pbyrne

That scope is a work of art.

I am certainly not bringing the integrity of seller into doubt, we are an honest lot in the astronomical community, and if I was in the market for such a scope, I would be checking it out, six hour round trip and all. I am sure someone is in for a bargain.

Here's the link to the ad: https://www.donedeal.ie/hobbies-for-sale/14-5-quot-dosonian-astronomical-telescope/24413241 The mirror looks good, though it is difficult to tell from a photograph. There is no name on the scope that I can see. I have no interest in buying the scope, in my mid 50s I don't think I want to be lugging this thing around and it would be wasted where I live, my garden is the place where the streetlights come for the fun, and they are all LEDs, which is worse again. I am sure the seller is genuine and maybe for the reasons stated wants it gone quickly.

...it probably is. I saw an ad for a 14.5" truss pole dobsonian for sale for €1000, (£880). I am not in the market for such a scope, but a 14.5" scope for €1000, I had to check out the ad. The seller has an Argo Navis computer system attached and a Starlight Instruments focuser. Checking out the new prices of these items it comes to €486 (£430) for the Argo Navis and the focuser is about €460 (£400). Therefore, close to €950 (£840) in accessories, even taking off 25% for second hand equipment, that comes to €237 (£210) leaving €713 (£630) for the accessories, €287 (£250) for a 14.5" truss pole dob alone. Does this sound too good to be true to you guys?

Hi all My eyepiece case foam had degraded to such a state that it was a mess and frankly, embarrassing. It was time to do something. I ordered some replacement foam, 5 layers, 16mm depth to each layer, that way I needed to only cut the layers I needed. The pluck foam is fine for regular shapes, squares, rectangles, etc, eyepieces are not of a regular shaped. Using a sharp blade I carefully cut out the shapes. I had to work around the pieces, the foam is black and I had no pen to draw out the shapes, a Tippex pen would have been ideal, but I didn't have one. The result is one I am happy with. As you can see, it is a little rough around the 18mm and 11mm, I can live with this.

Hi For your budget, binoculars are the way to go, small, portable and the ability to give great views of the night sky. You mentioned 15x70s, they are on the edge of being hand held and even then your arms will become tired quite quickly. A tripod will be necessary to hold them steady for the best views. I would recommend starting with 10x50 binoculars. I believe they are the perfect instrument, light, great wide views and they will open up so much of the universe, clusters, galaxies, double stars and nebulae. Additionally, they are great for viewing nature, birds, animals, etc. Check out First Light Optics, they have a great range of binoculars and the guys there are only too willing to help.

Can someone please hide the Clearasil from the sun. Paul

PM on the way.

Hi all Last night, around midnight, I popped my head out the back door, the sky was clear, went back inside and grabbed my 10X50 bins. A chair from the shed was setup in the corner of the garden, streetlights blocked by the walls and had a most enjoyable couple of hours. The seeing and transparency were very good. The true glory of the Milky Way was diminished by my urban location and the fact that the sky never gets truly dark around mid-summer. Sweeping down the spine of Aquila I came across the Wild Duck Cluster, looking like a globular in the bins, further south the concentration of the Milky Way was evident in Sagittarius and sweeping across to Antares I was able to locate M4, M80 remained hidden. Jupiter revealed a pair of moons, it is very low, Saturn showed its unusual shape. Heading back north, M13 was magnificent, as always, the Cygnus starfields sparkled, the Cygus Rift apparent, tried for M57, no joy. More success with M27 and the Coathanger. Delphinus was on its side when I observed it and it looked like a smiley face. M81/M82 were glowing faintly, M51 remained unseen. Just sweeping the bins across the sky slowly revealed so many wonderful sights, even the satellites were not a nuisance. The weather was warm, the night still and being so relaxed it was one of the better nights I have had in some time. Normally I go out with a plan, this impromptu session showed what no planning can do. With the fickle weather we have in this part of the world, it is not hard to be jealous of those lucky enough to live in warmer climes were such warm nights are more frequent and not needing five layers to observe. A night of simple pleasures.

PM sent

PM sent.

Hi all I am currently working my way through the Herschel 400, 81 down, a long way to go. When it comes to a challenge such as this, what you can pull in really depends on your location. Last weekend I was under rural skies and was observing 11th and 12th magnitude galaxies with ease in my 200mm Newtonian. Last night, in my urban back garden, where the streetlights like to meet for fun, I was out observing again. Boy, what a difference. I attempted to begin with the observation of NGC 5466, a 10th magnitude globular in Bootes, hah! no chance. There was nothing there, no hint of a globular. OK, the seeing and transparency were not perfect, but I believed that a 10th magnitude object would be visible. Wrong! I next went for NGC 5195, the companion to M51. It was there, well, the core was there, and nothing else, any sight of a halo was washed out. Knowing that such bright objects were either invisible or next to impossible, any thoughts of going for 11th magnitude galaxies were quickly put aside. In the end, I settled for observing familiar objects such as M81, M57 and M13, even these greats suffered. Standing beneath blazing streetlights, the council recently replaced the old sodium lights with LEDs, and boy, are they bright, it makes the yearning for country skies stronger. I wonder can I persuade the family to move to the middle of nowhere? I doubt it. Paul

Hi I will take the pads off your hands. Can you pm me with payment details. Paul

Hi Tony I attempted to screw it into the nose piece of the wedge that enters the scope. It appears that the filter is just a little too small, therefore, the threads will not engage. I can move the filter side to side in the nose piece with ease. I tried to attach the camera nose piece to my Baader Hyperion zoom 1.25" adapter with the same result. I can't understand it, there is no information online that says the filter will not attach to the camera. Ah well. I will attempt some imaging without the filter and see how it goes. Paul

Hi all With the sun out I decided to attempt some solar imaging. I have the ASI 120MC, I was using a Herschel Wedge and Baader Solar Continuum Filter. I thought that I could attach the filter to the camera, but it was too small for the threads on the nose piece. Do I need an adapter or is it not possible to attach the filter? Thanks for any help. Paul