Stu

I think I’ll forgive him one small mistake out of three, given his wonderful images 👍

Seems ok to me?

I believe the Baader 20nm (or the older 35nm) Ha filter are safe to use in lieu of a D-ERF in scopes up to 152mm, as evidenced by the statement at the bottom of this link on the Astrograph website. https://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Products/AGBPHA35-2 In my scopes I have internally mounted D-ERFs, 75mm in the 102 and 110mm in the 150. I have no way of knowing whether the performance would be better if I was able to use full aperture D-ERF but I can’t afford that and am quite happy with the performance. My observing conditions are normally not that hot so I don’t see it as a problem. If I were observing in 30 degree plus heat with the Sun overhead I may think differently. As soon as I can get hold of one, I plan to use a 20nm Baader Ha in my FS-60Q to see if I can get a small aperture Ha travel scope up and running. Astrograph statement below:

I was thinking about this earlier, and suspect one reason I haven’t seen it is that I really don’t enjoy observing Sirius much of the time; it often seems to be a glittering ball, dancing around, and I find the process of trying to spot a tiny fleck of light nearby quite unrewarding so I don’t put in the time to actually find the Pup. Does that make me a bad person? 😉🤣

Looks like a nice day for it! Hope you get some takers, and that they don’t just think you are quackers…..

I completely agree that larger apertures are more affected by seeing, but do think that the detail you see through them can be dramatically better when conditions are good. I’ve used a PST40, Quark with scopes from 60mm to 106mm, and currently have 102mm and 150mm PST mods. Often even the 102mm is affected by seeing, and I’ve yet to see the best in the 150mm but even so, what I’ve seen so far knocks my socks off at times! Watching arcs of plasma moving in real time is fascinating and really shows the dynamism of the Sun. I do want to try to make my FS-60Q function as a mod too, as that seems to be an excellent aperture for cutting through seeing whilst showed very good detail still. This is a handheld phone shot through the 150mm which gives an idea of the image scale, but doesn’t do the scope justice in terms of the fine detail which can be seen. I do get tempted to learn how to image properly through this thing as the results could be pretty cool.

Some excellent images here from Mr Peach, as you would expect: https://www.damianpeach.com/binaries.htm

Likewise! If I can’t see black between them then I just sulk and class it as not split 😉. Resolved is actually a really useful classification and makes a lot of sense.

Having had Geoffrey out looking at the Sun during the day, he stayed out and I switched to astro mode for a quick session this evening. I successfully used the StarSense again, making finding objects a breeze. Was just having a trawl round a few favourites, and as mentioned elsewhere, seeing if I could split Tegmine in a 4”. Answer was resolved and suspected/possible/maybe if you squint split. To be continued…..

Thanks for those @Nik271. I often find that the reality is a little better than these simulations for some reason. It maybe that as the brightness falls away from the centre of the airy disk, it shows in the simulation but is not picked up by the eye? Anyway, in the 128 it was definitely clearer to my eye than this, with two separate disks and a black line between them.

I used to have a tiny heater that stuck down underneath the glass and kept it clear. Just did a search and couldn’t find what I had, but did find this that looks quite handy. https://www.dewcontrol.com/details/p3099125_19045473.aspx

🤣🤣 that sounds exactly like my experience 🤪. As you say, more observations needed, better seeing would certainly help.

Great info John, thanks. Coincidentally I was looking at Tegmine through my FC-100DC this evening. The seeing wasn’t brilliant but I could clearly see the tight pair resolved. At times I thought I could see a very fine black line giving a split but your info is now making me doubt this. I will give it another go with hopefully better seeing. The aperture benefits of the FS-128 are clear though, because this showed a clear split with three lovely airy disks, a really nice view.

Some of my scopes out during the day, observing the Sun. First two are of the FC-76DCU with Baader CoolWedge on the ScopeTech Zero mount. Next up was today with 102mm PST mod for Ha and FC-100DC for White Light on the AZ75/Uni-28. I had some fleeting views of the Sun through gaps in the cloud, some decent proms and nice filaments on show.

Nice write up and interesting info John. Will have to give this one a go at some point. Thanks

DL me thinks, though I have a DC and a Vixen FL102S, both fluorite doublets which likely perform to a similar level. Have yet to see Sirius B with either of them but that is likely down to observer or conditions rather than the scope capabilities.

Without wishing to rub it in, I really must use mine more often! 😬

Some nice ones around there Magnus. The Needle and Silver Needle can be quite spectacular with a bit of aperture and your skies. Blackeye and Cocoon also in that kinda of area. Suspect you’ve seen Markarian’s Chain but if not they are well worth a look if you fancy getting ten galaxies in the field of view in one go 👍

Looks lovely Tim, there are worse setups to be stuck with. Any hints on what comes next? 😊

Tee hee, I have what you might say is ‘adequate insulation’ so don’t tend to feel the cold so much. But, you are right, I should dress more sensibly.

Another nice session for me, two in a row now! Main highlights were drinking in the view of the Double Cluster in the 31mm Nagler, that never gets old, and also seeing some of the Markarian’s Chain Galaxies from my garden. This is something I could only dream of when back near London so I must learn to appreciate and make the most of my skies.

I had another good session last night. The transparency wasn’t as good as previous nights, but it was clear so was worth heading out. I caught Jupiter early on but didn’t spend too much time on it. The seeing in that direction didn’t seem brilliant and there wasn’t much on show other than a nice big festoon. The inevitable M42 next. I viewed it both filtered with a Lumicon UHC and unfiltered, both nice views. More contrast and internal detail with the filter but stars not as nice. I haven’t used a filter for a while so it made a pleasant change. Moving onto some doubles and triples, Rigel first was ok though fairly ropey seeing as it was getting lower by then. Alnitak was much better, clean split though I can’t recall which eyepiece I used 🤪. Tegmine was beautiful again, clean split in a range of eyepieces, all the way down to 2.4 which is x433! I love seeing the tiny airy disks and this time the first diffraction ring was a little clearer. Beta Mon added a second triple. Much easier this one but still nice, beautiful airy disks. 32 Orionis and 52 Orionis completed my doubles for the night. Both clean splits with separation, 52 being the harder of the two, good to split a 1.0” double though. I ran round some of the same galaxies and clusters as before, with M51 in particular looking better than last night. I spent some time on this and whilst it wasn’t obvious, it seemed clear to me which side the bridge was on and when I checked just now I was correct so that was pleasing. M81/82 weren’t as good as the previous for some reason, just lacking contrast although I was intermittently getting fogged up eyepieces by this stage so that is a possibility. M101 was a firm no, nothing there that I could see. I tried some clusters in M36 and M37, but around this something went awry with the scope and mount which pushed it off track. I think the scope slid back in the clamp, pushing the balance right off so I had to tighten the clamp, reset back to south and level quickly and start again, all quite easy. Then onto M67 which is becoming a bit of a favourite, with a bit of power in the Docter it really comes to life. I know it’s an oldie, but I then spent a long time on the Double Cluster using the 31mm Nagler. This framed it perfectly, I was seated and with the scope tracking perfectly I could just take it all in through that huge porthole view. The stars were pinpoint across the field (we often say that but they really were!), and my favourite thing is picking out the tiny threshold stars in the middle of the cluster, just a really wonderful view. It did make me wonder whether I should try a 21mm Ethos again though 🤪🤪😬 The Leo triplet were only a doublet last night, NGC3628 was elusive, probably due to the poorer transparency. Wanting to try a glob in this scope, M3 was the only one I could see available and it was still a bit low down. At lower power it didn’t resolve at all, but upping the mag gave me a sparkling ball with averted vision. Globs are better with more aperture but this was a decent view still. I then went on a trawl around Markarian’s Chain to see what was possible from here and in this scope. I need to get the Dob on them really, but I caught M84/86 and the fainter NGC4388 arranged in a triangle. Pleased with 4388 as it was quite faint and diffuse. NGC4435/4438 were also just visible though very tough. I popped over to M87/M89 which were there, but unremarkable, then finally moved on to the Sunflower and Whale. I could see the different shapes, the Sunflower being rounder with an extensive halo and the Whale was a longer edge on galaxy with offset central bulge making it look a little whale-like. I finished on a fail which was the Needle galaxy so wanted a couple of successes instead so popped onto Izar which was lovely as ever and finally my first ever astro target Mizar which I always enjoy. It was getting chilly by the end, soaking scope and frost forming. Still didn’t stop me being in shorts and crocs though, not even any socks this time 🤣🤣🤪. Packing away was about six trips into the garden room (conservatory type thingy) which is a bit of a faff, but separating the mount and tripod does make it much more manageable. Overall, it’s just nice to be out seeing stuff again! I just need to carry on expanding the objects I observe as I tend to get stuck on my old favourites.

Tak out this evening, nice session again.

Stayed in Ashburton a few times, very nice down there. A drive up onto the moor will likely blow your mind on a good night! 👍

I guess my view would be you can ‘always’ pick up a SL 125 but won’t have many/any other opportunities to pick up an LZOS (assuming the price is right which I can’t comment on). I would go with the LZOS, knowing you could sell it on, or carry on saving to add the SL later 🤪🤣