Stu

Thanks Peter. Can’t wait for the sun to come out again, as I now have the tracking working on the AZ100 so should be able to manage a much smoother video next time.

Indeed, a lovely scope. Don’t hang around too long if you’ve been wanting one!

How about something like a Heritage 150p? Would give you a decent leap up in aperture, is not overly expensive and can be removed from its dob base and fitted to other mounts. Pretty sure the AZ-GTi would handle it.

Looking at SkySafari, Callisto was also visible but a little away from the planet. I too observed at that time and only spotted the one moon.

Yes, that’s the one problem I find, any muck in the eyepieces seems to show up far more than usual so clean eyepieces are a must. I’ve just received the power adaptor for my AZ100 so will be able to use tracking and panning on that now so the next video should be a little less jumpy! I need longer arms to reach the slow motion controls!

How about the good old Skywatcher 100ED? These are f9, and a full four inch apo scope with a great reputation, but probably viewed as a little old hat these days so perhaps valued lower used. I see one on ABS for £500, bang on budget, not sure if it’s still available and no images so would need to be checked out. Would given very decent planetary views I’m sure. Personally I wouldn’t go for a fast achro if wanting to view planets, both CA and SA will limit what you see.

@dweller25, move your red dot down to a few miles from Heathrow and it’s even worse. I could often count twenty vapour trails in the sky, more sometimes. I too remember the beautiful clear skies after the Icelandic volcano and during Covid, quite an amazing difference. Things are much better down in Somerset, far fewer planes around and I think the seeing is generally better.

@MalcolmM I find the Duplex Lunar Atlas very good. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/duplex-moon-atlas-the-next-generation-lunar-atlas-by-ronald-stoyan.html Also there are some resources pinned at the top of this forum covering the Lunar 100 which might be of use: https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/30-observing-lunar/

Thanks Roy. It’s not an issue normally for me, as I use a 2” Clicklock for binoviewing then put a 1.25” in to use 1.25” eyepieces, that gives enough distance for it not to be an issue. I’ll be mindful though if I use it in my T2 prism with just a 1.25” Clicklock on it. I have a parfocal ring on my Nag Zoom for that reason.

What a cunning idea! 👍👍

Lovely! Quite fancy one of these on the AZ100 for visual 😊

Lovely images Roy, amazing given the seeing conditions. Great shot of Hadley Rille in amongst them. Can you post a picture of your setup? Don’t think I’ve seen a 10” CC in the wild before!

Sounds fabulous! I just simulated it on SkySafari, but it was really good to see. I’m always amazed by the parallax differences between various locations. From here it missed completely, but for you it was a direct pass over.

Which phone do you have?

Yes please 👍

But but but, the Tak has fallen out of the cradle! 🤪

👍 I doubt you will regret it 😊

Had another look and yes, it looks like just a well defined festoon, there nice ones that I could see.

A SvBony 3 to 8mm zoom for me. Having borrowed Paul’s and been very impressed by it, I ordered one and it came very quickly. Been viewing Jupiter with it tonight, though the seeing is not great.

Just seen a very nice ISS pass close by the Jupiter and the Moon. It then disappeared into the Earth’s shadow which was cool. Seeing is not great here. FS-128 out, and the Moon looks good but could be lovely if it settles down. Hadley Rille visible but seeing makes it harder. Illumination on Clavius is nice, unusual. Rupus Recta nicely illuminated and Rima Birt also visible. Loads more of course. On Jupiter, there is a very dark grey blue spot under the NEB which I assume is the root of a festoon but not sure. Last night I also saw a dark area behind GRS which was not something I had seen previously. Always something to look out for.

Another image from today. I watched a very bright prom arcing off the Western limb earlier. It was moving in real time, with little blobs of plasma breaking off then disappearing. Amazing.

Excellent addition to the stable Matthew. It’s the total package, performance and light weight, hard to beat. Airline portable too, so you could take it on your travels 👍👍 Oh, and you need to stick a Feathertouch on it too 🤣

Snap! Like it 👍

This is a very shakey video through a rather dirty eyepiece but it gives some sort of impression of the live views.