lunator

Hi Mark, Never under-estimate the power of the ortho I think it's low number of elements mean you lose less light as it travels through the optical train. Not as issue usually but on something right at the margins it can make all the difference. I keep meaning to have a go at this SN but I forget whilst trying to tease out details in Mars. Cheers Ian

Hi David Very good sketch It looks very similar to what I could see around 8.30 last night. The details were quite low contrast last night, although there part of the I think it was Aeria appeared quite orange. Cheers Ian

Hi Mark Very nice pics. I put mostvof the mushiness last night down to lack of scope cool down time, But the seeing might have been deteriorating as well. You got some nice detail in there cheers Ian

I decided to have a go at sketching Mars last night. Gut back from work about 10.30pm and the ckouds were clearing. The scope did not really have enough time to cool down but there wasn't much I could do about that. The first sketch is the pencil drawing the second on I have added some colour. I might have another go if we have a clear spell next week. Scope OMC250 Eyepiece 6mm ortho. Magnification x375 Seeing 3/5 Transparency 3/5 Time 22.55-23.15 UT 23/10

Hi Steve Very good pic. It reminds me of the detail I could see on the 15th. Cheers Ian

Hi Graham Very good pics Cheers Ian

Hi mark Very good sketch The seeing was a bit variable last night but there were periods where it was excellent. What amazed me last night was when the seeing improved the edges of the features were very obvious. Cheers Ian

Very good sketches Glob Some good detail in them. I had some excellent views of Mars last night. I had spent some time on collimation and it paid off.😀 Keep the sketches coming. Cheers Ian

Excellent result, well done

I would recommend "observer's guide to stellar evolution" by Mike Inglis. Published by Springer. It combines the theory of stellar evolution with actual examples we can observe. Cheers Ian

I have answered yes as my skies at home are ok but if I can go somewhere with darker skies I will. Cheers Ian

Hi, Welcome to SGL. I'm just up the road from you Doubles are good targets when you have significant LP. Enjoy the scope Cheers Ian

Good catch Jeremy 👍 I had a fairly good view of the conjunction using my 15x70's. I decided to keep the scopes tucked away given the breeze ☺️

It was a fairly easy spot in my 15x70's last night just to the left of Venus. It was nice the clouds got out of the way for once 😊

Hi Stu, great pics. seeing was pretty good last night. Thanks for highlighting the crater names. I am still learning them Cheers Ian

Nice pics I had a look at this last night through my 15x70 Binos. cheers Ian

I have done this in the past. Mostly Afocal . The advantage of doing it this way is the ability to vary the magnification. I think the closet pair I did were around 2-3". Most of my images I posted in the double star section of the forum. I plan to start again soon. Cheers Ian

Interesting idea. I know from experience increasing magnification allows you to spot fainter objects. When I observe double stars mag 11+ stars which are not visible at x70 magnification start to appear once you get into the x100-150 range. I guess the only way to find out is to test an ethos against an orthoscopic eyepiece :). cheers Ian

Tim, excellent image, I was looking at Betelgeuse yesterday and it's dimness is very noticeable. It seemed no brighter then Bellatrix. Cheers Ian

Well done, conditions were not easy

Very good pics. The second pic certainly captures how it looked to me. A tiny dot and alot of fast moving clouds Cheers Ian

Hi Pete Same here, first contact was clouded out but I did get to see about 30-40 mins of the transit Great pic. Cheers Ian

I have been meaning to do this for a while. Here are a selection of links to useful websites for the double star fan. Cheers Ian SkyandTelescope.com - Double Stars JDSO.org Washington Double Star Catalog - Current Version Double Star Club Introduction | The Astronomical League Webb Society Double Star Section www.rasc.ca/double-stars https://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/bineye5.html My small website has a few lists of doubles. https://doublestar.org.uk/index.html