29.01.2020 Spotted this:

[Rusted]

Very steady seeing but constantly teased by thick and thin cloud.

Element spacing fogged up in my 6" f/8 objective despite or because of [?] new dew heater straps.

Quite pleased considering the difficult conditions.

[Rusted]

Here's a reworked copy to bring out more contrast and detail:

There is a strong gradient across the image unfortunately.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Rusted

[Davey-T]

Nice spot, almost tempted to set up the solar rig but it's too windy really.

Dave

[Rusted]

Thanks Dave. I am seeing much the same detail on my monitor as I am capturing.
First time ever to see magnetic lines [?] radiating from "bundles" and the spot.

I've left the new dew heaters on over lunch to see if I can clear the dew between the lens elements.
Haven't had that problem before. Can heat bands cause internal dewing?

[Davey-T]

3 minutes ago, Rusted said:

I've left the new dew heaters on over lunch to see if I can clear the dew between the lens elements.
Haven't had that problem before. Can heat bands cause internal dewing?

I get dew inside the triplet lens sometimes and takes a while to shift using hair dryer

Dave

[Rusted]

I don't remember seeing interstitial dew before.
Regularly lose imaging time to back of rear element dew but not in between.
That's why I have invested in the heat bands and controller.
The hair drier didn't seem to help despite 20 minutes of blasting the objective cell.

[Davey-T]

10 minutes ago, Rusted said:

The hair drier didn't seem to help despite 20 minutes of blasting the objective cell.

Mine takes ages to clear, have to warmup the whole tube then leave it for a while to clear, one good reason for oil separated lenses.

Also get it between the lenses of the WO flattener / reducer, probably because it's outside just under a cover.

Dave

[Rusted]

Some proms between heavy cloud. Lens has finally cleared.

[AstroTim]

Thanks for the heads up, as I’ve now just seen my first sun spot. White light with solar film, so not as impressive as your images, but I’m happy to have seen one never the less.

Tim

[Rusted]

39 minutes ago, AstroTim said:

Thanks for the heads up, as I’ve now just seen my first sun spot.
White light with solar film, so not as impressive as your images, but I’m happy to have seen one never the less.

Tim

Congratulations Tim!

It is a relatively tiny spot, compared to many, so well spotted! 

[Pete Presland]

Nice little spot there!