DaveS

When I picked up astronomy again in 2009 I think FLO stocked Meade telescopes and eyepieces, I bought a couple of their Series 5000 "Super Plossls for my Megrez 90

Part two looks to be more our field, Solar System out to huge galaxy clusters.

I was going to watch the NASA Spaceflight live stream, but had to turn in early as I needed to make a sharp start this morning, as I have my heating engineer coming.

Can we persuade another Icelandic volcano to go Bang! and shut our airspace for a while?

My nearest street lights appear to be a mixture of LED and HP sodium. However, since they are about 5 miles away they aren't too much of a problem.

10 hours ago, Ags said:

I thought the BBC4 stuff was why you had a BBC. The stuff on 1 and 2, anyone can do.

Don't get me started on BBC funding

The stacking in AA has added a preview function since V8, allowing you to step through any of your frames, both image and calibration.

I would mount a rotator between the camera and the OAG, either the TS 48 mm or TS 42 mm depending on the thread size.

CO reports that I have SQI 21.66 and Bortle 4, nearly 3. The Milky Way is structured with lots of filaments running off, and glitters all the way to the horizon. On one night / early morning when I went to shut down the obsy about 4 o/c the sky was pitch black, Auriga glittered with clusters and M33 was visible naked eye, not averted, so I would estimate more like middle Bortle 3. I've certainly seen the star cluster in the middle of the rosette direct naked eye, and I think the nebula itself glimpsed averted. M44 is easy routine direct vision, not even a test.

Does This count as a one-arm dob mount?

TBH it's partly of my own making, but no less frustrating for that.

Currently my normally uber reliable ASA DDM85 is playing silly whatsits with me, and I don't have enough hair left to be pulling more of it out  

*sigh* Seven of Nine, resistance is futile LOL.

Seriously though I have a hankering after one of their 55mm f/3.6 astrographs, but realise that for the use I'd get £1600 oe so would be silly.

I think Tivoli Farm in Namibia is quite popular.

Edit: Tivoli Farm

Yes, I'm subscribed to her channel, but it was getting on a bit when I finished watching the rocket launch so just shut down the TV without looking to see what else might have come up on YT.

Not had a chance to watch this fully, as I was watching a live rocket launch at the time.

Here's a side irritation, Why are  "how to" guides not spiral bound? When you're bashing your head against recalcitrant software you don't want to be using both hands to hold the manual when it could be laying flat on your desk.

Well now, I had the trial version, even bought Warren Keller's much lauded book, but after being driven Dagenham (ie, two stops beyond Barking), I went back to AstroArt, now at V8, and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Edmund Optics have a wide range of flat mirrors, but these were the only elliptical ones I could find. Unfortunately they are only 1/8 wave.

Inevitably

I'll add in passing that provided you don't break down your imaging train after each session (Which you shouldn't, apart from maintenance) Then once you've built a library of calibration frames they can do for 6 months or even more, maybe a year or two.

You don't have to waste imaging time with taking Darks either, they can be done during the day. Take the camera off, cap it and bung it in the 'fridge. Then run your Darks. Once done put it back on the telescope and leave it alone.

I suppose you *could* use one of These as a NB Luminance filter, but would you *really* want to pay 4 figures?

You could try an IDAS D3 filter, which is supposedly designed to reduce LED as well as Na emission. How well it actually works I have no idea as I don't need a LP filter here (Bortle 3)

Yes, was very good. But still thoroughly peed off by the lack of development in Lunar development since Apollo, and the UK's miserable record of space exploration.

For anyone on oil fired heating the cost of energy has made buying astro kit a non starter.