Grump Martian

I remember following the Apollo moon landings. When the luna module landed the flight controller would ask all the managers 'Stay,no stay' This was because the lander may have landed at such an acute angle that there may have been a danger of it toppling over.

Moving on to current plans to use the Space X Starship as the luna lander. Am I the only one who feels that starship is too long and unstable in size and shape to land safely? The are no preformed flat,smooth landing platforms. The moon is bumpy and full of rocks. Are they inviting trouble?

 The Blue Origin lander looks a far safer design.

Chris & Michaela :Under the Christmas Sky.

On earlier this evening. But can be seen on BBC's iPlayer.

I have just aquired the above ten inch Dobsonian. I am going to take it to the dark skies of Dorset. I am looking forward to seeing an improved view of the many objects that my ST 120 just hinted to. Hopefully I might get a hint of The Horse Head Nebula, who knows.

I am now a proud owner of this ten inch Dob. Can I apply to be a member of the Dob Squad. Of does apateure fever have to take me further down this road?lol

I have a Skywatcher 250 mm flexitube Dobsonian. I would like to improve the rotation movement on the base. Currently there are teflon pads. I am interested in what other owners have done to achieve this. Thanks.

Vacuum Coatings Scientific Mirrors in Walthamstow, London. Google them for their address.

Just a sample of the unprecedented apocalyptic type clouds seen in my road in Hertfordshire this week.

I have always been interested in planetarium ceiling or wall projectors. There seems to be quite a number available. Has anyone any experience with them? Are there any models that work well.

I use Skywatcher EQ5 tripods with a height extension tube. These tripods are quite resistent to knocks and wind. The tube is machined aluminium, so lighter that the steel version. I use a manual alt/az mount. The combined is quite heavy. I would if there is a lighter weight tripod. I use an 80 mm, 100 mm and 120 mm refractors. So if there is a lighter weight tripod would it by nature become less stable during windy conditions or focussing?

Great write up Sunshine. I live near light polluted London. So no chance of seeing the Miky Way. But last week my family and I were on holiday in Devon South West of England. Yes I could enjoy seeing the Milky Way there. My 80 mm refractor revealed thousands of stars in that direction. Also dark patches, probably dark dust clouds .

I've always wondered if the James Webb telescope would ever detect industrial gas emissions in atmopheres of exoplanets.

Would moderators remove post please

We are visiting Bovey Tracey at the weekend for a weeks holiday. The nearest Dartmoor car park area for star gazing is Haytor. Does anyone who lives nearby know of any astronomy events or meetups taking place next week. Maybe astronomy related places to visit. Any advice would be welcome. I am taking my 80 mm ED refractor.

I am hoping that users of the Celestron SkyPortal WiFi Module can answer a question for me please. I would like to control my mount with a mobile telephone via the wifi module. Does it mean that the time,date and location is automatically downloaded from the mobile device? So it saves me inputting it?

Thanks.

Lovely subject indeed. Here's my Skywatcher Equinox 80 mm. At f6.25 and using my 32 mm 68° eyepiece. It gives a generous 4.3° field.

2 hours ago, dweller25 said:

I put an astrozap dewshield on the end of my refractor dewshield - seems to work.

But a dewshield made out of a black camping mat would be just as good and cheaper.

Hi Dweller. So you're not using a heater strip,just an extended dew shield?

In the past I have always used a dew shield to overcome the problem of dew build up on Maksutov or SCT telescopes.

So out observing on the first clear night for ages. I used my 102 mm Starfield refractor. Nice long dew shield. But the objective lens was sopping wet with dew. I've never experiences dew on a refractor and eyepiece before. Has anyone else suffered this on a refractoe before? Is there a dewstrip available for refractors and eyepieces?

The idea is for Artemis to dock with the coming Lunar Gateway space station . Then board the Space X lander to get to the moons surface. All this by 2025. Where is the complete and tested Gateway station. Is the Space X lander going to be ready? I'm not sure that the next astronauts to land on the moon will be American. Nor that it will happen in the foreseable future.

Alan, with that halo. You should call your mount Dominic. St Dominic was the patron saint of stargazing. Look him up.

1 hour ago, Budgie1 said:

Have you tried making your own space art? 

About 10 years ago I found some tutorials about how to create planets & starfields in Photoshop, so I had a go.

I've not tried again since, but here's a few of what I came up with:

Would you post details of the instructions on producing this art. They are fine pictures.

39 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

Sci Fi art from that era was Sci Fi art at its very best.

I had a really great Roger Dean book which I leafed through on an almost weekly basis when I was a teenager. I loaned it to my girkfriend who dumped me a week later and kept the book😪

Why not search for a copy of that book Swoop.

Hi John. I also liked the sc fi novel books cover art. Have a look at 'Visions of The Future' on youtube. They are accompanied with Tangerine Dream prog rock music from that era.

I think that there are a number of parts 1 to 5. 

I do collect space art books and have some by Foss.

Since being a child I can remember seeing pictures of space art. I was taken to the Moon seeing pictures of it's jagged mountainous surface. Here is a lovely impression of Saturn seen from Titan. From the 1940's. Why do we need space probes to go there? Just live off his imagination. Lol

Astronomy is in your heart. I hear your hurt. Just think of the years of good nights ahead.

Little section on todays Antique Road Trip on BBC 1. Day three.

This was about the astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks. They visited Derek Ward Thompson at the Jeremiah Horrocks Observatory in Moor Park in Preston. Programme can be seen on BBC iPlayer

Lovely sky scene capture. Thanks for posting