trynda1701

Got these two shots with my camera phone on Friday, so at least I can say I did some astronomy in November!

Crescent Moon, from garden, 29/11/19 16:04

Crescent Moon, from bedroom, 29/11/19 16:34

Got a nice look with the 10x50s as well. And saw Venus with the binos upstairs afterwards as well.

After a wonderful blue sky early afternoon, of course it was cloudy at 4pm!

There were very slight gaps in the clouds in the South West roughly where the Moon, Venus and Jupiter might have been which teased me, but no luck!

Sometimes I wonder why I bother with this hobby!

P.S.The sky is of course, right now (13:00), totally clear except for a small white cloud on The South West horizon! 

This morning was quite sunny, first time in a while up here, but of course was cloudy on the appropriate horizon! Which is what usually happens when trying to see a young crescent Moon in the evening!

Will try this evening to see if I can see the thin crescent, fingers crossed!

Looking to see where the Moon would be at sunset on the 28th November (tomorrow) here in the UK, I noticed that Jupiter looked like it had passed close to the Moon earlier in the day. Scanning back on Stellarium on my phone, it shows that as the Moon rises at about 10:20 here in the Central Belt in Scotland, Jupiter reappears from occultation at about 10:29!

It would probably be difficult to spot that low, especially with the weather we're all having recently, but were folks aware of this possibility?

Mark

Oddly enough, when I first saw the pic, I thought it was a matching green to the scope. But now I can plainly see it's blue!

@F15Rules

What scope is that pointed at the summer house?

On 24/12/2018 at 11:38, FenlandPaul said:

Well I was genuinely surprised by this delivery, given I’ve only received about 3 over the last 12 months! 

 

Is delivery of S&T a problem these days? I think I've seen a few complaints about this?

When I collected the magazine by subscription, 1979-1990 or so, although it took about eight weeks to get the first issue (which I was told to expect), I never had any problems, it was a regular delivery.

On 04/11/2018 at 09:34, david_taurus83 said:

Woke up to this email this morning. On a Sunday! Gurpreet you absolute legend!

Congratulations. Oddly, the only postal delivery vans on Sunday I've seen have been DPD. Can anyone confirm other couriers deliver on a Sunday?

5 hours ago, johninderby said:

Little old book. Lost my original copy when I moved so picked one up on eBay. 

What year is that edition? My old copy had a Shuttle at a spacestation, this one looks older than that.

Was about to ask the same thing. The one on the focuser looks like it's a thermometer, but can't make out the one on the diagonal.

5 hours ago, alanjgreen said:

Just arrived for some planetary fun with my Borg89.

...a "used" Ethos 3.7mm SX

It still fascinates me when I see a short FL eyepiece like that today, at that physical length. When I first expanded my eyepieces in the 80s for a 50mm refractor, and then my home built 150mm Newtonian, the Kellners got SHORTER physically as FL went towards shorter FLs!

That is so sad to hear. Condolences to the family.

That is really sad news. Condolences to his family and friends.

That is rather shocking. Glad there was a return on it. I've never had anything serious go wrong on eBay, although I've only ever got BST eyepieces from it in an astronomical sense.

4 minutes ago, Lockie said:

The post man brought me this little tyke  

The camera, I take it? Or both it and the little scope?

@Rusted

That is a wonderful restoration on that MkIV mount. Beautiful. Is that the original colour? Also, I loved the pics of your MkIII mount on the other thread.?

Plus, thanks for that video!

@HAsun

Yes, would like to see any pictures if you have any. Which country are you based in? X380 magnification on Jupiter doesn't sound like UK skies!?

So, based on a post about a old Fullerscopes equatorial mount found here...

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/310005-fullerscope-mount/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-3402468

...and a couple of forum members showing their own Fullerscopes telescopes there, are there any others who still have, and especially USE their Fullerscopes?

There were a couple of Newtonian scopes shown on that thread above, I'd love to see more. But I'd also like to see any refractors still in use. I almost went for a three inch refractor back in the early 80s. If folks are still using them, I'd love to hear thoughts and some pics would be nice too.

I've read about quality control issues on the mounts, but what were the scopes like,  mirrors and lenses both. Tell us your stories.

Mark

On 09/03/2018 at 18:28, 25585 said:

Well, since last time; a 2nd Skywatcher ST 80, 2nd WO RACI diagonal, 2nd TV 40mm Plossl - I am  assembling a pair of astro bins. Initially, if it works, 10 x 80.

Also a 2nd Tak clamp as my other "ring" for the DL.

 

Now I know what you wanted my 40mm TV Plossl for!

Looking forward to seeing that in the future.

Glad to oblige, and glad it got there safely.

@John

You were supposed to show us your binoculars, not your addiction!

Seriously though,  that is an impressive collection!

Mark

Mark, you have a PM on the way...

Got it and replied to. Thanks for that, Steve.

Mark

@Steve and Matt

Talking about the Orion Paragon parallelogram mount: I know it comes with a 'L' bracket for binos that use that, but would it also take a bino clamp that fits round the hinge, like the Opticron one you recommend on your site, Steve? Would love to be able to use my 10x50's on that, as well as the Helios Apollo 15x70 when FLO gets new stock in.

Mark

Update!

Helios Apollo 15x70HD. Woohoo!

Carl Zeiss Jena Jenoptem 10x50W - 25 years and counting!

Halina Discovery 8x30 - 2pairs, one for the car, one spare!

Mark

Mark, spoil yourself !!!

You are not helping my bank balance, you know!

2 pairs of Halina 8x30 Discovery. Kept in the car for those odd times you see something on the way home at night, and don't want something decent to be knocked about by the potholes our roads are made up of these days!

Recently, been out four times in the last month testing out my 25year+ Carl Zeiss Jena Jenoptem 10x50W's on the DynaSun WT011H 3/8 Professional variant of the Trigger Grip Ballhead recommended by Steve Tonkin. As I said elsewhere. a very nice piece of kit. This goes well with my Manfrotto 679B Monopod that I got second hand for about 25GBP. I'm still getting used to this new way of using the Jenoptems, but I must say, it's a nice treat to not be quite as twisted using them as I had been in the past with my Vanguard photo tripod! Thanks again Steve!

Considering that this means I've been out nearly a dozen times this year, after starting following Comet PanSTARRS in March 2013, means I'm doing astronomy again for the first time in a LONG while!

What next? Well I'm considering 15x70's. Now if I could just decide what expense I should go for in case I lapse again! But those Helios Apollos 15x70's are mighty tempting!

Mark