Fabulous Views tonight

[kirkster501]

Hello all,

Used my recently acquired Meade 14” SCT ACF with my 12mm and 17mm Naglers tonight. Got the scope well collimated and at ambient.

I have never seen such spectacular lunar views. Crystal clear, almost as if I were in orbit.  The Apenines were sharp and leaped out.  Craters like Copernicus full of fine detail and colour.

wonderful.  Still mesmerised by it.  Had to come in since up for work at 5am but looking forward to the next session!

[ShrewView]

Just come in for a quick cuppa and was going to post a similar thing. Its so still, that the detail is hard to believe. Best I've seen for ages.

Must be fabulous with that scope!

 

[Stu]

Had a relatively quick look too with the 8" f8, lovely views!

[johninderby]

Had some great views from the Skymax 180. So still and clear. 👍🏻

[John]

More great lunar views here as well - 3rd night in a row !

 

[Paul73]

Less steady seeing here, but in the steady moments 😁. Lots of very subtle textures. No colour though, except for the dreaded “ring of fire” off the ES 82° 24mm (could be the Parracor setting was a bit out).

Split Izar (just) with strong colours and had my first view of the year of M13. How could I not be smiling?😁

Paul

[John]

Many ultra and hyper wide eyepieces show a form of illumination around their field stops.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/530975-what-actually-causes-ring-of-fire-in-31-nagler-and-others/

[Saganite]

Second night of Lunar viewing and again the detail was so sharp and clear, it was pure pleasure. The Hadley Rille at 222x was prominent and to a lesser extent the Alpine Valley Rille, but  I could only get four Plato craterlets that were were really stark, and a handful of others appearing as white blemishes. 

The remaining time of the 2 hour session was spent simply enjoying the rugged Southern area of the Moon, with a pair of Ultima 18's ( 124 X ).

[chiltonstar]

As above, two nights of superb lunar viewing here too with my 180 Mak - two passing dog-walkers enjoyed the view as well last night, although the dogs got bored!

Chris

Edited May 15, 2019 by chiltonstar

[kirkster501]

Looking at the Apollo 11 landing area and I could clearly see the Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins craters, with the Nagler 12mm = x300.  Also spent some time observing Taurus-Littrow region of Apollo 17.  A project idea I have is to image all Apollo landing sites in fine detail.

Not often can use x300 magnification in my experience.

[JohnC260]

yes with my little Bresser 90/900 some fantastic clear views.

This is some real amateur astrophotography I just put a smartphone to the eye piece! haha

Edited May 15, 2019 by JohnC260

[kirkster501]

9 hours ago, ShrewView said:

Must be fabulous with that scope!

 

Thanks, and yes it is.  Only bought it off an SGL ad a month ago.  It is magnificent.  I bought it principally for lunar/planetary visual and photography.  But also some deep sky.  I am still learning to use it.  The FoV is small though with Nagler 12mm and focusing can cause slight wobble for two or three seconds.  Damian Peach talks about this with long FL SCT scopes.  So I need a motorised focuser ideally so that I do not have to touch the scope physically when focusing.

[JohnC260]

I'm quite happy with broken street lights at the moment, the best viewing for the moon was to the front of my house, and the lighting is broken! haha

Some passers by and the neighbours asked to look, I only have a beginners scope but people are still impressed.

[Saganite]

1 hour ago, JohnC260 said:

yes with my little Bresser 90/900 some fantastic clear views.

This is some real amateur astrophotography I just put a smartphone to the eye piece! haha

Very good effort John. I tried the same thing last night and missed the Moon completely, but got some lovely shots, if out of focus, of my eyepiece !!

[Geoff Barnes]

First clear night for ages down here , so I was looking forward to having my first ever sighting of Markarians Chain, but, guess where the moon is tonight...…. 🙄