Wyvern

Hi Mireles, Bit of trolling on old constellation pictures points at two possibilities for your NE star in the IDA image. Either 89 Vir or 87 Vir Of the two, 89 Vir is slightly brighter at Mv 4.95 against 87 Vir at Mv 5.4 from Stellarium software. Regards, Les

Geminid results so far, now 3 days worth of obs. Some "manic" activity in the last session by my standards and numbers significantly higher than the same period last year. Les.

Past two days activity from the shower so far. Les.

Nothing on the visual side from Mid Wales so far, but the GRAVES detector has been pinging away like a good 'un over the past two days. Results so far are below. Regards, Les

Hi, A couple of Pluto shots from two years ago for reference, taken some 23hrs apart with Canon 1100d and 8" SkyWatcher reflector. Les.

Quick grab from last night before some clouds rolled in. Regards Les

Nova image, inspite of the bright Moon trying to ruin things for me! Image scale 76' x 50' arc Regards, Les

Hi Brendan, As vlaiv notes, a bit off for the Hyades cluster. With a Field of View roughly 1 x 2 degrees, you'll only capture parts of it, so yes, a mosaic will be needed. For reference, the bright blue star in your shot is Rho Tau ( p ) and your field of view is roughly that of the stellarium screenshot No 1 below. Screenshot No 2 shows the whole of the "V" of the Hyades cluster. Regards, Les

Latest S/N shot from 5th Nov. Regards, Les.

Managed to catch the SN again Saturday (24th) between bright Moon and rolling clouds. Sky obliterated some 15 mins after the shot!! Regards, Les

Hi all, A couple of radio observations of the Orionids this year, showing premax, maximum and a couple of days post max. Regards, Les

Hi all, Only another quick snapshot before some high clouds came through last night. Sorry about the arrows JeremyS 😉 Regards to all Les

Hi all, As Paul M noted, deffo a strong blue colour. Capture from last night. Reagrds, Les

Just found this thread which may give you a DIY alternative. Regards, Les

Hi, For interest, I run a 8" SkyWatcher reflector at f/5 and don't use a coma corrector at all. Never really felt it necessary though to be fair, the scope is mainly used for imaging and not visual use, so any "iffy" stars at the edges of the field of view can simply be cropped out as reqd in processing. Unless you are totally convinced you need a corrector, save your money. Regards, Les

Hi, I'm by no means an expert on telephoto's and how they should work, but what I will say is that when running my Canon 1100d and 100d models, is that star focus is always acheived before reaching the infinity mark on every lens I've used, and that's for both Canon brand and other manufacturers lenses in my kit. Kinda leaning towards "faulty" lens if you're still trying to get to focus at the infnity stop with 135mm and higher. Sorry, Les

Yep, +1 for both Registax v6 and Autostakkert3 Les

Just throw my hat into the ring on this thread. A while back, I invested in a replacement focusser for my 8" f5 SkyWatcher and discovered as a result of shorter focus travel, that I'd need to move the main mirror up the tube by some 10-15 mm. Whilst having the mirror backplate off the scope, I reasoned it a good time to fit a "cooling fan" to the setup. In time honoured tradition I followed the NUMPTI approach - (Never Use More Product Than Intellect). Located "redundant" 4" dia, 6V computer cooling fan and connected wiring through on/off switch to USB connector. This then plugs into my USB hub for power. 5v output from hub is enough to "get things turning." I'd wired it up to blow air from the mirror back, up and out the top of the tube. Unlike Space Hopper, I'm clearly more of a "blower" than "sucker". 😉 Chunked out 4"ish dia hole in mirror backplate and attached fan through rubber "O" rings to outside of backplate. Did the whole move mirror/re collimate thing and remounted backplate to scope body. Switched on power and on removing front dust cover, felt a "reasonable" flow of air being pushed out therefore assuming that everything was working as "planned". In practice, on entering the obsy I power up and remove front dust cap from scope. By the time I've rolled the roof back, fired up the laptop, initiated Stellarium and FireCap and then sent the scope to a decent 1st mag star to do a focus test on, it's time to switch off the fan and get down to "serious business". It certainly does help get the scope down to working temp much quicker with a minimum of fuss. Would be delighted to show some piccys of the setup, but fractured my ankle so am out of action for the next couple of weeks. Please make the most of the exceptionally clear and transparent skies that you'll now be getting as a result of my "sacrifice". 💩 Regards to all, Les 👨‍🦽

Managed some "radio observations" from Mid Wales. Pretty dreadful conditions visually with 80%+ cloud cover and thunderstorms for most of the time. Picked up max of 51 pings on the 11th-12th Aug in the 4-5am (BST) slot. A couple of screenshots are attached with graphs for the observed days. Les

Great talk Steve, Sleep safe everyone! Les

Nice capture there Steve. Out last night with the Canon and 8" SkyWatcher reflector and came back with this effort. Regards, Les

Adian, Sorry, only just spotted your post above. Can only report that during the past year+ of useage, there have been no signs of cracking or movement in the blocks so I don't think you'll have any issues. Bottom block is half cemented into ground and the two blocks are secured together with Evo-stick "Sticks like s**t" adhesive and a coach bolt. Best wishes, Les

Been running the Graves meteor detector over the past couple of days for the Quadrantids. Below are my numbers and graphs of results with, for me, a clear peak around 05.00-06.00UT on the morning of the 4th Jan. Regards to all, Les

Just tried out of curiosity to connect and all OK to me. Win 10 with Google Chrome found it no probs....... sorry! Les

For what they're worth, here are my white light shots from Christmas morning of the new cycle spots. Wishing clear skies to all for 2020. Les