IB20

Feels like ages since I last observed this nova. Tonight was the first time I’ve viewed it through a scope. Seems to be the dimmest I’ve seen it, I have it around mag 7.8! Bonus views of M52 for the first time and my new favourite in Wz Cass.

Another gratuitous afocal moon iPhone snap from the Starbase. Still loving this thing, it’s now the proud owner of a Takahashi decal due to its wonderful performance. 😂

Have just stumbled upon the most beautiful coloured star I’ve ever seen, Wz Cass. I was trying to locate the old nova which seems to have taken a dive downwards!

I saw two, I’ve just checked SS and mine doesn’t show the middle object? What is that?

Yep, the seeing isn’t there to push the mag tonight but there are moments it settles down. Bagged 5 Saturnian moons again, Tethys appearing really close to the top of Saturn. Marvellous. 😃

Just catching the end of a Europa transit and trailing GRS. Couldn’t differentiate between moon shadow and GRS in the 80mm but the extra aperture in the 8” dob was showing it nicely, quite a difficult observation when the shadow is close the planetary edge. Three large banks of cloud have drifted over now which is annoying! Will keep the scopes out until Ganymede occultation about 10:15ish.

I debated putting the 80mm out tonight but it’s been a touch breezy here which normally cream crackers the seeing IME. Got some stunning views of Saturn and Jupiter last night though. Particularly a complete visible Cassini division, vibrant colour banding and wonderful planetary shadow covering the ring using the 6mm Starbase ortho. Continuously impressed at what a 3” is showing me!

That was pretty spectacular. Wasn’t really sure how Io would appear as SkySafari just shows it appearing out of thin air. I could detect it dimly but from first sight to full bright appearance seemed to last seconds. Been a real treat tonight, made up for last night’s disappointment!

That was great! I could see Europa up until 10:27pm, it looked like it was deforming the limb of Jupiter. Io due to reappear in approx 26 minutes, might stay out.

Transparency about the same as last night but seeing much better, not quite “good” but not hard to beat yesterday. Europa and Jupiter occultation around 10:20pm so will hopefully get to observe. Have just had some lovely views of Saturn at 133x with the 6mm Starbase Ortho.

Oh well, not to be tonight. We go again next opportunity. At least I got to play the old “which Galilean moon is which” game tonight; Ganymede is still the only one I can identify definitively!

Only just managing to see the shadow, more of a diffuse grey disc than the pin sharp black dot I saw two weeks ago for the same moon transit. Some of the worst seeing I’ve experienced tonight. 🚮

Hazy cloud cover now, starting to get misty halos around Jupiter, should still be able to see the transit though. Seeing pretty poor too, like looking through a swimming pool at times.

“If in doubt, put the smallest scope out”

Some beautiful set ups in here, I need to stay out of this thread, will cost me a fortune. I already keep looking at the 76DCU which I absolutely don’t need. 😅

BillP has given a thorough review of the 6mm SB ortho here https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/722346-a-modern-classic-starbase-6mm-ortho/ Personally I really like the 6mm, I have used it in both my scopes (Starbase 80 and 8” dob) and have had great success predominantly with WL solar and double stars. I have the 14mm too but it’s a bit redundant because of the 13mm Delite. When I have used it I have noticed some field curvature around the edges. It’d be quite a good shoot-out between the 6mm BCO and 6mm Starbase but I haven’t felt the need to buy the BCO due to the Starbase ortho’s performance.

Just trying this now with the 80mm, it’s quite clear which moon is Ganymede but I can’t tell the others apart. Ganymede is reported on SkySafari as 1.8 arcseconds, Callisto 1.6, Io 1.2 & Europa 1.0. Despite Callisto being closer in apparent size to Ganymede, I’m just not able to differentiate it from the smaller two moons tonight.

First view of Iota Cass this evening through the 8” dob. A really nice triple system. The brighter larger primary displayed some unevenness in the diffraction ring suggesting the seeing might not have been as good as the previous night but the close secondary and tertiary star showing lovely airy discs at 240x. A great target. 👍🏻

Make that five now, have just observed Iapetus along with Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan. 😃

8” dob out tonight and cooling, conditions looking excellent.

It’s a great little scope. I’m having lots of fun with it and I reckon I’ve probably tripled my observing time, maybe even quadrupled since acquiring it. It’s just so easy to use.

Despite all my apps saying that tonight would be no good for observing, the skies were clear leading into the twilight so I grabbed the 80mm Starbase and let it cool in the garden for 15 mins and the first target was Saturn. Started off with the 13mm DeLite (~62x) which showed a nice a bright planetary disc, sandy in colour with north equatorial belt banding. On moments of good seeing the Cassini division appeared and was lovely and sharp, particularly at the limbs of the rings. Moved up in magnification to the 8mm BST (100x), the colouration and contrast of the banding easier to make out as the disc brightness reduced and showing a lovely amount of depth and shadowing, the first time I've really been impressed by the 8mm BST and it completely nailed this target tonight. For a laugh I thought I'd try the 5mm BST (160x), I've had success with this EP in the dob on Mars and I was pretty astounded that Saturn hadn't completely turned into mush through the EP. Dimmer and a touch softer which reduced the sharpness of the Cassini division but a very, very workable image and one I've savoured for a lot of time. After the success of the 5mm, I thought I'd chance my arm and try the 3.2mm BST (250x) for an even bigger laugh. I've only had success with this EP on the moon but was absolutely astounded when Saturn was still there and actually viewable. Don't get me wrong, the vibrations when focussing proved a bit tricky but when I finally got it in focus I was amazed that I could see Saturn still. Again, getting a much softer image, Cassini division pretty blurred but detectable. Genuinely blown away by this result and have really enjoyed viewing Saturn tonight. Next target was the big guy following, Jupiter. Straight up I popped the 10mm BCO (80x) in the scope and focused in on the bright planetary disc and its three visible moons. I always tend to view Jupiter first and see if I can spot the GRS before confirming what I think I can see on Sky Safari. Well today, I initially thought that I had something on my EP lens, as there was a perfect black speck on in the left centre of Jupiter's equatorial belt. Underneath the speck but more centrally in the Southern Equatorial belt, I could make out the GRS. Then it dawned on me that actually the speck was possibly a moon transit shadow! Checking on SkySafari and it revealed that it was Io, I couldn't believe how sharp and visible the scope was showing this incredible event. I observed for some time and then Io appeared to the left of the planetary disc like a little ear, still tracking the shadow leaving the edge of the disc with the GRS lagging behind. I swapped in the 13mm Delite and I could still see this wonderful satellite transit. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is probably the best thing I have ever observed, it was stunning. My little scope has completely blown me away tonight, there are some nights I think I would've loved to have seen this in the bigger dob, but not tonight. Tonight belongs to the 80mm Starbase, what a brilliant little gem of a scope. It's still set up too, so with that I'm off back to Jupiter!

Sky Safari showing it as S Capricorni mag 8.7, if your image is from tonight.

Wait for someone to start a “3D printing Zeiss EP caps” thread!

Very happy for the BHF and good on whichever kind soul donated them. I hope the winning bidder enjoys them!