cotterless45

Hoping to be there . Anyone who'd like an introduction to either basic beginner stargazing or observing binary stars will be most welcome at my eyepiece ,

old Nick.

Dunno, wrote it in my book and used it ever since .Probably from my main source of misinformation , Wikipedia . Can't remember Mahasim , too many stars beginning with M , Nick.

Pretty shabby evening , with damp murk arriving . Just a spin around Auriga and the best view of θ Aurigae (Bogardus) SAO 58636, yet. The tiny companion was evident at low power.

Giving it x200 gave a remarkably clear view. This companion is +7.2 compared to the A at +2.65 at a distance of 4". This corresponds to a distance of 185 Au apart for the pair.

There is a visual third star here at 52". Good enjoyable view for clear skies ! Nick.

Oh dear , just caught up with this.

The śpacer ring was used in the Phénix 127. I can only assume it was easier than getting the correct thickness and placed spacers. It was twisted and awful.

At the price point of the 150ed I would have expected a bit of care and attention. Very much hoping for some good reports.

Never ever seen anything like the illustrations that John posted, nearly fell off the sofa. I use Epsilon Lyrae as an easy tester, knowing what to expect helps.

There is little competition for long refractors out there and I'm sure a demand from the observer. Let's hope SW has come up with something good,

old Nick.

Fascinating report John . I don't think that many here would be able to cope with the deep snow of comments and suggestions ! As for testing ,easiest way is to look at your familiar best friendly targets and see what hatches . Silly that SW have let us down with possible transit damage.

Looks like a great scope which can handle the faint and the bright ! Contrast and colour will always belong to 4" fracs , but there's such charm in turning a refractor to the sky,

clear skies ! Nick.

Never had a problem since loaded them both on a £60 Lenovo tablet from Argos. If anything , it gets more accurate as the session goes on ,Nick.

For those quaking at the thought of taking their iPads outdoors in the dark, there is an easier and cheap solution. I bought a 7" tablet from Argos for £60.

Loaded up free Avast security , then Synscan app and Skysafari pro 5. Go to "settings " get the app wifi up , connect to the mount . Align with the SW app, then connect to Skysafari. It's an easy option and works !

 The app will stand alone with its catalogues and point and go. It's a great advance on using a handset ,as the near limitless info available adds interest to a session. In addition , the downloadable resources can make cheery additions to observe ,as well as listening to the audio commentary. 

Nick.

Tried for ages to get it working with Skysafari 5 pro with iPod and iPhone , no way. I was fascinated to see Shaun ("Pig") walk around , nonchalantly directing his mount at some distance , awesome !

Bought a 7" tablet (£60 Argos) , just a useful size, works a dream. Connect and align with SW , then connect with SS, magic.

Took me seamlessly through the spring galaxies. There's just a wealth of info available and I'm sure outreach and newbies will enjoy the commentary. As did Stan ( Unhappy bruiser dog next door door ) who thought his luck was in ,with bite one get one free !

Two beefs ! Firstly colder fingers , using the tablet.

Secondly , I use SAO numbers with Struve and STT binaries. Takes some getting used to Henry Draper. I love SS and have been using as a stand alone resource. It leads you to find out so much more. Après ski !

For the money , it would be hard to beat a useful working wireless set up , under 

Dark skies ! Nick.

Wonderful to see these scopes appreciated and loved . The  optics are sweet. Old school here. Rescued and fettled. Old Nick.

Vixen 90 on az and 102 on SP mount.

5 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

cotterless45 Thank you for sharing your notebook. Really good for grabbing notes and sketches at the scope. Do you do all your sketches in the notebook?

That's just a handy wee scribbler that goes in the drawing box, filled with China graph pencils , white line pens and black card. There's a few on my posts. Whatever record that you make , will be great to look back on and share,

Nick.

I try and keep the best of every session .The easiest way that I found is old school writing in a notebook. Avoid loose leaf bits of paper , they get lost!

 Going back to my small notebook that I keep by the scope , I found this. Happy memories of Mars at opposition, 4" frac and x166 !

I got post for a different number and different road . Our postie has taken to running around at high speed . However, redirection by is a great way to meet folk living here. 

Have you tried tuning the echelon ? you'll need absolutely clear sky to get the most out of proms. I got this yesterday with a Lunt 35, in addition there were several  very obvious filaments with surface granulation across the surface. its a struggle starting out and you must be patient enough to get your eye and get adapted to what you are seeing. Moving the view around will hit a sweet spot , don't expect this to be right across the view. let us know how you are getting on, Nick.

Here we go, Lunt 35 and Vixen 90 with Baader film filter on eq5, made some shields out of the bits of stuff that come under Goodfella's pizzas.Nick.

Can't make it this year as will be with SWMBO in the sharp end of Cornwall. Hope that you all make the event superb. Anyone dithering about going, just go !

old Nick.

Here's an arrow in your finder or binoculars, it's handy for star hopping. 

M71, a loose globular cluster , younger than other globular at 13,000 light years away. It'll resolve with 4" aperture. It is easily found in the arrow. Swing the arrow up to find M27 in Vulpecula.
Variables.
VZ , a pulsating red giant at 20h00m. +17 5'.
WZ is a recurrent nova , flaring up in 1913, 1946, 1978 and 2001. At 20h08m. +17 7'.

Binaries.
h2851 (SAO 104384) an orange and delicate companion at x50, 47.8" split.
H N 84 and Σ 2569 ( SAO 105104) , two pairs 15' apart, orange , red and blue here.
Zeta (SAO 105529), a delicate blue companion at 8.3".
Theta ((SAO 088276), lovely triple at x50.
13 ( variable)   Red and orange , six components.

Planetary nebulae.
NGC 6879 (+12.5) visible on 150mm.
NGC 6886 (+11.4) again in 150mm.
IC 4997 (+10.5), blue on 150mm.

Clear skies ! Nick.

I heartily agree with Jules , I had two such size scopes and they didn't fit in with the targets that I love under grotty skies. For maximum impact and punching above its weight , my C6r with 2" semi app filter eats peashooters for breakfast , old Nick,?

Close binary challenges for March.
These are mainly 2" of separation of less. I've observed these in a 150 refractor and the wider ones in 102. 
Ursa Major.
Iota (Talitha) (SAO 42630 ) 4.1" at +3.1 and +9.2, I'd note this as difficult with a white and blue in the glare.
Σ1559 (SAO 15580) 1.8" at +6.8 and +8.0, a lovely delicate speck.
ΟΣ 200 (SAO 27246) 1.3" at +6.5 and +8.6.
78 UMa (SAO 28601) 1.2" at +5 and +7.9, white and blue.
Σ1770 (SAO 28819) 1.7" at +6.9 and +8.2.

Ursa Minor.
Σ 2034 (SAO 2625) 1.1" at +7.7 and +8.0, bright and near equal.

Leo.
Σ1406 (SAO 61853) 1.0" at +8 and +8.5.
ΟΣ 215 (SAO 99032) 2.4" at +7.2 and +7.5   Blue and white at x160,
Σ 1500 (SAO 137933) 1.4" at +7.9 and +8.3.
Iota (SAO 99587) 1.7", a yellow and blue at x216.
Σ 1555 (SAO 81893) given at.7", I got this at x216 and it appeared much wider.

Canes Venatici 
25 CNv (SAO 63648) 1.8" at +5.0 and +7.0, a white and blue.

Coma Berenices.
Σ1639 (SAO 82293) 1.7" at +6.7 and +7.8, green and white and widening.
35 (Σ1687) triple from 1.2" to 27.9".
ΟΣ 266 at 13h28.4m. +15 43' , 2" separation at +8.0 and +8.4, caught in the 102mm.

under those 

clear skies ! 

Nick.

Is it a square Venus ?

Very accessible with 4" aperture and up there with the best triples, Nick.

Avoid stacking and playing around with filters. Just select your photo edit. It'll make stuff lighter or darker and there's "enhancement" with a magic wand type thing,

old Nick.

Noooooo! The Moon is just more light pollution, she's burn tha' eye patch. She pulls at the sea , arrghh big tides ! Treasures be hidden in the dark sky, arrrghh!

old Nick.

This is one of my few tries at Astroimagining. I gaffer taped the phone to the ep and hoped for something. It's picked up the full bubble nebula, well nearly. I do realise this may be disqualified as this is a very difficult subject,

old Nick.

Hmm, sounds good, just that nearly everything is sold by the time SGL comes around.

At Psp (rip) we used to have a table / car boot on Saturday morning. You could browse stuff that what was sale. It was better just to announce a sale for that morning/ day.

I'm bringing some goodies for sale, they'll be at my pitch,

old Nick.

It's always been a puzzle to me to see folks enjoying Newts on eq mounts, unless the ota is small, the spinning of the tube is just an art form ! Fracs don't suffer this and are proper telescopes,

Nick.