Show us your set up in action during the day.

[IB20]

3 hours ago, Franklin said:

A blast from the past with a bit of old school solar projection this morning. Seeing quite good and plenty of detail with the Vixen 3" achro and 17mm Plossl, the photos don't show how it looked very well..

 

Superb set-up. 👍🏻

[Franklin]

1 minute ago, RobertI said:

but actually at that magnification it wasn’t bright at all. 

Wow, I had a try with just the internal ND3 and although it was viewable, it was a bit too bright for me. Not too bright for the revealing of detail, just too bright as in it made me a bit nervous regards safety. Always stick the Continuum on now and just have a green Sun.

[Franklin]

Summer in Chesterfield this weekend so I thought I'd give the Lunt solar wedge a go using only the internal ND3 filter as per @RobertI above. Using the reduced aperture of the FL55ss with HR eyepieces and OMG...... fluorite glass despite the tiny aperture, what contrast! This is why everyone is always raving on about their Takahashi scopes...... Amazing. Had a play around with some colour filters but I think I prefer the native views. My goto WL solar setup is a Vixen LV zoom with Baader Solar Continuum filter as it works superbly every time. The detail and the snap focus is just fantastic, I love my old 3" achro and the solar projection yesterday was fun but the Lunt wedge is the business.

 

[Merak]

Had a nice time looking at Venus and the Moon, something I could spend ages looking at when in phase.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Merak

[laudropb]

Set up for my first solar session in almost a year. Well worth the effort. Lots of activity to sketch and watch throughout the day

[Nigella Bryant]

Got the big gun out now it's nearly summer here. 

[Alan White]

4 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Got the big gun out now it's nearly summer here. 

Nice to see that you have one of those fine fettling tools so loved by Astronomers,
That well know tool the Pick Axe 😉

[wesdon1]

On 05/12/2020 at 17:45, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi all, there's lots of telescope action during the night but that's only half the day. Show off your set up in action during the day.

 

@Nigella Bryant Hi Nigella!¬ May I ask, why have you got a observatory, and expensive Solar 'Scope etc, and a small cheap ( but awesome for what they are! I hasten to add! ) non equatorial mount? I would have thought with so much money invested in everything else, you would also fit an equatorial mount with a much higher payload capacity? It's a beautiful setup, regardless!

Clear Skies!

Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

[wesdon1]

On 05/12/2020 at 18:43, Victor Boesen said:

I really enjoy scrolling through these threads, but I haven't taken part of one yet! May this one be the first

Here's my Evostar 72ED DS-Pro with a custom 3D-printed solar filter (Baader white light film) in action:

Another one with my buddy tanning in the background 

I am considering the Lunt 1.25" wedge for my Evostar 72 and Tecnosky 102 refractors since the sun is beginning to show a lot of activity again!

Victor

@Victor Boesen Hi Vic. I just thought I'd tell you, seeing as you are located on a balcony and I assume you have no way of polar aligning up there? I too have a similar problem where I live on 2nd floor flat. But I have to look out a Skylight window. I couldn't polar align, but I recently discovered brilliant new product called "StarAid". It basically allows you to do long exposure, tracked astrophotography from a balcony/through a window without needing to polar align. Now admittedly, I don't yet own this new product ( very expensive! circa £800-£900! ) but from what I've read, it's a Godsend for people like you and me who can't polar align. As a side note, I do now carry all my gear downstairs, with some difficulty, to go outside to polar align and do my astrophotography outdoors, but for months I wasn't able to due to health problems. But it's definitely a product I'd like to try out in future. Sorry for such long message Vic, I just wanted to make you aware of the product incase you weren't.

Clear Skies!

Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

[Grant Fribbens]

I am only out at night at the moment but have got some solar film and some designs from Thingiverse to print so watch this space!

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Grant Fribbens

[Nigella Bryant]

5 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@Nigella Bryant Hi Nigella!¬ May I ask, why have you got a observatory, and expensive Solar 'Scope etc, and a small cheap ( but awesome for what they are! I hasten to add! ) non equatorial mount? I would have thought with so much money invested in everything else, you would also fit an equatorial mount with a much higher payload capacity? It's a beautiful setup, regardless!

Clear Skies!

Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

I beat you to it, fast forward to this year, lol.

[paul mc c]

Hopefully m101 sn tonight..

[MalcolmM]

Gotta love doing astronomy while sitting in the sun! All I need for complete perfection is a glass of red wine

Malcolm 

[josefk]

Very nice @MalcolmM - i'm having a quick look on here while taking lunch then will be back in the (home) office. Would happily swap afternoons with you!

[lukebl]

Here's my simple roll-away observatory, with its IAU Observatory code stencilled on the side.

I've had many, many telescopes over the years (SCTs, Maks, Klevtsov/Cassegrains), but have always come back to Newtonians for their simplicity and f ratio.

Some of you may recall my previous gorgeous Tardis obs, which I had to retire as it was hopelessly leaking and was starting to decay. Most of it ended up in the woodburner!

[Mr Spock]

Not so much in action as waiting for action. Too cloudy!!!

 

[Vroobel]

Hi, 

Everyone captures the AR3310 sunspot and its neighbours, so I do it as well. 

 

SW EQ5, Starwave 102ED F/11, (Barlow RevelationAstro 2" x2 ED), Hercules Herschel wedge 1.25", Baader Yellow, Baader IR/UV Cut, ASI 678MC.

 

 

OpusMagnum ATM EQ fork mount, Bresser Messier 10" F/5, full aperture Baader ND5.0 foil, Baader Yellow, Baader IR/UV Cut, ASI 678MC. 

 

Videos are still processed.

Edited May 27, 2023 by Vroobel

[Stu]

Out with the big FS yesterday evening looking at Venus and the Moon. I started with the AZ75/Uni-28 and moved to the AZ100/Planet which was more stable. Very nice.

[IB20]

Gonna be a great day. 😃

[JeremyS]

6 hours ago, Stu said:

Out with the big FS yesterday evening looking at Venus and the Moon. I started with the AZ75/Uni-28 and moved to the AZ100/Planet which was more stable. Very nice.

Grass looking good, Stu.

Cracking Tak too. 

[Roy Challen]

You've seen it many times before, but here is my Skylight this morning. Seeing was terrible so I went for a walk. Now I see that @Peter Drew has spotted a huge outburst when I am at least an hour from home 😄

Edited May 27, 2023 by Roy Challen

[Roy Challen]

47 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Grass looking good, Stu.

Cracking Tak too. 

He must have sent Mrs Stu to the lawnmower people...😄

[Stu]

Just now, Roy Challen said:

He must have sent Mrs Stu to the lawnmower people...😄

Luckily for them, it was ready just as I was reaching that stage. A close shave…. 🤣

[Roy Challen]

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

Luckily for them, it was ready just as I was reaching that stage. A close shave…. 🤣

For them, or your lawn? 😄

[cloudsweeper]

5.30pm Saturday, Moon first quarter, high SE - not a great deal seen - I just wanted a play with the big frac, which doesn't get used as much as it should.  (Also, I find it increasingly hard to get out in the early hours!)

I did enjoy swinging the 'scope round - very easy to use, despite its size.  Operating between x33 and x86, I was still able to see details of crater terraces, and the Alpine Valley was very clear near the terminator.  x69 with the 17.5mm Morpheus was particularly pleasing.

The Ring of Fire effect was of course very noticeable with the low power wide angle EPs, where the exit pupil was larger.

An hour well spent.  Comfortable, too, with the modified chair which can be moved now without the back support collapsing!

Doug.