IB20

Have just seen a string of 20 odd satellites in a row, which I’m assuming were Starlink? They weren’t particularly close together and from end to end took about 30° of sky, the biggest constellation I’ve ever seen. They were all as bright as Deneb (+1.3) until they faded into our shadow. I used to think they were pretty cool but seeing them like that has actually made me quite concerned.

The Tak 76DCU is a fabulous solar system scope. I’ve added the Q module to mine which makes it slightly longer and heavier but it’s now performing not far off a 4” with its increased magnification range. Without the module it’s still a brilliant scope and very, very light and portable. The OTA is around 1.8-1.9kg and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Last night it took mere seconds to deploy and after 5 min cooling I was observing some fantastic views of the moon, Jupiter’s equatorial bands and Io’s shadow transiting the Great Red Spot.

Whilst pursuing the Astrograph website I found this https://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectID=18647320, which very much looks like one of the SL/Artcise/Innorel clones.

The GRS not so R and the colour was really hard to make out once the moon’s shadow started transiting! What a lovely little fortuitous session, thanks for the heads up @Nik271 😃

I’m fairly certain I can see Io’s disc too, there’s a brighter area on the SEB right next to its shadow. It’s easier to see with lower mags as the floaters disappear.

Fairly clear skies so have quickly deployed the f12.75 3”. The air seems very still and seeing is good; getting to 190x with little trouble. The lunar region of Petavius, Rimae Petavius, Vallis Palitzsch and Palitzsch A is really catching the eye. The mountainous region in Petavius with the large gouge heading towards the crater rim is a wonderful sight. Jupiter once again showing tons of detail in the EBs. Io’s inky black shadow is very visible, right bang on the SEB and approaching the GRS. Hopefully the forecasted mist stays away for a bit longer!

This has very much got me thinking… https://thecentercolumn.com/tripod-reviews/gitzo/gitzo-gt5533ls-series-5-test-data/

I’ll probably know in a month or so. Might wait for Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Made up shopping day, to see if the Innorel RTC90, as recommended by @StevieDvd gets a price reduction. It looks good and solid, not too dissimilar from the Gitzo at 40mm leg diameter but nearly a 1/3rd of the cost. The StellaLyra CF is 36mm and looks very much like the Innorel LT364C which has a 5kg lower max payload. I think a 4kg weight saving compared to the steel SW is fairly significant so it’s something I’m keen to try out.

My local forecast for last night was mostly cloud with the odd clear spell. After observing for 4.5 hours in crystal clear conditions, I called it a night. It was still clear when I went to bed. 🤷🏼😄

Conditions stayed absolute clear and I was treated to wonderful views of the GRS and Europa’s moon and shadow transit at mags 136x and 142x (3” & 4” respectively). A couple of things I noticed. Firstly, the colour in the GRS was richer and more saturated in the 76Q which I thought was surprising. It could be a reduction in brightness of image that allows me to pick the colour up as I’m pretty sure I’m fairly sensitive to brightness but a theme of the night was my preference for the colour displayed by the Tak. The detail in the bands and area preceding the GRS was very similar in both scopes, but the area trailing the GRS was better defined and clearer in the 4”. At 11:41pm, a slight distortion was visible on the planetary limb in both scopes. Over time this developed into the jet black spot, again both scopes showing nicely but more easily resolved in the 4”. Europa itself brightened nicely as it began ingress across the planetary limb and face, again visible in both. After taking some phone videos through the 4”, I’d been out observing for nearly 4.5 hours. Final looks through both scopes revealed that some eye fatigue had set in and it was fairly more relaxing looking through the 4”. A great night and one not even slightly close to the expected forecast. IMG_6114.mov

Just finished a fabulous night viewing Jupiter, Saturn and a nearly full moon. Finished on a wonderful GRS and Europa shadow transit. 👍🏻

Europa shadow and GRS transit with the Starwave ED-R and iPhone 14 Pro. Single image processed in Lightroom.

Out tonight with both scopes again, seeing is good and I’m having a great time. A few findings from tonight:- 102ED-R showed Titan, Rhea and Tethys or Dione; the Tak only showed Titan. The Cassini division more resolved in the 102 but the Tak cut the moon glare out better so the CD was also equally as observable. I still prefer Saturn’s colouration in the Tak. Jupiter is enormous and showing plenty in both scopes; both scopes showed two lovely bluish festoons just bulging underneath the NEB. The 102ED shows whites slightly more but there wasn’t anything I couldn’t see in both scopes. In the 4” I could identify Ganymede and Callisto; the 3” it’s only possible to discern Ganymede. I prefer Jupiter’s colouration in the Tak. The moon is splendid in both. The shadows are jet back with wonderful ray striations showing in both. A shame there’s not a better placed terminator! The GRS is now rotating into view shortly followed by a Europa shadow transit. Fingers crossed the conditions stay clear. A few 76Q iPhone snaps with the Move Shoot Move phone holder.

It really is fantastic. Lining up the phone camera with the eyepiece in the dark with the cheaper plastic models is an absolute disaster show. The MSM holder makes it so easy, every axes works beautifully and it’s rock solid. It’s a fantastic bit of kit. If anyone is interested in phone AP then I can’t recommend this highly enough.

So turns out the Move Shoot Move holder is a bit of class. It makes line up the eyepiece pretty simple which I always struggled to do with the Amazon cheapo holder. These are all single shots touched up in LR. 76DCQ and Tak TOE 4mm at 239x

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Well done.

Thanks for this. This was my gut feeling, although the CF tripod holds the mount and OTA, it isn’t as rock solid as the steel tripod despite the payload spec. I don’t have to carry my set-up too far but it can be little awkward at times. I also know I’d treat it more like a g’n’g if it were lighter. Magnification wise I’m usually hovering around the 140-100x on normal seeing days but do go higher when seeing permits. I’m also fairly short so don’t really need full tripod extension. I can definitely tolerate some vibration, think I’d be more worried about the feel of under-mounting it like you say and wouldn’t want it feeling top heavy with precious cargo on board. Not sure I have the nerve to pay out £850 for a top of the line Gitzo and find out that it isn’t for me. Buying a heavier Berlebach doesn’t seem to make much sense either despite how aesthetically pleasing they are.

Perhaps this could be worth a punt? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/stellalyra-carbon-fibre-tripod-with-38-thread.html

I currently sit my AZ75 on the SW 1.75” steel tripod and the whole weight of it minus OTA is around 11.4kg. The tripod is also a little bit utilitarian and I’m not massively keen on the leg locking screws. It does hold the mount and all my scopes extremely sturdily though. I’m thinking of upgrading the tripod but to what? I’d love to reduce weight but not at the cost of introducing increased vibration, loss of solidness or any increased risk of tipping. The reading I have done suggests the the Gitzo 5533S would be the lightest. With a payload of upto 40kg it would hold the mount and OTAs I have easily but they sound too good to be true (except the cost😅) and I’m not sure if it’d actually hold the mount and scope(s) without introducing some tremors? The other options would be a Berlebach, but the UNI18 actually weighs more than the SW steel tripod. Would the Report series be too much on the light side to hold the AZ75 + OTA(s)? Just for reference my scopes are; AZ75 + Tak 76Q + EP ~ 7.5kg AZ75 + 102EDR + EP ~ 10kg (most used set-up) AZ75 + Tak 76Q + 102EDR + EPs ~ 13kg

Superb images. 👌🏻

Spot on. First two eyepieces I grab when I’m observing planets with the 102ED f7 are the 5mm XW and 4mm TOE!

Had the Tak 76DCU+Q module out last night and soaked up some glorious views of Saturn and Jupiter, including a Jovian eclipse of Io. It’s a seriously special telescope with almost perfect correction. Think the whole thing with tripod and mount weighs about 6-7kg and is the ultimate grab and go. Sorry, I know this doesn’t help… Have you thought about owning a 3” & 4” Tak? 🤣🤣🤣

That has fixed it. To the second accuracy now. 👍🏻

Brill, yeah that makes sense, weird they would do it like that though rather than actual on Earth time. Didn’t realise the zoom in function would show it like that, that’s very neat. Cheers; everyday’s a school day on SkySafari, I probably use it to about 1% of what it can actually do. 😂

Same on SkySafari! Excellent catch, never managed any of the ice giant satellites myself. I’m sure the 200P is capable enough, just need the conditions and get it acclimated properly!