Stu

Great shot Steve.

That extra 0.5 mag makes quite a big difference John. I've seen it easily with 15x50 binoculars from a similar sky, but it is much more difficult with some more LP. Quite right about the altitude helping though.

Nicely done Sir!

They are not so bright or big, still worth putting a scope on them.

Nice write up Neil, be careful we will make an observer out of you yet Interesting differences, I guess the top performers are not a surprise, but the cheapy Vites certainly are. Worth a punt by the sounds of it.

That's great to hear Steve! As a visual observer, one of the things I enjoy is being 'out there' under the stars. I know many imagers do still enjoy the skies with binoculars or a dob whilst the imaging rig does its stuff, but I confess I struggle to see the attraction when the connection is broken completely ie sitting in front of the TV in the lounge controlling a rig remotely with little interest in the target itself. That to me becomes just a data capture and processing exercise and the wonders of 'looking up' are seemingly lost. I am not in any way saying this is not a valid way of engaging with the hobby, it is just not something which appeals to me.

Yes, welcome back Baz. Not that much news lately, although there are a couple of comets around which are worth checking out, hopefully your push-to can find them . Comets 21P and 38P if I remember correctly.

Some very valid points there John. One of the things that does really wind me up is the assumption that AP is the natural progression from observing, and that if you don't do it you are somehow inferior or lacking in some way. Note that I'm not implying this is your view, nor am I saying that this is a commonly held view amongst the imagers on the forum although you often read posts saying 'when you are ready to progress onto imaging' or similar. For me, both are equally valid branches of the same hobby, and to be an accomplished planetary or deep sky observer is just as much being at the 'top' of the hobby as being a skilled Astrophotographer. It can take years of practise to hone your observing skills to their maximum. I am purely visual, and enjoy being away from the IT requirements of imaging, I spend my working life with a laptop so find observing without one much more relaxing. I agree that it is much easier to post about an image you have taken than an observing report. I often post images of the kit I used or the location just to add some interest, others do sketches ranging from the basic to the truly amazing. I do take bad smartphone images of the moon or Jupiter too for the same reason. I would encourage you to post your reports, as inevitably they will generate feedback from others, either encouragement or questions. Being an observer can be a totally satisfying way forward.

I did try one of these once, but actually I think it misses the point. Looking through a Telrad straight on, you see the rings against the wider sky this makes positioning the scope much easier. With the mirror, you see a much smaller area and it is reversed so it doesn’t work as intuitively.

Lovely stuff Mark, a very relaxing way to go observing. Pretty impressive list of naked eye objects, I’m assuming you were over mag 6 NELM at the zenith if you caught 4.7 down so low? Nice!

Thanks for the post Chris. I’ve thought about trying this for a long time but never actually got round to it. Stupidly my main resistance is actually aesthetic! I like my scopes looking nice, but obviously the performance is what counts. Will certainly give it a try on the Intes-Micro. BTW I like your Rigel ontop of the 9x50 Finder! Good solution

@daz01968 it would be good to know what you have tried and why you don’t think the mount will track the moon?

Have you read the instructions Daz? Yes it will, you will be able to align it and select a lunar tracking rate.

Crazy hi res! I use a phone app to access the maps but obviously at far lower res than is available. Must have a look on the website.

Funny I started off thinking I might need some help with where it actually was, but soon found it on a map. It gives some interesting shadows depending upon its phase, and goes bright at full phase and into last quarter, with the shadow on the other side obviously.