Voyager 3

On 28/02/2021 at 15:22, John said:

Excellent Nik

Your "cunning plan" worked a treat

Light scatter from Sirius A is the big issue with this challenge. Last night I noticed that this was quite variable. There were times when the Sirius glare would suddenly inflate for a while masking the Pup star entirely. I assume that this is due to an unstable air mass of some sort ?. I have also found that sometimes "looking too hard" can cause the eye to become moist and that creates it's own very local Sirius scatter as well.

 

Exactly my experience from yesterday  . I was using a low power of 96× with my dob .. it was quite a bit windy so my tube would vibrate few seconds and Sirius becomes a blur . The focus was highly critical - it was the difference between a star Sirius and planet Sirius. I first split Rigel with same 96× so I went ahead for Sirius . LOL my imagination made my eye see Sirius B all over the circumference of Sirius A . But Rigel B was surely there at 96× . Sirius B was a bit of rebel but will try higher mag when conditions allow . 

@Kon As you are using a dob without tracking , allow Sirius to move in the field . Sirius B will be on the side of movement of the star .

How are the ergonomics of the scope mounted on the mount John ? Is it a bit on the heavy side ? Finish looks awesome 👍 .

Any other recent sightings of alpine rilles ? Interesting topic !

5 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

The Baader VIP Barlow is one of the most versatile barlows out there thanks to the T2 system it uses. I've owned mine for awhile now and have been really impressed with it. There's lots you can do to tailor this barlow to work optimally with your setup. The following are a few of the ways that I've customised mine. Before I start out, I want to credit @Piero for all his help and advice, much of what I've done has come directly from him so big thanks to Piero!

The Standard VIP Barlow

In its standard format, the VIP is a 2x 1.25" Barlow. Excellent optical quality with no discernible impact to the optical performance of the eyepiece it's used with. The clever part comes from the T2 system. The VIP is made up of 2"-1.25" reducer, M48 to T2 adapter, two 15mm T2 extension tubes and a T2 to 1.25" adapter.

The T2 extension tubes can be removed to reduce the magnification factor or additional T2 extension tubes can be added to increase it. The exact amount of magnification can be calculated using a formula provided by Baader. Full details can be found here: https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/downloads/dl/file/id/240/product/1062/calculating_different_magnifications_with_the_vip_barlow.pdf

The exact magnification factor is dependent on the field stop of the eyepiece but if we assume standard configuration is giving 2x then the table below gives an approximate guide to how this changes.

There is of course a practical limit to how many T2 extension tubes you can add before things get a bit too tall. 

Clicklock Adapter

One nice upgrade for the VIP is to replace the supplied 2" - 1.25" reducer with a Clicklock version for quick and easy eyepiece changes.

Use as a 2" Barlow

With the purchase of the Baader Tak Adapter (2458199), the VIP can be converted to 2" mode. I found this helped with some eyepieces that couldn't reach focus with the VIP and my dob. The barlow element screws into the Tak Adapter (the top of the barlow element should cover the text on the adapter). Both parts can then be screwed into the bottom of the supplied 2" - 1.25" reducer.

At the eyepiece end, the barlow can either be screwed onto another 2" - 1.25" reducer, such as the Clicklock or directly onto the filter thread of a 2" eyepiece.

The supplied 2" - 1.25" reducer is quite heavy. To reduce weight, a Baader T2 2" nosepiece can be used. This is particularly useful when using it with small fracs to keep everything balanced.

Baader Pushfit Adapter

One final adapter to consider is the Baader push fit 2" - 1.25" reducer (2408151). This can hold a 1.25" eyepiece in place using nylon threaded screws to hold it tight but allowing eyepieces to be pushed in and held firmly. It can be semi-permanently attached to an eyepiece using a grub screw onto the compression ring. In 2" mode this adapter can then be screwed onto the VIP. This adapter has only a 1mm optical path! I keep it semi permanently attached to a Noblex UWA 12.5mm and then keep the VIP setup to barlow that eyepiece down to an approximately 7mm eyepiece.

Astrophotography use

I have also found the VIP to be useful for astrophotography, connecting directly to the Baader T-Ring for my Canon DSLR. 

I consider the Baader VIP Barlow to be one of the most useful items in my eyepiece case.I hope this guide will prove useful to anyone who owns the VIP or who is considering buying one. 

Hi Neil , nice write up !

I've read somewhere that the VIP can't be used with 1.25" filters  ( Obviously with the eyepiece ) . Is that true ? Or are there may other hacks ? 😁

3 hours ago, John said:

Yep, me too. 100mm F/9 vs 130mm F/9. 4Kg vs 9.5kg:

To be fair, a 150mm F/8 doublet is about the same size and weight as the 130mm triplet though.

 

John are your Tak 100 and SW 120 more alike than different ? ( In light gathering and resolving power ) 

Not trying to hijack this thread , but how much the performance increases from a 100mm apo to a 125mm apo ? Does that make either of these scopes redundant ? 

Nice omnivorous report pixies ! I can feel your pain of not seeing cancer - for this reason I still haven't fished M44 😳 . Gotta get some clear night today I hope 🤞 .

21 hours ago, John said:

Did anyone spot my deliberate mistake here ?

What I should have said was Procyon B of course. Proxima B is Proxima Centauri B which I have to leave to our southern hemisphere friends to spot

Must warm my brain up a bit more before posting .....

 

I believed that you said Proxima Centauri A and B ... I didn't think that it wouldn't rise in your Northernly latitude 😃 ... But no worries John !  your observing reports especially double star reports are a joy to read ! 

12 hours ago, Stu said:

Nice one @Barry-W-Fenner. A favourite of mine, and one I looked at last night. I even managed a smartphone image which just about captured the faint fourth star. The triple nearby is very nice too. The visual view way lovely last night, much better than my rubbish image!

As others have said, the fifth star is too close to be visible unless with a monster scope under rock steady seeing, at altitude, in a desert.... 🤣🤣

Is that with your 8" dob Stu ? 

19 hours ago, John said:

Well spotted - yes I meant 52 Orionis. I usually do 32 and then 52 to see how far I can push the seeing conditions. 52 has a separation which is a wee bit tighter than the theoretical limit for a 100mm scope whereas 32 is doable in reasonable seeing, as it was last night.

LOL , I only knew that 52 Orionis was a double star and referred sky safari to get some details about that 53 and found that 53 is none other than Saiph 😉 . 

6 hours ago, wheresthetorch? said:

I tracked down the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) for the first time tonight.  Looked like an out of focus star through an 8" reflector, and took a magnification of 150x ok, at which point I think I could see a central star with averted vision.

Really chuffed to have seen it for the first time.  

With these small , bright PNs , increasing the mag helps nicely in bringing out the shells and central star as they have high surface brightness .

8 hours ago, John said:

Gusty wind and surprise clear skies see me out using my Tak FC100 this evening. Popping in and out of the house to keep warm but some nice views in between the gusts:

Rigel

Sigma Orionis (inc the dimmer 4th star)

Theta Orionis (the Trapezium plus the E & F stars)

Eta Orionis

Alnitak

32 Orionis (clear split)

53 Orionis (touching pair)

M42 + M43

M78

Diversion to Ursa Major / Draco due to cloud in the Orion area:

Mizar

M81 + M82

Cat's Eye Nebula - NGC 6543

Back to Gemini:

M35 and NGC 2158

The Eskimo Nebula, NGC 2392 with central star

All going great until a more substantial amount of this came across from the NE

So time for a warm drink I think

Forecast for tomorrow night is hopeful so all is not lost if tonight does not last much longer.

 

 

 

Did you mean 52 Orionis Jon ? 53 is Saiph at the bottom of Orion ... 

1 hour ago, jetstream said:

Hey Mike, would you still talk to me if I bought one of those new Takyhashi reflectors? A Mewlon 250CRS?😃

No I assume 😎 .

On 09/01/2021 at 21:09, HollyHound said:

the Delite 18.2 is currently being tested against the Morpheus 17.5, but they are both really good in their own way... decisions, decisions🤔🤣

 

Arch rivals.... Who came out victorious ? 

15 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

I'm certainly tempted to go with the chainsaw option Jiggy !! Planetaries are awesome , they show such great diversity and beauty 👍

But I wouldn't disturb the diversity of the planet 😀 .

20 hours ago, alex_stars said:

Dear fellow stargazers,

I am pondering the question which refractor to buy for observing the planets (Moon included) and maybe some globular clusters as well as double stars. But the focus is on visual observations of planets. Might occasionally pop my planetary camera on the scope, but not my main interest.

Currently I have a Skymax 180, which is nice, but the cool down time is a challenge for me even with an insulated scope. Since I recently learned that it actually has a 34% obstruction (MTF plots here), I am on the lookout for a new scope. My current contenders are:

• TS-Optics 102 mm F/11 ED refractor (details here)
• TS-Optics 125 mm Doublet F/7.8 FPL-53 Apo (details here) or similar like the Explore Scientific Triplet ED Apo 127 mm F/7.5 (details here)

I could stretch my budget to get one of these 5" refractors but won't be able to afford a luxus class scope like the APM LZOS 130 mm F/9.2 (details here). My mount is an Celestron AVX.

So I was contemplating if the 5" is a worthwhile investment for visual planetary work  or if the 4" F/11 is the better choice given its long focal length. This would be my first refractor so I would appreciate any input on the matter.

Clear skies,

Alex

Is the APM 140 SD apo in your budget/consideration ? 

9 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Thats just beautiful, it is so three dimensional like it pops off the page, you are an excellent sketch artist!!

Exactly ! Especially I love that shadow effect .

Pls report it after accomplishing it Nik 😃.

Excellent catches and superb sketches! Congrats!

On 24/01/2021 at 06:11, RobertI said:

I’ve just come in from a fantastic couple of hours observing Luna. I decided to have a go at some targets from the Lunar 100, and so glad I did - finding those little gems was really exciting and added a new dimension to lunar observing . Using my binoviewers with the 102EDR was a dream, so relaxing and easy on the eyes, they’ve really transformed my planetary and Luna (and possibly solar) viewing. Anyway tonight I managed the following targets, and please forgive my childlike sketches, not really intended for sharing, but thought they might bring the descriptions to life. Also note I haven’t  researched these properly yet so I’m hoping I found the correct targets!

Hortensius Domes (Lunar 65). A series of volcanic domes near the crater Hortensius. 
 

Hippalus Rilles (Lunar 54).  Three very distinct and long rilles stretching across craters and mountain ranges. During the time I was observing the visibility of these features seemed to change quite a lot. 
 

Nearby was another feature - Kies Pi (Lunar 60). A volcanic dome on the edge of the crater Kies. 

Looking forward to the next session. Thoroughly recommend picking a few targets from the Lunar 100. 👍

Superb report ! What bver you used Robert ?

21 hours ago, Voyager 3 said:

It's the OP sign 🙂.

Well it looks like this is not the case 😅 !

1 hour ago, faulksy said:

i know you said nebula's but a few galaxy are bright. m81/82. whale galaxy and beautiful m51

Bode's nebula 😉 .

5 hours ago, John said:

I don't but the forum software just just been upgraded (about an hour ago) and hovering over that hand gives me the message that you "joined recently" so I guess it is a new feature ?

It's the OP sign 🙂.

On 27/03/2020 at 02:45, John said:

What a wonderful triple star !

I have not observed Tegmine for a long while but after observing the open clusters M44 and M67 in Cancer I suddenly remembered Zeta Cancri and panned my ED120 refractor over to it. The 2mm-4mm Nagler zoom eyepiece provided me with the fire power to get a split of the close pair (I think its a touch over an arc second now ?) and with the 3rd star just over 5 arc seconds away these 3 form a wonderful tight group.

I'll try this one again with my Tak 100 on another night and see if I can get the close pair split with that.

I've really enjoyed "discovering" Tegmine again tonight with the ED120 though

I'll re-vist again often while Cancer is well placed.

Did you try with your tak John ?

7 hours ago, AL1 said:

I have an Orion 20mm crosshair eyepiece with what looks like fungus on the underside of the crosshair glass.  Does anyone know how to soften the cement to remove the glass and what cement to use to fix it back on after cleaning?  In the attached photo the cement can be seen as the black lines on the edge of the glass.  Excess cement on the metal body scrapped off easily but did not soft when rubbed with isopropanol.  The cross hair glass is only cemented at two points.   I may just leave it be

 

 

.

The fungus looks cool though!