*** Io shadow transit happening now 11th October ***

[IB20]

Tak quickly lobbed outside and observations about to start ☺️

[markse68]

bit wobbly as still low but caught IO crossing the limb and 40 mins later watched shadow quite clear despite the wobble. GRS a bit later too

Mark

Edited October 11, 2022 by markse68

[IB20]

Seeing not as bad as I feared it might be, actually quite decent. Even looks good at 163x if a little softer. Can make out three darker brown areas in the NEB that look like barges. The shadow is pin sharp, completely captivating watching this occur in real time. I will watch these until I’m pushing up daisies!

 

[IB20]

I’m starting to see Io’s disk brighten toward the Eastern limb.

[markse68]

it’s looking amazing now quite  3d

[IB20]

I like how when it starts to exit the disc it deforms the shape of the planet’s edge. It’s incredible.

Edited October 11, 2022 by IB20

[markse68]

The seeing is so good- crystal clear and steady- That’s the most perfect transit i’ve seen and with only my 150p!

[IB20]

GRS just coming into view too. 

[IB20]

Just the most majestic astronomical event. I cannot get enough of observing these shadow and moon transits. Jupiter looks beautiful tonight. I feel like I need to applaud 🤣

Edited October 11, 2022 by IB20

[Varavall]

55 minutes ago, markse68 said:

The seeing is so good- crystal clear and steady

Fantastic!!!! Thick cloud here in Spain 😏

[markse68]

Sorry to hear that Varavall- must be a first!

[Stu]

You chaps are a bad influence! I’ve got to be up at 4am tomorrow, and was heading to bed but read this and just had a lightning 10 minute session on Jupiter.

Same as @IB20 I ‘lobbed’ the 76Q out and just observed for 5 mins. It stays in the garden room which is pretty cool after the sun has gone down, no cooling required.

GRS looking very clear, and with a hint of orange/red to it. I don’t always see colour clearly in the smaller scopes but it was there. Some darker features on the lower edge of the NEB, I think they may be stubby festoons from looking at some of the images in the planetary section, but they weren’t distinct enough to tell.

Thanks for the heads up 👍👍

Bed now 😴😴

[MalcolmM]

Raging! Had a glimpse of Jupiter around 7pm in a 10 degree cloud free band on the horizon. Got my stuff together and half an hour later after tea it was ten tenths cloud cover! My partner roped me into 20 minutes yoga instead, a very poor substitute

Malcolm 

[IB20]

14 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

Raging! Had a glimpse of Jupiter around 7pm in a 10 degree cloud free band on the horizon. Got my stuff together and half an hour later after tea it was ten tenths cloud cover! My partner roped me into 20 minutes yoga instead, a very poor substitute

Malcolm 

Good for using the straight-through Tak finder scopes though! 😁

[MalcolmM]

@IB20 slightly off (well miles off) topic but when would you use your 5mm Pentax rather than the TOE 4?

Malcolm

PS not sure about the Tak finders! I've done yoga and pilates now for 10 years plus and I still can't touch my knees let alone my toes (pun intended). I like to think it's doing some good but I think it's just keeping me in a state of inflexible equilibrium!

[IB20]

15 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

@IB20 slightly off (well miles off) topic but when would you use your 5mm Pentax rather than the TOE 4?

Malcolm

I use them both all the time with the 76DC alongside the 7XW. In ‘normal’ seeing conditions I always start off with the 7XW on Saturn. I find it is framed superbly in this eyepiece and I can detect Saturnian moons other than Titan best with this EP. The 5XW is also exquisite on Saturn and less patience is required than the TOE in average conditions. I’d say observing the Cassini division is best with this EP and the TOE shows better banding.

For Jupiter I find the 7XW nice but a little too bright on occasion during this opposition. The 4mm TOE on Jupiter is astounding, I viewed about 90% of the transit with this last night. However when the GRS came in to view and the shadow was exiting the limb the 5XW showed the shadow leaving the planetary disc more sharply and for longer closer to the edge, mainly due to the seeing. I see the GRS as having more colour in the 5XW than the TOE too. 

There are definitely nights when the 4mm TOE is a little too much for conditions and the 5XW always steps in magnificently when this is the case. In fact I’ve even bought a 6mm SLV for when seeing is pretty dire. In UK conditions I definitely think small changes in mag really help tease the maximum available out.

For WL solar and lunar viewing I probably flit between the 7XW & 5XW 90% of the time; the 70° afforded by them make the viewing just so comfortable. Although after last night I’ll probably use the TOE 2.5mm and 3.5XW a whole lot more for lunar observing!

I would say I have yet to experience consistently excellent seeing, there were times last night where the views were splendid but they were often reduced with pockets of atmospheric water vapour and thin cloud. On average, I’d say in my Tak for day to day planetary observing somewhere between 80-144x will be optimal but it’s always something that needs honing in on. I very much look forward to experimenting with A++ conditions one day.

[IB20]

To summarise, if I was going to a dark site with my 3” frac and could only take 3 EPs I’d take the 7XW, the 5XW and the 4mm TOE. 😂

If I took the 200P I’d probably take the 17.5mm Morpheus, the 10XW and the 7XW.

[MalcolmM]

Great reply thanks @IB20. Thanks very much for all the information.  I agree with you on the nice to have small steps in high magnification. The 3-6 Nagler Zoom is great for this but I rarely use it, other than for travel, as I find the TOEs so much easier to use and to my eyes, a much better view. Aside from the size, I prefer using the Pentax over the Nagler too. That being said the zoom is great for travel. 

Malcolm 

[IB20]

5 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

Great reply thanks @IB20. Thanks very much for all the information.  I agree with you on the nice to have small steps in high magnification. The 3-6 Nagler Zoom is great for this but I rarely use it, other than for travel, as I find the TOEs so much easier to use and to my eyes, a much better view. Aside from the size, I prefer using the Pentax over the Nagler too. That being said the zoom is great for travel. 

Malcolm 

I thought about getting the Nagler zoom but when I’ve used zoom lenses in the past I fiddle around with the zoom too much and spend no time observing. With FL EPs I plonk it in and spend a good 20-30 mins just observing with no faff.

The 4mm TOE for me is perfection. If there were 5 & 6mm TOEs I would buy them in a heartbeat.

[MalcolmM]

16 minutes ago, IB20 said:

If there were 5 & 6mm TOEs I would buy them in a heartbeat.

Me too

[markse68]

I was using my “new” Nikon zoom again last night and really have come to enjoy its versatility. For planetary i am using it barlowed (9-3mm). being able to quickly change from a wider view with its higher colour contrast and then zoom in on details which with the corresponding lower contrast taking more “effort” to gel into detail has been quite a revelation

Mark

[JeremyS]

On 11/10/2022 at 23:04, Stu said:

It stays in the garden room 

You’ve gone frightfully posh on us since moving to Somerset, Stu

🤣

Edited October 13, 2022 by JeremyS

[Carl Au]

On 12/10/2022 at 07:32, MalcolmM said:

@IB20 slightly off (well miles off) topic but when would you use your 5mm Pentax rather than the TOE 4?

Malcolm

PS not sure about the Tak finders! I've done yoga and pilates now for 10 years plus and I still can't touch my knees let alone my toes (pun intended). I like to think it's doing some good but I think it's just keeping me in a state of inflexible equilibrium!

There you go see. It’s Tai Chi you need 

[Stu]

On 13/10/2022 at 15:26, JeremyS said:

You’ve gone frightfully posh on us since moving to Somerset, Stu

🤣

🤣🤣 well it’s a kind of lean-to thing on the side of the house, which leaks a bit. I guess it’s a garden room because actually has plants growing through the cracks at the bottom of the outside walls 🤪🤪.

[IB20]

Another Io shadow transit is just about to begin.