SuburbanMak

Great report of what sounds like a fab session! Last spring I had a similar experience of getting lost in Virgo and did a fair bit of homework identifying “mini-asterisms” as signposts. You might find my post on that useful and it also includes a link to an excellent post on navigating Virgo from @MercianDabbler which really helped me work out what I was looking at.

Noticed it was clear very late last night, transparency better than of late but seeing quite twinkly. Was about to roll the ST80 out when I spotted the trees bending in the wind - opted for a quick 10x50 tour instead. The wind was bitter so it was a short session! Looked at M44, Berenices Hairclip in Coma B, M13, M3 (which took me a bit of time to find in the bins), Double Cluster - all lovely. Looked for but failed to spot M101, M65/6, M57 and even M81/2 eluded me, I'm blaming the cold as I abandoned at that point and headed in to warm up.

Delighted to receive Don Machholz’s self published Messier Marathon Observers Guide Handbook & Atlas. Thrilled to find it signed with a personal inscription from the world’s greatest living visual comet hunter! (12 Comets bear his name, one more and he’ll equal Messier himself!) It’s packed with when / how to see data and finder charts- useful not just for a Messier Marathon but a very practical Messier hunter’s field guide. The ideal companion to the 10” GSO Dob I am picking up tomorrow!

Nice - would love an update on if the 2inch visual back actually delivers a wider FoV, have seen conflicting reports on this topic.

Corrected the NGC number thank you, quite right. I was really surprised by how good a view M104 was - galaxies that show some form vs. just being detectable are at a premium for the Mak 127 and I fully expected this to be a “ticking off” object. But it’s not just the galaxy itself, I found it a really great field around.

Welcome to this amazing forum that for me has become an unexpected pleasure in what I thought two years ago would be an essentially solitary hobby - not so at all! As you’ll quickly have gathered, folk are passionate about their gear and sharing the pleasure they’ve had from it - there is no completely wrong answer and all of the setups suggested here will give you some wonderful views. I was bought a ‘scope for my 50th and opted for a Skywatcher Mak 127 on the AZGTI mount and it’s opened up the hobby for me. If your initial motivation is the planets and the moon then this is a great start - on a still night it will show bands and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, shadow transits of its various moons, Saturn’s rings with the Cassini division and the planet’s crisp shadow on the rings and an Apollo 8 flyby feeling on the moon. Out of the box it comes with a 25mm eyepiece which is crisp and bright and a 10mm, which is not. That said eyepieces can be picked up gradually and high quality, (particularly for the planets where a widefield is not vital as the AZGTi will be keeping the target in the field for you) can be achieved around the £50 mark. It’s portable in a backpack and very robust and that allows easy trips out to darker skies where the Mak 127 is no slouch on Deep Sky Objects. In any light conditions it’s a mean double-star splitter too! I’ve subsequently picked up a number of other telescopes as my interest has developed in both the hobby (an ST80 for widefield an, the latest, a 10” Dob for galaxy hunting) and the equipment for its own sake (bit of a thing for old refractors here). So my point, I think, is to go with what you think is best to begin with and will be both practical and exciting enough to get used a lot - chances are as your observing projects develop you’ll end up expanding your collection anyway but this need not break the bank. Unless you start reading all those Takahashi owner posts of course! Oh and btw, that Starbase 80 rig looks the business too Clear skies.

I think I’ll leave the name as is for now, might change it one day when I can afford to go from an “M” to a “T”

Thanks Nik am mainly excited about improved galaxy and glob views.

Mine’s second from the front I think

& then the push-to dual encoders…

I suspect I am about to start. Looking at buying a sack trolley too… Picking this one up used, a few years old and got a good deal - couldn’t really justify a new one. I think is essentially the same GSO scope as the SL though right? They’ve upgraded the mount, focuser & finders somewhat but hopefully this will be optically good.

I guess it had to happen eventually… Excited to be picking up this Revelation/GSO 10” f5 on Saturday. Anyone used one of these?

Thank you - it’s a good solid Bortle 4 and I’ve noticed before what a difference I can see from there on galaxies in particular - finding a trace of those that are invisible from my semi urban site & seeing some form in those that are mere smudges from the park & undetectable from the garden. Although I was cursing the breeze at the start of the session I do think it was helping transparency vs down in the valley. I don’t normally report better transparency than most, in fact Winchester’s maze of rivers from the valley site and closeness to the mist generating Solent usually mean I struggle a bit. Based on what I could see in Ursa Minor and Berenice’s cluster NELM was deeper than 5, quite good down to around 45 degrees elevation where is did worsen toward the horizon. When hunting M101 I also noted the line of stars down from Mizar to 86 UM was visible naked eye and these confirm that Mag5+ Sky at the zenith.

It’s a lovely spot, quite high up with daytime views from Portsmouth to the Purbeck Hills & across the Isle of Wight. A place of skylarks by day and big skies by night. Can be breezy though. Mind you there’s some nice spots round Belper (a Derbyshire lad here, grew up in Long Eaton).

I was in two minds whether to observe Saturday night after a very late astro-night on Friday and quite a few sessions over the last week - all hampered by transparency to a greater or lesser degree. A glance at this week’s forecast however showed that the run of clear nights is sadly coming to an end, convincing me to forego (or at least postpone!) my Saturday night red wine and drive out to my darkest local site to see if I could even the odds a bit with this haze. I loaded the car with both the Mak 127 on AZGTi/Berlebach 312 and the ST80 on a Manfrotto 55. The main weapons of choice were the Baader Hyperion 24mm in the Mak giving 63x and just over a degree fov occasionally dropping in the BCO 18mm for 83x and with the Baader Mk IV zoom on hand for alignment and higher power. Had a Celestron 40mm Plossl in the ST80 all night giving a crisp, bright 4.3 degree field with 10x. Having got the backpacks to my usual spot around 10pm, I switched off my red head torch and took in the surroundings. There was a weird sky glow from the lights of Southampton docks and away to Portsmouth in the East. Naked eye was a Mag 2 sky up to 30-40 degrees but above that, much better - all of Ursa Minor visible and the Beehive and Coma star clusters easily visible naked eye. I took my time levelling the scope and using high magnification to align on Arcturus & Capella. While waiting for my eyes to fully aclimatize, I took a quick GoTo tour of M36/7/8 in Auriga and then on to a spectacular view of M35 in Gemini. Then on to the familiar lost-in-space view of the M44 Beehive and the, to me at least, mysterious M67 both in Cancer. All of this verified year the GoTo was smack on tonight and a combination of the slightly darker site (normally SQ 21.04, solid Bortle 4) and I would say somewhat better transparency than earlier in the week encouraged me to get to the intergalactic business in hand. M65/6 - immediately apparent fuzzy cores in the same field and some wider nebulous form on a long look. Hunted in vain for NGC3628 to complete the trio but couldn’t pull it out. Weird as I would say it was immediately apparent in a worse night earlier in the week. M95/6 faint grey ovals, slightly brighter at the core. M105 - detectable again with some extent beyond the core no detail & couldn’t confirm its companion NGCs tonight. Mizar- good seeing, lovely clean split & starfield confirming alignment still accurate before going after… M101 - got myself in the right spot looking at the bisecting line of 3 7th Mag stars just below 86UM. A faint fuzzy core and in AV a wider mottled patch. Couldn’t see a spiral but confirmed my dim view from earlier in the week. M106 - better view tonight and noted it’s position in the middle of reasonably prominent triangle of 6th-8th Mag stars. Reminded me of a dim M82. M108 - identifiable as another faint grey stripe within a dogleg line of stars. Another Messier ticked but really just list checking this one as no detail. Also picked up the circle of M97 just off the edge of the same field. Both really faint - the Owl jumped out a little more due to its distinctive circular shape which registers more easily. No sign of the Owls eyes for me. Was done craning at the Zenith by this time and given how faint these last few had been didn’t fancy my chances on M109 tonight so swung in search of targets at a more comfortable elevation. Re-centred on Spica then Porrima and dropped into the haze at 25 degrees with low expectations. Delighted to immediately make out M104 the Sombrero galaxy! Super view with a prominent quadruple star group as a pointer to the NW & sitting in a rich field. Clear “flying saucer” form and a hint of dust stripe in AV. Thrilled, I even went back to the car for my notebook & made a (very) rough sketch. Looked at this for a long time. M84/6 & Markarian’s chain - drank in the view of multiple smudges, picking up 5 in the field tonight. I reckon were M84, M 86, NGC4435,4438 & 4388. Not the most I’ve picked up here but a mind blowing view nevertheless. Getting cold by now I swept some clusters with the ST80 - Berenices Hairclip in Coma Berenice looking great & it’s yellow stars contrasting with the white of the Beehive M44. Had a quick tour of some favourites - great AV resolution on M13, mistier M3, nice crisp ring on M57. Went back to the Leo Trio but was still unable to definitively claim the Hamburger, NGC 3628, hints only. Finished with another visit to M104, definitely on my Messiers for the Mak 127 highlights list from now on. Cold but really pleased I drove slowly home at 01.30 only to discover it was 2.30! (I find I always drive really slowly back after a good session, this time listening to the slow movement of Brahms 1st piano concerto on the radio, whose last note died away as I pulled into my drive. Perfect.)

Another great report and some targets to add to my list - always on the lookout for Mak 127 friendly targets - sounds like a super session, thanks for posting!

Definite post-session buzz here after 3 hrs on the South Downs with the Mak 127. A couple of Messier firsts and a big thank you to @OK Apricot for inspiring me to go after M104 the Sombrero - full report to follow but a cracking night despite the odd sky glow!

Tried the AZGTi in a new configuration last night on a Manfrotto 55 with an ST80. I was going for a lighter weight bike back packable set up and this worked perfectly. Very stable and with the ST80’s wide field the GoTo dropped every target in the eyepiece. Another application for this super mount.

Super report on what sounds like a great night, well worth persevering.

What a lovely thing to say thank you. The brighter globs in particular were fab last night.

Just in from a lovely long session with the ST80 on an AZGTi & Manfrotto 55 - a much more bikeable rig! Transparency a mixed bag, better overhead than of late though I’d say. Hunted in vain for a few UM galaxies and then gave in to a favourites tour. Looked at lots but M13, M3 M81/2 & M57 the highlights tonight. Took out the BCO 18mm and 10mm plus a 32mm Plossl & 2.25 Barlow. All worked really well in the ST80, especially the 18mm which is a cracking eyepiece giving a 2.25 degree field & 22x in the 80mm f5. Racked up the magnification on M57 and was able to resolve the inner ring at 90x with the Barlowed 10mm BCO. Rode home through the woods with Hercules & Bootes looking stunning through the branches. One of my teenage sons had failed to finish his American Hot pizza - results all round!

Another sneaked hour while my lad did laps in the pool last night. ST80 + Baader Hyperion 24mm & Neodymium filter giving a 4 degree FoV, great combo. Transparency 2/5 so mostly sweeping clusters - The sword of Orion (M42, NGC1980/81), M41, M44, M45, Hyades, Coma Cluster, Mizar, Alpha Persei cluster, DC (NGC869/884), M34/35/36/37 & 38. The wider clusters best. Nice hour.

@PeterC65 Great report tonight - worthy of its own thread I feel

Out tonight with ST80 & Mak 127 to my new favourite just out of town Bortle 4 site. Arrived just in time to plonk the ST80 down and track the 8:34pm ISS pass up from the SW. Picked it up in the scope as it came over the horizon and was just marvelling at the fact that I could clearly make out the shape of its panels when it passed right in front of the Pleiades - this will be the view that stays with me for a long time from tonight. I was also chuffed to get a text from my son up at Manchester Uni to say he’d watched it. I’d tipped him off about the pass earlier in the evening when I’d found out he was out having an optimistic early BBQ. I then set up the Mak 127 & aligned the AZGTi and did my usual naked eye survey. Transparency was not great at this point - probably a Mag 3 Sky only, but gradually breaking up into bands that were a little better. I looked at some widefield favourites in the ST80 (+ Baader 31mm Aspehric) whilst waiting for my eyes to adapt, the Beehive, Pleiades and a favourite of mine the Alpha Persei Cluster. Either through dark adaptation or a slight improvement, things looked a little better by half past nine so I thought I’d have a go at Ursa Major which was comfortably high in the least-worst part of the sky for transparency. I worked my way down the chain of 4 stars from Mizar (lovely as always) and picked up a diagonally bisecting line of 3 faint stars. M101 lies just W of this & as on my last outing I’d felt more than seen an area of mottling around a faint unresolvable star here. This time though I stayed on it for a long time, acclimatising, nudging, averting & finally switching down to a 40mm Plossl - fairly confident I was seeing, well, something. I went back to Mizar and repeated the process. Yes, there was the same faintest of somethings , M33-like in its vagueness over about a quarter of the Mak’s field. To check comparative brightness I switched across to M51 which I’ve looked at quite a lot before & it was just discernible in the finder and present in the eyepiece as the two cores, little structure & by far not the best I’ve seen it but immediately visible. As a further sanity check I looked for M81 & M82 and they looked suitably brighter and revealed some form, a hint of spiral in M81 & a hint of the dust lane with averted vision in M82, again not the greatest view but about the right comparative brightness to the previous targets to make sense of what I was seeing. Another check back to the M101 star field and there it was again - frustratingly vague but, I think, identifiable. I moved across to the M106 region and although again not a “wow” moment I was fairly confident that the fuzzy stripe I could see between a loose triangle of stars was the target. Looking online at eyepiece photos of the field now I am back home confirms I got this one. Seeking further validation of what galaxies look like in borderline conditions I checked for the Leo Triplet which I’ve enjoyed a number of times - it’s geometry is the give away and tonight, weirdly, the “Hamburger” NGC3628, was easier to see than either M65 or M66 - slightly higher contrast and more compact. I will revisit both M101 & M106 until I get those “ah, yes!” views but am chalking them up as seen at least. Finally! After so much peering, I rewarded myself with some sparkly things - M35, M36, M37 & M38 all looked stunningly bright and detailed by comparison, easy to find, popping in the finder and with more stars appearing the longer I looked. I tried for a few doubles with the Baader Zoom - a messy-seeing, low-down spilt of Porrima, an even, white offset figure of 8 pair. A wobbly Tegmine showing elongation in the close pair but not a clean split tonight. Finally, a colourful finish with Iota Cancri’s easy Sapphire and Gold pairing, one of the best in the sky for me. Lovely session, a memorable shared moment, 2 new Messiers and the realisation that galaxies really are my thing. This new site is reasonably dark, peaceful and has hard standing a 200 yard tarmac trolley-wheel from the parking spot. I sense a biggish Dob somewhere in my future…

Just watched the whole ISS pass in the ST80. Could see it’s shape. Sailed right “through” the Pleiades - unforgettable!