Gonariu

Real! If there is something I look at with a certain consistency it is the Sun, I use a Konus Vista with a glass solar filter at full aperture, an old Vixen 8-24 zoom, a W58 green filter, a special notebook, pencils and tires. I spend a pleasant half hour making the drawing.

If you have the chance, take a cultural-astronomical holiday here in Sardinia at any time of the year, bringing some travel telescope; since there are few inhabitants (1.5 million in almost 24,000 km^2), moving away from the towns you find a good sky with many clear days. The rains are mainly winter (400 mm in Cagliari) with a long summer drought, this year it didn't rain from the beginning of June to the end of October!

What scope and magnification did you used?

I look at the sun almost every day with an achromatic 80/400 bought used in May 2020 (the Konus Vista 80) and I must say that, by placing a glass solar filter at full aperture, a W58 green filter at the eyepiece and using X80, I have beautiful visions of our star; the W58 filter usually improves the image a lot for me.

Very nice sketch, I love seeing the moon a few days after the full moon, you have a beautiful view of the Mare Crisium and other craters (Vendelinus, Petavius, Furnerius) that I can't easily see in the evening, after the new moon.

Common problem! I think that, for public lightining, a monocromatic light is OK as with the old sodium lights (today I don't know somebody of similar); it's different for a football match at night (you must see the colours of the players' shirts). The light which goes to sky is waste energy unnecessarily too, it's right shielding them, ditto for the luminous signs of the shops: at three in the morning who sees them? And the mass media often talk about climate changes!

I agree, it's a compact scope wich is very beatiful for terrestrial use with high magnifications (X156 and X208) too and for Moon and planets (for Moon I used X250 with a Unitron 5 mm ortoscopic).

I have a acromatic 80/400 and a Skywatcher Maksutov 90/1250, scopes I adore. If the weather is good I can use the 90/1250 because I can put it in terrace and wait for getting cold, but if it is raining, I prefer to use the 80/400 wich is ready for observing when for some moment the sky clears up.

Yes, I saw them, you have did well: observing the confort is important. The model of 90/1250 I bought has a photographic attack which is OK for observing views and for astronomy using it whith a low magnification, but it is very uncomfortable for magnification as X208 (when the seeing lets).

Three months ago I bought a Skywatcher Maksutov 90/1250 used by which I was impressed. My Vixen zoom 8-24 gives me all the necesssary magnifications (from X52 to X156); however I think useful to use thise eyepices too: a 6 mm Plossl (X208), a 5 mm Ortoscopic (X250) and a 40 mm Plossl (X31). This summer I have seen the Moon to X200-X250, the Montes Carpathi were fantastic, it seemed me as if flying over them. So far I am using it with a photographical tripod, I must buy a Vixen bar for connecting this scope to the mount of the Nexstar 8 SE.

I agree; I have two short acromatics, a 70/400 (Celestron Travelscope 70) and a 80/400 (Konus Vista-80) wich I adore. For terrestrial use I prefer to observe without diaphragms, for the Moon (only with the Vista) I put a Baader's filter (Semiapo or Contrast Booster), for the Sun I use the Wratten green filter W56 which give a very contrasted image and without cromatism.

I like the short acromatics! I have a acromatic 120/600, bought 12 years ago, with which saw well Mars for the opposition of 2022; I was thinking of buying a Herschel prism for observing the sun with this acro. In theory a acromatic 102/460 is promising a lot of cromatism, I'm curious of knowing as it behaves.

Photos very beautiful!!!

I have seen today this thread I have read with great intrest. When I was 16, in 1983, I bought a acromatic 60/700 which I have given later. Last year I have bought a Bresser vintage 60/900 with which I have seen very well Castor and solved just the Lyra double-double. I am going to try to partecipate too.

Is the primary mirror spherical or parabolic? take this eventuality into consideration, I read on an astronomy forum in Italian of a Newton 130/650 with the spherical primary that gave the problem of your optics.

Schtches very beautiful, what scope did you use?

Nice result, a double resolution start.

Guuuulllpppp, I want it!!!!!! 😍

Here in Sardinia thise days we breathe, some week ago, the african anticyclone burnt us, the temperatures rose until 47 C-48 C.

I think for thise points that: 1) and 10) I would like to observe at country but I am afraid of nasty meetings, I would agree to do it with some friend; 2) If the weather is good I put in terrace my Nexstar 8 SE an hour before, otherwise I observe with my acromatic 80/400 (the Konus Vista) witch has least time of acclimatization; 3) I don't use binoviewers; 4) the winter is a little cold although the Sardinian has a mediterraneam climate, at Cagliari you can do but at Orotelli the temperature is 5 grades lower than Cagliari ....... I would prefer the autumn; 5) all right for sketches, I only make thise, I add that sketching is a way of meditation (I did Zen meditation when was young, or, "illo tempore" (gulp!) ............); 6) I don't use apps, I prefer a little stellar atlas and a card astrolabe; 7) and 8): OK; 9) I adore the little scopes because they are very easy to handle, I like very much my Konus Vista. I think that you can do very beautiful things with a little scope too because the secret is the perseverance. For example: James Murden wrote in its book "Astronomy with Binoculars" that Alcock discovered two novae with a binocular many years ago because has had a biggest constancy.

I bought used a Skywatcher Maksutov 90/1250 with I saw the moon thise last nights. I am amazed for the contrast of this scope putting X208 (6mm Plossl) and X250 (5 mm orthoscopic) too. Of pure curiosity I put X313 (4 mm Vixen LV) but the image started to become poor, there was the mistral wind. Day before yesterday Montes Carpathi were very beatiful to X250, one could perhaps glimpse some very small craters inside Clavius. Yesterday to X250 one saw well Gassendi whom I noticed a rima to left. There wasn't wind, this time X313 gave a good image. I Observed Saturn too to X250, but it was disappoint, the ring was little open and on its disc I didn't see anything. I'm curious of observing Jupiter with this scope.

No, I've had a little too much extra expense that I'll buy the Herschel prism later.

I thought of buying the Herschel prism but I have had too much unforeseen exspenses that I have put its purchase off sine die! 😥

Very nice, yesterday between 13.35 and 14.30 Italian time (+2 hours compared to UK because we have summer time here) I saw most of the spots you reported with the Celestron Travelscope 70 (acromatic 70/400) and a zoom of the Vixen 8-24 at X50.

Thanks Neil!