Stu

Very nice @lukebl. I caught the very end of this as the shadow was leaving the disk. I could only just tell it was there unfortunately.

A surprising eight sessions in Jan for me.  Two of those were Solar Ha sessions with the 150mm PST and the rest either the FC-100 or FS-128. That’s not bad going versus last year.

Yep, I’ve taken some corkers in my time. This is one of my early Moon shots, complete with lunar X.

There are some good ones in my StuPOD thread here:

You think you’ve got issues, these are just the Fluorite ones*! 😬😬

*The Genesis is a bit of an outlier here, but apparently it does have a fluorite element in the rear Petzval doublet.

EDIT they are known as the Fluorite Floosies, from left to right: Freddie, Felicity, Geoffrey, Phil, Florence and Phyllis 🤣

Some useful info here:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/page/2/
 

How about one of the table top computerised ones like this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html
 

On 29/01/2024 at 08:23, John_D said:

I'm slightly surprised that there are no aftermarket kits to do this.

There are rotating rings available for newts; I’ve seen them occasionally available on the used market. They are pretty heavy though I think so the solutions suggested are probably better.

http://scopestuff.com/ss_arrs.htm

15 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

These are great and it makes me wish I had such a setup. 

love the video too. In my opinion there should be more smartphone “at the eyepiece” videos. Well, any type of smartphone astrophotography/astroanimations!

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.

40 minutes ago, MartianHill said:

Hmmmm that FS128 looks nice in the For Sale section 🙂

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

2 minutes ago, Robthepiano said:

I’m presently using an Altair Ascent 102ed scope in an az Gti mount in Bortle 4 skies. I’m very pleased with this as a good all rounder and quick to setup. Anything faint tends to be a disappointment though and I wondered about a second inexpensive scope to supplement this when I want to target faint fuzzies. Would something like a short tube refractor like an st120 be a help?

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.

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

Love the video! at first I thought I saw a filament moving at breakneck speed across the disc, it turned out to be your fallen eyelash.

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/

1 hour ago, Roy Challen said:

 

Check that the barrel doesn't contact the mirror/prism in your diagonals. The barrel is quite long, and does make contact with the diagonal I use.

A parfocal ring/s solves this, PM me if you want one or both, I have two spare.

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.

53 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

If you mean the locking screws working loose then it’s a common problem. 

I solved it by putting a small section of plastic tubing over the tread of the thumb screws. Just long enough so that when you tighten the screw it compresses the tube a little. That extra friction prevents the thumb screw moving and working loose. 
 

What a cunning idea! 👍👍

4 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Thanks Stu, and yes the 10" CC is a pretty amazing piece of kit.  There is now a 12" version, but I think the 10" fits a sweet spot of size, weight, and less affected by air cells, which average 10" in size.

Don't have an image of the CC in the observatory as it's too cramped to get a photo with decent perspective, but I have attached an image if it on an EQ6 AZ which I set up just for photo purposes some while ago.

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! 

8 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Another night, another big event! Still buzzing from viewing the Europa egress eclipse the night before, last night it was the turn of the moon and M45 to take centre stage.

From my location, the waxing gibbous moon passed right over the Pleiades, resulting in multiple occultations and reappearances. 

Among the highlights were watching Electra reappear on the moon's bright limb close to Mare Crisium and seeing Alcyone and the triangle of stars close to it slowly get blotted out by the moon's dark limb. Sensational! 

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.

On 18/01/2024 at 20:19, Beardy30 said:

Sorry having issues with my phone - what sort of thing has everyone managed to shoot other than the moon? 

Which phone do you have?

4 hours ago, SuburbanMak said:

Observing report to follow

Yes please 👍

1 hour ago, IB20 said:

Finally got the 125mm back, but I will expand on this elsewhere in the forum.

 

 

 

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

4 minutes ago, glafnazur said:

These keep getting great write ups so I have gone ahead and ordered one.

👍 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.