Siegfried1969

I have that book. If anything you want to know about the content, pls let me know.

Another sketch of Mars around 01:00 am this morning. Observation done with my trusty 110mm reflector, Fujiyama HD-Ortho eyepiece and Baader Contrast Booster. As the opposition is approaching, Mars gets larger, but it is still very hard to fix the details like I see them on paper. Most details can only be seen with peripheral vision and often I see a detail, but when I look again, it's gone or it's in another place. It took me around 1 hour to make this sketch.

Sketch of Mars from this morning with my TAL-1 110mm Newtonian reflector. Two observations: The dust storm that was present over the southern part last month has spread further north but is less intense. The dark areas show much less contrast and its actually difficult to spot any dark areas on the Mars globe It is the first time I have actually spotted a faint dark ring around the North pole. Have not seen this before in earlier observations.

It's a pity they do not produce these TAL-1 telescopes anymore or nobody took over the concept. But maybe you still can find them second hand. They go for around 50 € I have seen. I bought mine in 2003 for 350 € and have not used anything else up to now. They are built like to last for 1000 years and optically they are top notch

Ioptron AZ pro is another possibility. Just be careful with alt-az mounts when tracking planets at high powers. Due to the fact that both motors are simultaneously engaged you can end up with a stair-like movement or some kind of vibration. I do not have experience myself, but I read several experiences from planetary observers who bought the AZ pro and they report these problems when going over 250x. Looks like for tracking planets at high magnifications, equatorial is better choice. Or you can look for a combined mount such as skywatcher AZ_EQ5 how did you get on with observing at higher magnifications without tracking? I track manually with a Russian TAL1 with eq mount. Mars on +200X without any issue. I am even make sketches of the planets while tracking. Key is a relatively good polar alignment (I use the polar alignment app with daytime PA) and only what you need to do is push the scope forward on its RA axis. Object always comes back into view. Dec axis you don't need to touch.

This is amazing !

This is my first drawing of Mars and with my 110 Newtonian, it was very difficult to make out the dark areas. Because the image is so small, they were like moving all the time and had to do some guessing of what I was actually seeing. I found a pic from an imager on Cloudynights from around the same date and to my surprise its very similar to my drawing. Thanks for pointing out the lighter area at the NP. Haven't even paid attention to that 😁

Definitely agree. I have mine now for around 4 months and this chair is worth every €

Mars with TAL-1 110 mm Newtonian reflector Fujiyama HD-Ortho 4mm + Baader contrast booster

You can have a look at the following thread - they do some really interesting analysis there Based on that thread, I bought the Baader UV/IR block to be used with the Baader OD5 solar filter. Cataract is not a fun thing to have I think it also depends on how much you are doing solar observing. If only a few times a year for 10 min seems to me less risk than if an avid solar observer who is glued to the eyepiece all the time

Hi Alan, I am using a manual equatorial mount. But I ensure it is polar aligned fairly well. I use the daytime polar alignment app for that. This way I just have to push the tube a bit further to get the object back into view. My telescope is a very old Russian TAL 4 inch newtonian and it has not so many features but the optical quality is excellent and its built like a tank.

Thanks a lot for all your informative replies! So, as I already assumed, the attachment to the dovetail 'looks' concerning but it is actually not. I did also some research myself and I found out that even a tiny screw can carry a considerable amount of weight (something like 300 kg for a 3 mm screw). The weight of the Skymax is far off from that. The take apart thread from Magnus is super interesting! In the meantime, I have not yet decided for the Skymax 180 or the CC8. Performance wise, the two scopes are nearly equal (with a slight advantage for the CC8 as reported by most observers) so it comes down on personal preference. For the moment, I am leaning more towards a CC8 on a AZ-EQ6. An AZ-EQ5 should probably work as well but as I am used to my TAL-1 for 20 years now that is built like a tank, I do not want to go for something more fragile. The plan is then to mount my TAL-1 tube on the AZ-EQ6 as well and continue to use it for solar observing. For solar I prefer low magnifications somewhere in the 30x range up to max 90x which these long focal length telescopes cannot deliver. I am not into astrophotography by any means, but I really like sketching. Planets, sun and moon is what interests me. Not so much deep sky though...

Thanks ! Indeed, sketching is the best method to improve one's observing skills. For those who can read French, I can definitely recommend the two books "Astrodessin I and II" which are the standard reference for astronomic sketching. Unfortunately, there is no English edition available.

Sketches of Jupiter, made last month

Hello All, I am considering purchasing a new planetary and lunar telescope. My current telescope is a Russian TAL-1 110 mm Newtonian. I bought this telescope in 2003 and used it ever since. Now for a new telescope, my interest goes mainly towards a Skymax 180 and a Classical Cassegrain 8 inch. For a mount I am thinking of a Skywatcher EQ6 R pro or a AZ-EQ6. Now with regard to the Skymax 180 I keep reading remarks from people in forums and on YouTube that the telescope, which has a considerable weight to it, is attached on the Vixen dovetail bar with only two small screws. I think personally that Skywatcher know what they are doing and if they sell it like this, that mean it's more than adequate enough but as I keep reading these remarks, I am not entirely confident. Therefore, I would like to ask for those of you who have or had a Skymax 180, if the attachment to the dovetail has ever caused any issue. Especially with an ALT-AZ mounting where the full weight is coming on those two screws. The point is, investing in a heavy mount like the EQ6 to have a maximum stability does not make much sense if the attachment to the dovetail would cause instability. The Classical Cassegrain looks much more robust in that department. Thanks a lot and Best Regards ! siegfried