kev100

Hiya. I made up a couple of catalogue lists (Messier & Caldwell) organised by constellation ( link ). I found them useful fwiw  ...  🙂

Compare the above with these taken a few days later in Weymouth .... 

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

Lovely shots @kev100. And I’m envious of your dark (for me at least) sky. I’m in Southampton and especially with the docks a blaze of light all night and every night, it does suffer from light pollution to say the least.  Piddletrenthide is in a great part of the country. About 20 yrs ago, before I was into telescopes, I’d would go past and through there on a regular basis. 

Cheers, and yes, we’re very lucky to have reasonably decent skies. I was down in Weymouth on Monday, not that far away, and tried to get a shot of Orion over the bay, but the lights on shore and from the cruise ships in the bay made it near impossible… 

Managed to grab another night out last night and took a couple more shots of Orion, this being the best of the bunch I think . Just cropped a bit off the bottom to remove sky glow.

First ever entry into one of these, as I’m mainly visual I don’t have many images to offer. Nevertheless, here’s a festive Orion over my neighbour's brightly lit house (taken with my new Pixel 4a).

kev.

Hi,

I use a combination approach: Baader laser collimator; and an Aline collimator cap - I find that any discrepancy tends to be minimal, and usually down to slack in the focuser adapter.

Kev

Hi,

I'd seen several photos taken with a Pixel 4a on the internet, but wasn't prepared at all at just how good the phone can be.  If it's this good now, what'll phones be like 5 years from now?

Kev

Hiya,

I flocked my 250 PX some time ago, and applied the material 'round' the tube, rather than down its length. I wrote up the process on my blog here:

https://theastroguy.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/flocking-a-skywatcher-250px-dobsonian/

For what it's worth, I felt it made some difference ...

Kev

I’d say that I’ve always been interested in astronomy, I was 6 in 1969, regularly watched The Sky at Night (in black and white), vividly remember seeing the stars glitter during the power cuts in the 1970s, was blown away by the Voyagers’ grand tours, and Hubble … well, what can you say about the impact Hubble’s images have had on everyone?

However, for some reason I just never thought was for the likes of me (I didn’t have the thousands of pounds I imagined I’d need to actually see anything, or a phd in astro-cosmo physics ).

It was when my daughter was young, and I’d moved to Dorset from London that I got my first scope (cheap and useless refractor on a shockingly wobbly mount), and a pair of charity shop binos, that I got proper hooked. Managed to see Jupiter’s bands and moons with the refractor, once, and had a few glimpses of the moon, but it had to go.

Next came a 5in reflector on an EQ2, then made to jump to a dob, and haven’t looked back 🙂

Kev

Not so very long ago I'd take every chance I could to get out under the stars, even on a week night, but age and illness mean that I'm usually in bed by 10 these days, unless I really make a big effort. Definitely a slacker astronomer these days, but even the term astronomer is an uncomfortable fit. More like a slacker night sky enthusiast

Kev

Hi all,

I've been working on this for a while, the idea prompted by a forum post on SGL that mentioned the Double Cluster in Perseus/Cassiopeia. Anyway, the post got me thinking about other double clusters, and how maybe someone should make a list of visual double clusters ...

In the end I figured that someone could be me, so here it is ... Loosely organised on a month-by-month basis, restricted to the northern hemisphere/south coast of the UK, and probably stuffed full of errors

Would love to hear your feedback.

Kev.

Double clusters month by month.pdf

14 hours ago, bingevader said:

Yep, we've only recorded deaths within a month from Covid. All those who take longer to die by slowly drowning in their own secretions don't count. 🤔

Back to the OP.

How well do you know your village community?

Can you be confident that the people you invite will follow your guidelines?

I carried on with our club in school last winter because the classes were in bubbles and didn't come in if they were at all unwell.

I was with them all day, so an hour or so out side after school didn't really make much difference!

We wiped everything down, kept our distance and wore masks back then too.

Hi Ben,

I would have been fairly confident about people following guidelines, and would have made it clear that if you show any symptoms at all then you shouldn't attend. However, although it would have been nice, I decided against it as the risks are just not worth it. It's a real shame. Like many others on here, a lot of the enjoyment I get out of the hobby is through sharing it with others. Also, it's always good to spread the word on what constitutes light pollution and what effects it has.

Oh well

Kev

Thanks everyone, I too feel that it’s too risky, and the head should rule the heart. It’s a real shame, but there it is, the risks are all too real.

Kev.

Hi all,

With the bank holiday looming, clear skies forecast, and Jupiter and Saturn nicely placed, it occurred to me that it would be nice to organise a bit of a social in our village, get the scopes out and let people take a look… but then, of course, I got worried about covid again …. should we be sharing eyepieces and telescopes, mingling closer than 2 metres, should the wearing of masks be mandatory, etc.

What are your thoughts. Are we there yet (public sessions), or is it still too dodgy?

Anyone been to or organised something like this recently?

Cheers,

Kev

My last session was in early June, before that was in April! There's a very good chance I'll forget how to use the gear at this rate

As it's been a bit quiet on the group lately (probably covid and bright summer nights-related), and it feels like I haven't had a scope out in ages, I thought I'd post something here. Anyone had any good nights recently, anyone up for a get together (there's a new moon in the first weekend of September)?

Kev

Hiya,

I’ve washed mine a couple of times, and it definitely improved the view, but then the mirror was pretty dirty (one of the problems of living in a rural location with lots of log fires around). Can you upload a pic?

kev

Hiya,

I would like to see the series continue ... perhaps monthly, as someone else has already mentioned. I made it to a couple of talks, but the Sunday evening timing made it difficult for me. I have caught up with several more on YT. Obviously there won't be a time that suits everybody, but an hour later on Sunday would work for me (dinner will have been eaten, kitchen will have been cleared up, kids will have been nagged about school in the morning, etc ...)

Kev

I was out with the 10x50s till about 10.15, so not really dark/late enough. I think I saw it, but couldn’t be sure. Going to have another go towards the weekend #weatherpermitting 

2 hours ago, Astro Noodles said:

As a beginner myself, with limited experience, I would concur with what the previous posters have written. I think that you need the best optics you can afford at this stage and leave the electronics for later. I started with a 130mm reflector from Skywatcher which came with an equatorial mount, a tripod and some eyepieces and I was blown away when I first viewed the moon with it. 

I think that astronomy as a hobby has a steep learning curve, but there are no shortcuts if you want to get the best enjoyment out of it. Learning the sky, the constellations and how to find things is one of the most basic skills to acquire and I think that you might want to be able to do that yourself without relying on an app to do it. There is a great book called 'Turn left at Orion' which I would recommend to help select targets and find them.

My first proper scope was a 130mm reflector on an EQ mount. Yes the views were great, but the palaver involved (for me) in setting up the mount and keeping the eyepiece at a viewable position was a real issue. Unless you’re considering astro photography I’d recommend staying away from EQ mounts, and sticking to Alt/Az.

Hi there,

binoculars and telescopes complement each other, rather than replace each other. Low magnification binocular views are lovely , but the minute you spot something interesting you’ll want to see it in more detail with a scope.

I don’t have any experience with the scope you mentioned, but personally wouldn’t place too much faith on gizmos like apps to ‘pinpoint stars, etc’. A decent finder scope, together with a planetarium app on the phone will do the job. It’s better to spend more on decent optics than a lesser scope with bells and whistles.

have a read of the ‘What can I expect to see’ post, and spend some time browsing the forums before jumping in and buying a scope. Consider second hand too, you’ll often get a better scope that way for the price of a new one.

Its very difficult to recommend a beginner telescope, as there are so many variables involved. Have you ever looked through a scope before? Perhaps consider going along to a local club meeting (hopefully they can start up again post lockdown), or getting in touch with some local enthusiasts and see if you can get some practical experience.

I know it’s exciting, believe me, but take your time, and do some more research.

kev

Hi,

I use an old Manfrotto 190 photographic tripod, with an extender that I picked up from Amazon. I’m six foot, and this arrangement works well for me. 🙂

kev

My first pair went out of collimation after a few years, and celestron replaced them free of charge. The second pair have been great ... 🤞

No worries, and fingers crossed that yours are okay. Are they the standard version or the ‘pro’ version.

Hiya,

I have a pair of these and, although I do see some CA during the daytime and on the moon (less than the daytime amount), it's not noticeable on anything else. I have heard of these sometimes arriving out of collimation from the supplier, but mine are are fine (though the first pair had to be returned for replacement after a couple of years as they went out of collimation and couldn't be fixed).

Try them out at night time, on the Pleiades, for example, and see how they fare (looks amazing in mine), or the Owl or Double clusters. You should be able to spot some galaxies too (like the Leo triplet, for example).

Kev