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Showing content with the highest reputation on 28/03/24 in all areas
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I visited Liverpool Astronomical Society's Pex Hill observatory tonight and while having a natter, one of the chaps who was demonstrating in the dome ran down the stairs to tell us they had in the eyepiece 12P/Pons-Brooks. So up trotted twenty amateurs forming a disorderly queue. 😄 I managed a good peek through the club's LX200. Very unexpected considering the horrible weather this evening. We were lucky the rain stopped and clouds parted for several minutes.👍13 points
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9 points
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Postman delivered quite a few packages today! I was looking for a telescope and mount that can fit in a backpack or small luggage. Looks like I have been hit with Takitis... So happy with my purchase. This is my first Takahashi telescope, and it is a beauty. The craftsmanship is simply amazing, and the first views of distant trees suggest how sharp these lenses are. I followed a seagull in flight, it was a beautiful sight! I chose this telescope (FC-76DCU) because of its weight (1.9kg !!) and the fact it can be split in half for transport. Very convenient. Likewise, I was looking for a good mount that doesn't take much space. My AZ-5 is fine but rather big and heavy. So I went for this Sightron Japan Zero mount, which is also very well built. I tried mounting my ST120 and it handled it perfectly, with minimum vibrations. I love the fact that this mount can be very easily folded down to a small package. And yet, it can take 7kg of payload. It has multiple configurations, the different parts can be placed and oriented in many ways depending on your needs. A very smart design! The mount itself is very smooth and can be tightened at different levels, so it can be used like a Dobson mount. I also added flexible knobs and a better saddle. Of course, all of this came with a storm... I guess first light won't come for another week or so!5 points
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4 points
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In due course Stu. I'm taking it carefully 🙂3 points
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Just spent a very enjoyable hour and a half with Superfox, my lovely new to me Vixen SD115s, observing Tegmine and Theta Aurigae. I found that the seeing did improve over the 90 minutes, and it was fascinating to try different permutations of eyepieces and barlows. My findings were as follows; (all at F7.7, 890mm Focal length). 1. Vixen LVW 5mm at 178x - Split and Resolved intermittently..this was when the seeing was at its most unsteady earlier on. Contrast was good. Edge sharpness was good across virtually the whole 65 degree field. No false colour noted. I'm so pleased now to own almost the full set of these fine classic eyepieces. 2. Tak Abbe ortho 12.5mm with stacked Baader zoom 2.25x barlow and short WO 1.6x barlow to give c263x. This was the first and most consistent split. I could see little or no visible image deterioration from the stacked barlows , no false colour and excellent sharpness across the fov (admittedly only a modest 44 degrees, but using an eq mount with RA drive the image hardly moves anyway!). These Tak Abbes have wonderful contrast and my 12.5mm pair are supremely comfortable for binoviewing. 3. Pentax XL Zoom 8-24mm with Baader 2.25x zoom threaded in to give a high power zoom from 3.55mm (250x in my scope) to 10.66mm (83x). This eyepiece wouldn't be my first choice for high power on close doubles, but it gave an early session resolved view at 250x on Tegmine..I suspect it would have done even better later in the session but I didnt get time to try it again. The Pentax really comes into it's own on short sessions of changeable skies and seeing, where I can simply dial in the best power for the conditions..on such nights, or short sessions, I can often manage with the Baader 2.25 barlow, the Pentax zoom, and my Axiom LX 23mm 84 degree UWA for low power wide field. For the last part of my session I spent some time on Theta Aurigae, an old favourite of mine..as a lad in the 70s I used to struggle to split this unequal pair..at mags 2.7 and 7.2 and just a 3" split, my little 60mm refractor rarely, if ever, split them. But in a modern 80-100mm scope the pair is a delightful sight, with the tiny, faint companion twinkling next to its very bright prime star close by. The Vixen made short work of this pair and I easily split it at 70x. If you haven't looked at this lately do check it out while it is still very well placed high up in our skies.. It was SO good to be out again at last tonight, and thanks to John for pointing to Tegmine, a real jewel of a double!👍😀. Dave Orion, Sirius and Procyon slowly sinking west over our house twilight turns to night.. Superfox ready for some tight doubles action!3 points
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2 points
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Obviously this winter has been terrible on the weather front, certainly the worst here in my 8 years, and I won't go into that again. But with very limited opportunities to image, I then found things were going wrong when I did try, which was getting me down somewhat. My guiding had collapsed into a mess - 1.5" and worse RMS (versus a usual 0.6-0.9"), with both RA and DEC not seeming to want to respond adequately to guiding pulses, but I couldn't for the life of me see why. Also my recent flats have not been working very well. And then my ZWO camera started playing up for the first time on my last imaging run - 4.5 hours worth of images with large unexposed (black) bands across them in varying positions. Weather closed in again, and I just left it, and for the first time in a while wasn't even looking at the night time weather forecast. Time off helps I guess, as does a short holiday in the South of France, and I've now stripped everything down, checked my mount belt tension and gear meshing, cleaned up all my glass, and put it all back together again. I'll have another go when I can, but I'm not impatient to do so right now. Anyway - I produced an awful looking Sh2-280 and 282 image from early in that last run at the beginning of the month. The flats had made a mess of it. So I took some more flats with longer exposures yesterday, and they worked better. So here it is - some sort of an image. Nothing special - some stars and nebulosity, and I've tried not to over-stretch and saturate to find something that's not there. RASA 11 on CEM120, ASI2400MC Pro, 144 x 30s2 points
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I'd suggest taking a step back. You are moving between choices so rapidly at the moment you will end up making a mistake. Most people, when they buy a scope, will have had that scope in mind for quite a while.2 points
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I think the travel point is overlooked a bit. I am off on holiday tomorrow and for 4 nights of that we are on an island that is going to be Bortle 2. All the other nights we are in cities so there is no way I would consider taking a proper rig but for the off-chance that I get clear skies in such a remote location I am tempted to take the SS. It's so small that if I end up not using it then it's not really a massive deal. I think this is the issue here, the use cases are different to a normal rig but are being compared as if they are the same. MM2 points
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2 points
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2 points
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There are some pretty damn impressive images on Astrobin taken with a Seestar: https://www.astrobin.com/search/?q="ZWO+Seestar+S50"&d=i&subject=&telescope=&camera=&date_published_min=2011-11-09&date_published_max=2024-03-27&sort=-likes Of course its possible someone has not been honest and some other telescope was used, but i find it hard to believe that people would bother doing that.2 points
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But that's the point of the device. Quick and easy. You can achieve the quick (data capture) with any setup, but not the easy, and definitely not the cheap.2 points
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Not observing as such, more having a smoke out back and surprised to see some stars, Orion low in the sky from where I am (trees). Next thing I see a bright white streak passing Orion headed East-West leaving a fair trail as it went by. Wonder if that'll provide someone further west with more of a display or even some fragments 🙂2 points
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2 points
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My collection at PAS , of a beautiful Vixen SD115S means that I am done, happy, and contented, for sure, and for the rest of my natural etc,etc At the moment I still have my ED103S and felt the same with that, but I was always aware of the bigger sibling. I had a hand in Dave's ( F15 Rules ) acquisition of his , quite without knowing it, and he has reciprocated because he had suggested how good it would be to find a discounted one at the show. On the strength of that I rang Bresser and asked and to my amazement they did, at a tremendous discount. They are both in perfect balance and a spell of decent sky will allow me to align them accurately. Dave liked it, even the ' blingy thingy ' on the Vixen, he said , but I like red, my car is red, unfortunately not a ferrari red ferrari....🤣2 points
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2 points
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Silica gel absorption is a very slow process. Give it time. Sealing the housing on a cold dry day minimses moisture trapped, reducing the burden on the silica gel. Something else to consider. Do you know anyone who has a MIG welder? With a cylinder of argon based welding gas. Standard argon shielding gas for MIG welders is an argon & carbon dioxide mix. Importantly no water vapour. In some equipment I get involved with, the electronics (and more) enclosure is purged using either nitrogen or argon. High pressure cylinders contain dry gasses. Feed the gas in slowly at one side of the box, allowing it vent at the opposite side. OK not a 100% air purge but a big improvement. HTH, David.1 point
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Are you going round and round in circles ? 🤣 Too much choice these days 🤷🏻 BTW - checkout the planetary images posted by @Kon, he used a standard SW 8” F/6 Newtonian.1 point
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1 point
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Attached the original fits file. 2024-03-27_04-26-29__9.80_120.00s_0002.fits1 point
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Well in theory you can run for longer capture periods, either using a wedge to reduce the field rotation or by shooting for a shorter duration repeated multiple nights around the same time. Then collate and process the subs it captures and do the other magic etc. If inclined, of course. I think some have shown how on the tube and produced decent results, tho I'm no expert nor inclined to invest that amount of time.1 point
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HEQ5 with Rowan Belt mod - £1300; Starfield 102 - £900; ASI 585 - £380 vs Seestar 50 - £5501 point
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1 point
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A brief window opened up through the clouds last night and I took the opportunity to try and grab a comet shot. The star tracker was not required but my Canon6D and Sigma Art 50mm lens was. I managed 50 (8 second) quick fire shots at ISO800 f2.2 at the Holyhead Mountain Quarry Park on Anglesey . The foreground was shot at 60secs over the lake. Images (and calibration frames) were initially run through Siril and then processed in Photoshop Lightroom and CS. Nice to see a couple of galaxies here too. Hope u like. CC’s welcome.1 point
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1 point
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The forecast disappointed me again tonight, so while the telescope was uselessly cooling down outside, hoping for an opening, I took the opportunity to train my lunar sketching skills. This sketch of Tycho is realized from a picture found online. I found it very challenging to attempt to replicate the different shades and textures that the Moon has to show, any (constructive) criticism and suggestion is welcome! Especially for the "buttered" terrain inside the rim where the light hits, on the right side of the crater.1 point
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I think the weather and the inherent complexities of the hobby conspire sometimes to leave us feeling the way you describe. As the weather gets worse, the pressure to extract good data from the small number of good nights increases. When multiple things go wrong in this context, as they inevitably do in this hobby in which all aspects are interconnected and highly technical, the negative impact on us is amplified by the decreasing window of opportunity. I have certainly noticed a new twinge of anxiety when powering up my equipment on a rare clear night, hoping that it is not a night to be ruined electronic or mechanical gremlins. I am not sure I want my hobby to become a source of stress. As you say, a break is sometimes a good thing and helps lend perspective. For my part, I think your image is great. The colours are subtly done and it has a wonderful natural look.1 point
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I'm in Carmarthenshire too, managed 2 images last autumn and 2 at 2 Kelling starparties. Just as well we spent 6 weeks in Portugal with 9 images. Though I've probably jinxed it now, bought a new 80mm triplet. It'll probably rain until Xmas! Nice image there. I hope you've fixed your issues. I dread to think what my equipment will do when it's clear again. We have washed the observatory in between the rain though!1 point
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1 point
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Looks good, as you say you could bring the midpoint down to reduce the black point level. How are you controlling your setup?1 point
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Ed Ting was comparing many thousands of pounds worth of Astro gear with an amazing £500 piece of kit. I am a member of some Seestar FB groups and some of the images people are getting are truly astounding. Experienced imagers are also shouting the praises of this scope. So I am not sure what your beef with it is1 point
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For the budget you "may" be able to throw in the Askar 103/120 triplets into the mix too.1 point
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Good news! RisingCam can repair and return the camera for the princely sum of $135.😊 Just have to get it back safely from China now.🤞1 point
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1 point
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1 point
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After an initially quite thrilling Mercury (i'd not seen it in a scope before and the phase was "obvious") it was quickly apparent i wasn't going to get much more out of it due to its altitude and so i swung left for Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks - sketched here: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/420515-comet-12ppons-brooks-240324/#comment-4472212 This was very satisfying as i had begun to fret (with our current weather) that i was missing the opportunity. I also found that it is worthwhile experimenting with magnification even for familiar objects and extracted a lot of pleasure from M37, M36, and M38 trying to balance the darkest sky against the largest FOV. ... and I think i may have seen the open cluster King 8 but i need to check how much i should see versus what i did see and finally; i couldn't see the secondary to the bright orange star (HD 34545) in the middle of the open cluster NGC 1857 (even though i could see dimmer stars nearby) but wow, HD 24545 was lovely anyway.1 point
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Been a good astronomy day here. Bit of late afternoon white light solar with the really complex AR on display. Caught Jupiter and then Mercury at dusk. Mercury showing a nice phase through the scope. The ISS passed over around that time too. Popped out after tea for Comet 12P. Just before bed, came out for a little Lunar, the double double, M13 and Izar. The 4” frac living up to its reputation as a versatile scope.1 point
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I am cursed with an obstructed view to the northwest, so this evening I travelled to a nearby park to get a clear view in that direction, aiming to bag two objects I have not seen telescopically before - Mercury and Comet Pons-Brooks. Mercury was easily found, being visible to the naked eye in a still fairly bright sky. I wasn't expecting much from it through the telescope, but at around 128x magnification I could clearly see the half phase of it, tilted towards the direction of the sun. Unfortunately the seeing was pretty poor and the low altitude was producing lots of colour fringing too. But it's the last planet I had left to see through a telescope, so I was happy enough. I spent some time observing Jupiter whilst waiting for the sky to darken a little more, then by the power of typing coordinates into my goto scope, I had the comet nicely centred. I saw it a couple of days ago through binoculars but there was haze in the sky. Tonight's view was much better. I couldn't really see a tail, but I could tell there was more fuzz on one side than the other. I also didn't detect any colour. After about 15 minutes, haze began to form in that part of the sky, so I packed up.1 point
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Hello @Florida Bear and welcome to SGL. A 13mm eyepiece gives x50 - thats the focal length of the telescope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece, so 650/13 = 50. At the moment Saturn is well past closest approach so is very small. You can certainly use shorter focal length eyepieces in your scope, for the planets I would suggest x185 (a 3.5mm eyepiece) is good. Or you could buy a x2 barlow lens that doubles the focal length of your telescope to 1300mm and then use a 7mm eyepiece to get x185. Comets are dull smudges even in bigger scopes. ”stellarium” is a great piece of free astronomy software that you can download to see what is in the night sky. Hope that helps.1 point
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Thank you so much for these inspiring comments! It's time to post something to revive the thread. The first frames from the memorable Tuesday, March 19. The night near Krakow was beautiful, unique compared to what had been happening since the beginning of the year... As for technological innovations - I used the ZWO ADC corrector, although the Moon was so high that there was no special justification for it. But that's what I meant - I wanted to check whether the ADC would not worsen the effect even when it is clearly not necessary. It doesn't seem to worsen the picture. NexStar 8SE + ZWO ASI 183 MC camera with Baader UV/IR-cut L filter.1 point
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The weather is so miserable that there is nothing else to do but reach back to last year's arrears and finish processing the autumn photos. For example, I came across this... Technically it's not exciting, but the lighting of Copernicus and its surroundings turned out to be so interesting that I decided it was worth presenting. September 9, 2023 by NexStar 8SE:1 point