paulastro
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Posts posted by paulastro
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9 minutes ago, bosun21 said:
Yes I agree with you on this aspect, and in relevance my post may not be entirely fitting to your thread. However I was merely explaining what I did to have the Starsense unit working on my 8" Stella Lyra dobsonian.
No problem at all you mentioning it bosun. It was just because it was a review that I ommited it. In fact I've used a 10inch 'mod' myself 🙂.
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I had an excellent session this morning, November 4th. As the Met indicated it would the sky cleared by 1am, and I was out ready to go by 1.20 - using the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8 inch dob. The session ended at 4.35 when I was too cold and tired to carry on.
The good thing with the SS scopes is that most of your time is spent actually observing rather than finding - I may have mentioned this before somewhere 😊.
It was a good night with steady seeing, but at times the transparancy was poor so I concentrated on OCs, 17 of them, plus 6 galaxies, 3 nebula and 1 SN remnent - M1.
I looked at some old favourites but also a sprinkling of new objects to me. The following are some of the highlights. For most of the time I used my Excellent ES 68 24mm and Morpheus 17.5mm.
The highlite of the session was the Rosette Nebula and the embedded OC, NGC 2244 - C49 and C50 respectively. Its a very large nebula in a great area. The star cluster is very fine and the whole area is full of interesting detail. The object itself is quite complex and I spent some time exploring it - it repays repeat visits. There is an excellent account of it in James O'Meara's book The Caldwell Objects.
I visited some of my regulars including the ET's Cluster, the Double Cluster, M31 and company, M81/82 and of course M42 - always hard to resist. It was stunning in the Morpheus 17.5, and then with a x2 barlow. Later also with my binoviewer, x2 barlow and 24mm Orthos.
It was nice to see M41,(OC) in Canis Major - its often affected by haze, at a higher altitude it would be even more impressive. I also observed OCs M47 and Its neighbour M46 in Puppis (ofter overlooked), and M50 in Monoceros. After observing M34 in Perseus, I took the opportunity to seek out Trump 2 and Mellote 1, also in Perseus.
I observed Mars from about 3 -3.20 when it was around 60 degrees altitude. The seeing was excellent, by far the best thuis apparition. Using the Morpheus plus barlow and the binoviewer Mare Sirenum and Mare Cimmerium were easily visible in the S, and there was what I think was Elysium to the N.
It was an excellent session - and my new head torch worked a treat as well 🙂.
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I've used this myself each opposition for many years now, and have always found it to be very useful.
There are two links below. The first explains what it does, and how to use it and includes a link to download it.
The second link takes you straight to the download if you have used it before, or don't want to read the instructions.
There is also a screen grab of the download so you can see if you want to download it or not.
https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/mars-which-side-is-visible/
https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/plugins/observing-tools/mars_profiler/mars.html
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2 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:
Many thanks Paul ... it really is surprising how much one misses the simple joy of looking through an EP ... hence the set up in the bedroom plan for tonight ... need to enlist Elena to set everything up though lol
When I had my hip replaced 13 years ago, my youngest daughter, who was then nine, would get my telescope set up outside by the back door for me. She would then keep a look out so as to warn me if she saw my wife getting off the bus when she came home so we could quickly put it away.
Alas I am scheduled to have my other hip replaced next May, and I'm not so sure she will be so willing to help this time 😏.
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1 hour ago, bosun21 said:
It’s cheaper to just buy the cheapest Starsense scope (LT70) and remove the unit to fit on your respective dobsonian. The LT70 was only £149 the last time I looked.
I know this, but didn't think it was appropriate to mention it in a review that I also posted on FLOs website. There aslo is a lot of information re this on SGL and elsewhere already.
Also, if someone doesn't already have an 8 or 10 inch dob and they don't want a bigger scope, they might well take the option of buying the Celestron StarSense Explorer original and save themselves the trouble anyway.
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1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:
Under the surgeons knife yesterday , and of course missed a fairly clear night last night , pleased that a lot of people were able to take advantage though .
Tonight is looking crystal clear but , alas , im not able to lift anything remmotely weighty for a couple of weeks , maybe my little sharpstar on an AZ4 peeping out the east facing upstairs window will work ?... got to be better than watching tv .
I hope your recovery is as quick as it can be Stu, and you're back at the eyepiece before too long. Take care of yourself.
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ÑThis is the latest Met forecast for 3am. Up here, I'm in the larger blue circle, it was not forecast to be clear up here until 11pm, but its looking possible it may be. I don't intend to start observing till 23.00/ 00.00 anyway.
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28 minutes ago, cajen2 said:
Just had lightning and a torrential downpour here - near Bristol - so it needs to improve quickly!
Just checked the Met cloud down your way, and it indicates it will be clearing from around 2am, certainly clear by 3am - just in time to see Orion and Mars at their best 😊. Then clear till daybreak.
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2 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:
The forecast across three apps tell me Liverpool will be cloud free all night starting from between 11:00pm to midnight. Therefore I shall be havin' a kip early, setting the alarm for around 10.30pm and erecting the AVX for a good session because tomorrow I have annual leave. Whoop!
Good luck all. 🧐😀
Thanks, it could be a cracking night, good look to everyone 👍.
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According to the Met, and other forecasts, many of us will have a largely clear night. At 3am, on 4th, Orion will be on the CM, with the Orion Nebula at 30 degrees altitude.
Mars will be almost directly above it at 60 degrees altitude so we have a reasonable chance of good seeing. At m - 1.3 and being 15.4" it will be a wonderful sight with Orion below it and the other Winter constellations.
At 2.11am the GRS will be on the CM of Jupiter. though it will be at a lowly 8 degrees low in the W.
The Moon sets not long after midnight, so for deep sky it should be a great night.
Screen shots below from SkySafari, the Mars view is inverted - I'll be using my dob 😊.
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I'm delighted your drought of clear skies has come to an end, and thar you had such a great session Captain Scarlet 🙂.
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I wondered how long it would be before this became a Tak thread 😂.
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Yes, I'm in the 80mm club for truly grab and go rather than portable. My main scope is an 8inch Dob, my grab and go is an Altair 80 ED-R which has excellent optics. I used to have a 102mm f7 ED, and whilst portable it was too heavy and bulky for a grab and go. The 80mm can operate on a much lighter altaz mount of course, in my case a Scopetech Zero.
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46 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:
Very nice Paul. They're not a well known brand or particularly swanky looking, but they are really comfy for those of us with huge craniums and work really well. Some of the red light torches people use at camps are ridiculously bright and unnecessary. Also this brand is dirt cheap so no biggie if they get lost...
That was very polite, 'huge craniums' 😅.
I agree with your comment on people using them at star parties that are so bright they are really dazzling. I've seen this at Kelling far too often. I took mine outside in the dark to test it to make sure it wasn't too bright.
I suspect some head torches suggested on SGL (not necessarily in the present post) fall into the category of being not fit for purpose.
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5 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Torch-Headlamp-Headlamps-Adjustable-Resistant-Batteries/dp/B019MK6DX6
Cheap and cheerful. Independent red and white light switches. Lightweight and plenty bright for astronomy. Mine's two years old, has been camping with me half a dozen times since purchase and is used for back garden astronomy every session.
Without realising you had already suggested this, I had two of them delivered today for £18.99 ( or one will cost you £15.99). As you say, they work well, and the red light isn't too bright when pointing downwards. Also the adjustable strap is big enough to fit my size 62 head with a woolly hat on! A great buy, even better if you buy two. From what you say, they should also last me a good while 😊
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1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:
A warm welcome to SGL
Wookie. Sorry to go off subject, but I sent you a pm yesterday re the information you asked for.
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In some ways, this is more of a 'things you should know about the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8 Dobsonian' rather than a proper review. I've recommended three excellent reviews which I suggest you read if you are new to this telescope.
I've had this telescope since early July and it has been a real game changer for me. I've been an active visual observer for over fifty years, and lost count of the number of scopes I've owned and used. In all this time, this scope is the only one I would call a real game changer for visual observers.
There's nothing revolutionary about the telescope itself, its an excellent example of the current range of good quality 8inch Dobsonians available that are made by several manufacturers including Synta and GSO etc As such it give you great views of both deepsky, planets and Moon when the seeing is up to it.
What is revolutionary is the StarSense Explorer App which, in combination with any compatable smartphone, will guide you to push the scope quickly and accurately to tens of thousands of celestial objects. Of course there are numerous goto mounts which can find objects for you, but Starsense has some advantages which make it such a good option.1 It only adds around £250 to the cost of any other 8 or 10 inch dob without StarSense. A good goto will cost considerably more.
2 Unlike digital setting circle options, the night sky is shown on the display of your phone (which sits in a cradle attached to the telescope) as you push it to follow a series of arrows to your target. You can stop to 'explore' any objects you are passing if you wish. For each object in the data base their are excellent descriptions and data a button press away..
3 The only power source necessary is your phones battery. I've had several hours use on cold and damp nights and still had plenty of power left.
4 There is nothing mechanical to go wrong, no wires to plug in, no computer glitches.
5 it's quicker to find things than any goto system I've ever used, and it's completely silent.
6 I've found it performs in conditions in which you'd struggle to find objects by star hopping. Also, for this reason you can use it in conditions you otherwise may not bother to go out.
7 It enables you to use the majority of your time outside observing rather than finding objects, which is hugely important if you live in the UK.
8 It doesn't use your phones data as no Internet connection is necessary once the app is downloaded.
9 Apart from aligning the phone with the sky, and the phone's view with that of the scope when you first use it, it's then.quick and easy to set up.
A Set the scope up outside on the mount.
B Take the tube cap off and point the scope up at a clear patch of sky..
C Switch the app on, it will take a few seconds to a minute to take a pic of the sky. It then indicates it has found its position and tells you that it's ready to go.D Select an object to view, and press the 'find' button.
It really is that easy. Total setup time perhaps 5/10 minutes, no star alignments to do, in fact you don't need to bother putting on a finder.. This is great if, like me, you are unable to bend and twist to use a finder - I have serious hip and spine problems and it is the main reason I first considered buying this telescope.
10 It's extremely easy to use, and it's great fun. If I can use it anyone can - just ask my daughters! Any child who uses it will have no problem once they now how to use the scope itself, it's very intuitive and the app guides you at every step.
For more detail I highly recommend the excellent reviews by Ade Ashford (in October's Astronomy Now) and those by Alan Dyer and Dennis di Cicco which can be found on line.
If you're a potential buyer, and don't believe it's as good as I've indicated, try and arrange a session with someone who has one. At Kelling in late September I had a few, rather sceptical, visual observers stop by to see how it worked. All were impressed, some actually said they were astonished how well it works.I still am!
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1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:
Not even had it out yet weather been awful
I hope it's clear for you soon. The good thing is that when you do have some clear sky, you'll spend most of the time actually observing - rather than searching for objects. The SS facility makes a huge difference even to anyone who is used to finding objects by finders and star hopping. 😊
At Kelling I demonstrated the system to a few sceptical observers who were truly astonished how well it works.
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On 23/10/2022 at 14:42, wookie1965 said:On 23/10/2022 at 14:42, wookie1965 said:
Celestron Starsense from a fellow SGLer pick it up tomorrow.
Oops, just realised your post was over a week ago 😊.
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On 23/10/2022 at 14:42, wookie1965 said:
Celestron Starsense from a fellow SGLer pick it up tomorrow.
You'll love it Wookie. The StarSense Explorer facility makes it a real game changer for quickly finding objects. I presume you've probably read Ade Ashford's review in the Oct AN?
I have had the 8inch since early July, and everything Ade says is spot on. I'll look forward to hearing how you get on with it.
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14 hours ago, Andyb90 said:
He has a YouTube channel and website called AstroBackyard.
His channel has charted his journey through astrophotography from beginner to more advanced imaging. Just my opinion, but I think he's a very likeable chap and I enjoy his content.
Many thanks for that, looks good, can you confirm that you can dim the red light? If so, I'll order one. Many thanks.
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13 hours ago, Space Hopper said:
This one (look no further)
The Coast HL4 . Its used by Trevor Jones over in Canada. And me !! 😀
Ticks all the boxes.
https://www.torchdirect.co.uk/coast-led-head-torch/coast-hl4-led-head-torch.html
Who's Trevor Jones?
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14 hours ago, Andyb90 said:
Hi everyone,
I’m getting back into imaging and my old head torch no longer works.
Can anyone recommend a good torch please? Ideally:
- Light weight
- Can turn on the Red light without having to cycle through white light settings.
- Rechargeable or inserted batteries is fine.
Thanks,
Andy
Good post, I'll be mulling over the responses - I've thought of buying a head torch for some time but not seen anything that appears to fit the bill.
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14 minutes ago, Stu said:
Murphy’s Law being what it is, of course last night my daughter was staying away with friends so Mrs Stu and I headed out for dinner and a film 😬🤪🤣. Skies were clear of course!
Anyway, when we got back, Jupiter was still showing well (11pm) and I knew the shadows would still be on the disk, so I swiftly converted the FC76DCU into Q mode, swapped the Herschel wedge for a diagonal and popped it out to have a quick look. GRS had gone, but Ganymede’s shadow was very obvious, and Europa’s was there but a little harder to see. Plenty of detail on the disk too, two belts and two zones below the SEB plus some texture in the main belts. This was at x108 with Leica Zoom at max power.
I took quite a few handheld smartphone shots, these were probably the best. Pleased to catch some surface detail and the shadow with a single shot 👍
It just shows the benefit of having a small but capable scope on standby, ready to setup in 30 seconds, otherwise I would have missed this entirely.
I'm glad you managed to get back in time to see the two shadows Stu. Though really, you must get your priorities sorted out 😂.
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What did you see tonight?
in Observing - Reports
Posted
That's nice, where is it taken, the church looks a nice building.