saac

Wow, what a fantastic set of images. I love the detail you have caught in those loops.  The silhouetted disc image is extra special. 

Jim 

Wow.

Jim

Some related discussion here:

Jim

StellaLyra 12 inch using carbon fibre tubes comes in at 24kg. That is reported as the tube weight, I wonder if it includes the mirror and mirror cell as well though?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-12-f12-m-lrc-classical-cassegrain-carbon-truss-telescope-ota.html

Jim 

21 hours ago, tomato said:

I've just noticed I have gone through the 5000 posts milestone today, with a post highlighting my inability to Polar Align after 10 years in the hobby. 😏

I joined SGL in Feb 2014, seeking advice, as so many do, on how to spend money on astro kit. Little did I know how this forum would form such an integral part of my enjoyment of this hobby, thanks of course to the diverse, knowledgeable, and above all, thoroughly decent folks who are fellow members.

Here's to the next 5000 posts and 10 years hopefully, I wonder what will be a hot topic then?

Well done, keep it up  Here's my prediction for the hot topic of your 10,000 post  " For Sale - My trusty ZWO Auto Polar Aligner  - no longer needed"  

Jim   

That is some accolade "a planet before Pluto was a planet and downgraded before Pluto was downgraded"  

Jim 

28 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Another sunny day at the office and it's not an April fool, 😂 

 

 

There is something very civilised about astronomy during the day  

Jim

Permanent Observatories make you lazy - what's Polaris  

Jim 

I'm pretty sure that these are generally for setting the float of the bearing surfaces, set up a the factory.  I may well be wrong so stand by to be corrected. 

Jim 

9 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

I'm just venting I guess.   I'll get the hang of it....I do get most things...

I'm just finding the theory and the practical aspects are conspiring to defeat me with this hobby!

 

Oh and the seeing must be rubbish tonight..... or I'm doing something very wrong.  In desperation to get a look At something I shoved a stellalyra 30mm super view in the st120 (I had a Mak127 on the other side) just to get a view of the orion constellation.... no... no...no.... I could see about 3 stars.  I honestly wasn't sure what I was looking at.... still,  so least the ep came into focus (it's new and after a comment elsewhere I wasn't sure it would)

Trust me you are doing everything right. This is the rite of passage we face, each frustration that you encounter, piece of kit forgotten, each lamp post acquired is adding to your knowledge, skill, muscle memory call it what you will. It does get better and it is worth it, keep going.   

Jim 

On 25/03/2024 at 19:17, LaurenceT said:

I have raised this point earlier today on a Facebook Seestar group about his comments concerning early adoption.

There's always going to be a better model of anything coming along "later", we just have to wait for it.

I'm 77 in a few days, just how long would our Ed like me to wait for that vastly improved model?

As it happens I'm quite enjoying my Seestar, it took me about 5 minutes last night to set it up and show my grandchildren the wonders of the Orion nebula appearing on the TV screen thanks to iPad screen mirroring.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at the Seestar this morning and found it had stacked and processed an image for me.

It wasn't at all perfect, some of the stars looked a bit weird 😀 and there was some detail missing but with a very little basic work it brushed up quite well. I don't think my audience would have appreciated the "better" image produced by my ZS61!

My only "objection" is the fixed FOV but if I really want to capture something different I can use my other fairly basic kit.

That is actually a cracking image Laurence. I think your description and experience of how you used it to share images in real time is exactly what these telescopes are about. Quick no fuss setup and no wait images that can be shared then move on to the next target . Perfect for any group viewing or outreach. I haven't got one but I would get a kick out of using something like the Seestar while I have my main rig working its way through its imaging task. 

Jim

I found the Ed Ting video confusing and not really that worthwhile. In his opening he states he would not advise people to buy smart telescopes because in his words they are not very good. He then goes on to say that they are here to stay and will only get better!  Sorry but if nobody buys then the manufactures will see that there is no demand and close down that line. So he is contradicting himself there, there clearly is a demand.  I think he is massively overlooking the selling point of this type of telescope - it is plug and play, point and shoot technology. It wears its heart on its sleeve.  It is not pretending to anybody that it will produce outstanding quality images and it is not marketed at those who have dedicated imaging rigs and experience. To hold this product up against those criteria is a bit of false analysis. As for "don't buy the technology will change" - well that's pretty much a given ever since the oft quoted model T Ford!

Jim 

6 hours ago, Vroobel said:

I use both ASIAir and a small PC with NINA for 4 different setups. Now every setup has its cables 'permanently' tied with velcro, I only place and connect the computer and a dew heater controller. 3 of 4 my setups have several Vixen bars around to use with a ZWO ASIAir Vixen clamps (FLO). I use them to attach the devices and guiders. I use a lot of velcro for the cables' excess if any is too long and also here the extra Vixen bars are very useful. Always only two cables go down: a 12V power cable and an USB one connected to a mount. Another 12V power cable goes upwards from a PSU to the mount, but it's not related to the setup. I use a kind of extending rod if the setup is 'too short' and there is a risk of snagging.

BTW, two Xbox 12V 16A PSUs supply my Celestron CGX and SW EQ5 OnStep GoTo. All 12V joints are made using an aviation GX16 2-pin male/female connectors.

I hope it is helpful anyhow. 

 

 

 

I like the way you have the DSLR setup there with the use of cable tidy, very neat. I've gone for short USB cables with right angle connectors on my RedCat setup, also using the ASiAir but was considering using one of the 3D print cable tidy system.  I take it the camera lens is focussed manually - is it just a matter of setting it to infinity and leaving?

Jim 

28 minutes ago, Brian O said:

So I can see that inflation is an expansion of space rather than any matter within it.

But even if the embryonic universe consisted exclusively of energy, each photon would be moving away from its neighbours at more than the speed of light.

Maybe we are dealing with a pure form of energy without a mass equivalent, perhaps in a phase of matter somewhat more energetic than a plasma.

Can anyone help me out here, please?

Not sure what you mean by pure energy.  I don't think separating the energy/matter equivalence makes sense either. 

Jim 

7 hours ago, Albir phil said:

Time is a measurement created by we humans,it is our way of understanding and explaining things around us including distance,if we were not here time would go on but unmeasurable 

 

 

 

The way we experience time definitely makes it difficult to understand its true nature but time does appear to be an intrinsic (potentially emergent) property of our universe. 

Jim

35 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

I am on Android, and having rolled back the software to the last properly working version I have turned off auto-updating. I did this by opening Play Store, searching for the App (ASIAir), clicking on the 3 dots at the top right of the page, and unchecking auto-updating. It does seem that since v1.9, all versions have 'issues'. Apple products may work differently of course.

Ian

Yep I think I have managed to turn off auto update and forgot about it. I vaguely remember manually downloading my current version of the app V2.1 10.74. I need to start writing these things down lol. 

Jim 

32 minutes ago, Elp said:

Instead of downloading the update, download the app directly from zwos website. At least this way you can kind of control your rollbacks in case you get issues, because currently once an update comes out, zwo remove that prior version for download.

There is a roll back firmware option. Not really needed to use it yet, touch wood.

Jim 

29 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

Mmmm. I’ll look into that.  I don’t know what you’re running ASIair app on but on the iPad the App Store lets you know when apps need updating. 

Thank. I have the app running on my iPhone and iPad, but mainly use my laptop vi bluestacks. None are flagging up a new update available. I think it's possible to disable auto updates and I wonder if that is what I have done. I can download the latest version from the App Store then. 

Jim 

@Neutrinosoup, for landscape astrophotography, the Samyang 135 mm lens is one of the most often praised lens matched with a DSLR. You may also find some useful information from Paul Haworth's Youtube channel. Paul is member of the forum (FenlandPaul) and he produces some of the most amazingly creative astro landscape photographs.  I'd start experimenting with a DSLR and a suitable tracking mount, the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer or AZ GTi are are nice portable setups and often pop up in the second hand market. Once you're ready for a scope then the RedCat 51 is an excellent choice and if you marry it to a ZWO AsiAir (computer controller)  and ZWO auto focuser and camera, then you have again a really versatile and portable wide field setup.  

Jim 

https://www.youtube.com/@nightscapejournals

A few of the updates like fuzzy search and new LDN catalogue will be good. Much of the rest looks like support for additional cameras.  I've just turned my app on and there's no message to update the firmware. How do you do it?  There is a rest firmware function back that only rolls it back to either factory  or previous settings far as I can see.  If I can find up how to update I'll give it a go.  

Edited - just checked the forum - some users reporting usb port failures after update! 

Jim 

I tend to transfer the files from the AsiAir by downloading to my laptop (in the house) using the ethernet connection.  I use a PowerLine Network adapter to connect the observatory to the laptop in the house. Works fine so far, touch wood. 

Jim 

22 hours ago, Franklin said:

I'm no scientist but when I talk to my friends about these things they always come back to me with the same questions, "What happened before the Big Bang?", "How can that be possible?", "Something must have existed before existence began?". 

All I can come up with is "Hats off to whoever solves the puzzle"😁.

The way I reconcile this is -  because we (our intellect) are part of existence (ourselves products of the "after the big bang") we are constrained only to know that existence or reality. The common answer is that anything prior to that is not a legitimate question as prior is a measure of time and time appears to be a property of existence (part of the fabric of our universe).  That leads to the entirely unsatisfactory "time",  and hence "prior", did not exist before the big bang.  That's so difficult for us to conceive because we don't experience time like that so our thinking is constrained.  

But as you say "hats off to them" - it's one thing to read about it, another to come up with it from first principles. They are genuinely gifted people. 

Jim 

I wouldn't like to let go any (Esprit 120, Bresser 8 inch reflector, SW 80 ED Equinox). But at the moment I'm having so much fun with my William Optics Redcat (black and white version). This really is an amazingly versatile and capable telescope.  

Jim  

I always thought, that the physics of the universe at the period of inflation were not those we experience now. The fundamental forces were not yet discrete (still unified) - not 100% sure so I may be wrong here. The faster than speed of light restriction is a restriction on mass, stuff in the universe, and not space itself, leaving the universe free to inflate faster than light as it saw fit. Exactly how physicists can predict what conditions were like during such incomprehensible timescales is always a source of amazement to me !

Jim 

10 minutes ago, Elp said:

It's not just same software/firmware/app version, obviously everyone's setup is different. But when I used my minis and pro with the latest app and firmwares, same setups, different setups totally random issues each time. In fact just the pro alone when I tried to use it with my azgti setup which had been working fine for two years prior, suddenly decided it wanted to throw me a random issue each time. I wasted six or so sessions and never got anywhere with it, I'm certain the software just didn't want to work with the pro as a result (maybe so users upgrade?). Rolled everything back, worked fine. Haven't got the pro anymore as WiFi range/signal is my priority so minis are my main, the plus is only marginally better WiFi wise than the gen 1, and I've had to mod the antenna bit, I'm sure zwo just don't test anything properly, or they don't write their own code and subcon it, hence so many issues.

So it may be a conflict with other pieces of equipment, different mounts, cameras etc.  I use a plus and one of the old pros. My plus is mounted on my main setup at the moment and is getting fairly regular use with no real problems arising. Both connected by ethernet cable, I very rarely use the wifi. I connected the pro at Christmas just to get it ready for use with the other telescope and the only thing I had to do was update the firmware - this worked fine after an initial problem doing the update.  I haven't used it in anger yet seems to be doing what it is supposed to do. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Jim