MalcolmM

I'm really pleased with these. They were taken through an FS60CB with a Tak LE 7.5mm and an Orion phone adapter with a 4 year old low spec Motorola phone. I'm amazed at the sharpness and detail with such a small scope and old phone. You can see a lovely X and V. 

Three single shots, each exposed for different parts of the moon. No post processing other than cropping.

Thanks to @Stu and others for tips and techniques!

Malcolm

3 hours ago, badhex said:

It may already be too late to save me from myself 😱😱😱

4.2 MB · 0 downloads

Very nice looking setup!

Malcolm

23 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

maybe I should try the TOE 3.3 mm first

I took the head staggers a while ago and got all the TOE's. I find the 2.5 and 3.3 just as easy to use as the 4 and the image just as good too so I would definitely recommend all of them 

That being said, the only direct comparison I have made was the TOE 4 with the SLV 4 (and the Nagler zoom with each TOE). In every case I preferred the TOE.

If your HR3.4 is a keeper though you would definitely want to do a comparison before shelling out on a TOE 3.3

My 2.5 TOE gets most use in my FS60CB where the scope can easily take the power (and more) but I don't have a barlow to multiply up other eyepieces to that power.

Malcolm 

I'm sure I read this thread about 350 years ago and was about to reply when I got distracted by an apple hitting me on the head

Great read and your enthusiasm and descriptions make a dedicated refractor man envious

Malcolm

Great read thanks for posting @PeterStudz and toasted marshmallows and hot chocolate is very definitely worth killing your night vision for

Malcolm

I was lucky enough to do a trek to Kala Patthar in Nepal about 15 years ago. Not only were there so many stars you just got confused and couldn't easily recognise anything, at that height the stars didn't twinkle.

Unfortunately with a large full heavy rucksack on my back there was no chance of even a small pair of binoculars! Though I do remember being so utterly exhausted in the evenings I ashamedly only gave the stars a passing glance!

Malcolm

I should have added that he said from a normal vision point of view I should be good for 5 to 10 years which is good. I just hope the vision through the eyepiece does not deteriorate!

Malcolm

Just as an update to this in case anyone is interested!

The symptom is radial dark lines coming in from the edge of the FOV. Changing eyepiece/diagonal/scope makes no difference. Slightly different pattern in each eye.

I was at my opticians today and he said I had the beginnings of cataracts coming in from the edge of my eyes which would very likely cause this.

Malcolm

22 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Fun is sitting out in the dark, listening to passing nature such as Norah the Bat, The Owls and Passing Foxes and Badgers,
all as I sit in silence and enjoy observing. That's a good night.
Only made better with being joined by a Daughter to Observe with or a Nice Cup of Tea or even better, both of these.

Skateboards,,,,windsurfing,,,, oh no, no, no far to dangerous for a clutz such as I.

Being joined by a son or daughter is definitely the best! Moments to cherish!

Malcolm

Very impressive pics @Victor Boesen. They blow anything I have taken out of the water! 

Malcolm

On 22/03/2022 at 19:10, cajen2 said:

One of the best nights in my life was on a boat.....alone at the helm of a 35 foot yawl on the east coast of Malaysia as a teenager. Everyone else was asleep, the Milky Way was glorious, the water was full of phosphorescence....it has never got better than that.

Sailing up the West Coast of Scotland, seeing the stars come out at night, staying up all night and then seeing the Moon and Venus in the early hours of the morning. So stunning I did a drawing

Malcolm

I've never used a Pentax but I had both the 4mm TOE and 4mm SLV for a while and could compare them side by side with a Tak FC100DC. I do have Takitis but I preferred looking through the TOE. I got rid of the SLV shortly after. I'm afraid I could not quantify the difference, I just found it easier to use and a better view. I've also compared side by side the TOE and the much admired Nagler 3-6 zoom. Again I prefer using the TOE, though I'll not be getting rid of the Nagler!

In both cases I find the TOE easier to look through and a better more pleasing image, just don't ask me why Though from reading lots of stuff on this site, it seems eyepiece choice is a very individual thing!

Malcolm

Thanks for the heads up @Highburymark. That's some sight! The most spectacular one I've seen yet!

Malcolm

34 minutes ago, Stu said:

Try this?

 

Brilliant thanks. What I was seeing was definitely in the right general area.

Malcolm

14 minutes ago, Stu said:

Hopefully this will work, it’s the location of Sirius b in hourly steps through until midnight which might help.

IMG_6216.MOV

Thanks @Stu but unfortunately it comes up with 'could not locate item.

Malcolm

22 hours ago, badhex said:

They are certainly a lot cheaper. I only know a tiny bit about the Innorel and Artcise tripods, would be great to hear some real life experience of them. That said you do kinda know what you're getting with the gitzo, and I like the idea of the systematic series; the ability to swap out the mount point for different bolts or a central column etc. 

I have the Innorel RT90C. I put a Giro Ercole and Tak FC100DC on it. The good is it's extremely light. The legs fold in easily making it very easy to take through narrow doors. The legs are very easy to extend and retract. The not perfect; I feel it's not as stable as I'd really like. Nudge the focus at high power and it's 3 or 4 seconds before the vibrations stop. It does have a hook to hang a weight on but I have not tried that yet.

I have not confirmed that it's the tripod rather than the Giro causing the vibrations but by all accounts, the Giro is rock solid, especially with a light 4" like the Tak.

It has 4 leg sections which is more than I need; I've never used more than 3. 

If I were going again I think I'd go for a Gitzo Systematic. I have a small (very) Gitzo Traveller and it's perfect (though too light for a 4") and very very (surprisingly so) steady.

Berlebach are fabulous too but I think a little heavier maybe? I have a UNI 8 which is rock solid but a little more awkward carrying in and out of doors. If I were having to climb 2 flights of stairs I would go as light as possible and try to extend the budget to a Gitzo!

Malcolm

Thanks @jock1958 @Stu @F15Rules. I'll put it down as a definite possibility and keep trying. My 2 o'clock was very rough as what I thought I was seeing was coming and going (says he thinking could've been 1 o'clock )

Malcolm

I've never observed double stars before but this evening the sky was a lovely deep blue, too bright for DSOs but it looked really steady. I've read alot about splitting Sirius so I thought I'd give it a go . First up FC100DC + TOE 4mm. Sirius is really tight and lovely set of diffraction rings but it's on fire! 3.3mm TOE and then 2.5 but there's nothing obvious. In fact there's nothing not obvious! I thought Rigel; I've read if you can't split Rigel there's no point in trying for the Pup. Rigel with the 2.5mm TOE was very obvious so back to Sirius. I let it drift across the FOV time and time again and then started to see something keep appearing. It was a similar separation to Rigel and it was following Sirius crossing the FOV (right to left, refractor view). I'd say it was in the 2 o'clock position or thereabouts. It was not there all the time but kept appearing in the blaze of Sirius.

Is it possible this was the Pup? Or were my eyes playing tricks on me?

Malcolm

Here's my attempts at sketching the changing appearance

Nice one of the prom. It's exactly as I saw it. Here's a pic of the same prom earlier in the day. It was fascinating watching it change shape over the day.

Malcolm

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

No observing for me despite the clear skies. My back is out again. Don't laugh - I did it getting out of bed...

My sympathies! My back is only just back to normal after 4 weeks. My mistake was to pick 'Turn Left at Orion' off the floor! 

Malcolm

Good idea to turn back time @Kon I'll give that a go thanks,

Malcolm

That's great info on seeing and transparency thanks @Stu. Encouraging too that the Rosetta is possible in a 4". I need to find some dark skies not too far away!

Malcolm

Transparency was not great last night, I think that's the right description; it seemed there was high cloud and there were simply not many stars visible.

Anyway, I took @mikeDnight's advice from an earlier post and spent lots of time looking at and getting to know my current 4 favourite open clusters a bit better M35-38.

Anyway, while observing M35,  quite a bright satellite passed left to right (refractor view) just under it. About 10 seconds later another one passed on the exact same trajectory. Strange I thought I've never seen that before. And then another one, 10 seconds and same trajectory again. This happened twelve times! All on the exact same trajectory and all roughly 10 seconds apart. There may have been more as the first one passed just after I had started to observe. Does anyone know what this procession might have been?

I'll not describe the clusters (again) suffice it to say it was well worth spending time on each rather than rushing though them and every other visible DSO! It's lovely as gradually more and more stars and detail becomes visible the more time you spend.

I also saw the Eskimo nebula for the first time. Very satisfying star hopping down from Pollux and seeing it; not much detail, it appeared as an out of focus star - I've attached my sketches through a Tak 28mm Erfle (my star hopping eyepiece) and a Tak 10mm LE (on an FC100DC).

I then tried for the Leo triplet but despite being sure i was in the correct location there was no sign of any of them. Ditto M65 and 66, no sign of them. I take this as confirmation of the poor transparency.

A quick attempt at the Rosetta Nebula. Again a no show though the little group of stars in its centre are very pretty. Should the Rosetta be visible in a 4" refractor in suburban skies?

Finally a glance at the double cluster which as always is a joy (wish I could come up with some more superlatives for this one ) and that ended a very pleasant 3 hours under the stars!

For those of you who have got this far, thanks for reading and apologies for the upside down image, can't seem to figure out how to take a photo the right way up! Guess that's why I'm a visual observer

Malcolm