PeterW

I really need to see how dangerous my old Intes is, beam just hits some sticky back metal tape. Never noticed anything getting hot... Peter

More better... plenty of things to go after! Peter

Pdf-print, but there are lots of other “pdf printing” we services online (I randomly picked one from a googling) Very fast. I’m thinking about putting together a Lunar100-200 recording booklet as people seem to have the Lunar100 covered. peter

Mono printout of Dase Lunar Field Atlas (mirror version for refractor use). Shows a lot, plenty of space for adding notes and the like. Https://web.archive.org/web/20160329171139/http://www.astronomylogs.com/pages/moon.html Peter

Be interesting to know how these new fangled Units compare to my old secondhand Intes model. 1.25”, nothing inside except the wedge, excess light exits onto a piece of metal foil tape! The views look good, but you have to be careful to make sure the correct filters are in place. For imaging this slows me tonuse less filtration to keep the exposures shorter. I like the ability to align using the translucent window at the back, I was looking at the suns light on the tube baffles to get things roughly aligned. A 1.25” model Is fine as you won’t need long focal length eyepieces (unless you have a very long f-ratio Refractor) and the seeing will limit What maximum power is possible, a zoom can help tune things. Never tried a polariser to tune the brightness, but will be picking one up soon to try. peter

The EU price is “.slightly more”. if I was in the market for another solar Scope (I am not) I’d probably look to get a modular one that could do Whitelight and calcium too, though of course you couldn’t observe the different wavelengths at the same time, but it would take up less cupboard space. peter

.... the Rolls Royce of solar scopes, good to see them still operating, so Ken has finally retired? if you want bragging rights you could get one of Lunts new scopes with a narrower band option.... https://luntsolarsystems.com/shop/solar-products/hydrogen-alpha/300mm-telescopes/lunt-ls300t-solar-telescope-h-alpha-pressure-tuned/ Enjoy the views (and get imaging soon!) Peter

Sun angle and seeing probably. I was playing with short eyepiece options near Gassendi. I will be back next month. Peter

Moore lists another 10 Catenae for you to go after, though none are as long or impressive. Faintly could see a bright line of Catena Davy last week, quite happy with the 80mm. Peter

What sort of magnification were you picking up Hesiodus A inner crater. I was a day ir two late for it and the main crater is easy, but the inner rim wasn’t quite visible. Peter

I bought a cheap trigger ball head , but couldn’t find a spare plate, so i measured it up and 3d printed a spare plate. peter

Was pleasantly surprised last night when testing out different 5-7mm ep options and went over to Plato and managed to get see some fleeting white dots (when I could flick the floaters away from the centre of my field of view)! knowing where to look for some domes/rilles etc is good, but there’s always more subtle and small stuff to see. Peter

Kies pi was good the day before. Those Plato craterlet still evade me...! havent seen any hedgehogs found my way in many years, look after him! peter

OK, looks like grumpy cat :-)) peter

.... all close together or separated?? Only saw one little blob in @Stus image. FLO now has an order for a polariser 😉 maybe I need to have a look first thing when the seeing is more stable? Given I’m using a smaller non-Tak I have low expectations... Seeing the faculae was great. Have to see how things change as it rotates round. Peter

The polariser to tune the brightness? Looked like a single spot this morning, though could have been 2 tiny very close together... I was chuffed seeing it.(was running at 78x, wouldn’t want to raise it much with the 80mm. I did try knocking the ND down a notch, too bright... hence I guess the polariser is handy to optimise the contrast? The faculae curve was clear, there was a fainter hint if S tail. PEter

After a friend commented I went out with the 80mm, wedge and continuum filter to see if I could spot the spot in the new active region near the limb. Took a while for my eyes to become accustomed to the vivid Apple green view, but then there is was, A small spot with a lovely semicircular bright line around it. I could also see fine detail on the disk too, but less clear than the active region, can’t wait till we get some proper activity. peter

Very blowy here, grabbed the data around breakfast time. Peter

Mention of a new active region and all this blue sky persuaded me to get the 80mm Calcium rig out. Some tracking, stacking and stitching glitches, turned out OK. I could colourise it, but normally prefer mono. Peter

Very good straight wall, also caught catina Davey too. Maybe I need a bigger scope?! peter

I use sky safari on my phone to confirm asterisms as I hop about. (You can superimpose a circle the size of the field of view, really helps judge scale). With a limited field of view you might consider some form of finder (red dot/laser to help get you near, then any star atlas can be used to zero it on your target. If your skies aren’t so good (and it doesn’t get properly dark this time of year) then galaxies will be harder to spot. I have just come in from a quick session with my 70mm bins and spotted M57 and M13 in the mid twilight. peterW

Welcome! I was looking with my binoculars to and spotted clavius sunrise. Straight wall was nice and catena Davey just viable too. The days around 50% phase spoil us with detail. What magnification were you using? PeterW

Upwards of 21 is good, beyond 21.5 the numbers don’t change much (Comparing to the borle descriptions is better). Transparency is key, being at a mag21.5 site and seeing the stars just vanish as cloud Rolls is is depressing... same SQM reading. I have an issue at home with street/building lights that are outside the SQM field of view, scattering off the SQM window and Giving me a lower value, now I have a stray light shield to help. peter

Yes! Some modern bins have twist up eyecups that can help, otherwise I have some bins that have horrid blackout unless my eyes are a precise distance away. I usually nestle my eyes deep into the eyecups of my (old) Porros. as mentioned you can rest the eyecups on your brow and then look slightly upwards, this can help maintain the right eye distance. i am sure I will appreciate eye relief when my eyes get older, but currently it’s not a priority. peter

I admired the roughly equal crescent of the moon and Venus 2 days back (along with tiny mercury) in my 10x50, very nice. peter