RobertI

2 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Just arrived:

 

A Sightron Japan Alt-Azimuth mount. I wanted a light mount with a reasonable payload for G&G and this doesn't disappoint. Looks suspiciously similar to the Scopetech Zero. Weight is only 1.45kg but payload is up to 7kg. Apparently it can be used in EQ mode (with a wedge) or for fork mounting but I just needed common or garden alt/az. It even has slow-mo controls.

Thanks to @FLO  for their usual whiz delivery!

Here it is with my Starfield 102ED and Berlebach Report tripod:

 

I can now pick up and carry the whole shooting match one handed. Happy bunny....

Interesting to see it with the 102ED, makes me realise that it’s quite a beefy mount. Could be something to replace the AZ4 one day. 

On 05/09/2023 at 19:55, DaveL59 said:

I see a new vid has been put on the tube just 30 mins ago

 

Another interesting video. He seemed to be more focussed on using it for full blown astrophotography than EAA, although I get that many of the buyers of this product will end up using it primarily for long integration astrophotography (you’ve only got to look at the posts on Unistellar Facebook page to see this). Personally I would be more interested in seeing  the images build up over 4 or 5 minutes as that is usually the maximum I go to when I am doing EAA, not the 60 minutes plus he was showing. From what I could see from pausing the ‘accelerated’ image capture video of the Pacman, you can see it starting to emerge after the first capture and it looks ok after 5 minutes, but pretty dim. I would be interested to see how much of Stephan’s Quintent is visible after 5 minutes. I imagine without a full moon, things would have been better. I think Cuiv’s short images of the Dumbell and M13 from central Tokyo were more useful in showing its capabilities for EAA. 

Excellent job, you’re on your way! 

Although we had a cloudless sky at sunset, it did not have that vivid cyan colour that indicates good transparency and the horizon seemed to be a dirty grey colour. Sure enough I can see very few stars in murky darkness now - it ain’t good out there.

1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

Last nights session was my first visual session since January, having been lured away recently by the pleasures of EAA. I wanted to check that I still enjoyed visual, and to check some kit to decide whether it was worth keeping.

Since the Moon was bright, and Saturn and Jupiter were visible, I set up the Skymax 127, which hadn’t seen action since last October (it’s too slow for EAA). The sky was clear, with the Moon below the horizon initially, so I started with some fainter objects and finished with Jupiter and the Moon.

Saturn managed x195 but looked fuzzy above that. I could just make out the gaps in the rings beside the planet, but no other detail. I tried the binoviewer but could not get the images to merge.

The Moon managed all the way up to x365, although by then the craters were getting quite wobbly. Things looked better at x123 and with the yellow filter which I prefer to the blue, mainly because the colour looks more natural. Both are much better than the Neodymium. Switching to the binoviewer, both with and without its x1.6 Barlow, the Moon looked amazing, much better than with an eyepiece and still benefiting from the yellow filter.

Jupiter also managed x195. I could see two cloud belts and four moons, but not the GRS, which should have been on display. This time I did get the binoviewer images to merge, perhaps because I had just been successfully observing the Moon, but the view wasn’t any better than with an eyepiece.

The Binoviewer is great for the Moon but nothing else. Worth keeping, but I’m not sure I would buy one now.

In between Saturn and Jupiter I observed a bunch of star clusters, staring with some smaller ones, M2, M15, M71, then some larger ones, Cr399, M29, M39, M52, NGC7789. The small globular clusters looked best at x71 and x143, when I could just make out that they were composed of individual stars. For the larger open clusters I switched to the 2” diagonal (my Skymax 127 has been modified to provide a 2” visual back) and the Baader Hyperion Aspheric 36mm.

This eyepiece has been a real disappointment in faster scopes, with the stars obviously distorted across the outer 60% of the field of view, but at F12 the field was flat. Used with the Skymax 127 the Aspheric 36mm was a revelation, increasing the field of view from 0.9° (with the Explore Scientific 68° 24mm) to 1.5°, so that I could properly observe larger objects within their context. With the 2” eyepiece I could just see all of the stars of the Coathanger (Cr399) and even M45, which I don’t usually bother to observe with the Skymax 127. So the Aspheric 36mm is worth keeping, but only for the Skymax 127

Carloine’s Rose Cluster (NGC7789) is one of my favourite EAA objects as its shape and the star colours look so beautiful. This was the first time I had observed it visually. I could make out the shape, just, but there was none of the colour. The Moon and Planets are much better observed visually, but for everything else you see so much more via EAA.

I’ve had an Astronomik OIII filter for a while, bought initially for visual, but never used, and moved instead into the EAA filter wheel. It works for EAA, but turns everything green, and I much prefer the UHC filter, so the OIII filter is now back in the visual filter wheel. I decided to give M27 a try, not expecting much, but there it was, with no filter, better with the UHC filter, and even better with the OIII filter. With both filters I could make out the dumbbell shape, more so with the OIII filter, which made the background black and pretty much removed the stars. So the OIII filter will be staying in the visual filter wheel.

It was nice to get back out under the stars, but other than when observing the Moon and Planets I was seeing much less than with EAA, and I did miss being able to check what I was supposed to be looking at via Stellarium.

 

Nice report of a nice session Peter. Regarding your last comment about not being able to check what your supposed to be seeing via Stellarium, I can throughly recommend the Starsense App and gizmo, which not only guides you to the object manually, but also gives you everything you need to know, including black and white DSS images which  are close to what a typical EAA setup might show (in fact virtually identical to my EAA setup).  As for the strengths and weaknesses of EAA v Visual, I agree with you, except that it’s hard to beat the pinpoint diamond look of stars visually, especially binaries and open clusters. EAA is a clear winner for Nebulae and galaxies though. 👍

1 minute ago, carastro said:

Brilliant, what a stroke of luck.

Yes, what’s more it’s right next to the building where I ran a business for seven years. Stranger and stranger. 😲

I’m in the process of taking an extended break from working to rest and recuperate from years of stress. One of the many things I am planning to do is spend more time on astronomy, possibly even doing some volunteering. There are no planetariums or astro organisations around here, so I wasn’t sure what I could do. Imagine my surprise when I drove into a local industrial estate, to see one of  the buildings with a spaceman and rocket outside and a sign on the building saying “It’s rocket science”. I went in to investigate and it turns out that it’s a science and astronomy education and outreach centre! What’s more they are after volunteers and also offering paid work. Of all the weird coincidences I have experienced, this is one of the strangest. I shall be keeping in contact. 

https://itsrocketscience.co.uk/

That’s a wonderful thing that you’ve done. Looks like the universe had decided that the scope and mirror should come together. I hope the new owner was suitably gratefully and promised to let you look through it when assembled? 

Nice! 🙂 I suspect 99% of the audience didn’t know the answers either. 

Fascinating stuff. 👍

31 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Oh for sure, I have compared M13 and M57 and globular clusters are very much better resolved in the 4” but will get round to some more targets when I get chance.

I was scanning the sky just randomly with the Starwave and I could see so many stars despite the very bright sky background. If I ever pull my finger out and go to a dark sky site I would 100% take the Starwave over the Tak. The wider views and better light grasp afforded in the faster 4” would allow me to see some of the emission nebula targets I’ve never been able to see from my back yard. I might look at acquiring a 2” diagonal, really push the boat out and convert it into a wide field scope.

I have to say for a small scope used for solar system targets, I’d be very surprised if there was anything better than the 76Q. It really does punch above its aperture. I’d like to see a FOA-60Q v 76Q space off; maybe one of the Takophiles would be so kind as to buy two Q extenders and give us a comparison. 😁

Thanks that’s really interesting to hear. I am taking my Starwave 102EDR to Kelling in a few weeks, and in the unlikely event of some clear skies, I’m hoping to try some challenging emission nebulae and push it to its (and my) limits. Talking of wide field, I do have a 38mm Panaview eyepiece which fits in the whole of the Veil with the 102EDR, but the circular shape of the nebula means the interesting bits sit on the periphery of the FOV where there is significant image distortion, due to field curvature I am guessing. I could just try refocusing so that the edge is in focus I guess, never considered that……

9 hours ago, sojourneyer said:

Rob, yes the AZ4 is the same as the Versago 2 but they have those nice thick 1.75" steel legs and that makes a big difference.   Your mount weighs over 18 lbs.

You can not even get them in the States now.  The Versago E weighs only 8 lbs

I have that Svbony Achro and like it for DSO. That is why I wished they had an ED version.

 

Nice compact setup. 👍

This continues to be a really fascinating and informative read, thanks! I’d be really interested to see how they compare on some DSOs, such a globulars, open clusters and some emission nebula with an OIII or UHC filter (eg: the Veil). I’m guessing standard laws of aperture would apply, but the Takahashi seems to break the laws of nature! 🙂

A rare outing for the H130P atop the SkyProdigy, which auto-aligned in two mins and delivered accurate gotos for the session. Full report here. 
 

A fun session last night with the 130P and SkyProdigy - a smattering of DSOs and a noctilucent cloud (kind of). Full report here. 

5 hours ago, globular said:

I've had my binoviewers for a while now and have found them fantastic on high mag - where floaters have started plaguing cyclops views.  But tonight on Jupiter, together with some lovely seeing conditions, they have presented views better than anything I've ever seen (in my short 3 years with a telescope).  It's easily taking 307x and there is so much detail in the different bands and the GRS. And not just fleeting glimpses, it's there all the time, rock steady. I'm struggling to find words... but I've very excited and I'm going back out.....

100% agree with your sentiments on biniviewers. 👍

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

High cloud catching some moonlight?

Yes that was my conclusion too. 

I thought I would have a quick session tonight using my SkyProdigy and Heritage 130P combo. This was partly to test whether my ancient 7ah Celestron Powertank still had enough oomph to power the mount. Switching on, the SkyProdigy did its auto align perfectly first time, despite a bright moon and I was ready to observe. With a 17.5mm Morpheus giving 37x, and a 2.25 Barlow giving 83x, I had a nice tour of some DSOs including the globular M15, the Wild Duck cluster M11 in Scutum showing a lovely rich fan shape of stars, NGC7009 the Saturn Nebula in Aquarius showing up as a small non-stellar greenish disc and a nice compact open cluster NGC663 in Cassiopeia. Finished off with Albireo.

The mount behaved perfectly for the hour or so I was out there, and the gotos got objects into the FOV at 37x, so it looks like the battery works well with the mount. I’m still chuffed with this little setup - I cant think of a portable goto setup that is quicker to get up and running! 

During the session I had a strange visitor in the form of a very bright cloud overhead. It moved very slowly northward over the course of 30 minutes. For a while I wondered if I was seeing an aurora as it had that kind of rippled curtain look, then I thought noctilucent cloud, but I’d expect to see both of these further to the northern horizon. I think it was just a high cloud, perhaps catching the moonlight?

I think there are a few fast 90mm refractors around like this one from SVBONY. Doesn’t say what kind of glass, could be quite a bit of chromatic aberration given the focal ratio and price, but should be very portable, eg: for airline travel.

But my 102ED F7 sits on an AZ4 mount (like the Versago 2?) and it’s a very stable setup, which is also nice and easy and quick to set up in the garden, so is very grab and go in that sense. 

Superb, I’m jealous of that wonderful seeing, must have been amazing to see.

That’s an amazing image, especially for an 8”. 

Nice report and sketch. Not bad for “scruffy”! 🙂

Really fascinating work.

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

You know that moment when you realise how completely dumb you are...

I've been struggling to get enough in focus on the FS-60CB. Why did no-one tell me the Baader click-lock on mine is screwed into a short extension tube of some kind instead of directly on to the focuser tube? DOH!

What an idiot. Now my 2" eyepieces all come to focus with the 2" Baader diagonal, and 1.25" eyepieces with the 2"-1.25" adaptor.

I was wondering how long it would take you to notice! 😉 (just kidding ). I’ve done similar things with my equipment, realising after several years that a particular screw or knob does something incredibly useful.

50 minutes ago, Anne S said:

Dew. It was coating anything not under cover.

Understood, thanks. 👍