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wookie1965

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Posts posted by wookie1965

    Skywatcher explorer 200 and Eq5 mount

    in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, reddish75 said:

    Yes, thankfully I have those.

    I think the scope has been a bit unloved over the years, when I picked it up the dust cap wasn't on the scope and the bits were generally thrown in around it. Bit of time and care and it'll come good I should think

    Brilliant because the 2" one is hard to find when I picked my 200p a few years back before I sold it the cap had been left off and the mirror was really dirty with bird muck on it. 

    I put a hole reinforcer on the donut then washed the mirror flocked the tube and put it back together I regret selling it to this day. 

    Paul 

    Grim Forecast

    in The Astro Lounge

    Posted

    I suspect we don't have 4 seasons now we have a spring which includes a few warm days (this year was a irregularitiy) and then we get Autumn rain and moisture all the way through. 

    I remember my youth getting snow usually around January and February but really frosty nights from November through, not any more just seems to be mild all the way through. 

    • Like 1

    Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Owners

    in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups

    Posted

    I have learned the sky over 40 yrs but the one thing I cannot do is star hop I am hopeless, I did do it when I had my 150p on a EQ3-2 but the time I spent searching for objects cut my viewing down by three quarters. 

    Once I got the EQ5 goto I started to enjoy this hobby again finding and splitting double and multiple stars has been enthralling, now with the Dob I can do the same with the faint fuzzies and I am looking forward to doing just that. 

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Owners

    in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups

    Posted

    1 hour ago, paulastro said:

    Thanks Andrew.  I too found this about a couple of weeks or so ago, I was going  to post it and promptly forgot 🙂.

    One thing I thought was rather odd, was that Ed said people might spend more time looking at the phone screen mounted on the scope rather than looking through the scope.

    I only use the phone screen to find objects, which it does far quicker than using a finder.  So I spend much less time searching for objects, and far more time actually observing.

    If the user wants  to spend time listening to all the descriptions, or playing around with it in some other ways,  it's up to the individual. 

    To me the BIGGEST advantage of the SS is the fact that it's possible to spend a much bigger percentage of every session observing than I could before. Its a game changer in this respect.

     

     

    I concur only had limited chances with it but found the objects quickly and I could spend time viewing. 

    • Like 2

    What did the postman bring?

    in The Astro Lounge

    Posted

    On 12/11/2022 at 18:29, Greymouser said:

    Got this little light, which may help me find eyepieces on the table, rather than knock them off. It's meant to be a reading light, amber, red and mixed and clamps onto the top of a book. Here it is on the edge of a desk.

    561565033_IMG_20221112_181234_42-Copy.thumb.jpg.d70e74ed18ff97408bd48fd667f69676.jpg1000701204_IMG_20221112_181244_82-Copy.thumb.jpg.aeea8762551195c1da04f4f5ff90984c.jpg

    Not as bright as it seems in the picture and it is dimmable, as well as very directional.

    677659441_IMG_20221112_181104_22-Copy.thumb.jpg.b05ba20f35ae1a1298c5c05f50ce7fd6.jpg

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amber-Reading-Lights-Books-Bed/dp/B0B12TR9GR/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2U43WDTX4LU1O&keywords=red+light+reading+light&qid=1668277221&sprefix=red%20light%20reading%20light%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

     

    I have one of those I attach it to my clip board to read my lists make notes and sketch they are brilliant plus its rechargeable.

    • Like 4

    A Deep Sky Session with an 8” StellaLyra Dobsonian

    in Observing - Reports

    Posted · Edited by wookie1965

    On 30/10/2022 at 21:47, Astro_Dad said:


    29th/30th October 2022 

    The first opportunity for me to have a really good session with my new 8” Stellalyra Dobsonian (Following a brief first light earlier in the week).  Late Saturday night into Sunday morning - reasonably clear skies with above average seeing.

    Without StarSense or GOTO in tow this was going to be a slower but more thoughtful session featuring some relatively easy old favourites and some new challenges as well. I used only two eyepieces throughout - a GSO 32mm Plossl and my 7-21mm zoom. 

    I immediately spotted M45 (The Pleiades) by chance (hard to miss!) and so started here, was tempted to pop inside for a 2” wider field eyepiece to frame it better but stuck to the 32 and as always enjoyed the quite pleasing view through the good quality 50mm finderscope supplied with the SL. 

    The first target on my list was M52 - open cluster in Cassiopeia - relatively easy to find using the Rigel Quickfinder, extending (doubling) the distance of the line connecting Shedar and Caph. An attractive and relatively dense cluster of mainly white stars.  

    Whilst in the area I then accidentally stumbled upon The ET or Owl cluster (NGC 457) a target I haven’t observed since last year - always a treat and once found it was very easy to keep returning to as I scanned around for other targets. 

    Next M103, very close to Ruchbah, again in Cassiopeia. The three bright stars that bisect this cluster (with the central star being a red giant) were very clear and confirmed my find. This is an impressive cluster and I’ll be returning to this target again soon to seek out nearby NGC 663 and NGC 654. 

    For a change of direction I could see The Plough quite low in the Northern Sky so used this to quickly guide me to galaxy pair M81 (Bode’s) and M82. Both were clear and bright, and for the first time I really zoomed in to higher power (170x) on M82, in an attempt to see the dust lane. I’m not sure I managed that but I could make out some structure and the outer edges of the thin shape were clear. 

    My final DSO of the evening was NGC 1664. This is the diamond shaped open cluster featured in the November addition of Sky at Night magazines Deep Sky list. A joy to actually locate! - close to Capella. I chose a different star hopping route to that advised in the S@N feature, but I based that visually on the position shown in Sky Safari. 
     

    9B57A118-6643-4D2C-8489-0BBFB78C0AB3.thumb.jpeg.4b578aefaa86c956a3a9ecb91e2bcd4d.jpeg
     

    Thanks to @paulastro for the additional information on this one!

    I certainly agree with some that this is rather stingray like in appearance and provides an attractive view of a ring of stars with a trail flowing from it - creating its kite like form. 

    It was an excellent, enjoyable evening of observing with the new Dob, helped by SkySafari Pro for checking the location of 1664, and  the simple but clear and useful in the field 110 Things to see with a Telescope by John Read - the targets shown with Telrad circles is one of the most effective ways of showing where to point, and having dabbled in the past I’m now totally sold on the Rigel for quick accurate star hopping. 

    I miss a little having access to  the Celestron StarSense technology as this is quicker and more enjoyable to use than GOTO in my view, but a back to basics star hopping experience provides its own rewards - though I wouldn’t rule out one of the smaller StarSense instruments for convenient grab and go at some point in the future. 

    Brilliant not having the dob back though 😀 just had it out looked at Mars then Jupiter I was just playing with different eyepieces and Barlows when the seeing went funny looked up full cloud. That was 45 mins ago just checked now clear again debating whether to get out again.

    • Like 1
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