tibbs1972

Thanks Isabelle / Dave,

I grew up watching sci-fi movies with fantastic space stations such as in 2001 or Star Trek, so its fascinating for me to think of what we as a race have achieved with the Skylab, Mir and the ISS.

Next step, space tourism, hopefully in my lifetime, maybe.

On the other hand, maybe not such a fantasy... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12915976

Thanks all for the support and the bed knob suggestion.

Let's hope I don't need to do this for a while.

Superb Video, great pictures and footage.

I'm extremely jealous.

Neil

I Had another go tonight without the moon filter, focused again and again, it was worse than last night.

I'll live with last nights image.

Thanks for the advice.

Regards

Neilh

Jim,

The image throught the my 20mm eyepiece is much clearer than the camera.

It may be that the moon filter I used was low spec.

With the camera, it's a DSLR Cannon EOS 1000D, so I can zoom in once it's attached and it does come into focus. On the live view display, it looks ok.

I've tried lots of different ISO settings and exposure times, but can't seem to get as much detail and focus as with my 20mm eyepiece observing directly.

I also had trouble last night trying to get a good picture of Saturn other than a white blob, which is annoying as that kept me up until 0245.

Regards

Neil

"Constructive critisism is always welcome".

Nice one' date=' did look at it a few times last night, really beautiful.

Jim[/quote']

Thanks Jim,

Glad you finally managed to get some viewing time in last night.

Thats the best I can do with my 130mm scope. I was hoping for a clearer more detailed image, but every time I try, the above image is the best I can do.

I'm seriously thinking about upgrading to a 200mm scope.

Regards

Neil

Good luck with Andromeda, I spotted it 2 weeks ago about 3:45am. Its a long wait.

pretty cool i got one in a shot the other night

Thanks, I managed to get rid of some of the LP by reducing the ISO.

My next scope will probably be a 200mm, as the light collected will be much much grater than my 130mm ( focal length 1000mm ) Celestron Powerseeker.

In my opinion, it's always best to go for the larger aperture.

I would'nt worry, for myself I won't be around in 100 years.

For those that are, the way technology is advancing, we will either be able to move or destroy it in 100 years.

I'll put it this way,

with my 5" scope I've been in awe of some of the things I've seen since January.

For the scope your after, because of the increased aperture size of 8", it will probably collect twice as much light.

You should get much better, clearer observations.

Good luck with the purchase, hope you have many clear nights ahead.

Regards

Neil

Sounds like it will be amazing, hope all goes well. I imagine the Pyramids with a backdrop of Orions belt would be fantastic, if you get to go anywhere near them.

I'll get there one day.

Regards

Neil

Love it! What lens did you use for this?

I will one day get around to buying a mount for my 'scope. I think I read somewhere that the scope's focal length translates to the size of lens - 1000mm for mine. Is that right?

I must have a go at the 10-sec-lay-flat technique.

Thanks for sharing :)

Sorry, I didn't answer the second part of the question. I believe, as the camera is connected to the telescope and the 18-55mm lens is removed, the focal length is 1000mm, as I've done with my Camera and Telescope.

Regards

Neil

Looks a bit like aurora!

I wish, unfortunately its just cloud cover and annoying light pollution.

Love it! What lens did you use for this?

I will one day get around to buying a mount for my 'scope. I think I read somewhere that the scope's focal length translates to the size of lens - 1000mm for mine. Is that right?

I must have a go at the 10-sec-lay-flat technique.

Thanks for sharing :)

Hi, thanks for your comments.

I used an 18-55mm lens that came with the Cannon Camera.

try a free programe called photoscape its a great easy to use programe and its ok i us corel prox3 as pshop is ok but as a lot of stuf you do not need great shot as well have you tried ataching the camera you have to the scope?

Thanks for the Software tip.

I've got adapters to put the camera on the scope, havn't done it for a while, but the photos of the sun, moon and some stars were done this way on my blog.

great fun is`nt itwhat was your settings did you use coulor cast to get rid of the orange sky glow ?

The exposure was 30sec, ISO 200 and set focal to F3.5.

I didn't use any special software for the editing, I only used Microsoft Phot Editor to adjust the colours and contrast etc.

The hubble image would be an achievement, but being realistic, the smudge will do for me, just to know I found Andromeda is enough.

Regards

Neil

Amazing, better than anything I've ever taken of saturn.

I normally just get a white blob.

Well done.

Regards

Neil

Hi Isabelle,

I'm pleased to see you finally received your new scope.

Lets hope it gives you may hours of pleasure observing.

Good look with it.

Best Regards

Neil

Neil

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look later, assuming I don't break my neck running around chasing satellites.

Neil

Ran outside with my minocular at 20:37 and got a glimpse of it passing over. Looking forward to the next pass.

Dead Chuffed.

Sorry to here you have not had much luck with the clouds lately. Lets hope they clear up soon.

It's a shame your students can't do a night shift with you.

Neil

I was concerned I wouldn't be able to locate any object back in January, when I started.

I have to say it has been worth the effort, setting up manually and learning how to polar align.

Even without the scope, I feel a sense of achievement being able to observe, when its not cloudy, and locate my desired target. Finding objects manually has also helped me to remember their names.

Best Regards

Neil

Its going to be a long day tomorrow, lots off coffee will be required.