It's not often I get over 200x... tonight though...

[Fozzie]

I'm about 230x which is very rare for me and my equipment but it's rock steady out there tonight.. the stadius range and craters next to the mighty Copernicus is a stunning view..

Any one else braving the cold?

Ta

Fozzie 

[scarp15]

Thanks, just about ready to head outside, looking forward to that.  

[Knighty2112]

Cloudy further east over here in Hull at the moment, so hoping to get some clear skies if possible in the next few hours. Forcast doesn’t predict any though alas!  

[spaceman_spiff]

Very windy here but seeing is excellent. I'm imaging south at Clavius, Tycho and Longomontanus atm.

[Saganite]

Hi Fozzie,

Yep, I am out again Moon gazing, but this time with the 12" OO dob, and looking forward to a long session although it is a little breezy. Have fun  

[Fozzie]

2 hours ago, Knighty2112 said:

Cloudy further east over here in Hull at the moment

Those clouds didn't take long to make it over here.. went in to put the youngster to bed, came out to total cloud..

From what I could tell that seeing was very very good.. 225x rock steady in the 102mm f11.. glorious sight!

[Eastman]

Hi there Fozzie,

I had the same experience, and Copernicus was really spectacular!

[Saganite]

Still very clear here and in the Dob 305x is slightly undulating but ok, however 210x is crisp , steady, and stunning,  ( 19mm Pans in the bino) so I shall stick with that.  

[Knighty2112]

1 hour ago, Fozzie said:

Those clouds didn't take long to make it over here.. went in to put the youngster to bed, came out to total cloud..

From what I could tell that seeing was very very good.. 225x rock steady in the 102mm f11.. glorious sight!

Yeah, sorry about the clouds. Was expecting it to be clear here till about 8/9pm, but alas that never happened. Hoping for better luck perhaps tomorrow night.

[Stu]

Had a good little session earlier, planning on getting up for Jupiter if clear in the morning....

[Fozzie]

Back on it tonight, might be the last chance for a few weeks, if the weather reports are accurate! 

Let's hope the seeing is as good, if not better than last night!

 

Anyone else out?

Ta

Fozzie 

[Knighty2112]

33 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Back on it tonight, might be the last chance for a few weeks, if the weather reports are accurate! 

Let's hope the seeing is as good, if not better than last night!

 

Anyone else out?

Ta

Fozzie 

Yes, I’ve just nabbed Venus going down between two houses and a power pylon here with my small AR90’s on my grab and go mount. Now planning to set up my larger frac on my Skytee to observe the moon and hopefully doing some imaging too.  Blooming cold out there though! I’ll let you know if the clouds pile in again, which are forcast to between 8 & 9pm here.

[Stu]

Cracking looking setup Fozzie, hope it stays clear and steady for you.

My scopes have been out all day, just switched the Tak back to night time mode and had a quick look at the moon, very nice again.

Just noticed that Messier and Messier A are clearly on show in Mare Fecunditatis, number 25 on the Lunar 100.

[Fozzie]

10 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

  Blooming cold out there though! I’ll let you know if the clouds pile in again, which are forcast to between 8 & 9pm here.

It is bitterly cold at the moment, very still and the scopes been out a good hour so ready to go.. tonight is going to need some antifreeze I think.. single malt, Irish grain or Yankee bourbon? Can't decide, might just go with all 3!

11 minutes ago, Stu said:

Cracking looking setup Fozzie, hope it stays clear and steady for you.

My scopes have been out all day, just switched the Tak back to night time mode and had a quick look at the moon, very nice again.

Just noticed that Messier and Messier A are clearly on show in Mare Fecunditatis, number 25 on the Lunar 100.

Cheers Stu, might just check those out! 

Good viewing 

fozzie 

[Stu]

Yes, really bitter!! Wrap up warm!! Might have to put my 'astro hairdryer' up the leg of my trousies  

[Saganite]

1 hour ago, Fozzie said:

Back on it tonight, might be the last chance for a few weeks, if the weather reports are accurate! 

Let's hope the seeing is as good, if not better than last night!

 

Anyone else out?

Ta

Fozzie 

Hi Fozzie,

What is going on !

Andromeda is up and running again and the seeing is amazing again, steady as ...... a steady thing at 190X

[Fozzie]

The seeing is amazing, so much so I might need to retitle... 1125mm focal.length, 2x RD Focal.extender and 6mm Slv.. thats like 375x... looks like this through my ep..

Blown away really..

For a 100mm achro.. that is not bad..

Ta 

fozzie 

[Stu]

Looking good! Might have to sneak out again for another look  

[Fozzie]

450x... with a 5mm slab

Very difficult to get camera anywhere near...

Ta

fozzie 

 

[Paz]

Nice reports, I also thought it was really good earlier today in daylight and twilight,  I ended up with a 6mm slv in my maksutov which makes for 317x and it was winning! Usually it doesn't hold up past 10mm or 8mm. It was really cold so I've packed up already, quitting while I'm ahead.

Here's some action shots from when it was still light. The eyepiece view is 12.5mm so 152x, I was having a go at measuring Clavius.

 

[Stu]

14 minutes ago, Paz said:

The eyepiece view is 12.5mm so 152x, I was having a go at measuring Clavius.

Looks fun, how did you get on?

[geoflewis]

I had a couple of neighbour families here early evening yesterday (Saturday) with their 3 kids (age ranges 4-8) to look at the Moon through my C14. I started with my new ES 68 40mm eyepiece which just fitted the entire Moon in FOV for about x98, giving really a lovely crisp view. We then progressed to using a TV 12mm Nagler (x325) for some super views with everyone enjoying using the hand controller to naviage the Moon's surface. Then just because I could we ended up with a TV 5mm Radian for around x800, which was really too much even thouh seeing was really steady. Nevertheless it gave really good close up views of Plato and Copernicus which was right on the terminator so showing impressive shadows, but getting good focus was tricky at such high magnification. Kids, parents and yours truly had a fun time flying over the Moon's terrain . We then each had a good look at M42 with the ES 68 40mm. The 4 main trapezium stars easily seen, surrounded by nebulsity, but of course that was substantially washed out by the bright Moon directly above.

Today has been cracking clear blue skies all day until about 6:30pm when I headed out to the Obs, only to see clouds piling in from the East, so nothing doing here tonight.... . Oh well, heavy snow forecast for later, so that's probably me done for a few days....

[Beulah]

Think I'll pull out the dob for a quick sky recce...the biting wind has dropped...

[Fozzie]

I must say the camping heater under the chair is keeping the chill of a bit!

It's a flameless one before anyone is worried about pyrotechnics!

Cheating I know...

Pulled back on the mag to 225x now.. just having at rimae's for a while. just had a satellite buzz by too..

[Knighty2112]

Clouds rolling in now, so called it a night. Feet are blooming frozen, but well worth it. The moon was as clear as a bell tonight, with increadible seeing. Pushed it up to 220x with a 4.5mm EP, but too much light scatter with it, so used my 6mm WO EP instead for a clearer view. Best I’ve seen the moon in ages. Was looking in the sea of clouds at some great structures, and want to find out what the object ringed in red was as with the shadows on it made it look like a man made pyramid, which I know it of course isn’t! Hehe!