faulksy

15 minutes ago, ArmyAirForce said:

According to Clear Outside, no astro dark for me this month.

 

Wow. You must be far north 

Just now, globular said:

Yeah but I suspect you will get much darker skies... bet you can't wait for the move?

like you say cant wait. mag 21.59 there. hence the move

Just now, globular said:

Not far off

that is about the same for me 😃

my new house in midwales which i move into on the 5th of august is 1 day away.

how is your home ?

9 minutes ago, Dave_D said:

yes they are... hideously overpriced though. 

dont think i payed that much for mine though🙃

i have one and it is very good. i check with my A/C and it is always spot on 😃

41 minutes ago, globular said:

 

 

Your existing scopes are fine.  You just need a new mount that can position them near the Sun-Earth Lagrange point (2).

Simples.

my half meter scope would be ace up there 🤣

2 hours ago, Jonk said:

Stephen's Quintet has just been released. Very very nice.

Screenshot:

 

Here's a link to the full image: https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01G7DAXJYYTYXCFSB8VQRK5X2F.tif

 

going to need a bigger dob

howie glatter for laser colimation. ace gear now made by wayne at starlight instuments 😁

On 24/06/2022 at 18:24, Daniel-K said:

What's in the box. Just to be clear that this is In partnership with my local optic shop.  Not a paid partnership just a review. Delete if not allowed 

 

https://youtu.be/-CEmrrRadNs

nice one danski 😁

18 hours ago, noonenca9 said:

USSkies!! That was exactly what I thought! I was sitting in my backyard and I actually got scared and called my husband!!!

what did you call him 🤣

1 hour ago, Ags said:

Dark skies certainly help, and I do treasure my trips to dark skies, but regardless of light pollution levels its fun standing alone outside sharing the quiet darkness with the gently humming mosquitoes, gliding this way and that with a fine telescope. Even if the destination is an averted vision smudge, there is still the fun of chasing it down.

I observe with a small refractor in a city, chasing things at the limit of my vision. Give another astronomer a 24" dob and pitch black skies and what do they end up doing? Hunting down obscure ICs and NGCs at the limit of their vision!

that is the scope gerry  @jetstreamhas and mag 21 .8 skys

not into imaging. but that is absolutely incredible , never seen anything like it. well done mate 👍

3 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Well if someone with experience of organizing these events fancies having a go I'd happily attend a September/October 2022 camp.

The site isn't the darkest, however city dwellers will undoubtedly appreciate the sky. Plus the location is fairly central and facilities fine.

i could be up for that scouser 👍

dont know why we dolnt use brecon penicelli

probably the best thing you can do with a tak, hide it in the corner 🤣

are you sure your 15 is colimated correctly ?

i can see it visualy equal to that if not a bit better on a good night.

ace what you say about the stars twinkling 👍

14 hours ago, ukskies said:

I have just read this thread for the first time and was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end.

What an amazing story, it was like a really good book, you know when you just can't put it down.

An absolutely amazing big dob, with stunning workmanship! I'm in awe of your skills building this Mike.

you will be able to see it in the flesh soon gary 🤣

5 hours ago, Stu said:

They are designed to cancel out the diffraction spikes; any curved vane that goes through multiples of 180 degrees will do this. It doesn’t get rid of diffraction, but smears it around through 360 degrees so it is less noticeable. I’ve always wanted to try one of these in my 8” f8.

im sure john had a dob with this type of spider stu.

he might mention it

4 minutes ago, ukskies said:

Thanks Mike, yes I'm very happy with both purchases, I'm out £135 for the two scopes atm tho more will have to be spent to get them up and running it's still a no brainer compared to the cost of blanks and starting from scratch.

I see you are soon to be a close neighbour?

yes you are correct garry (neighbour) cant wait mate. mag 21 59 from my garden 🤣

37 minutes ago, ukskies said:

Yes, that's how I understand it, the diffraction is spread (diffused?) over more of the image but much weaker and thus less noticeable than the more conventional 4 vane spiders produce, proof of the pudding is however yet to be sampled.

generally curved vanes show very little defraction spikes

some ace little gems you bought there

my old 18" obsession was very light to move which ment counter weight to the mirror box. it is a good idea. it came with tubes you filled with sand 😃

awesome piero. you could use that tak as a counter weight 🤣

that looks ace @Piero should of tig welded the cell instead of migged.

hope your cell is in the right place, due to balance and focal length.

what paint did you use looks very black

ace job mate

Movment feels awesome with new bearing surfaces 😁

On 25/05/2022 at 13:51, Starman18 said:

Nice job ! Maybe I'll start on my 18" f/5 ?

you should, cant beat a big dob 😃