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pbyrne

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Everything posted by pbyrne

  1. Cornelius, thank you very much. Paul
  2. Hi all I am just starting out in astrophotography. Last night I was imaging Cassiopeia using a Canon 1100D, 50mm f/1.8 lens and iOptron Sky Guider Pro. I had set it up to take 100, 45 second exposures starting at 8.30 local time. When I checked the images tonight, I noticed that after 35 images the orientation changed from landscape to portrait. Can anyone tell me why this is happening and how do I prevent it? Thanks in advance. Paul
  3. Thanks for the recommendations, guys, they look to be just the ticket.
  4. Hi all Just dipping my toe into astrophotography and I am looking for a good book that will help me through my initial sojourn. I have watched many Youtube videos and read online articles, but I am one of those people who like a book I can dip in and out of. Any suggestions most welcome.
  5. 50in? Imagine the size of the camera.🤩 I have to leave it as is, it's just too funny, and embarrassing.😳
  6. Hi all I am looking to pick up a 50mm lens for astrophotography. I have seen the Canon lens on both f/1.4 and f/1.8 formats, there is about €100 in the price difference. Looking online, I have read how f/1.4 created curvature and is best stepped down to f/2 or f/2.8. What advantage, if any, is to be gained by going with the f/1.4? The camera is a Canon 5D mark ii. Thanks Paul
  7. Hi all I am thinking of picking up an 80mm ED refractor and while cruising around the Web I came across this scope: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p8637_TS-Optics-Doublet-SD-APO-80mm-f-7---FPL-53---Lanthan-Objective.html It states that the FPL-53 glass is mated with lanthanum glass as the second element. FPL-53 controls CA very well, how will the addition of lanthanum glass improve the seeing? I intend to use it purely for visual.
  8. Hi all I am in the market for a 4" ED refractor for double star work, I want something small and portable that will sit nicely on my Skytee II mount. I was drawn to Altair Astro, I saw the review of their 102mm Starwave Ascent in Sky at Night magazine, now I am a little skeptical about magazine reviews, are they going to risk potential advertisement revenue by stating that a product is nothing better than a doorstep? Or are they going to be glowing in their praise even if that is not the case? No matter, maybe I am too much of a cynic. The Ascent 102 is sold at a fantastic price, £465, €516, WOW!. They also sell the Starwave 102ED-R for £899, €997. The ascent uses FPL-51 glass while the 102 ED-R uses FPL-53 glass. My question is this, at the eyepiece, will there be any noticeable difference between the FPL-51 glass and the FPL-53 glass? We are talking about the FPL-53 being almost twice the price. One thing I would like to note about the Altair Astro website, they also sell a 110mm ED-R scope and in the description they are extremely honest, stating that there will be a slightly better view over the 102, slightly brighter and offering slightly better contrast. I find this honesty refreshing, it would be easy to state that the 110 will perform far better than the 102 in the hope that the buyer purchases the bigger and more expensive scope. Kudos, to all at Altair Astro.
  9. Thanks for the responses. I am liking what I am hearing about the Skywatcher 120ED and I will keep my eye open for any second hand options.
  10. Hi everyone. That feeling we all get in the back of the neck from time to time is causing an itch and I don't know if I should scratch. My current set up is a 120mm f/5 Skywatcher Startravel with an older 120mm f/8 Evostar for lunar and solar work. I have seen the Explore Scientific 127mm ED Apo, f/7.5 and my mind is starting to wander and the credit card is whining in my wallet. https://www.telescope.house/en/Telescopes/EXPLORE-SCIENTIFIC-ED-APO-127mm-f-7-5-FCD-1-Alu-2-R-P-Focuser.html I can hear many people out there asking why not consider a reflector, but I am a refractor guy and it's a lens for me. My current scopes display a lot of CA on the brighter objects, Moon, Venus, Sirius, Vega, etc. and the thoughts of colour free views is very tempting. My fields of interest are deep-sky and double stars. I know that the ES will have superior optics to the Skywatcher, but is it worth forking out the cash for an extra 7mm and better optics? Any thoughts are most welcome.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. ...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?
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Can someone please hide the Clearasil from the sun. Paul
  17. 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.
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. Hi all I was looking around for an eyepiece to fill the gap between my 4.7mm and my 8.8mm Meade S5K UWAs, something in the 7mm range. Then I saw a Televue 2.5x Powermate for sale, with my 18mm eyepiece this will give a magnification of 7.2mm. Perfect. I hummed and hawed and debated about purchasing it, I was never a fan of the Barlow lens, and after reading online reviews, I just jumped. I reasoned that the Powermate will also prove useful when it comes to my early adventures into lunar photography. I would be interested to hear what any experience anyone has of the Powermate.
  22. Thanks for the replies, everyone. I want to give the entire list my best shot. Even if galaxies are not my favourites, I will get around to observing them and there is that sense of achievement when spotted.
  23. At the turn of the year I set myself the challenge of bagging the Herschel 400. The winter constellations are filled with open clusters, my favourite deep-sky objects to observe, nebulae and the odd planetary and I made a good start, ticking off 50 objects from the list. Now I am moving into galaxy country, and I have to be honest here, galaxies are my least favourite objects to observe. With the odd exception, galaxies are ellipticals and show nothing more than an amorphous blob. However, the majority of objects, 231 of them, which make up the Herschel 400 list, are galaxies. So, it's a matter of getting on with it until the summer arrives the clusters, globulars and nebulae come back. I have set myself a time scale of summer 2021 to finish, knowing the great weather we have in this part of the world. Wish me luck.
  24. Just had my first experience of dealing with First Light Optics. Put the order in Sunday, got an email Tuesday, one item not available, I made an alternative purchase, the package arrived at my door on Thursdsay. Forgot to mention, I live in Ireland, how is that for service? I now where my next purchase will be made. Paul
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