C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

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Thefatkitty Canada
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C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#1

Post by Thefatkitty »


Once again, hi and hope you're good :D

I went out last night to do some photography/observing. It was clear, no humidity, and a comfy temp of 55F (~13C).

Twilight starts at 8PMish here, and by 9PM it's pretty dark. There was the threat of clouds later, but for now, grab it while you can :D

I took out my C80-HD with its CG4 for that. It's the second-best scope I have. I bought it about 5 years ago on a buy and sell site here called Kijiji. I paid $180CAD for it at the time. These scopes were made in 1996/7, and most of them used the last of the old Vixen optics. Rock solid mount, and the R&P focuser is second to none; very smooth with no slop. No plastic here! I also bought my current camera, a Canon 550D from this same site for $120. Great camera, made in Japan (like most of my scopes), with two batteries to boot. So 300 smackers and there you go :D

The only modifications to this are the mounting system and the handle on top; I made that. The CG4 mount actually carries or can be used with 9 of my scopes; 7 fracs and 2 reflectors. The other two are too big (my 10"/250mm) or in the case of my 4.5", perfect in its dob base. How's that not the best one hundred and eighty bucks ever :D
C80-HD.jpg

After setting this all up, I focused on Saturn. I took three sets of 15 shots at ISO 1600 and exposure times of 1/100, 1/125, and 1/160th of a second.
Saturn.jpg

Moving on to Jupiter... Same ISO, with again three sets of 15 shots, but at 1/160, 1/200, and 1/250th of a second. Jupiter is brighter.
Jupiter.jpg

And then ol' Luna. 25 shots at ISO 200 and 1/160th of a second exposure.

Moon_Sept-18-21s.jpg

Full size image here


I processed all of these with PIPP, AS3, and some very mild tweaking in PS 2020.


Fun times. I took the scope and camera back downstairs, and got my pride and joy, my old orange tube C80. Pics are fun, but on a night like this that I haven't had in months need to be seen, literally.
The oversize focuser wheel is the lid from a goldfish container. My wife put the rat vinyl removeable stick on the front, and my daughter put the Snoopy on the focuser wheel shaft when she was 11. I's all been there since.
The Pumpkin.
C80.JPG

I set that up, got my Fujiyama KK ortho's, cracked a beer, and had a look at Saturn. I started with the 25mm (nice), and just as I went to the 18mm, my daughter-unit (Sarah) came out. We both had a few Wow moments at the 18mm and then 12.5 eyepiece, and got to talking...

Well, in a nutshell, I had 5 beers, she had two, and we ran through both Saturn and Jupiter with the 25, 18, 12.5 and 9mm KK's. We were both amazed at the detail on Jupiter; the cloud bands were so prominent! From our view, the moons Io, Europa and Ganymede were hanging straight down, with Callisto all alone up top in its outer orbit. Sarah said the three Moons hanging below looked like tears; Jupiter is crying :lol:

The Moon was a no-go for visual; I don't yet have a polarizing filter. No need to be blinded!

And that was it for us, as the sky was getting noticeably hazy. I was going to do a visual report today, but drinking beer with your daughter and a few glimpses through a scope doesn't probably count for that...

Tonight looks promising, we shall see. Anyways, off to photograph the Sun :D

All the best and thanks for reading,
Mark

"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4 & AZ-EQ5 mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.

H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D.

Oh yeah, and Solar Cycle 25 :D
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#2

Post by SpyderwerX »


Great read, report and images as usual, Mark. Thank you.

Man, 55*F....I'm envious. :)
~Frankie~ My mind: Always on...Slightly off. :?
Celestron CPC1100 SCT....Celestron Evolution 8 SCT...TeleVue-85 apo...SkyWatcher ST150 achro..ST102 achro..ST80 achro.
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EPs: TeleVue oldie (NJ) & modern Plossls, Widefields, and Naglers + 3-6 zoom & Brandons 6-32.
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#3

Post by bladekeeper »


I'm envious of your temperature too, for now at least. :D

Thanks for sharing the great pics and the narrative. Gotta love those old C80 scopes!

Heck, after reading your report, I'd be tempted to mount one of mine, but the clouds are telling me to not bother. :lol:
Bryan
Scopes: Apertura AD12 f/5; Celestron C6-R f/8; ES AR127 f/6.4; Stellarvue SV102T f/7; iOptron MC90 f/13.3; Orion ST80A f/5; ES ED80 f/6; Celestron Premium 80 f/11.4; Celestron C80 f/11.4; Unitron Model 142 f/16; Meade NG60 f/10
Mounts: Celestron AVX; Bresser EXOS-2; ES Twilight I; ES Twilight II; iOptron Cube-G; AZ3/wood tripod; Vixen Polaris
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#4

Post by John Donne »


Outstanding night Mark !
I enjoyed the read very much.

The Cg4 is also one of my go to mounts...that is I go to it...😊
I started this activity with it and it has been a faithful workhorse. I have over mounted it many times with heavy tubes, but for my star hopping pleasure it worked fine. I think the heaviest was the 8 inch Meade LXD 75 SCT. It trembled under the weight but still gave me a nice night of views. 😊

The images you have here are wonderful ! Details details, details...a fine view. And that moon shot is a kick in the butt ! I really like thst !

5 beers...once I could do that but one or half of one is about all I can down these days.

And nothing could be better than viewing a stars with a daughter !

Thank you Mark for a fine share !
Best regards to you and Sarah. 👍👍👍
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

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Post by messier 111 »


love the story and the pics , thx .
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

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Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

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Post by Bigzmey »


Nice session and pics Mark! Until you get a Moon filter you can stop down aperture on your scope to reduce the glare.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
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EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#7

Post by Ylem »


Nice report and pictures 👍 nice Orange Celestron.
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#8

Post by Thefatkitty »


SpyderwerX wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:32 pm Great read, report and images as usual, Mark. Thank you.

Man, 55*F....I'm envious. :)
bladekeeper wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:36 pm I'm envious of your temperature too, for now at least. :D

Thanks for sharing the great pics and the narrative. Gotta love those old C80 scopes!

Heck, after reading your report, I'd be tempted to mount one of mine, but the clouds are telling me to not bother. :lol:

Frankie and Bryan, so good to hear from you both :D Thanks for the comments, and when I read your "envy" on my temperatures, I looked up both your locations for weather... Sounds like me two weeks ago, what with the heat/humidity. This is my first first few clear days in months. Hope you both fare better soon as well!


John Donne wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:52 pm Outstanding night Mark !
I enjoyed the read very much.

The Cg4 is also one of my go to mounts...that is I go to it...😊
I started this activity with it and it has been a faithful workhorse. I have over mounted it many times with heavy tubes, but for my star hopping pleasure it worked fine. I think the heaviest was the 8 inch Meade LXD 75 SCT. It trembled under the weight but still gave me a nice night of views. 😊

The images you have here are wonderful ! Details details, details...a fine view. And that moon shot is a kick in the butt ! I really like thst !

5 beers...once I could do that but one or half of one is about all I can down these days.

And nothing could be better than viewing a stars with a daughter !

Thank you Mark for a fine share !
Best regards to you and Sarah. 👍👍👍

Thanks Mark, it was a great night, and I enjoyed reading about your views last night. I'm glad you have Henry's equipement, and what a great tribute to him. You do him proud my friend, and Sarah is still wearing your necklace you made for her... Thank you on so many levels :D


messier 111 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:20 pm love the story and the pics , thx .

Merci bien, Jean-Yves, and hope all is well with you :D


Bigzmey wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:44 pm Nice session and pics Mark! Until you get a Moon filter you can stop down aperture on your scope to reduce the glare.

Thanks Andrey, and do you know what I'm doing now? One of these.... :angry-banghead:

Like the lens cap on pretty much every 80mm doesn't come with that built in, even my two....

Next time, see the forest before the trees; thanks buddy!
Mark

"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4 & AZ-EQ5 mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.

H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D.

Oh yeah, and Solar Cycle 25 :D
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#9

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Great images and a nice report as well Mark. I love viewing Jupiter :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
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Re: C80's with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn Sept. 18/21

#10

Post by Makuser »


Hello Mark. A wonderful observing report and it was an enjoyable and fun read. The images of Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon are all excellent and you did a fine job on them. And the photos of your scopes, one with your family's handiwork are quite nice. Thanks for sharing these on here with us Mark, and keep up the great work.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
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