pandoraefretum

I sympathise: M101 not possible from my backyard though I do believe M51 is... only just. M101 will be waiting for me when I'm on holiday this Summer (taking my Orion SkyScanner 100 and a Carbon Fibre tripod with me)

+1 I use / love Sky Safari 6 Pro

Lovely name ! Sky Safari shows a number of components... and it's a Variable double... as intriguing as its name suggests! On my list, thx, John

Hello, I too want to get into Solar observing. I am thinking of getting a dedicated Celestron Eclipsmart Solar Filter (Solar Film) for my Nexstar 6se. I hear it's safe, a good fit, reliable, etc... yet still, I'm a little apprehensive about going for it. Over 40 years ago, as a 10 -12 yr old kid (I was a lot smarter then) I used to do a lot of Solar observing, often drawing and following Sunspots day by day... quite fascinating. I can't remember exactly what my best method was... I rather think projection from the Telescope, and later (to save my scope) an old pair of Binoculars. I had a 2.5 inch Refractor with a Sun and Moon filter which screwed onto the back of eyepieces. I'm pretty sure I used the Sun filter once or twice, but quickly realised this little filter was near lethal, given the tremendous heat and focus of light it had to endure (not obvious for a kid to work out). So fairly quickly I deduced it was a dangerous filter and I had already risked much by using it .. I later took my scope apart and saw much plastic had melted inside, probably from projecting, at that stage. Very naive, you say, but one must remember these were pre-internet days... and pre-any-kind-of-safety era... Anyway, I soon realised I was playing with fire!! The one phrase that echoed endlessly in my head was from the late Sir Patrick Moore who proclaimed it "horribly dangerous to look at the Sun" (I think his "Story of Astronomy" was maybe the only Astronomy book I had for years until I got "Astronomy Today" by Fred Hoyle) Now there are a zillion Books, YouTube clips, Forums, Scopes with Sun warning labels, etc. etc... but good old Sir Patrick probably saved many a person's sight in pre-internet days! My uncertainty persists: Is this Eclipsmart Filter really 100% safe? Can scratches damage it ? I will remove the finderscope for safety (and point the scope by minimising its shadow on the ground).. ..but I'm still a bit uncertain about looking through a powerful 6" scope directly at the Sun... Could the filter fall off by accident ? Get knocked of by the dog ? Will the remote hand control even allow me to look at the Sun ? I guess it will issue warnings at the very least ? I guess there are many similar posts to mine.. and I'm sure my story is not entirely unique. So many Stars are so far away ; yet Sol is right next to us... so how can any Astronomer ignore it? I'm also thinking of using a lesser scope for the task... but if solar filters really block 99.99% of sunlight, how can I possibly damage my Nexstar 6se? Any comments welcome, and thanks for reading... ps. I'm sure my post is full of ignorance... so please be patient! Ciao, clear skies, happy observing!! Roland

Hello! I would like to share an exciting target A couple of nights ago after splitting the Double-Double, I decided to observe Epsilon A Bootis ; called Izar, or Pulcherrima This is one notch harder to split, because Orange K type mag 2+ Izar easily drowns out its companion blue Epsilon B (mag 5.something) With my Nexstar 6se and 10mm no show for Epsilon B ; however with 6mm it did show up !! A fine, fine sight... even if some excellent optics are needed to split it. Colour contrast striking, and on the whole a super worthwhile target / exercise... perhaps a well known one, but was new for me!! Ciao, and somebody please shoo away the clouds!

Great advice here, Of course, the f ratio will determine what exactly a low / medium / high power eyepiece is in mm I have 4 different scopes ; plus 4mm, 6mm, 10mm, 14mm, 24mm (x2), 25mm, 40mm excellent quality eyepieces (Vixen VL or Televue) I rarely use 4 and 6mm : I often use 10, 14 and 24mm My 40mm doesn't really work well with most of my scopes... I guess 32mm would have been a more practical length. I don't have a Barlow If I ever buy a new eyepiece it would be a Televue 8mm or 18mm One scope I bought second hand (in perfect condition) cost less than either of my Televue eyepieces!