IB20

The VAT alone is making me wince. 😅

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-seestar-s50-push-fit-lens-cap.html One of these?

What is on OWL? Optical white light? OTA with lickables?🦉

Yes, sorry! 😅😈

I have the 3.5, 5, 7 & 10. They sit in my diagonal 99% of the time, I think they’re the bee’s knees and are incredibly comfortable. It’s a pleasure having extended sessions with them. Don't use 2” EPs but I’d be sniffing round these and the longer FL originals if I did!

First bit of clear sky I’ve had since last week so just popped out with the 76Q. The seeing is atrocious though so I’ve already come back in. Just missed the GRS but the dark knuckle in the NEB was visible. Split Rigel quickly but the A star looked a dog’s dinner. Seems to be a huge amount of moisture in the atmosphere, boo. 👎🏼

The AZ75 holds 15kg on each saddle depending on length of OTA. It should handle it relatively comfortably, I’d imagine? 🤷🏼 What do other members mount their 5” scopes on?

I’ve read a comparison between the FS128 and AT125EDL on CN. As ever with Tak scopes it’s eking out perfection against excellent in the FPL53/equivalent but by no means does the 125 leave the observer wanting!

Hmmm very interesting, the 125mm is certainly brighter. The Tak was also blessed with more interesting features at the time it was used and as @dweller25 suggests, altitude and or seeing may not have been comparable 60 mins apart but the Tak sure puts on a great show. Personally I wouldn’t view at magnifications the imagers use for planetary so I’d be keen to see comparisons at more usual magnifications too.

I don’t have a gng set up for the 4”, it currently sits on an AZ75 and 1.75” steel SW tripod which I’ll be upgrading to the Uni28. This will happen sooner if I decide not to get the 5”. It’s a two part carry as is, so having a 5” would make no difference in terms of set-up/tear down time…

That looks huge! Is that 1200mm?

Having 76mm and 102mm “APOs”, how much benefit will I see if I acquire a 5” ED doublet? How often do users take their 5” scopes out? How long do they take to acclimate and how affected are they by local or atmospheric seeing? The scope in question is the Stellamira 125mm and so far the reports seem really good. It’s quite long at 1m extended but it seems extremely light compared to most other 5” OTAs. My longest scope is 820mm so I don’t think the length would surprise me. The thought of sitting in my garden looking at summer doubles with this scope is an incredibly enticing one!

Agree with this. Have a similar configuration. Keep all scope caps and eyepieces in there too. It’s really handy when there are cloudy moments as I can nip back inside and flick the kettle on or have a neb at SkySafari or SGL. In summer when the heat differences aren’t as huge, I sometimes sit in the house and have the scope on the doorstep. 😅

EDith?

I am under a blanket of cloud, sadly.

I see that too, a darker brown barge or elongated oval. There seems to be a lighter shell surrounding the GRS, I’m not sure I’ve seen it so noticeable before - perhaps an effect of the GRS receding in size? The south temperate belt is very noticeable too, again more pronounced than I’ve seen before.

The dob is out again but seeing isn’t great. Occasionally I can see some slight grey bruising on the underside of the NEB boundary. Have to be quite patient for the pockets of better seeing and it’s quite cold for that; all the neighbours’ chimneys are on currently so may be more local than atmospheric.

Man, that is one fantastic looking scope. What’s the OTA details including length, if you don’t mind me asking?

It was hazy cloud/mist rather than seeing. Seeing was quite good and steady. In windy conditions or poor seeing the dob can be pretty frustrating.

I bought this telescope around the time of Covid in 2020 for a measly £296 brand new. After a few nights of bad seeing during an opposition of Mars, some nights it was poorly acclimated and some nights suffering from poor local conditions, I started to fall out of love with it and moved on to smaller refractors, both achros and apos. It’s been a little unloved since then, and when I’ve compared the fracs to it I’ve always preferred the aesthetics of the refractors. Using it tonight in really sub-optimal conditions it has really proved its worth; surprising really as it was nights like this when I’d look out and not think it worth taking the dob outside. I think I’ve been pretty unfair and probably too impatient with it, I’ve read so many times about the benefits of aperture yet I’ve nearly always reached for my smaller scopes. Have to be honest, the detail I’ve seen on Jupiter tonight is far more than I’ve ever seen with my premium 3” & 4” APOs. Pretty amazing for a mass produced Dobsonian with generic optics, although I have added a classy Lacerta microfocuser - I couldn’t live without one of those on a f5.9 scope. I've known the 200P has been my best lunar scope, maybe I’m coming round to the idea that it’s also my best planetary scope. It ain’t my best star or doubles scope though… 😝

Superb images. 👍🏻👍🏻

Clouds and mist have well and truly piled in, yet Jupiter is still visible through the murk. Have to say, impressed that I can see Io’s shadow through this! Maybe I need a bigger dob… 🤔😆

There’s a ‘knot’ visible on the NEB currently. It seems to have a whiteish/lighter central point and is the outer walls of the knot are extending beyond the regular thick band. Io has just started its transit and is nicely brightened on the limb. The haze is killing the brightness making planetary detail really stand out. Possibly the first time I’m actually seeing the fuss about aperture on Jupiter!

Being a newb a few years back, I think Steve’s newsletters were the resource that taught me about averted vision and how to use binoculars to see more. I still remember the impact pointing binoculars at M42 had on my astronomy journey and I’ll be forever grateful to Steve’s passion for binocular astronomy and his newsletters. Good luck for whatever you do next and I hope the website remains live for a good few years yet.

Just chucked the 200P dob out; Io transit + shadow should be occurring about 10pm & 10:45pm. Last night’s transit was ruined by mist and clouds so here’s hoping 🤞🏼 It’s colder than Neptune out there though… 🥶