DirkSteele
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FC-100 Feather Touch Finder Solution
DirkSteele replied to Mr Spock's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
It is extraordinary. Nice resolution to the problem. My solution was small tube rings which can fit the outer diameter of the attachment point of the focuser and fix the finder to that.
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Think of me as the little angel/devil (depending on how badly you want that 40kg scope) on your shoulder whispering in your ear…. 😉
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I would not worry too much about this if you are considering a 6mm eyepiece. 0.75mm exit pupil is still very useable for planetary viewing and the 203x very much an appropriate power with a well collimated scope when seeing conditions permit. If you go smaller still, eye defects like floaters can start to become apparent but some observers (me included) are not that bothered by it. As for actual field, the wider the apparent field (as long as it is well corrected) the more useable drift time you will have. A 100-deg AFOV would yield 0.49 degrees in you scope which is just shy of the full moon and would give you around 100 secs drift time from field stop to field stop when viewing the celestial equator. A 50-deg AFOV that a typical plossl provides, you can half those figures.
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My first astronomy book is from 1986 and I would have been well under 10 years old. A couple of years later, and still probably under 10 I picked this up either at the London Planetarium or Science Museum when I started using my dad’s 10x50s and was getting a bit more serious about stargazing.
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Help with the Southern Hemisphere please!
DirkSteele replied to MalcolmM's topic in Observing - Discussion
That sounds like a good mix of eyepieces. You want wide field for things like Eta Carinae nebula and for finding stuff, something mid range and then high power. With my Fc-76, I use the 24mm Panoptic, a 10mm like Delos or Radian and the Nagler zoom. That covers all you need. I do not recall the pilot’s name. Have done that balloon flight twice. The second time was the day after proposing. -
bright light next to Vega
DirkSteele replied to ben bermuda's topic in Getting Started With Observing
That was my thought too. I have seen a few over the years, one of which was brighter than mag 0 so similar to what you saw. One question would be,, how long did the phenomenon last? More than a few seconds and we may need to consider alternatives. -
Help with the Southern Hemisphere please!
DirkSteele replied to MalcolmM's topic in Observing - Discussion
The now defunct Argo Navis constellation should keep you occupied for hours. I have numerous observing reports on my site from the southern hemisphere which should give you loads of ideas. Argo report below. http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2019/08/17/exploring-argo-navis-on-benguerra-island/ -
I could watch content like that all day. Great video.
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Mine would probably accuse me of adultery. My APM LZOS scopes would be jealous of the Takahashi scopes, and the Taks would be suffering green eyed monster towards the LZOS, with all of them wondering why I keep playing the field rather than just committing to one of them. And the oldest scope, the C11 would be wondering if it is really lost all of its lustre as it is never used any more. 😉
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805mm
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Ha, still young enough (sort of) to get away with it!
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Last night was the BSIA star party in Regent’s Park. One attendee lent me his NV device which was a lot of fun but I did some transitional observing too! Took my APM LZOS 115 f/7. Here with the NV device. And with the Televue 24mm Panoptic. Likely pointing at NGC 457 or the Double Cluster when I snapped the pic.
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Show us your set up in action during the day.
DirkSteele replied to Nigella Bryant's topic in The Astro Lounge
Baker Street Irregular Astronomers star party in Regent’s Park last night. We did solar early in the session and then waited for darkness to fall. Did a brief shoot out between these weighty lads using my APM LZOS 115 as well.
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I have certainly found myself thinking about the Heritage 130 for air travel. The ability to compress down and put on a photo tripod certainly makes me think. Would need to make a shroud for the top half but I do think those extra mm would really pay dividends at a dark site. Might make my Fc-100DC a bit redundant as it was bought for this purpose (copying @Stu on how to disassemble and pack for flying) and might raise more than an eyebrow from my wife! Scope 10 might put me in the dog house.
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The forecast for last nights Baker Street Irregular Astronomers star party in Regent’s Park promised clear skies and they delivered. One attendee came along with a Night Vision device (purchased from SGLs very own @GavStar) and he let me use for the back end of the meeting when it was getting dark (we had done some solar in the earlier part of the evening). Using a manual mount, under London light pollution and a darkening but not completely dark for most of the session sky, it made my life quite a bit easier! Can see why some have got in to it. Rather surprised some attendees by how quick I can star hop as well. Who needs GoTo? 😉 Very quickly had a queue behind my scope. Started with M3 Moved on to M13 NGC 457 (the ET cluster) in Cassiopeia M103 The Double Cluster Tried for M57, but was a bit low in the muck and the low power EP was making it distinctly stellar in appearance so even though I know it was there as was in the right spot, not a definitive spot Didn’t just use enhancement though, revisited 457 and the DC with a regular eyepiece before grabbing M44 and M35 which were harder than they should be but was looking back across the Hub building and staff has turned on some lights to clean up. Had a quick peak at Albireo to finish. Here is my APM LZOS with the NV device.
