kirkster501

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!

A good start, well done. Plenty of nice stars in there. To improve though you are going to need a tracking mount such as the Skywatcher Star Adventurer so you can get some longer exposures.

Every time this has happened to me it has been a USB issue. The USB-gremlins are always looking for ways to get us...

It is what it is guys. No amount of us being hacked off about it is going to change anything. I'd settle for no planets and a bit of clear sky if anyone can make that happen? 😂

As I said in a post a few weeks ago, Saturn will not be at a favourable altitude for UK astronomers until 2030 or so. And Jupiter not until 2024 or so. It is what it is. What about the Moon? Fabulous object to observe and image.

I really like it. You have wonderful colour and detail in there. Regarding the Ha you collected. I am starting to wonder if it is worth the effort gathering Ha for galaxies, certainly in the UK where clear sky time is so rare and precious. Nebulae sure (and I am working on a Ha NAN now). With clever masking, you can emphasise the red channel by other means. I grant you it will never be as good as an Ha channel but then 60% as good is good enough for me imaging from the UK.

I overdid the noise reduction in that image and I have plasticised the data. I am going no start again with it.

Just reprocessing old data. Zero chance for imaging (or visual) for weeks.