DirkSteele

Monthly Baker Street Astronomers meeting in Regent’s Park. Saw some lightning and a few rain showers but did manage some lovely views of the moon during breaks in the cloud. Sadly, sucker holes abounded tonight so not much else was seen.

I am very fortunate. My in-laws own a place only a mile or two from the path of totality so looks like this will be my first total solar eclipse since France in 1999. 

Decent session for about 3 hours. A lot of open clusters. Started with M35 (bit close to the moon) before moving on to the three Messier OCs in Auriga before setting up camp in Cassiopeia for a while and taking in about a dozen. Swung over to M3 to take in someone old rather than young before heading to Hercules and M13 and M92. Also had a quick look at M51 and M81/82 before finishing with M57 which had just cleared the tree line.

Was colder than I expected so was not quite dressed appropriately (weekend away) but clouds stopped play just before 1am.

Had a good session last night with the Tak FC-100. Plenty of Open Clusters, a few globs and a Galaxy or two.

A big loss to the community. Never had the pleasure to meet him but read much of his writing over the years. A very knowledgeable astronomer who wanted to share that with us all.

Deepest condolences to his family.

Had a couple of hours last night with the Takahashi FC100. Spent some time with open clusters and a few globs as well. Plus a Galaxy or two.

Set up in the late afternoon as the forecast promised some clear skies by 10pm.

I would suggest book ending the solar system with Mercury which can be a challenge as it is never high above the horizon and hunting down Pluto at the other end of the solar system which is an exercise in ticking off field stars to find it.

Also quasar 3c 273 in Virgo. Also an exercise in ticking off to find but at 2.4 billion light years about the most distant thing you can see visually (mag 12.9).

Started stargazing when I was a child so have been doing this for well over 30 years. This has happened to me a couple of times. The first time, I didn’t really stargaze until the mood took me and that was the better part of a year. Felt there was no point forcing myself if I was not feeling it. When the desire did emerge, I throughly enjoyed it and was very much back in the saddle. The other time, I did force myself out but I waited for a very clear forecast and had an amazing session which really re-energised me.

Both methods worked for me, though I suspect I got a little lucky with the good session charging my mojo again. I would not force it. If Astronomy is now in your blood, that desire will come back. Just a shame we have picked a pretty dumb hobby for climate we live in!

Thanks for flagging. There are already some superb entries.

I certainly managed to find my way to Farringdon Road a fair few times once I moved to London back in 2001. Bought my first very high quality scope from them too  (the TMB LZOS 115 f/7) in 2004.  That certainly changed my perception of what a good telescope image looked like.

More than once I would just go into chat telescopes and equipment. Did the same at the widescreen centre until it moved out of London. Now we have no scope shops in the capital. 😢

Did not realise I was sitting on such a gold mine! Have to confess, not sure I recall ever opening the book. Time to correct that error I feel.

Great report and congratulations on the achievement.

Didn’t work out for Cornwall in 1999 but that might be as the article points out the impact is not seen over water and Cornwall is surrounded by the stuff. I experienced exactly that phenomenon at my location in France during the same eclipse. Cloudy at first contact. Completely clear by totality.

Nope, but the astronomy professor who was my tutor for my undergrad and masters had an asteroid named in his honour many years after I graduated.

I should try to hunt it down.

On 23/03/2024 at 21:34, Greymouser said:

This arrived, just a short while ago, via DPD. He still had several more deliveries, very long day he has had and I do not envy him. Nice fella though.

Counterweight for my Sightron Alt Az mount. Now how far dare I push the mount, now balance should be less of a problem?  

Edit: From FLO: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-counterweight-kit.html

Thanks guys for the usual quick delivery.

Are you finding you are having balance issues with the mount? I have not encountered such issues but have only used a few times over the last couple of months.

15 hours ago, Beulah said:

My rough calculation is an increase of 2 inches of aperture for 1 Bortle reduction

For example, a 12 inch telescope in a Bortle 4 sky is more like a 14 inch telescope in a Bortle 3 sky...

That is a good rule of thumb based on my experience.  My 105mm refractor vastly outperformed my 11" when I was in Oman in Bortle 1 compared the Bortle 5 location it was located at in the UK.  Using a 12" scope in Namibia in a Bortle 1 location was quite something else!  Same for my 76mm Takahashi in Mozambique under a Bortle1/2 sky.  Seeing details I would not see in an 8" scope at home.

I would also say not all Bortle classifications are created quite equal.  In Namibia you can just about see shadows from the combined light of the Milky Way and stars and you only know where the horizon is because the stars stop.  I have found these African and Middle East type of sites to outperform other similarly classified locations because it is that dark all the way to the horizon, rather than just at higher elevations.

I did this with my 11" years ago. I recall ticking off the stars one by one until I was sure I had it.  Should try with something smaller like the 130mm.   Better go somewhere darker than London zone 1 though!

I would add an 18-20” Dob if I had somewhere where the skies would allow me to take advantage of its capabilities.,,, or the power to cause regional blackouts! 

An interesting spin on a hot thread. Part of my issue is I do not sell much.

1. A 4.5” f/8 Newtonian Ona shaky GEM was my first scope and first to go.

2. An excellent 8” f/5 Newtonian on a small but smooth Alt Az.

3. Every scope I own (less one) if my wife had her way!!! 😉

1 hour ago, Nakedgun said:

~

Does this model have an on/off switch, or must the button be held down continually for stabilization? Some Canons did have the continuous pressure button, which seems a real encumbrance. My wife's 10x32s have the switch-type (two separate modes, actually).

 

 

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Gentle tap and it stays on. Hard press and you keep depressed to keep IS operating. So both.

Reading the replies already, I think it is going to become very clear why a 4” refractor is such a popular scope!

Wow, that is a tough question. Given my propensity to travel with a scope to far darker places, it would have to be one of the smaller scopes that would fit carry on luggage restrictions, which means my 3 Takahashi refractors or my APM LZOS 105mm. The latter is bit heavy and requires a more robust tripod and mount which has not always been possible (helicopter ride to an Indian Ocean island for example means 20kg of telescope equipment is not happening) so I would probably go with the Tak FC100 even though some disassembly is needed to make it carry on. At 2.8kg, it is still light enough that a smaller tripod and mount works.

But I would be very sad to see to the rest go!

8 hours ago, Stu said:

Amusingly enough, I was reading the side effects on a medication I am taking, and one of them is listed as ‘compulsive shopping’, so I have a medical excuse for my excessive scope collection! 🤪

Can I borrow some as I currently have no excuse for my compulsive Astro shopping! I am literally about to order more stuff and the binoculars only arrived yesterday!

I think the 125mm is a good shout. It will fit nicely between the scopes, be a big step up from the 80 in terms of performance but not too big in physical size such that your mount will handle it and you still get that special view that only refractors seem to deliver. Once you go above 5” in refractor land, things big and heavy and difficult to use quite quickly.