Voyager 3

4 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Thanks Voyager 3, I can only imagine what it must look like in real life. Have you observed the Double Cluster yet? It must be spectacular! 

I have .. but from my Bortle 8/9 I'm not really in a position to judge this spectacular cluster . This one's in my bucket list for a good dark sky session next . 

But even then when I found it , I shouted and called my sister which I normally won't do . I was the one who picked up her jaw from the floor .. It really looked terrific . This cluster also has a few orange and red giant studded in the foreground enhancing the cluster's already immense beauty . 

Edit : This cluster is also easy to find as it is very close to a line ½ the way from bright Miram ( Eta Per ) and Ruchbah ( Delta Cas ) . 

Fun aside , I really like your descriptions of those clusters . I wonder what will be your say when you get a chance to look at the double cluster ..

Don't worry jiggy and Epick , I'm surr an IAU representative is secretly reading this thread and will do the needed . 

I can see 2 shadows Nik .. any idea which one is the lower one ? 

My telescope has sat unused from early September . I'm really fed up with clouds , rain and other inevitable events (exams and education) . Since I bought my telescope around 2 years ago , I haven't had a proper dark sky experience with my telescope due to curfews and restrictions.

I hope folks who joined this hobby after the COVID-19 breakout including myself get the dark sky experience! 

The 35mm ED does look special from your image Louis . Did you use a field flattener for this ? If no , this actually looks like a terrific deal!

16 hours ago, John said:

Yes indeed it is

 

I think it indeed was your voice that he heard  . 😁

A 16" F/4 premium dob with a premium mirror sounds like a sweet spot but also sounds like a hotspot of money . 

46 minutes ago, markse68 said:

most people go the other way with an asiair or a raspii. This just arrived- only 8kg 🤣 It’s my new dedicated astrocomputer

 

Coool!

Wonderful pun . 😁

1 hour ago, John said:

There have been tests of eyepiece transmission from time to time in the past.

This is rather out of date now but covers a few types:

Eyepiece(1).doc 99.5 kB · 5 downloads

As Gerry / jetstream says though, this is less critical for planetary / lunar observing.

 

It is interesting to note that the so called top tier planetary eyepieces all have better transmissions in the yellow-red region compared to the wide fields . A good exception is the radian , which some swear by for lunar/planetary so nothing to he surprised at . 

This maybe the reason why observers feel that Jupiter/Saturn has better structures with all those orangish-creamy bands, swirls,barges stand out better in the ZAO , Pentax orthos et all .

Looks like @HollyHound has resumed his buying streak ! 

Seriously though , it is very nice to try everything and selling the stuff which is not used much ! Enjoy!

On 30/11/2021 at 01:05, jetstream said:

Hi Piero, does f4 level coma make threshold objects invisible outside the coma free area? Will it render detail in small PN invisible in large fast dobs?

The Nagler zoom 3-6mm is a "low" transmission eyepiece ie lower than the Delos, orthos etc. My 10mm BCO delivers more transmission than my 10mm Delos with and without a coma corrector.

Jerry : 

Can you explain more on the transmission part please ? What does "low" transmission mean ? Does that mean , low contrast features are more easily seen in one than the other?

"Sandgroper, nickname for an inhabitant or native of Western Australia."

Beautiful colours ! Much better than my eyes could see .😁

M42 is my favourite! Maybe we should start a thread on what's your favourite Mike's sketch !!

Agreed tripleped! Excellent report , keep up the enthu  .

No ... In fact I've never seen the cloud cover to be below 50% this year 😥 .

And don't try to use the eyepiece glass as wine glass ... You will be fine .

7 hours ago, John said:

Great stuff as usual Mike 

I find it fascinating that you have sketched that magnitude 13.2 star next to the Ring Nebula. I have seen it with my 100mm / 102mm refractors as well and yet the limiting magnitude for the aperture is often given as 12.8-12.9.

Personally I think the scope performance calculators "understate" the capabilities of a quality refractor

 

I beg to differ ..! People don't always include experience while calculating the limiting magnitude . From what I've heard and experienced , an experienced observer (like yourself and Mike) can go upto 1 magnitude deeper than a normal average vision observer . I'm mot at all surprised that you and Mike are able to pick up the 13.2 mag star ... 

Hi Louis , 

I too haven't seen a direct comparison but @Don Pensack has tried it and maybe he will chime in . 

Expected a good old deep sky report , but seems to be the wrong forum . 

PS : Great image, well done! 

If you don't wear glasses , the normal 6.7mm 82° ES eyepiece is in stock at Teleskop express (Germany) . 

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p5553_Explore-Scientific-82--Ar-Eyepiece---6-7-mm-Focal-Length---1-25----argon-purged.html

From the reports elsewhere , the newer LER versions don't seem to be as good as the older ES 82° series . 

WARNING: Do you wear glasses ? The LER stands for Long Eye Relief , but only thing - it isn't  . It has just 1 or 2mm more eye relief than the normal 82° version but it is still not suitable for glass wearers . You may have to look at the Morpheus series for comfortable eye relief without giving up much AFOV .

Stu nailed it . The reason why folks say the OIII is not suited to smaller apertures is because , the larger exit pupil required for the OIII to strut it's stuff , will be  pretty low magnifications . Hence the nebulae will be smaller . This , is obviously a personal preference . Some folks swear that OIII below 6mm exit pupil will be a black view , while others use it upto 2mm or even lower for planetary nebulae . 

UHC, being larger in bandwidth , can generally take lower exit pupils(higher magnifications) compared to OIII/H-Beta which are line filters . 

PS : UHC is a combination of OIII and H-Beta lines .