Stu

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.

6 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Lovely report. I have Telrads and I’m afraid I’ve moved on from them, for the very reason you mention: they fog up before anything else. A shame because when not fogged up, they’re superb.

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

5 minutes ago, John said:

Stu - I saw those fine lines with my 102mm from time to time as well. At least I thought I did, or might have. I wasn't sure if it was my eye playing tricks though - maybe joining up the two notches ? More observations needed ! 🙂

🤣🤣 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

11 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

100DC?🤔

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.

4 hours ago, Franklin said:

Nothing for a while I expect, but I'm always on the prowl for a great condition FL102S F9.

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

53 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Nice one Stu and thanks: I’ve stolen some targets from you for my Spring List. My Orion List, now complete, is already more or less past it, not having been used 🙄 such has been the weather. Whale and Needle will be new to me.

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 👍

3 minutes ago, Franklin said:

After my recent Vixen cull I'm left with just this one setup for now, SD81S atop the manual APZ on APP-TL130 tripod with 1/2 pillar and a set of SSW's, not too shabby😁.

Can't remember the last time I only had one scope to choose from, but it does make life a lot simpler, I like it!

 

Looks lovely Tim, there are worse setups to be stuck with.

Any hints on what comes next? 😊

33 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

Why don't you dress more warmly, Stu? I'm noticing a pattern emerging with the shorts and Crocs. We don't want to lose any mods.

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.

4 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

We are temporarily staying in Ashburton, South Devon, and all that I could manage to bring was a pair of 10x50 binoculars. We walked to a pub for a meal tonight, and came back across the fields, with most of the streetlights hidden, and the sky was very impressive. Naked eye, I could just see the double cluster and the clusters in Auriga. These were decent in the bins, as were M42, M45 and M35. To my eye, the seeing looked quite good, so I hope some of you out there have more powerful kit out.

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 🤪🤣

4 hours ago, GasGiant said:

Cheers folks

Out of interest,  Why is there not such a thing as a  H a filter I can directly screw into my EPs ? 

There is for white light, and they are extremely dangerous as they do crack which can leave you blind!

I guess you could say the Quark was something along these lines for Ha in that it goes where the eyepiece normally goes, with an eyepiece in it aswell of course.

Agreed! Taking Ha images with a phone is blooming hard and the results rarely show anything vaguely approaching what you see at the eyepiece.

I’ve heard the SolarScouts can be variable, much like the Quarks from Daystar I guess so it’s a bit of a lottery.

Go to bed at 8 and have a couple of hours before you leave at 3am? Early hours are often better as the land and buildings have cooled so the air is likely to be stiller.

Good point regarding white light. If the OP hasn’t tried a Herschel Wedge in a decent refractor then that might be an option to try.

I must be easily satisfied because I actually found my PST40 gave great views, albeit at small image scale and limited resolution. The joy of a PST is that it can be used in a PST mod which I now have two of, a 102mm and a lunatic 150mm. This is probably the cheapest route to larger aperture Ha observing but needs competent DIY or someone to build it for you (as in my case) so I doubt it is what the OP is looking for in this instance. Just for reference though, my 150 probably cost me about the same as the Lunt 50 all in, by careful second hand purchasing of the various components over a period of some years.

Depending on what scope the OP has, Quarks can be an excellent option to decent aperture and great views. Buying from a reputable source with a good returns policy is essential though as the quality and reliability does vary. Mine had some variability in detail across the field of view but I was very impressed with the views whether it was full disk in a 60mm or high power in a 100mm.

It’s interesting to a degree, although the cynic in me thinks it’s likely more marketing driven than actual improvements. Not taken by the ‘Ideal’ branding either, I preferred the VX naming. Hope to be proved wrong when we see them in the wild.

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

The Nagler 31 isn’t that big, Sunshine (sorry, we don’t eat Baked Beans in this household)
 

The Nagler is small, but the tin of soup is far, far away 🤪

A nice session for me on a mix of objects. Most varied session I’ve had for a while. Sky was pretty decent, though typically not as transparent as the previous night when I couldn’t observe!

I had no expectation of heading out last night as the forecast looked quite dodgy. However, Mrs Stu had a work call at nine so I thought I would have a look see. Amazingly enough, clear skies! Some light cloud headed through then completely clear until I came in at around 10.30.

Scope of choice was Phyllis, the FS-128 on the AZ75/Uni-28 for speed of setup. I then remembered my StarSense, so thought I would give that a go to see if it was quicker than aligning the mount. The answer is probably not, but still it worked well and got me onto quite a few targets as you will see!

First up I tried for Tegmine, that was actually my initial reason for heading out after Wookie65 mentioned it in his post about his new Vixen.

Well, it looked beautiful in the Tak, three lovely airy disks with separation between the tight pair. Hints of a first diffraction ring around them but not much. The seeing was a bit variable (when isn’t it? 😩) but mostly it was consistently split. I tried a few different eyepieces including the SvBony 3 to 8 zoom, some BGOs and Vixen HR Planetarys (2.4 and 3.4). The SvBony held its own against these, splitting it just as cleanly. The HRs may (and I emphasis may) have been slightly cleaner but really nothing substantial. It does make you question the value of all these hyper expensive eyepieces!

Next up I popped a 31mm Nag in and headed to M44. What to say, absolutely beautiful, pin point stars and lovely contrast. A quick pan to M67 and a switch up through a few eyepieces; 22mm and 17mm Nag, then Docter 12.5mm which really brought it to life. M35 was another cracker, can’t recall which eyepiece framed it best, likely the 31.

I diverted over to Orion for the 37 Cluster NGC2169, an old favourite. It looked best in the Docter, and I love splitting the tiny double in the top corner of the 3. I moved the double right out towards the edge, and was still able to split it there so the eyepiece is not too shabby in terms of field curvature and edge performance. Less challenging at f8.1 I know, but not all eyepieces will do this.

I then went on a bit of a galaxy hunt just to see what was possible. The sky looked fairly transparent but I wasn’t particularly well dark adapted.

M66 and 67 were immediately obvious with their angled yet parallel orientation. Initially I couldn’t see NGC3628 so headed to the other triplet M96, 97 and 105. These were all clear straight off, nice little group. Although they are dimmer, they are also smaller so I suspect the surface brightness is similar to M66/67 and better than 3628. I then went back and tried 3628 again. I backed off to the 31mm Nagler and could then just about spot it. It got easier in the 22 and better in the 17mm I think. It needed averted vision but I was pleased to see this one.

I stopped by Algieba while I was nearby, upping the power to see two unequal airy disks, nice, then went over to M51 which I didn’t have high hopes for. How wrong I was! Two glowing centres with haloes around them in the 31mm Nag. Upping the power showed a little more, very nice!

Then on to M81 and 82 which were really fabulous, best I’ve seen for a while. I think I forget sometimes just how much better my skies are down here than they were near London. M82 in particular was quite dramatic and showed some mottled internal structure. I know I can do better too, as there were still lights on around the house and I had been looking at my phone so wasn’t dark adapted in any real sense.

Last two targets were M97 which showed as a roundish grey glow, hints of something within but I couldn’t claim eyes! M108 was tougher, but definitely there nearby.

Unfortunately Mrs Stu’s call finished early and I was also tired after a long day of working on the house, so I called it a night, but my heart wanted to stay out for another hour or so!

From a kit perspective, the scope is amazing, and so much better since I fitted the FeatherTouch. Focus is so much easier to find with the dual speed.

I used a variety of eyepieces, namely 31, 22 and 17mm Nags, 17.5mm Morpheus, Docter 12.5mm for deep sky stuff. High powers were achieved with SvBony 3 to 8mm zoom, orthos and Vixen HR in 3.4 and 2.4mm guise. I also used an 18mm Ortho at one point and really enjoyed that. The SvBony continues to impress, very practical in terms of range and optically excellent. Actually with the SvBony, Leica Zoom and 24mm Panoptic I have a three piece travel set that covers most bases except for very widefield.

The mount/tripod combination is fine for shortish sessions but there is a little more vibration than I would like with the Tak on board. This was just on the patio, so having the tripod dug into the grass would help, but really the AZ100/Planet is much more satisfactory. I suspect the AZ75 on the Planet would be nearly there too but that kind of misses the point of the AZ75 as a lightweight setup.

Finally the StarSense. This was nicked from an LT80AZ and I modified the base to fit onto the finder slot on any scope and it seems to work well on the FT despite being slightly obscured by the mount. Once aligned, it got me either on or very close to all my targets very easily even with a higher power eyepiece in place. I would say it’s not as accurate as the encoders on the mount, but perfectly useable and a great aid. With short sessions, I like to avoid time taken finding targets so this is a great way of maximising time spent observing.

So, a nice little session of an hour or so, must get out with the 128 more often, and make the effort to put the AZ100 out.

2 hours ago, Second Time Around said:

On the other hand, with many Barlows it can be changed to give a multitude of amplifications, so Barlows are more flexible.

Ah yes! I knew there was another important difference! I use an AP Barcon element with my binoviewers and use extension tubes to vary the magnification rather than changing eyepieces, much quicker and the quality remains excellent.