end eyepieces improved contrast, light-scatter, sharpness and colour transmission but usually it was for a marginal 5-10% gain over some of the cheaper ranges. Unfortunately for my future bank balance I could notice an improvement, despite how marginal it is sometimes described. I found it pretty noticeable and very much enjoyed what I experienced, something that was reinforced when I purchased another premium EP in a Morpheus. This love of high-end glass and a recent fascination with 3” refractors has taken me down a very expensive path. Personally I wanted to experience the “best”, if I can notice small margins in premium eyepieces I’m sure I can in a scope, so why not just go all in rather than have an itch that’ll inevitably get scratched after even more financial outlay with a bit more trial and error? As scientific instruments I think telescopes are incredibly cheap, even the real premium end are very reasonably priced. In biological sciences we are talking £5k-£15k for a very basic piece of equipment. I’ve also dumped thousands into cars that depreciate like mad and become worthless at the end of their mileage! I’ll have this scope until I’m pushing up daisies and hopefully pass it on to my son but not before I’ve spent many a wonderful night with it under the night sky.

Wonderful enthusiastic report! Look forward to reading more as you observe more targets. Regarding the street light, I would recommend you reporting it to your local council’s lighting dept, particularly if there is light trespass into a window of your property (hint hint) and ask them to reduce its output or fit a light shield.

Was 525x pushing it a bit? 😅

The first telescope I looked through was a Celestron 76mm Firstscope. The views of the moon were breathtaking. I also remember viewing Saturn for the first time which will live long in the memory despite taking forever to line up. There was a good 10 year gap before I got “proper” scope in the shape of a 200P. My interest in astronomy has never been higher and am not far away from receiving my 4th scope, of which three have been purchased in the last 18 months!

A naked eye Venus, Saturn and Jupiter in a row. In the Starbase, managed to observe Io being occulted by Jupiter. Clouds and neighbours’ central heating have thwarted a longer session.

I love a red or Carbon star. The three that have stuck in my mind are Wz Cass, Mu Cephei and La Superba. All three have beautiful colouration.

A super lightweight and portable g’n’g 80mm setup which I can have out under the stars in fewer than 60 seconds. In weather conditions like we are having at the minute, being able to take advantage when the clouds break has been a hobby saver. Honourable mention to a Herschel wedge too. 24/7 observing!

The SSWs seem such a strange range of eyepieces at a questionable price point. They don’t seem to get much love at all and I’ve read multiple reports about them having fussy eye placement. Personally If I’m buying a ~£250 eyepiece I’d be buying a Pentax XW and lose 13°.

I’m sure @BinocularSky could point you in the right direction.

Is it fair to say 2nd hand LVs would go for about the same as used SLVs?

So I’m thinking maybe giving the Vixen SLV range a dart, I’m not fussed with super wide FOVs right now and seem to be more into contrast, reduced light scatter and sharpness. Looking on the used market for some SLVs and occasionally I have come across the LV range, LVWs a bit rarer. Do members have any experience with the older Vixen ranges and how do these compare to the current SLV range?

I have bought something that I’ll be drooling over when it finally arrives! 😁