kirkster501

Very nice. Details please?

What, you don't like 20s shots of BC strolling along a grey beach in Iceland with dramatic music in the background?????😂🙈

Yes I have done that too. Spectacular. You will love it! I was in Lanzarote end of May. Magnificent clear skies 8 out 10 nights. I have not seen the stars properly from where I live in Nottingham since I have been back home it's been so bad. You could not have picked a better contrast of there and here!

I enjoyed the program about the outer planets. Other than Pluto they do not get a lot of airtime do they?

I use SGP, CdC and MESU too with no problems at all. You do select the Sitech option in the telescope box in CdC right? I don't use EQmod at all. I am on the latest ASCOM version too.

I work for an American company. I have been over to the US dozens of times, probably 80 or 90 times at least and I am going again in two weeks. I am on the phone and video conference to Americans, from many states, every day. Not to decry my own beloved country and people here in the UK but there is much more of a "can do" or "we can do this" attitude in the US that applies to everything, in every walk of life. They are extremely patriotic with the stars and stripes flying everywhere. There is a sense of national identity much more than us. Many more people in the US really do believe they could be president proportionally than people here think they could be PM. As a result of all this they aspire to the biggest and the best, it's in their DNA. Cars, houses, freeways, telescopes. As a general rule of course, there are always exceptions. They are further south than us and generally have much better weather and clearer skies than us who are stuck under the jet stream of the North East Atlantic. Some folks in humid Florida may debate that but I'd suggest they come to the UK for a bit to see what cloudy, grey weather truly is, when it goes on and on for months. So that means that a large scope is more useful in the US. Maybe not in downtown but the US is a vast country. A country where it takes five hours to fly across it is BIG. Since scopes tend to cost the same in dollars as in pounds, large scopes are proportionately much cheaper in the US. These are some reasons why they have bigger scopes. And I would too if i was there and could make use of one.

Thankyou, kind of you to say. It is very much in development and there are a few bugs but I am getting there. A bit sparse on content still but I have a backlog of stuff to write up and post.

The cost per inch of aperture per use in our weather conditions explains it! Almost perpetual cloud that we have makes large scopes pretty pointless here. A whole different matter in the US.

Here is an article on my website about cleaning mirrors. https://www.sjkastro.com/cleaning-12-dobsonian-mirror/ The website is very much under development.

I would ask this question on the cloudy nights forum. You are more likely to get an answer there. good luck.

Yes, it's dumbing down alright. But a lot of the population is much less well-read than you might think. People interested in astronomy, on this forum, will by virtue of the topic's very nature be in the higher percentiles when it comes to intelligence and general knowledge. I used to be incredulous at what by late wife, a theory of knowledge teacher at a local college, used to tell me about this. She told me that many people think Paris is in Italy for instance..... And what continent is Egypt located in? Spain.... The President of the United States? Ronald Thatcher..... 🙄🙈 There were papers on this she showed me, chuckling over them. Back on topic. Still, The Planets is a nice watch on Tuesday evenings.

Same with me, obstacles all around and the only bit I can get is the 80 degrees east and 20 degrees west of the Meridian line. I have no view of any horizon from my observatory, in the middle of a housing development. It's either that, or no observatory. That is why I also have portable equipment of a NEQ6 and a C925.

Agreed, I'm Ok with it too. I'd want my car so as to be able to go exploring. Probably need a stay over just north of Paris after driving first day from Nottingham. I have driven to the South of France on several occasions in the past although not recently. My 535D Touring can eat the motorways up for breakfast!

Yes, Astroomer. That would be me, an astronomer and a crooner, if you heard my singing.... 🤣

I would love to go too. Gee, bike in the day and astronomy at night = paradise found! I also need some instruction to help me along a bit. Problem for me is my GF Louise does not like long car journeys so the plan is to pack her off somewhere and come down with my daughters. Maybe next year.

Fine pictures I struggle to determine if clouds are just high, well, clouds, or noctilucent ones. What's the giveaway?

Great news, I have the greatest respect for Ian. He has helped me out no end of times.

Mods, please correct title spelling?

I was working at The University of Leicester yesterday - a big customer of my employer - and met a professional astronomer for the first time ever! We had a chat in the canteen for 20 minutes, She was an expert in Brown Dwarf stars and did a PhD in the subject. Wow! The people you meet eh?!

The Planets is mean to be entertainment for the masses. I think a considerable degree of "artistic license" has been used in this program's creation. The narrative jumps all over the place and statements made as fact that are, two minutes later, said are "what we think happened". Ten minutes of material last 50 minutes with panning shots of BC walking around and utterly irrelevant scenery and location shots baked into the show. Still, entertaining nonetheless if not a bit monotonous. 6/10.

Ok understood. No interest to me so I'll bow out. Good luck.

Respectfully there are numerous data pool resources already available so I think such an endeavour would be reinventing the wheel. http://www.mistisoftware.com/astronomy/index_fits.htm ..for example. You can even download Hubble data to process yourself. http://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html Personally, I am with Gina on this; I cannot consider a picture as "mine" unless I captured it with my own hands and my own equipment and I processed it. That's surely the whole point of astrophotography for amateurs.

Hi all, I have ZWO camera and filter wheel. I want to get some filters to move beyond monochrome lunar photography. Any suggestions please? Just a set of regular LRGB Baader CCD filters?

HEQ5 is a superb mount - good choice.

Very nice. It's like being in lunar orbit!