DirkSteele

Back in early 2022, a powerful geomagnetic storm caused 38 Starlink satellites to de-orbit and burn up in the atmosphere. We have certainly experienced a fair share of storms this year. Perhaps you witnessed a similar occurrence. Anyone aware of any satellites being lost recently? Image of the starlink Sats burning up.

Certainly when I was studying I did. Photometry of T-Tauri stars was my astrophysics masters project. But now I like to just admire the beauty of the universe. Which for me at least, is further enhanced by having a deeper understanding of what I am looking at and what physical processes have resulted in what I am seeing. Perhaps one day I might do something more serious Again, but I would want a permanent observatory to do that.

Just downloaded it. Made me smile. Glad I am a visual only guy though!

Bortle 4 and a 6” scope? A tremendous amount. Start with the showpieces so many of the messier and Caldwell objects but the sky really is the limit. As your skill improves, so will your ability to see faint detail so make sure to revisit old favourites.

Ha, thought it looked familiar

That is probably the right call. Think about and perhaps save for one of the Tak 100mm scopes. But I will leave you with an image of the FC-76. This is in a Think Tank Photo Airport Essentials backpack which complied with the most stringent carry-on I have found. Even helicopters in the middle of Africa. And when it can do that, you get stargaze under skies like this (Mozambique).

Honestly, I would go for the Fc-76 DCU. At this aperture, every mm counts and 60mm is very small and the DCU splits in two so just as portable. But there is no doubt the FS-60 is a great little scope and the Q module makes it even more so. http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2016/04/03/takahashi-fs-60-review/ http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2018/03/31/takahashi-fs-60q-review/ http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2017/03/12/takahashi-fc-76-dcu-review/

I remember a time not that long ago where that was still somewhat unique and would often get called out - “oh, satellite just flew through the field.” Now it is all the time. I really see this when I do out reach. It’s a new experience for most and I lose count of how many times I hear it during a session.

A couple of times but in really bad conditions. The air was dense with moisture and it was visible in a torch light. Eyepieces are more vulnerable and have lost many to dew over the years. heated strips are available for both.

Always felt bad for Prof Colin Pillinger. He took a lot of flak when Beagle 2 was “lost” but sadly died before it was found to have landed safely on Mars.

Makes me want to purchase a pair even more now and I was pretty tempted already. Keep them coming!

While I agree that very few on social media are interested as it is much easier to spend a few seconds looking a photo, like it and move on, whereas an observing report may take tens of minutes to read and it the world of short attention and instant gratification are the norm, they do not generate interest, I defintely share my reports (at least I did until I deleted all my accounts last year) but i can track click through and they get very few, especially compared to my equipment reviews which rack up thousands of views. But I do not care, I love writing them up and some times go back and read them again which stirs great memories. I recently read by 2013 Namibia reports. Most enjoyable. http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/category/observing-reports/

September 2000?! I feel old.

Assuming you paid by credit card, notify the provider immediately, inform them it appears to be faulty and the seller is not abiding by distance selling regulations. They may refund if t d retailer continues to be difficult.

I expect there have been reports on volume / value of sales of equipment that are targeted to AP vs items that would be visual use and the former outweighs the latter. Though I have never seen any hard evidence presented so it could be one of those “facts” that has become accepted without any data to back it up. Has @FLO ever talked about the volume of sales for visual vs astrophotography?

It is a very interesting question. It also feels like observational equipment has some what reached a plateau. The last great breakthrough in eyepieces was the Ethos range back in 2007. The best optic I have ever used (the LZOS 130/1200 triplet) was designed in 2003 and hit the market in 2005 (though we should not discount the emgerence of quality scopes from the far east bringing decent scopes to the masses - 25 years ago, you wanted an APO, it was Tak or AP and that was about it and a fat wallet to afford it). I guess faster focal ratio mirrors have allowed for huge Dobs without the needs for a step ladder which is a relatively recent innovatiion (and useable thanks to coma correctors), and the recent advances in night vision technology if the prices can reach mass market may drive the next stage of visual observing. Increased urbanisation and corresponding light pollution is certainly not helping the visual cause. There is no doubt that what was once a niche backwater of amateur astronomy has now become the dominant force in the hobby thanks to digital detectors and mount advances (anyone want to hyper their film and then manually guide a long exposure for several hours? No, didn't think so). You can see that with production numbers of the LZOS 130 scopes. The 130 f9.2 which is very much a visual use scope has around 130-140 scopes out under the stars. The 130 f/6 which is targeted more to imaging (though still a very capable observing scope) has sold about 3x that number. I do wonder if imaging as we currently know it will also face a big decline. The younger generations (without wishing to be disparaging) are often spolied with 4k images, instant results and a lack of attention / focus / patience which would make long exposures and hours processing images seem like a fools endeavour and those instant gratification scopes that put images on screen for you to enjoy become the dominant force. I certainly see a dominance of the question "can I take a photo of that with my phone?" at outreach events indicating holding the phone to the EP to capture the Moon or Saturn, comes mostly from the younger generation. I tell them to just enjoy the view with their eyes as handheld that is very difficult but you can see they really want to get a photo so they can get some likes which seems more important than actually experiencing and enjoying what they are witnessing. Sky and Telescope had an issue about 15 years ago with a cover photo of 10-year old girl hugging her dobsionian asking the question "where are all the young astronomers?" Perhaps another cover story is coming in a few years..."where are all the astrophotographers?"

That budget given the weight and length of the scope does not present many choices. The iOptron Az Pro has a load capacity of 15kg but as we all know the length of the tube also comes into play. I have used an 8kg refactor on mine which is about 80cm long. Not sure how it would handle your scope. Have you considered rotating tube rings as an alternative? That way you can easily position the eyepiece. You may need to shop around as not as common as they should be. Like these though these are not available anymore. http://scopestuff.com/ss_arrs.htm

If you are prepared to spend, the Panther TTS 160 is by all accounts a superb tracking alt Az. Also agree with the Skywatcher Az-Eq mounts suggestion. If you can live without tracking /go-to, you can add the Tele Optic Ercole into the mix of manual mounts which I use quite often. http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2015/05/03/tele-optic-giro-ercole-alt-az-mount-review/

Really good episode.

Beautiful!

There is a reason why I have so many airline portable scopes and get most of my stargazing done in a 2 week period every year! We did pick a hobby that does not always mesh with our weather, frustrating as that is. But I always find an amazing night eventually comes along and washes away the memories of all the disappointments.

Assuming they are visible, Saturn and Jupiter would be the obvious choices followed by the moon (as long as it is not the boring full phase). A DSO pick would be the Double Cluster or M45 if it up (and you can fit in the field) and Albireo for the colour contrast. If it is winter obviously add M42 which is good even if not dark adapted

Reminds of stargazing back in Oman in 2012. First night, one of the best, darkest and most transparent I have ever experienced. Day two, a biblical level sand storm. Seeing a wall of orange slowly approaching is quite something. And that howling sound before it arrived! That night was a write off unsurprisingly. Sadly day three still had loads of fine sand particles in the air and I didn’t want to risk my optics. BTW, Astronomy in your t-shirt (I.e 25C nights) is rather nice in my opinion. Certainly better than dressing like an arctic expedition.

Just looked it up. Seems it is actually a quadruple system but the other two components are unresolvable (one is an eclipsing binary) with one being only 7 au from the visible star (9 year orbit). Will have to check this one out. Always love a colour contrasted double star. Thanks!