IB20

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!

SkySafari had it as an instantaneous event that happened at 21:53. I watched it constantly and lost sight of the tiniest pinprick of light at 22:29. AN had it starting at 22:27 which seems way more accurate. It seemed to go really fast when it got very noticeable the light source was being smothered out, a matter of seconds.

Have just observed a shadow occultation of Io. SkySafari had it down at starting at 21:53 and disappearing with seconds. I actually watched to the tiniest speck of light and finally lost sight at 22:29. AN has the eclipse down at 22:27 which seems more accurate. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a case of there then not there but it actually started distorting and shrinking in size until it was a pinprick of light. The airy disc around it seemed to disappear and I kept comparing it to Europa’s size until it was really obvious that it was being eaten up by the planet’s shadow. I’ve never seen a Jovian eclipse before, it was fascinating to watch!

Have just watched the most amazing shadow occultation of Io with the Tak 76Q. Incredible! 😵

My local conditions I.E. light pollution, surrounding structure heat loss etc, are quite poor until probably ~1am. Just so happens my 8” dob doesn’t really perform that well until a lot of the surrounding heat dissipates either. Due to my current circumstances I don’t really get the chance to stay up that late to observe, so have 3” & 4” fracs that are getting a lot of use. My viewing is primarily solar system objects, doubles or open clusters and has been for about 18 months I can’t remember the last time I looked at a galaxy. I do still try the odd planetary nebula and globular but they aren’t quite the same as they were when I could stand in my garden at 2am with the big light bucket.

Taks are lovely but I’m not sure you’d see a massive difference between the z73 and the 76DCU. With the Q module addition, your magnification range would increase and the Tak will support those mags, obviously depending on sky conditions and you’ll suffer from reduced exit pupils. I’ve started to love my 4” frac and am using it more but it’s a bigger beast and not quite as grab and go as my 76DCU/Q. It does great on the gas giants, moon, WL and can be used for lovely wide field views. There are some nights when my 3” and 4” haven’t been world’s apart in the images they’ve shown but I need to do some more comparisons to get a feel for what my average skies and local conditions are like (I’m veering towards not great at the minute 😅). I’d say I’d probably edge toward a 4”. If you want the best 4” Tak doublet, get the 100DZ. If you want the lightest 4” get the 100DC, if you want a 4” at 95% (maybe even closer) of Tak performance at under half price or cheaper, then get a Starfield. I’m sure you’ll be delighted with any of them!

Hmmm interesting. Bill’s piece reported that the AT diagonal was softer on the moon at high mags. I have noticed such but attributed it to the scope and seeing. Will compare with the Tak prism next chance I get!

Glad you got some good conditions John. I didn’t fancy the 2am bed-6am wake up from my two boys so will eagerly have to wait for my first shadow transit of the season.

If it clears up and you can stay up for another hour, you should be rewarded with an Io shadow transit!

Don’t know a lot about this brand but awhile ago I took a punt on the Founder Optics 1.25” dielectric mirror diagonal and I’ve been extremely happy with it. Love the locking collet mechanism (I don’t use undercut EPs 😅) and it’s optically excellent. It also looks and feels quality, love the alien green! Have a Tak prism with my slower 3” but read BillP’s diagonal review piece on CN and with my 4” f7 thought I’d try it with a mirror diagonal. I have absolutely no complaints and am not looking to upgrade, which for me says a lot about this diagonal’s performance.

Yep. I have 3”, 4” and 8” scopes, find I’m reaching for the 4” more and more.

I’m fairly sure it is, and the TS 102ED, possibly even the Astrotech 102edl. One of the more knowledgeable members here will know who makes the various iterations of the scope.

Love the Starwave 102edr more each time I use it. Just had some gorgeous views of Saturn and Jupiter with not a drop of false colour. Picked up Tethys, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus nicely. Dione and field star TYC-5809-0927-1 popping in and out of visibility too. Located Uranus nice and easily too with the 17.5mm Morpheus - every eyepiece I own works in this scope flawlessly. Clouds have sadly turned up now, boooooo!

Saturn tonight with a stacked 13 second video using the MSM holder through the 4” Starwave EDR. Magnification was 178x, probably need higher and going to have to try it on the 8” dob. Image for the video is rock solid though with the holder. What video apps do you recommend @PeterStudz, resolution seems a bit low with Nightcap.

I can see this costing me more money, hopefully the review takes a while to come out! 😂

What’s your average seeing like? Is this a main scope or a grab n go quick look tool? I would tend to err towards the 102 but would recommend the FPL53 models. They aren’t the lightest though and you need a sturdy tripod to ensure the mount is stable. Ive compared a 3” Takahashi 76Q to a 102edr f7 and its fairly close on ordinary seeing days for solar system objects, only trouble is that’s it’s no ordinary 3” and suspect it’s well above any other 3” scope out there. The 102edr f7 is an absolutely wonderful scope however. If you’re in the UK, there’s a lovely looking TS 102 FPL53 currently on ABS at 2/3rds rrp.

Do let me know if you ever let the DL go. 😁👍🏻

Yeah I hear you. I haven’t seen the moon for what seems like ages. It’s been so cloudy here and the few nights I have been able to see the stars, it’s been through a veil of high haze and a fair wind. It’s been a very frustrating period but I still think of the great session I had a few months back and can’t help but look forward to another night like that.

How are you finding these @JeremyS? The recent conditions have got me hankering for some IS bins, think they’d be perfect with winter approaching and the jet stream loving sitting above my house. Are they enough in terms of mag and fov? I’d primarily want them for clusters, asterisms and starfields, throw in some Galilean moon dances and ice giant spotting too.

Was expecting a clear night so plonked the 200P out. The seeing is pretty turbulent and there are plenty of clouds about but getting some nice views of Saturn at 120x. Tethys and Rhea are in a close formation to the disc and Dione occasionally popping into view with averted vision. There’s a wonderful shadow casting onto the back of the ring system making it look like it stops short of Saturn, not sure I’ve ever seen the gap look so large before.

The detail on Ganymede is phenomenal. Well done.

I’ve viewed multiple transits through 76 and 80mm scopes and I tend to get a jet black spot for all four moons. No doubt your Vixen would yield similar results and I’d attribute what you experienced last night to the seeing coupled with a fairly low transit across the southern hemisphere. Sometimes dropping the mag to around 90-100x will help sharpen things up a tad in iffy seeing. I recall a double transit of Ganymede and Europa where the seeing was dire with poor transparency and Europa would frequently appear a soft grey in comparison to Ganymede’s larger and darker spot.

Picked up a MoveShootMove phone adapter from @bosun21 to improve on the hand held phone images I currently produce. The quality is leagues ahead of the plastic Amazon tat I have stuffed in a cupboard. Can’t wait to get it hooked on the dob or frac and give it a shot.

Just a quick naked eye gaze around Perseus and Cassiopeia in my last night of darker skies. Melotte 20 and the double cluster appearing as noticeable fuzzy patches amongst hundreds of stars. Turned to Andromeda and followed the trail of stars up from Mirach and with a little averted vision could make out the bright core and extended fuzz of M31. Being able to see an object outside our galaxy naked eye gives me goosebumps. Regretting the decision to not bring my binoculars!

I’m currently in a bortle 5 location (my home skies are 6) and i’m very surprised with the increase in naked eye stars I could see last night. A very faint Milky Way band was even showing near Deneb; it’s really got me thinking I should make an effort to get to darker skies. I should just grab my 15x bins and get in the car! Living in Leics it wouldn’t be hard to get to a better conditions.