Sunday was a good day to continue the quest with clear skies nearly all day and into the evening. Tried some solar photos for the first time ever. Managed to cobble together various adapters to enable the DSLR to fit the small refractor which has a solar filter. Focus is difficult to perfect using the camera's screen so the results are nowhere near as sharp as the eyeball view but acceptable as a first attempt. With advice from SGL members it seems I need to try stacking etc. Also computer cont
I thought that I would start a blog following my initial wanderings into astrophotography. I always thought that it would not interest me, but I also said that I didn't fancy a Dob! So; I have two aims which I am moving towards; 1. Using a Lodestar camera with the Lodestar Live ap. 2. Using my Olympus dslr (E620) or perhaps even my old E300. 1.With the Lodestar in mind I have recently bought a Mac Powerbook, which is start because otherwise I only have a desktop machine. One aim is to control th
Its been a long time since my last update,partly due to hectic schedules with the new job and a week away on the isle of wight for a training course but mainly due to my inability to make a pitch lap first time!!
After finishing off with the 600 and having a nice scratch free surface that shows up reflections much better, it was time to get on with the bit I had been dreading-casting a pitch lap.
I gathered all the bits I needed for this-a 17" wooden disc for the lap(to save weight over a plas
The story doesn't really start here, but I expect this is gong to be a common theme. It's cloudy. It's cloudy because today I decided to get rid of the red dot finder that came with my baby telescope. It's cloudy because I stuck my Telrad finder on in its place, spent a good 15 minutes making sure it was calibrated properly, and spent a further 20 minutes fashioning a homebodged dew shield for it out of a sheet of plastic. The Clear Outside forecast had been promising no cloud from 9pm and a six
I recently picked up a second hand 10mm TV Radian from a fellow SGLer and have finally managed to give it a proper outing. I have been out a few times before now to try it out, but that was from my back garden and mostly curtailed work nights or nights when I have been concentrating on imaging. Last night however was a proper session with the 10'' Dob at a darker site (albeit still a 'school' night) Also at the site was a C11 so I had something to compare to. My first few uses of the TV had been
I am hoping that soon enough I can have my new 1.25 eyepieces. I love the format I have as well. I just want to be able to use filters as well. I know most of the time I am in light polluted skies and the use of a filter is beneficial even if by a small fraction. I still have yet to discover which telescope for me four millimeter, but that's okay. Right now , I just want to focus on getting more eps and some filters.
So it looks like 4mm is too powerful for my shorty scope. Unless I just need to get a extender for the tube. I will try the 4 mm on the other scopes I have and figure out which one is the best fit. I love wide view eyepieces but I only have one. It's okay though because I have an assortment, I can better get an idea of the eyepieces I enjoy more.
Last few days it has been very hot, so quite unusual for us folk on the windy East Coast. Even went in the sea and it was WARM! Due to haze and visiting grandchildren didn't use either of my telescopes but on the plus side had some great wide-field views through my 11x80 binoculars . M13, M92 and M31 :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: . Managed to view a number of very bright slow moving meteors, quite beautiful! I also thought that with averted vision I could just pick out a grey dot where M57 shoul
Managed to get some first lights as it appears to be called! Friend popped down to collect the 130EQ he is taking off my hands. We had a little star party in North Essex. The skies were not overly kind, so left the HEQ5 to its own crazy non aligned weirdness and concentrated on the newtonians. Saturn was found in both to great effect and we did a few doubles before the moon demanded attention. This was cloud obscured, but some great views and a very pleasant (albeit short) evening. Another d
Some time ago, I published an image of the shadow transits of Ganymede and Io I had taken on the 9th March 2014. The moon Ganymede was clearly visible but try as I might I could not find Io against the clouds of Jupiter. I used APS 'creatively' to try and convince myself that I had found it but eventually realised that if you clicked the sharpening tool enough times in any location on the cloud tops of Jupiter you could create a nice Io just about anywhere you wanted to! Anyway and eventually, I
The past few nights have been having rain interfering with my stargazing plans. On a side note, my husband has a job interview in San Antonio texas, if all goes well, I'll be under new skies soon.
It ha been a while (thanks to a hectic work schedule) but there first beta version featuring live stacking is now available: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/220800-lodestar-live-version-09-beta-download-live-stacking/ I am looking forward to seeing the results of peoples observing sessions!
There seems to be a definite consensus in these forums that there is a strong positive correlation between new astronomical purchases and less than ideal weather conditions. I am hereby giving due notice and apologies for my splurging of large chunks of cash and inviting the clouds in. After much deliberation, I have decided to birthday treat myself to a full astronomy kit upgrade from my starter 130EQ. I am now sufficiently hooked and certain that this is not a fleeting affair, so have taken th
So I was able to use my 40mm to see the moon last night on my 50mmaperture 700mm focal telescope. I was fixing to try out another of my new eps when I heard tapping noise and couldn't figure out where it was coming from but I did see a tall dark figure a few hundred yards off. The way it was moving, I think it wasn't human but couldn't tell for sure so I decided to just go back inside.
well after just over 80 hours im ready to pour a pitch lap and start polishing!!!
here is a picture to show some shine on the blank after grinding with 600.
hopefully on Wednesday I should be pouring the pitch lap and Thursday all being well I should be starting the polishing phase.
After enquiring with John he says if im lucky it should take 10-12 hours so im allowing for about 15 and hoping I don't get any scratches as I will have to order more 600 grit and use the tile tool again.Its exc
So, the day is here! Actually, I am getting an early start. I have the scope (a little Celestron Astromaster 114) set up. The sky is still quite bright at this time. I set up early because it's been so long, I didn't think I could do it in the dark. I forgot about my neighbor's trees. My view to the south (in hopes of looking at Saturn) is significantly obstructed. Here's my Astromaster ready for action. This is my view to the South.
Here in the US, the fourth of July is a holiday :happy3: . That means, among other things, that I have a three-day weekend as the fourth falls on a Friday this year. By a happy coincidence, the weather forecast for most of this period calls for few clouds, cooler temperatures and somewhat low dew points. I have already warned my wife that I intend to get my scope out and do some observing. (I got the idea from the suggestion of an online star party on Astronomy.com.) I also hope to make use
After finishing off with the 400 and being back to a pristine blank I started with the new 600 and everything went well until the first was off where I found a small skid mark(no giggles please) near the edge.not 100% sure how it happened as I had thoroughly cleaned the tile and mirror beforehand but there it was.
the scratch isn't very deep and doesn't really catch when you run a nail(finger) across the blank so I went and carried on for 1 1/2 half hour with the 600 to see if it would start co
Friday night. Had quite a few drinks. Took my dog out just before bedtime and lo and behold. The stars are out. Got the sunlounger lined up at the summer triangle, got Stellarium on my MacBook in night mode, got a rug for my dog, and a blanket for me and with a set of 10x50 binos borrowed from NEAS went to work. Very enjoyable. Reminded myself that I still remembered the star names in Cygnus + the various stars around the triangle and through to Arcturus. Meandered around Hercules and spotted M1
Many people think that working in a call center could be a part time job while you are in college. But, is that all call centers has to offer? Call center industry graph shows an expeditious growth in recent years and it could be a serious career option if you are in it for the long term. Mentioned below are some tips that can help you in being successful in the call center service industry. Make sure you have a full understanding of what the job really involves. In the call center industry,
Well finally I have started grinding again after what seems like an age but was actually just less than a month.precious wasted time though!So I have my grinding table set up in its new self contained room, which isn't a greenhouse and has a better roof strip light and the gf has agreed that I have sole access to the room so I an leave everything as is when I finish.
Gave the mirror and tile tool a good clean off after being packaged for the 250 mile relocation down south and then got stu
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