The Warthog

HI. I just dropped in to this topic as I may need my own advice after nearly 10 years away from the hobby. My health and energy levels have not been stellar, especially after the MI in 20112 that left me with a quad bypass and combined with 54 years of T1 diabetes, arthritis an circulatory problems, as well as being old. I'm 71 now and temporarily unable to drive. Bummer! Anyway, I've hunted up my collection of eyepieces and find the ones I have still fit the bill. I tried to look up Jupiter and Saturn a couple of nights ago, but was successful only with my 32mm ep, and with a focal length

True enough, Elliot. I shoulld say that I bought both my scopes on the used market, in good nick, for about half the new price. It's a good way to cut the price of entry into any hobby. I believe there is an Astro Buy and Sell in the UK. That's where I've bought a fair amount of stuff, and sold some, too.

Well, Sonny Boy, Laudroph did a good job of explaining how to adjust the binocs to suit each eye. I would add only that it may be the other ep that has the separate focus. I've just bought a pair of Nikon Aculons, now the best binocs I have ever owned, and the most expensive at $CDN170. My previous ones were a pair I bought for $US30 at a drug store in Wall, SD. They had all the hallmarks of cheap binoculars, but still served me well for almost 10 years, until a prism fell out of place. Generally, the best equipment for you is the best you can afford, given a bare minimum quality. If you can't

Great shot!

I think you should be able to see them, especially with the Plough being so high at present. They are easy to find in a decent sky, and I find them a delight to look at. I can't see them at all in my city skies, with a limiting magnitude of about 2, at least not in my 6" reflector.

BION, that lid that won't come off has a purpose. When you take the lid off the hole in the dust cap, you can put the lid on that second "cap" to keep you from losing it in the grass. It took me about six months to realize this at first. (Edit) I see someone already beat me to this explanation. D'oh!

Thanks for this. I was able to get the latest asteroid into Stellarium, even without truly knowing what I was doing. If the seeing is good on the 19th, I may stand a chance of seeing it. I'll at least know where to look!

Not a big deal, but I am glad to be back. I probably have a bit of a learning curve, as I've been away from astronomy for so long, but with that big asteroid sailing by, and a solar eclipse this year (that's a day and a half drive away) I can get back into the hobby fairly quickly, I think. The sky in my town is dreadful, but I can get nice views of the Moon and planets. When I can get outside of town, particularly to some of the dark areas in Central Ontario, I get some very good views indeed. Anyway, this is me, back. Hoping to reconnect with all of you.

That's very generous of you, Damian. We got whacked by snow and cold in late January and February, and went 46 days without going above zero, with temperatures sometimes as low as -25, so what with the constant cloud I've hardly been outside except to take the dog for a pee. However, we are being promised the start of above zero temps, and once the 40cm of snow in my back yard melts, I'll think about putting my scopes on the lawn. After all this time, I have some refurbishing to do. The sky in my location allows only for planets, and things like double stars and brighter clusters, but I will t

I'm a fan of cryptic crosswords, and have started doing the Toronto Globe and Mail one again, after a long hiatus. ""Moon Starers" has long been a favorite clue for ASTRONOMERS, but this week they came up with a new and disturbing one - "No more stars." Thought some of you might like that.

Try Bookfinder.com. If you remember the title accurately, it will give you everything with that title on the used market. There will be thousands of books entitled "The Solar System," however.

Cloud and snow for us. We can focus the binocs on the snow falling by the streetlamp and pretend we're in a meteor storm.

I thought everything in Texas was big, not just ears!

Well, no going over the falls in a barrel, but I am thinking about taking up horseback riding, and maybe hitching a ride in a hot air balloon. They are both on my bucket list. We have had only two significant snowfalls this winter, and at present all the snow has meltted. We are getting temperatures as low at -13, but no significant snow in the forecast.

It is a wonderfully clear shot on my monitor. Actually better than I usually get through a telescope visually. Good work!

I've been away for a very long time, and to be honest haven't had my scopes out very often since my second heart attack (and quadruple bypass) three years ago. I hope to do better this spring, as my health has gotten a lot better although I still can't go out on the -10 nights we've been having. I noticed a very nice crescent moon last night, and would have liked to get my refractor out, but it's just too damn cold. I really appreciate all the kind comments I've seen in response to my post. It seems to have done what I wanted to do, which is to give a reasonable and simple way to create a usab

The eyepiece and telescope is a system, and its performance depends on the strength of the weakest link. That being said, the best view of Jupiter I have everhad came through a Skywatcher 6" f/8 dob with a Pentax eyepiece. I am sure it was the quality of the ep that gave it the amazing clarity of view that I had that night, It you can afford the ep it will work better than a cheap ep,and you can hold on ot it hwen you get a better scope.

Mars is difficult at any time. Even at its historic closest some years ago I was able to make out very little detail in my then 4.5" scope. I could see a reddish disk with a little white button at the poles, and with long observing managed a couple of surface features. It makes a great difference how close it is. Jupiter and Saturn can yield some detail at almost any time you can see them, but are best when they are closest, naturally. It takes good skies, good eyepieces, and patience to tease out detail in these planets. You can see Uranus and Neptune with your scope, but they will appear as

Get a comfortable, adjustable chair, and position the eyepiece so it is in a position where you don't have to bend your neck too much. This may mean rotating the tube in its rings for a Newt, or turning the diagonal in a frac or SCT. If you are using a frac and don't have a diagonal, get one. With a refractor you may want to consider getting a taller tripod than those usually supplied with the scopes. I built a 5' tall tripod for my 1000mm long refractor. This allows me to view the zenith while sitting on a low stool, rather than lying on the ground. A right angle finder also helps, as you don

Have you considered emailing the manufacturer, or the supplier, to see if they have a solution? The scope is sold in configurations for both types of mounts, so conversion may be a simple matter. Or not.

Often, when I am out in the field I am looking for a good place to put my charts and books where they are easy to get at, at a height that won't break my back, and easily portable. I came up with this design after seeing a plan for a construction blueprint field table, that I subsequently lost. So, the plan for this was in my head. My biggest problem was figuring out the configuration for the back legs. I don't know if this solution is the same as the original, but it works well. I made it a bit higher than my waist height so I don't have to bend too far. I started with the table top, at the s

The last time I was here I mentined that I haven't been in the best of health. Although I am steadily improving, the stamina for late night, cold sessions doesn't seem to have come back, so although my newt is sitting fully assembled in my shed, It hasn't seen many stars or planets in the last couple of years. I promise to try harder. I had made a few attempts to sign on over the past few months, and failed the password test each time. Today I tried an obscure little password that was lurking in the back of my memory, and it worked. I thought I had tried it before, but I suppose I may have ma

I went out last night, warmly clad in a Canadian made parka and laid back on my reclining chair. My first foray was at 9.00, (0100 UT) and I had a 40º hole in the clouds about Jupiter which closed up after about 20 Minutes. I went back ouside at 11.00 PM (0300 UT) and watched for an hour and a quarter. In that time I saw seven meteors despit the Rubbish LP we have around here.The sky was completely clear, and the transparency and seeing as good as it gets. The first two meteors were short and slow, about 25 º west of the radiant, the third was a very long path without a significant trail that

Just my two cents; If you were at one of the 'edges' of the visible moon, say in Mare Crisium a few hours after sunset, and having only a 'crescent Earth' to contend with, and given a clear visor, you should be able to see lots and lots of stars. None of the Moon landings were in such a position. I'm a little surprised Collins didn't see any stars on the nightside, though.