Jiggy 67

Where’s Nick..... @cotterless45 when you need him??.... 😀

6 hours ago, John said:

I've not tried this one as yet.

The Stella Doppie database has it at .25 of an arc second so I think getting any sign of elongation would be a result with any of my scopes which go up to 12 inches in aperture. The max resolution that the 12 inch can manage is, in theory, .38 of an arc second but in practice it's almost certainly less than that.

I will have a peek at some point though.

 

 

Yep, I may well have been mistaken, the only thing I can say is that it didn’t present, at high mag, as a single star, I just had the feeling that there was more than one star there, but I don’t think I resolved a second 

Zeta Bootis is a double star with an eccentric orbit. They orbit each other on elongated paths that cause them to converge and separate wildly. At the moment they are separated by a distance similar to that of Mars from the Sun.

 I was observing it tonight....8 inch reflector with a 6mm eyepiece and 2.25 x Barlow (x375 mag) in reasonable to good seeing showed a vague resemblance to a companion hidden in the airy disc of the companion, not sure if I imagined it, I’m willing to accept that I may have done......anyone else had a go???

3 minutes ago, Whistlin Bob said:

... And then it clouded over.

What?...did you not get enough 😀....Amazing haul there of some lovely objects. I’ve been out and the seeing was ok tonight. My plan was galaxies but doubles took over...and M5 and M3 looked spectacular, particularly M3 with numerous stars resolved, best I’ve seen it

3 hours ago, John said:

If I had complex setups requiring power, alignment etc, etc and extensive carrying to and from an observing site, they simply would not get used 

I get what you’re saying John. I would be the same but I do have a heavy setup that requires alignment. I get round it by leaving the mount out, almost permanently under a TG cover......makes a massive difference with only a quick check on alignment occasionally. I couldn’t do it any other way with the weather conditions we have.......and my back is not getting any younger 😩

My original post is a demonstration of just how poor weather forecasting is. As you can see the forecast was clear from Monday to Saturday (inclusive) it is now Thursday and I have 100% cloud cover (despite 3 out of 4 weather apps Today stating clear all night, including Clear Outside which has got worse since changing their source ). Of all the nights in the original post only one was half decent. I get that they can’t always get it right and I don’t really blame anyone but the above strike rate is poor and increasingly more common in my opinion.....end of rant

Guilty!!!.....I’ve saved a lot of money over the last year, working from home, pubs/restaurants closed, massive reduction in petrol and a lot of it has gone on Astro gear....Don’t tell the wife 😱

I don’t use it to control the scope but I find it really useful for planning my nights observing. I can use the existing lists or create new ones just for that night, all on the phone rather than use books etc. the only paper I use is my log book to note my obs. The next day I update all my previous nights obs on SkySafari (desktop version) from the log book notes. It really is the only thing I need, I have basically created my own database detailing all my obs, date, conditions and equipment used. The mobile and desktop versions communicate with each other so all planning done on the desktop version appears on my phone to use at the scope. Great fun!

🤣 Bit of everything there Mak!!...I suspect your regular site will get busier as the days grow longer and restrictions relax

1 hour ago, John said:

Clouded out more or less 100% tonight, so no "Pup" star

Yep, contrary to a good forecast, it’s been pretty similar here but it’s forecast good for the next few nights so at some point I will be having a go. Hope it’s the same for you John 

50 minutes ago, SuburbanMak said:

Last night I took out a couple of photos of pages of the Cambridge Star Atlas & was able to hop between those, Synscan and my notes.

Do you have SkySafari, CDSA is available as an observers list

28 minutes ago, John said:

I'm going to have a go with the 100mm tonight

I’d be interested in how you get on, I’m using my ED100 at the moment, as has become my habit with a full/ish moon and I’ve never split Sirius 

Excellent report, very detailed. Looks like you had a really successful night and you’re right, the red IPhone filter is invaluable, I only found it myself last year after being blinded on numerous occasions, mid session, by the football score updates!!

That’s the one I use. If you want an uncomplicated, compact, light and easy to use reliable power source you can’t go wrong. It’s expensive but worth it in my opinion.

Looks good!!

one word.......WOW!!

Excellent stuff Luke, love the video and the end result is very impressive

Baader wonder fluid and cloth all day long, I wouldn’t use anything else. I trust Baader’s long history of optical engineering to produce a great product and I’ve found it to work perfectly 

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

s setting a user defined object the only way one can make a Synscan go to a RA+Dec position?

No, after inputting the RA and dec it will ask whether you want to save, at this point press the down arrow and it just gives an option to view the object instead, and won’t save it in the user defined memory....if that makes sense

18 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Hi Jiggy

Thank you for the advise. I know what you mean about the Baader click lock system, they certainly reassure you that them morpheus eps are safely in place.  I have the 1.25 click lock which I use in my dob. I wonder if I could utilise this in a 1.25 WO durabright - Are you keeping yours or are you considering selling? If so drop me a pm as I would be interedsted.

 

Thank you

 

Baz

I have found the click lock system to be game changing.

 I swapped out the OTA housing (can’t remember the proper name) for a click lock, then the Baader 2” click lock diagonal and the a 1.25” click lock adapter. As is typical of Baader (I’m a big fan as you probably know from our previous chats 😃) everything works perfectly. I’m undecided about the WO at the moment, I’m tempted to keep it as a back up. I would recommend a 2” diagonal though, you never know when you might want to use a 2” ep....even the Morpheus as a 2”. You can always step down to 1.25 but you can’t step up. Or does your scope only accept 1.25?

I have had the WO durabright for a couple of months on my SW 100ED. It’s a lovely diagonal and a step up from the stock diagonal supplied but whether it’s a significant step up is debatable, it’s certainly lighter and makes balancing a lot easier. However, I have since upgraded (?) again to the Baader Click Lock diagonal, just because I wanted to make all connections click lock....this is a really good diagonal, though 2 inch with a 1.25 click lock adapter. This has been a more significant improvement, it’s heavier but click lock is the way forward in my view.....far safer, as I found with diagonals, they are prone to slipping 

Great report Mak . I observed Cor Caroli tonight....I’m embarrassed to say that I have never observed it before 🤥 A beautiful binary, it’s bizarre how you can spend years missing the obvious!!. I recommend 54 Leonis if you haven’t viewed it before.....stunning!

I’m no Astro photographer but it looks to me that you’re trying to run before you can walk. There is no point in trying meaningful AP until you learn the basics like how to polar align which will never be good with an EQ1, a very basic mount with which you cannot expect to get good results.

If I was you, I would forget about Astro photography for now and just concentrate on using your mount to find objects and observe the sky. Just observing is the most relaxing (and you don’t sound relaxed) satisfying and wonderous thing there is, you will learn the sky and how to use your mount and telescope without even realizing it. Only then will you be ready to take on photography. I suspect there are very few members on here who’s first look at the sky was through a camera.

Looking back at my notes I observed this back in January at x281 mag. I managed a very tight split, so tight I’ve noted it at about 80% sure of success. The secondary was at 11 o’clock and could only be glimpsed in brief periods of good seeing amongst the diffraction spikes of the primary......so I think your observations match mine really........and I’m also not 100% I can mark it off, we could start a club!! ✊😀

I wouldn’t bother with colour filters. For planetary obs I would recommend the Baader contrast booster