Mak 102 in carry-on luggage?

[Ags]

I fly on Wednesday but I'm having some jitters about taking my Mak in carry-on luggage...  Will I get it through security?

[JamesF]

I can't see why you wouldn't, unless you've disguised it as an AK-47.  If all else fails, it's a camera lens

James

[LukeSkywatcher]

 MAK 102 should go on as hand luggage no problem.

[Ags]

They gave all the bits an extra look, but they let me through.

I had a quick look at Jupiter tonight, the view was through thick haze. As it often does, haze seems to make the view much more stable. Jupiter looked great in comparison to back home, with lots of fine detail and varied color. I need to find a better observing site, the area outside my room is extremely well illuminated!

[happy-kat]

Enjoy your holiday observing, sounds like you're getting more to see.

[DirkSteele]

When I took my APM LZOS 105 through it got some extra attention as that is quite large, but my smaller Takahashi scopes never seem to.  I do sometimes wonder whether with the Taks it is because I also have a DSLR body with them so the assumption is it is camera lens related, something security see daily and hence no issue.

 

In any regard, you will be fine.  I also did find in Oman it was helpful to have my star atlas with me to help explain what I was doing with the language barrier in the way.

[Ags]

We moved to a new room with a clear view to the South that's shielded from direct light sources. Take 2 tonight!

[happy-kat]

That's brilliant, hope it works out well later.

[Ags]

Planets viewed so far: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn. The seeing was very good until just now but suddenly Saturn started flexing like a rubber sheet then it turned into a blur. But I had a few minutes of sharp viewing; the A and B rings were distinct and maybe I saw the Cassini division for a microsecond. It looked like I could see a sliver of shadow on the ring behind Saturn but I'm not sure.

Some kind of sea fog is breezing in from the sea and it is eating the stars - Antares is quite faint and I can't make out the form of Scorpio, which is bright and distinctive under good skies. I hope the wind goes down and the fog clears before Mars o'clock.

[Ags]

It's 11.52 and Mars has come into view. It's still too low and I'm viewing across the face of the hotel so I'm catching horrible building thermals, but at least it's coming into view at a time my long suffering partner might stay awake for. Give it a few more days and it might be far enough away from the building for an okay pre-midnight view. 

Boy Mars is big this year, I'm using 33% less magnification than the last time it was around but I'm getting a much bigger image. But so far I can make out zero detail, not even polar caps.

[Jeff-Colorado]

Mars is experiencing a global dust storm, so there isn't much to see, unfortunately.

Glad your trip is going well.

[Ags]

Mars is higher now and the view is much more stable. I can maybe see a dark patch in the south, and maybe a hint of brightness on the northern limb. It's pretty cool seeing a Global Dust Storm, but can it go away now? 

[Gina]

Thick fog here when I woke up.  Burnt off now.

[emadmoussa]

I don't see why not. Having a long beard and looking different won't get you through security. Carrying a Mak won't be an issue, I think. 

[Ags]

I once got pulled aside in Sharjah (or maybe Riyadh? - I was passing through at 2am) over a slo-mo cable that was in my carry-on luggage and not hold luggage by mistake.

The Saharan dust cloud over Gran Canaria has cleared today, so I am taking that as an omen that the Mars dust clouds must have cleared too. 

I went up in the mountains last night and took some pictures in-between looking through a big dob. Unfortunately the dust was still quite bad then and stars were notably dimmer or completely absent, and light pollution was exacerbated. Milky Way was barely visible.