paulastro

It was like the conditions I observed in this morning - but without the dome! 😅

On 04/10/2022 at 19:08, Steve Ward said:

A shot is a shot sir , never apologise for catching a glimpse ... 😉

That actually wasn't supposed to be an apology 😊.

Single frame taken at 12.27 pm, Altair 80 ED - R, Olympus E-M5 Mk11, 1/400 at 200 asa.

I was lucky to have some clearish patches after heavy rain all morning, between 2.25 pm and 3.00 pm.  AR3112 is looking it's size now as it heads towards the CM.

Single frame and a crop using the Altair 80 ED-R and Olympus E- M5 Mk11 at 2.48pm.

On 03/10/2022 at 23:26, RobertI said:

It’s definitely ET for me too, especially when he’s the right way round. I laughed out loud the first time I saw it. It always surprises me how big it is, especially when compared to some of the smaller clusters in Cassiopeia. I am really hoping to get to Kelling in the Spring, even if I just go for one evening. I went a long time ago and the skies were amazing. When I looked towards Andromeda through binoculars I thought a small cloud was passing - it was M33!! 

If you nake it to Kelling in the Spring, pop by and say hello, I'll be on T137 for the week 🙂.

The Sun only came out, through cloud, from 12.38 to12.59. I wouldn't have bothered if I hadn't wanted to continue the sequence of AR3112.  You might think I shouldn't have, but having taken the trouble I thought I'd post it anyway 😊.

Single frame with Altair 80 ED-R and Olympus E-M5 Mk11, 1/125 at 200 asa.

No doubt about it, ET.  I know this because he winks at me every time I look at him.  Also he doesn't look a jot like the local Tawny Owls which frequently call to me when I'm observing.

14 hours ago, RobertI said:

I decided on a whim last week to try and observe the twenty brightest clusters in Cassiopeia, so I spent one evening doing some desk research using my various atlases and compiled a little list - it was fun and I learned a lot, something to remember for a rainy night . Last night was clear so I started on my little challenge. I concentrated on a small group of clusters in the bottom of the 'W', namely NGCs 654, 659, 663 and nearby M103. Observing was primary through the 102ED with a Hyperion Zoom.

NGC663 was the most spectacular, even more so than M103. It was prominent in the 10x60 finder and easy to find. Why it's not not Messiers list is a mystery! It was  large with around 20 bright members and a similar number of fainter ones.

Moving on to nearby NGC654, much smaller with two bright members and number of smaller ones. 

Then finally NGC659, fainter than the others, looking like a small haze with hints of stars visible with averted vision. Through the C8 it was possible to resolve many of the stars and I suspect if I zoomed in even more would have been visible.

Nearby M103 was a disappointment considering it's a Messier object, fairly sparse with some bright members. 

 Four down, sixteen to go. I shall continue my quest next time out 

 

 

 

That's a great report Robert.  I'm particularly keen on OCs, and there's not a better place to look than Cassiopeia.  I took my Celestron StarSense Explorer 8 inch Dob to Kelling had a great time, its a real treasure chest for them.

In the evening at this time of year I always start off looking at NGC 457 (Owl or ET cluster)  and it always makes me smile - for me it's ET every time, and I'm sure he winks at me 😊.  After that I always take a look at the Double Cluster nearby.  As every year,  I always have my best views at Kelling.

You have some fine objects in store for yourself, clear skies.

Grabbed some snaps early this morning before it clouded over.  Taken with the Altair 80 ED-R and Olympus E-M5 Mk11.  Two single frames, and a crop showing AR3112 from each of them.

4 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Very nice Paul.  I just had a look with my PST + DS - very interesting. I believe AR3112 is going to be very interesting especially consider its size.

Thank you Mark.  Yes, it should be very impressive by the time it arrives at the CM.

A single frame taken with an Altair 80 ED-R, 9.41am, Olympus E-M5 Mk11, 1/320 sec, 200 asa.  Crops taken from the same frame.

You're a very brave man bringing that home Garry 😊.  I wish you all the best and many years of observing with it.

Those are really exceptional images Nigella, many thanks for posting them.

On 25/09/2022 at 10:07, Giles_B said:

I'm guessing this thread gets the attention of many Dobsonian owners who are using a modded starsense explorer unit, as well as straight up users of the celestron dob, so with that in mind I have a more general query.

I had a mildly frustrating night last night because the star sense adaptor (I.e. the phone plus holder and mirror) was slow or sometimes unable to plate solve. This tended to be in brighter areas of the sky, but I emphasise it was a dark night at a Bortle 4 location - it has plate solved in brighter conditions in the past.

Obviously this needs to be replicated to show if there is a genuine issue, but I did have a good look at the mirror on the adaptor this morning - it is pretty filthy, with plenty of stuck dots of pollen and dust. I haven't cleaned it in the 2+ years since I bought it. Has anyone cleaned the mirror?

I ask because the technicalities of cleaning a small, glued mirror on the star sense are clearly a bit different to cleaning a primary mirror. I'm guessing the mirror on the star sense adaptor has no protective coatings that I could damage, plus i don't want to soak the mirror in water and end up rusting the fixings or softening the glue, so I'm wondering if Baader cleaning fluid might be okay?

I noticed that the mirror on mine fairly soon looked like yours, covered in specs etc.  However it depended on the way the light was shinning on it.  In the right light they all disappeared.  Of course the worse thing to do is to shine a light on any optical surface, which makes all of them look awful.

Despite the numerous spots however, it has kept working as it should.  I'll let it stay as it is until it affects the performance.  Over the years I've learned optical surfaces takes quite a lot of debris and look terrible and you o can't tell the difference in use.  Though of course if you have pollen, it's best to get shot of it.

I'll be on T138 along with Andy from The Astronomy Centre nr Todmorden.  I'll be bringing a Celestron StarSense Explorer 8 inch Dob.  Andy is a radioham and a radio astronomer, not sure what he will bring, but it will almost certainly include a very tall aerial (around thirty feet tall),  so we will be easy to spot!

We will be there from 20th to 27th.

For anyone who is thinking of buying either the 8 inch or 10 inch Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian  - there is a review of the 10 inch in the October issue of Astronomy Now by Ade Ashford.  I've just received mine in the post today.

Because of my horizon and the low altitude I knew I couldn't see Uranus before 10.20 at the earliest.  Heavy skies at 10.00pm but went out anyway at 10.10 to set up the 8inch Starsense.  

There were some small clear areas developing, and with the dob nearly horizontal I picked up Uranus just off the lunar limb at 10.25.  The limb was scintillating quite badly and there was thin cloud intervening, but I did manage to see the occultation - though it wasn't a very 'clean' view due to the conditions, and the difference in magnitudes.

Still pleased to see it at all when it had seemed very unlikely just before the event.  I missed the reappearance due to cloud coming in for a complete obscuration just two minutes before the due time.

 I was out with the Starsense Explorer 8 inch dob last night, from 10.10pm to 1.25am.  Started out with some deep sky, mainly OCs and doubles due to the bright 84% illuminated Moon. Despite the bright sky and thin cloud at times, the SS performed admirably as usual so the majority of time was spent observing rather than finding.

I used a Baader zoom as it allows you to adjust the mag and hence the sky darkness to get the best out of each object in the prevailing conditions without swapping over eyepieces all the time.  Mags used were in the range of about x50 to x150.

Objects included Kembles Cascade, ET aka Owl Cluster, M13, Rasalgath, M92, Sarin, kappa Her, M27, M57, the double double, the Dble Cluster, M56, Steph1 (large OC),  M11 (Wild Duck Cluster), M29, M39 NGC 6811, and Albireo.  I left the hazy stuff for a better night.

It was a bit more hazy by around  midnight so I turned my attention to the Moon and planets, and boy, was I pleased I did, the seeing was exceptional for my site and this lasted until 1.25 when the seeing deteriorated a little.  I used my binoviewer, 24mm Orthos and x2 barlow element with the Baader Contrast Booster, giving around x200.

First up Saturn with its main rings, Cassinis, the rings crossing the planets and the main belt looking like  an engraving, quite stunning. Neptune was a small blueish, m7.8, 2.5 arc seconds disc - moved on quickly to Jupiter, and wow, the detail was just fabulous and I spent at least 45 mts taking it all in.  A shame the GRS wasnt on show. 

On to an excuisit gibbous Mars now at m0.3 and 10.6 arcseconds showing some nice albedo features with the wonderfully subtle colours that make it such a beautiful object as it heads towards its opposition in December. Finally on to the beautiful Uranus, the m5.7, 3.7 arcseconds disc looking greenish to my eyes.  Fingers crossed for the occultation this evening - Wednesday.

The five planets observed I turned to the Moon, again, it was startlingly sharp and full of detail along the terminator.  The highlight for me was Janssen, one of my favourite craters. I couldn't recall seeing more detail than that I could see it its rubble strewn floor and the sinuous rille system crisscrossed its floor - mesmerising to and avid lunar observer what a treat!

What a wonderful night, accompanied for most of it by the wonderful sound of our local Tawny Owls.

3 hours ago, Greymouser said:

Hmmmm...

Firstly, no, it is not light, but a little lighter than my C9.25. +
Secondly, I deeply regret selling my little, ( very light, ) ST 102. Either it was a very good one, or a little CA doesn't bother me.  +
Thirdly, If you are buying new, isn't there always going to be a loss, if you sell? ( Sell, Sell? What's that? Though I will have to do so at some point... ) +
Fourthly, yes a niche market, but it will fit a gap in the fleet... +
Fifthly, I do like white scopes, I do like black ones, I do very like red ones, ( this even has a red tinted lens! ) I even very much like orange ones! ( The orange Celestron SCT's have always appealed. As did a Konus once upon a time.) I do like yellow scopes. In fact the colour is less important than the use I will get from it. This red one is very striking though, eh? +

Yes, you might be right with that last statement, I appear to be talking myself into buying. ( Must get a scope sold... ) -

I agree it is quite niche, but I need to rationalise my scopes. I need to cover all bases, all uses. I have two SCT's, both very good, but niche. I have a 72 EDF, which whilst wildfield, is small of aperture, this would expand on that enjoyable theme. I have a F13.4 refractor, which to be frank is excellent on solar system, even maybe makes the SCT's redundant.

Your comment about other commitments for the money, is all that is holding me back to be honest. Can I justify it? There again, life is so short and it could bring so much viewing pleasure...  

 

Greymouser, I bet you wish you never asked now!  😅

Greymouser.  Dave, F15Rules, is absolutely correct, you should ignore everything he said and buy the used one if it's still available! 🙂

23 hours ago, Knighty2112 said:

Thanks. I am away for work on Monday/Tuesday down in South Wales, but should be back home for Tuesday night hopefully. 👍🏻 Although I could take a small ‘frac and tripod just in case I get stuck for getting back home. 😉

Tuesday is 13th 😊.

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

That's a great book Jeremy, I've had mine for ages and was happy with it until I saw your post. Alas mine is the 99 object edition, and now I'm wondering what I'm missing with not having the new 10 objects!  😒.

I'd go ahead and buy one!  🙂.

I've had one and the CA didn't bother me, less than I expected, good on the Moon and planets, and great on deep sky.  Better than most f5 achromats I've looked through.  Very well made.  Just be aware it's heavy, a bit over 20lbs if I recall correctly. It needs a mount capable of taking that weight.

I needed a case for my Starsense Explorer 8 inch Dob for transporting it when observing away from home. I searched the options and the Oklop range seemed to have one that fitted the bill. 

I was concerned however that the 200/1000 size, the obvious choice, wouldn't in fact accommodate it. This was due to the phone base unit which is permanently on the tube, and the phone holder itself which detaches from it. 

I emailed FLO asking their opinion, and Alex got back to me suggesting the 250/1000 might be a better bet.  Anyway I could order it and return it if it didn't suit.  This is what I did.

I've had Oklop cases before, and was pleased it's of the same quality, nicely padded, hard wearing and good zips.  There is no external pocket(s), but this wasn't a problem for me.

The scope fits in the bag nicely, it's not a tight fit but I prefer havinga bit of extra room.  It's much easier when getting a scope in and out in the dark.

The case can be zipped up with the phone holder still in place on its cradle fairly comfortably.  I will only use the bag for transport rather than storage, so will remove the holder when I'm using it.  I wouldn't want to arrive at Kelling in twelve days time to find the cradle was damaged!   I think this is unlikely to happen, but why take the risk?  There's room in the base to have the detached cradle go inside it in a smaller bag if you wished. As users of these scopes will know, the cradle can be removed without upsetting the alignment of your phone with the telescope.

I also removed the two tension adjuster knobs from the tube for the same reason.  Again, if you want them inside the bag, they will fit inside in a suitable small padded bag.

In summary, I'm very pleased with it.  It is fine for how I am going to use it.  It fits comfortably, gives the degree of protection I need and is easy to access -  with a shoulder strap supplied as well as the handles.  

I would recommend this size over the 200/1000 version, which I think would be too small.  Of course this may not be the case if you have a different make 200/1000 Dobsonian.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescope-bags-cases-storage/oklop-padded-bag-for-250mm-1000mm-newtonians.html

7 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

Looking to be a mixed night cloud wise but travelling optimistically… feels like it’s been a while! Cooling the Dob…

 

Have a great night, cloudy here.