Ags

Or maybe go cheap and cheerful with an ST102 😀

That's true, a lot of homes were destroyed. I can't imagine a violent volcano like that opening up a stone's throw away. The weather is not looking good for the rest of the stay. Some stars showing tonight so fingers crossed!

Asked a vendor and got a reply along the lines of "of course there's some CA... its only €1000.... why not try it?" Not sure we have the same definition of "only"! Thinking of the new Evolux 82 instead... Maybe the 96/f6 could work. Except for solar in Ha or continuum filter I wouldn't use more than around 100x.

You'd be surprised how cheap the holiday cottages are to rent here!

These people have sorted out my USB cable problemo. Very helpful and friendly. https://e-zone.es/

We've thought about it a lot. We have been viewing properties on this trip, but we've decided to rent holiday cottages instead. I will negotiate workation trips with my employer (my work is entirely online anyway).

Waiting for some foggy cloud to pass. Not looking good.

I found a shop that stocks the cable, only problem is the smouldering volcanic wreckage between me and them. I may have to take a grand tour of the island to get a little cable!

By a long distance, my best visual night ever. Should have brought my ES 20/68 rather than the Plossl though... Going for another session tonight. I'll try and spot the planetary hiding in M46. I've seen the planetary before in a 16 inch dob, let's see how 2 and a bit inches do.

Forgot to mention, also saw NGC 1981. Not the first time I have seen it, but the first time I have put a name to the mob of bright stars north of M42.

Funny how different eyes see different things. I had the same combination and couldn't get on with it at all! To my eyes the combo just gave a blur off axis. Issue solved for me with Explore Scientific 24/68. Up until I got the ST80 I loved the Hyperion. I always blamed the eyepiece, but it looks like the issue was more with my eyes!

It's not erupting any more, but I think all the lava is still giving off lots of gasses.

Finally got Messier 46 and 47 together in the same view in reasonably dark skies. Magical sight!

So a successful visual night, but the astrophoto afterparty got cancelled due to no cable. I bagged a few new Messiers - 46, 47 and 93, and revisited 35, 36, 37, 38 and 41. Not to mention 45, 42, 43, Running Man and 78. Also got a few new NGCs, 2343, 2335 and 2423. I spotted one double star, the A-C split of Mintaka. Highlight of the evening was Messier 46 and 47 and NGC 2423 all visible in the 20mm plossl - staggeringly beautiful. Also the rich star fields around CMa - back home the same sky is just a few pale dots on a grey background. As I also forgot my red light torch, I was relying on technology in the form of the Stellarium Plus android app. Worked quite well, especially for zooming right in and identifying the fainter NGCs. All observing done with 66 mm refractor and a 20 mm plossl. I occasionally used a 9 mm when identifying the fainter clusters, and to split the Trapezium. Seeing wasn't good, the stars smeared around in the 9 mm. I can't understand how Caldwell 64 eluded me, but I will try again soon.

Anybody know what this connector is called?

Its a weird connector I haven't seen elsewhere - I'll photo it when I get in. Add M93 (new to me) to tonight's haul. NGC 2343 spotted - new to me. MUCH less impressive than the surrounding star field, that's why I missed it earlier. NGC 2423 spotted, hiding behind M47 and 46.

For some reason the lights aren't going out on schedule tonight. Successfully bagged M47 and M46 - together making a nice and different kind of double cluster. Having trouble with the clusters around CMa, too many star clouds. Paid a quick visit to M35 36, 37, 38 while waiting for lights off. Edit: the lights went out 40 minutes later than usual. Obviously not on a timer.

It is atill fuming apparently. One town up the coast is still evacuated due to noxious gasses. There are 200 displaced local people staying in our hotel. In perhaps my biggest astronomy fail yet, I just realized I forgot to pack the special usb cable for the ASI camera. A fantastically expensive mistake! I wonder if computer shops sell those kind of usb cables?

This is the preport, what I am planning on observing after the lights go out at 22h00 (the island has an astronomical curfew, very civilized). Pleiades - they might be too low, but I am curious to see if I can spot some nebulosity. Orion - M42, M43, Running Man, M78. Canis Major - M41 (dog's heart), fuzziness above dogs head including clusters NGC 2343, 2335, above the tail NGC 2354, C64 Puppis - Messier 47, 46, 93, NGC 2467 Gemini - M35, NGC 2264 (Monoceros really)

Almost the whole thing unfortunately, but I do love the huge eye lens.

An evening reconnoitering expedition around the hotel revealed a dark spot suitable for some visual "work"; I will set up there next clear night. Back at my balcony, I tried to chase down W Orionis which I hear is the reddest star in the sky, but could not match the stars I was seeing to the finder chart I am working from. While chasing W Ori (Worry?) something wonderful happened: all the hotel lights went off including the infernal light on my balcony. Much thanks to the La Palma light pollution laws! The additional number of stars to see was stunning - I quickly viewed the Orion neb again and it was very bight and well defined, but oddly I couldn't make out all four stars of the Trapezium, despite seeing many other faint stars??? I had to have a go at M78 which always eludes me from my city home, it was an easy, albeit unimpressive spot, found by following the belt and turning right at Alnitak. Zipped up to M35, which was the highlight of the quick session - so many stars! As a bonus I went after M41. This cluster was oddly faint and the surrounding field was depleted - I suspect that some black cloud off the coast was dimming the view. All viewing done with 66 mm frac and 20 mm plossl (2.6 degree field of view).

Precisely! I find I pick eyepieces to have a different experience at the telescope, rather than flipping between eyepieces chasing the "best" view. Also looking at a second home

I believe in the 1.4 rule - so when you change eyepieces to the next one in sequence, the sky background doubles or halves in brightness, and you see an area two times bigger or smaller. So I have eyepieces at 4.9, 6.7, 10, 13.4, 20 and 30 mm. Those are my wide angle eyepieces - I also have another sequence of plosslike eyepieces - 6, 9, 12, 20, 30.

This telescope looks seriously miscollimated... 🤣

Just had a quick peek - there is the obligatory hotel light on the balcony (no off switch), but the sky is dark through the telescope. Very good view of Orion. I've only packed two eyepieces - a 20 mm plossl and a 9 mm NLV - nostalgic drinking-straw views!