wookie1965

According to Sky at Night it's around 3pm I will have to do some research. 

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/jupiter-lunar-occultation-17-may-2023/

I had a 200p 9n my EQ5 and it was on the very edge of payload without adding more weight I.e cameras, guide scope and other peripherals. 

The 150 would be a better choice as others have said. 

Here you go holding the phone over the hole. 

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

Your secondary 

Thank you I guessed as much now sorted dead centre just need a star test.

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

I use a concentre too. Make sure the secondary is adjusted for up/down the tube, and tilt/rotation, first - undo all the screws if necessary to get it directly under the concentre with the outer ring aligned. You can then adjust the three screws to align the secondary with the primary.

The secondary is one of those fiddly things to adjust. But once it's right you'll likely never have to touch it again.

This is not my first reflector I have had a 6" a 8" before I got the starsense but its first time using a concentre I have a laser but it needs collimating I have been trying for months but I am getting nowhere it draws a circle about 15mm from 24ft away just cannot get it any tighter, thank you for your reply.

I have put a Telrad on my 10" I dont need a finder .

Nice one Neil all you need now is an adapter and take a couple of shots with your phone lol more money.

On 14/05/2023 at 12:40, Mike Q said:

I usually run a 10 inch dob.  On better nights i have a 16 inch dob i will use.  Still waiting on a better night lol.  This is Ohio, clouds are just a fact of life.  

 

Wow  those are nice.

On 26/03/2023 at 06:32, Ratlet said:

I use one of the cheapy lasers from Amazon.  They have the adjustment holes filled in with silicone, but easily removed for calibrating at home.  

Can I send mine to you then been trying for months do mine gave up and bought a concentre

As I have never used one before which mirror needs adjusting please. 

I've just been on it looking at what refractors are for sale. 

A warm welcome to SGL 

I recently purchased one of these off member. 

I have never used one before so just tried and I think I have it right would someone mind checking for me and if I have to adjust anything let me know what it is please. 

6 hours ago, Sunshine said:

It just so happens that every time I have set my sights on the wealth of galaxies in the coma cluster it was with small aperture telescopes and red dot finders (which i love) but they aren’t exactly the best choice for such faint, small objects. Markarians Chain has always been something I have heard others describe while using large dobs but I have never really enjoyed this region, it was something I thought I would one day see under truly dark skies with a large dob. Starsense with my 8” dob changed everything this night, what a superb piece of tech it is. 
 

Seeing conditions were good, while searching through the provided list of highlighted targets for this night I ran across the Sunflower galaxy, a tiny smuge which then led me to the whale, needle, and black eye galaxies. All very faint smudges but now I was on a roll, working my way down I eventually found myself in the middle of galactic nirvana and the amazing wealth that is Markarians chain. Starsense never led me astray or let me down, not once, putting galaxy after galaxy dead center in the eyepiece one after the other. 
 

This was something I had never seen, let me be frank, I saw no spirals and galactic cores from my bortle bad skies, but I did see multiple fuzzies within one field of view and it was awe inspiring. Some so faint that I had to slightly move the scope to detect the galaxy against the backdrop, as counter intuitive as this may seem I have noticed this helps when spotting something so faint. So many galaxies passed through the 70 degrees offered by my 9mm morpheus that I lost count, without starsense and using a red dot finder with my 4” refractor I would have been lost, probably wouldn’t have even bothered. Markarians chain would have continued on as lore, how starsense put some fuzzies barely on the threshold of what my vision, bortle scale, and mirror size would allow, dead centre (and i mean center) of my fov blows my mind.  A memorable night this was, I thought thess galaxies were out of reach from my location and scope size, starsense proved me wrong.

I know what you mean I was in the Brecon Beacons last weekend didn't think I was going to get a clear night but Saturday turned out clear wows all around with my 10" starsense dob really great piece of kit. 

A warm welcome to SGL 

9 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Paul so pleased for you to see that sort of detail in M51 and 81/2. If you could see spiral structure in M51 you should easily have been able to see the third part of the Leo Triplet. Is it possible you panned in the wrong direction from M65 & 66? I have done that before more than once.

Having myself seen M51 from a dark place, I subsequently found myself able to see it from London albeit as a faint smudge, by knowing exactly what to look for and where to look relative to the two bottom “saucepan handle” stars of the plough.

I did feel your joy from your report.

Cheers, Magnus

You maybe right about the 3rd component of the trio I am more used to Refractors saying that it was earlier in the night so may not have been as dark as when I looked at M51. 

Paul 

5 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

Oh right I understand! So that really proves that a dark sky is so important for resolving/seeing faint DSO's. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the council would turn out all street lights for a couple of hours every evening, say from around 12midnight to 3am? Most folk are fast asleep in bed at that time anyway!? I doubt they ever would though because they're too afraid of someone being attacked in darkness and council getting blamed for turning out street lights!? Impo though, if someone is sick and twisted enough to attack someone else, then a silly street light isn't going to stop them!? LOL

I have never seen M51 or the Leo trio from home but here in really dark skies with my 10" I could see the easily see them dark skies makes a hell of a difference. 

29 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Amazing skies out there. I thought the same on the single clear night at the recent Astrocamp. Best views I've had of numerous Messier objects, M51 and M13 were fantastic and even the Owl nebula M97 was easy. The Ring and Dumbbell were very pronounced and the galaxies in Leo were stunning and in Virgo there were so many I got lost. 

I was going to look at virgo but it was behind the trees, Starsense never even give me the owl or M97 as it started to cloud over I never had a chance to search for other objects. 

I have been in a lovely cottage since Thursday forecast for the weekend was terrible but yesterday afternoon the sun popped out and the forecast said clear between 11pm and 12am.

Come 10pm the sky was fabulous so quickly set up aligned the Telrad and put starsense on thought I would just do the highlights

As many of you know I have wanted to view the Leo trio and M51 through my own scope since I got my first scope in 2012.

M3 first wow and not the last found with 25mm then upped to the 15mm and what a view. 

M5 same again but with a few of the outer stars resolved. 

Double cluster with the 25mm outstanding. 

M44 Beehive I've never seen it so good. 

Melotte 111 a first for me but so beautiful. 

M13 the best I have seen it could easily make out outer lying stars. 

M92 again a superb view. 

M36, M37, M38 stunning in the 25mm.

The Leo trio unfortunately I could not see NGC 3628 but M65 and M66 where easily seen with shape and a the bright cores where brilliant. 

M81 and M82 the best I have ever seen them structure so distinctive between the two. 

M51 to finish waited for the darkest I could get and wow spiral structure and both cores clearly visible. 

Absolutely fantastic night I am over the moon. 

Paul 

If you have android download this and then copy the information from the app to the handset, plenty of people have put the date in the wrong way the handset uses the USA way not the UK it could very well be that.

https://synscaninit-2.soft112.com/ for some reason google play has took it down.

A warm welcome to SGL

The council came out after I complained and put this on, may as well be a ashtray on a motorbike 

A warm welcome to SGL

A warm welcome to SGL

Fill the legs with play sand and you can also suspend weight from the spreader plate not too much 2kg will do, make sure the weight barely touches the floor.

Tell me about it I have this in my south which also encroaches into the east.