bosun21

Buy a lazy Susan bearing. A good quality one is really smooth.

That looks just the job. My Apollo binoculars are 2.5kg the same as your spotting scope so that should balance out quite well. Thanks.

Nice capture Peter👍.

Mine is also on the east side when pointing south. I don’t think I would be too perturbed if it suddenly changed to the west side. To me it all depends on what you have grown accustomed to over the years and for you that has become fine.

I was out last night with the Apollo 15x70 on my pistol grip mount and tripod. I find that they are just too heavy for the pistol grip and slips down when pointing higher in the sky. What mount would be suitable for these binoculars (2.5kg). I was thinking something from the Manfrotto line. Any advice appreciated.

I take it you are talking at the eyepiece views. If that is the case then I second Saturn, Jupiter and the moon. The sight of Saturns rings for the first time still stays with me to this day.

Well that changes things. A small refractor on a tracking EQ mount should be your target in that case.

If i was you I'd buy a 8" dobsonian. It will keep you busy for a lifetime of visual observing and if further down the road you want to do a bit of EAA then all you need to do is buy an EQ platform and a camera.

Out for a few hours last night with a 150PL on an EQ5. This was its first light and all went well apart from dew stopping the session. Dew shield now purchased for this scope.

Are you only using the supplied eyepieces that came with the telescope? I believe that your telescope comes with a 26mm and a 9mm. With your focal length being 650mm this will only give you a maximum of 72x magnification which is not high enough for planetary observation. I would buy a 2x barlow lens and perhaps a 5mm eyepiece. These will increase the magnification and will give you better views of the planets. I would also double check the collimation of the telescope. There's numerous guides to this on YouTube as well as here on SGL.

Delivered today a Baader Sky Surfer III for the 150PL and a dew shield for it as well. I sure could have done with the dew shield last night though.

Well the clouds stayed away long enough for me to get first light with the 150PL and my Apollo 15x70 binoculars. I didn't go out until 11pm to allow some transient clouds to pass. I had to start with Saturn with the 150PL which was still relatively low in the sky. I was surprised how much the planets orientation had changed since last year with the rings being edge on not far away now. I started at 120x with the UFF 10mm then pushed it with the addition of an ES 2x extender to 240x. Great to see the gas giant back in the sky. The Cassini division clearly seen with also one darker band on Saturn itself. The seeing was good, although this would deteriorate as the night went on due to rising humidity and quite heavy dew accumulation. A thin cloud started coming in from the south putting an end to Saturn. I then had a quick look with the Apollo binoculars on a pistol grip tripod at M92 and M13 in Hercules followed by a scout around the clusters in Casseopia. I was impressed with the performance of the Apollo binoculars especially nearer the edges. I then did a star test on Polaris to check my handiwork in collimating the scope. Pleased to say all was well. I then had a look at M27 hanging ghostlike in the sky. Next was NGC6572 in Ophiuchus which is another PN i like to observe. It was showing a green tint to it in the eyepiece. My night was cut short due to the secondary mirror misting up with dew as well as the bino objectives. ( dew shield has been ordered). The clouds are starting to advance across the sky in any case. I caught a few perseids tonight with one extremely bright one actually making me jerk my head as it passed from north to south. Despite it being a relatively short session it was great to be under a clear sky again. First light on both completed.

Welcome to SGL Pauline 👋.

Looks promising for me to get my first night under the stars after 6-7 weeks of cloud cover. Decided to use my new 150PL on an EQ5. This hopefully will be its first light tonight. With a bit of luck I may even get a first light with my Apollo 15x70 binoculars🤞.

Good improvisation on your part. Unfortunately I was in the middle of the moors with no fence or man made structure for many miles. It was a long night for sure.

Fantastic detailed captures 👍.

This thread just confirms how eyepieces/eye placement etc is a very personalised affair. Luckily I find the eye placement for my six Morpheus eyepieces to be extremely natural for me. I only use the M43 extension on my 6.5mm & 4.5mm to make them a little more comfortable. There’s been some well regarded eyepieces that I just couldn’t get on with. The slightest movement of my head incurred blackouts. One mans food can be another mans poison springs to mind.

🤔Not for what I’ve seen. Terrestrial then yes, but not astronomy. I got my first ever telescope at 8 years old (a 114mm generic reflector) and even at this young age I knew instinctively that I had to be outside and I used to take it out into a local farm to escape the lights.

I used to own the 8" Stella Lyra dobsonian and now own the 12". The optics on both of them were/are excellent. I think you can buy with confidence.

I would go for the Skymax 127 go to mainly for its tracking ability. When viewing the planets you are generally using high magnification therefore the planets will be moving quickly through the FOV of the eyepiece. The tracking mount eliminates the constant need to keep nudging the scope to reacquire the target. They come in on budget also.

Many years ago I was on a camping trip to the Highlands of Scotland with all the necessary astro kit. I had indeed brought everything I required astronomy wise but to my horror I discovered I didn't include the tent pegs with the camping gear

You are not alone. I also haven't had any cloud free nights in two months so I have total empathy with you. I have a new pair of 15x70 Helios Apollo binoculars and a 150PL reflector still awaiting their first light. I will be miffed if I miss Saturns opposition as I have been eagerly awaiting the planets return to our evening skies. This has been the longest drought since I rekindled my astronomy journey 3 years ago.

I have seen many older Meade SCT's with counterweights fitted behind the primary mirror. I think it's due to them having to move the fulcrum further back to allow diagonals etc to have enough clearance of the fork mount when observing near or at the zenith.

Nice report Mike, although I think you are mistaken about the Ghost of the Moon nebula being Mag 16. If it was even your 16" couldn't see it. It's actually a Mag 11.4. Good to see you eventually getting a good night under the stars.

I also found the LT70 to be reasonably sharp as well although as to be expected suffers from CA on the brighter targets. Once I removed the Starsense unit I gave it away to the scouts.