What a night

[Stu]

Just managed Zeta Herc in the FL102S. Very pleased with that! It was coming and going in the seeing, but I had a few minutes when it was excellent and appeared just in the right place, quite similar to John’s sketch. I was using a nag zoom at 3mm, so x300.

The seeing is not fantastic and when I tried in the 8” it was a mess, no chance at all so it seems it does need better seeing in the larger scopes.

[markse68]

That’s great Stu-and an important thing to remember- I’m forever doubting my scope when it’s likely the conditions that aren’t ideal and  I know it can perform just great in the right conditions!  

The weather forecast lied to me today so I stayed in tonight- probably for the best though as there’s only so many late nights it’s healthy to take!

[chiltonstar]

8 hours ago, Stu said:

Just managed Zeta Herc in the FL102S. Very pleased with that! It was coming and going in the seeing, but I had a few minutes when it was excellent and appeared just in the right place, quite similar to John’s sketch. I was using a nag zoom at 3mm, so x300.

The seeing is not fantastic and when I tried in the 8” it was a mess, no chance at all so it seems it does need better seeing in the larger scopes.

Good to see you've joined the Zeta Her club Stu! It is a tricky little pair though for the smaller scope because of the secondary falling on the diff ring. Might be worth trying again with the 8" on a night when the seeing is good??

Chris

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

Good to see you've joined the Zeta Her club Stu! It is a tricky little pair though for the smaller scope because of the secondary falling on the diff ring. Might be worth trying again with the 8" on a night when the seeing is good??

Chris

Thanks Chris. Not sure if you saw but I did catch it a while back in the 8”. It was a night of much better seeing, and the view was quite different to last night. In the 8”, I got two round airy disks, whereas last might the secondary was very much like John’s sketch, ie elongated around the diffraction ring. I’m surprised and pleased to have got it in the Vixen, it does show it is a very capable scope. The additional focal length over the FC100DC is useful as it gives me x300 with the Nag Zoom vs x246, a useful increase.

 

[John]

Great stuff Stu

I'm glad my sketch was reasonably accurate - its easy to find yourself doubting what you saw at this game, particularly as we all have to observe on our own just now.

 

[chiltonstar]

37 minutes ago, Stu said:

Thanks Chris. Not sure if you saw but I did catch it a while back in the 8”. It was a night of much better seeing, and the view was quite different to last night. In the 8”, I got two round airy disks, whereas last might the secondary was very much like John’s sketch, ie elongated around the diffraction ring. I’m surprised and pleased to have got it in the Vixen, it does show it is a very capable scope. The additional focal length over the FC100DC is useful as it gives me x300 with the Nag Zoom vs x246, a useful increase.

 

Yes, I'd forgotten Stu. Must be one of the effects of extended home incarceration!

Chris

[Stu]

1 minute ago, John said:

Great stuff Stu

I'm glad my sketch was reasonably accurate - its easy to find yourself doubting what you saw at this game, particularly as we all have to observe on our own just now.

 

Thanks John. It was very close to your sketch the seeing settled, although at times it looked like  a picture of spaghetti drawn by a 2 year old!! 🤣.

I have no idea if I’ve been seeing this before but not recognising it, although I’m fairly sure I haven’t (In a 4” I mean). Even though conditions were not that good, it was consistently in the right place and quite obvious.

It was very interesting to refer to my description in the 8” under good conditions and see the difference ie the 8” was very much resolving the two disks, vs the kind of elongated secondary in the smaller scope.

Either my kit or my observing has got better over the years, likely both as I’m definitely seeing these targets better now than a few years ago when I first started observing tighter doubles.

[chiltonstar]

6 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks John. It was very close to your sketch the seeing settled, although at times it looked like  a picture of spaghetti drawn by a 2 year old!! 🤣.

I have no idea if I’ve been seeing this before but not recognising it, although I’m fairly sure I haven’t (In a 4” I mean). Even though conditions were not that good, it was consistently in the right place and quite obvious.

It was very interesting to refer to my description in the 8” under good conditions and see the difference ie the 8” was very much resolving the two disks, vs the kind of elongated secondary in the smaller scope.

Either my kit or my observing has got better over the years, likely both as I’m definitely seeing these targets better now than a few years ago when I first started observing tighter doubles.

I have both my 180 Mak and a small frac - ED80 - on my mount at the same time. This way, I get the beauty of a frac view,  even if the Airy disks are huge, and the resolution of the Mak. It helps to see the split as well.

Chris

[Stu]

1 hour ago, chiltonstar said:

I have both my 180 Mak and a small frac - ED80 - on my mount at the same time. This way, I get the beauty of a frac view,  even if the Airy disks are huge, and the resolution of the Mak. It helps to see the split as well.

Chris

Good plan Chris, I should out the Tak or Vixen next to the Mewlon for similar effect.

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Good plan Chris, I should out the Tak or Vixen next to the Mewlon for similar effect.

Looking forward to it, Stu.

[John]

I guess I'd better get a mak

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, John said:

I guess I'd better get a mak

I think you do more than successfully enough with your scopes John! 👍👍