Alien 13

A nice delicate image, not a fan of the "in your face" versions. I too think the green is dominating a bit. Alan

The Samyang lens has an awful lot of glass in it so may require some time to reach thermal equilibrium, a simple dew heater like the USB powered COOWOO might help. Alan

The polarscope fix is easy, get hold of a DSLR RA viewfinder or one of the astro versions available now like this Alan

11 for me and I too wish everyone a Happy New Year, and a Happy Christmas for 2022... Alan

I am 66 and dont like the cold so moved to imaging but even that is a pain sometimes so looking forward will probably go for something along the lines of the Stellina smart scope in the future..or my smartphone. Just a note that when I say imaging its either a hand held Lunar shots with my Canon gear or a static tripod with a wide angle lens with my 80D which can be fully controlled indoors over wifi. Alan

I find saliva or a hot breath will shift most gunge.. Alan

I would have thought lots of cameras to be vital in case they had to "work through" a problem that could arise. Alan

Agreed, didn't get to see the boosters land either 😋 Alan

I am scared now, would feel safer with a Musk or Russian launch 😱 Alan

Its hard to find a decent terrestrial spotter, I have been looking for one for years, The frac idea is OK as long as you dont mind being poked in the eye whenever you adjust focus and the current crop of correct image diagonals are not that good in my opinion unless you spend big. I do have the C90 and it gets close to ideal with a bias towards Lunar etc but does loose contrast in daylight. Alan

As above but if it is the diagonal then increase/decrease the distance between the eyepiece and diagonal so its surface is no longer in focus. Alan

Makes you wonder how far CMOS cameras will go, am assuming we are already past the "break point" vs CCD. Alan

I think the new breed of CATS like the RA, RC, RASA, CC etc will take over the world especially for imaging with the newer CMOS cameras and there smaller pixel sizes, A RASA, CMOS colour camera with dual or tri band filter is a match made in heaven. Alan

I just want a nice scope 60-70mm objective with a 90 degree correct image, perfect colour correction, pin point stars, internal focusing and with a large eye lens that gives a perfect image no matter where you place your eye oh an around 6-7 X magnification. Tall order but I looked through a military instrument like this many many years ago and nothing since has come close.. Alan

I agree its all a compromise or as I would prefer a design choice, I agree fast scopes can do high magnification and wide field but the cost of those eyepieces to achieve this in a fast scope is eye watering for me at least. Alan

Lovely images and as mentioned not over processed, any chance of a list of the kit used? Alan

I have a couple of tips that I use... Focus, Use live view on the camera X10 while looking at the terminator area. Manual will work but is a bit hit and miss if you dont know what settings to initially start with so go for AV or T which are semi auto modes. I cant remember off hand but one of those setting mentioned does a good job of simulating the final shots correct exposure on the live view screen while you adjust shutter speed for example. There will be trial and error involved but you will soon get the hang of the basic "go to" setting to start with. Avoid starting out shooting in video mode for stacking images, a well focused and exposed single image can be a wonderful thing. Thing to remember is that with a scope connected the camera has only two options to adjust for correct metering those are ISO value and shutter speed so keep an eye on both during setup, the ISO needs to be as low as you can get it but not at the expense of a slow shutter speed so its a fine balancing act. Use a remote to control the camera or the in built delay to avoid any shake. If the image is coming out slightly too bright or dim then use the exposure compensation control, especially important if running in a semi auto mode. Have fun. Alan

Good question, I think that the SA might just have the edge in tracking accuracy but its close. The EQ3-2 however will be fine with a DSLR and lenses with the added advantage of more load capacity for visual use with a scope and perhaps some Luna/Planetary imaging where tracking accuracy is less important. Alan

I am not so sure an ED triplet could even be colimated without specialized equipment and an optical bench and of course a delivery driver to send it back to the supplier 😃 Alan

There are compromises with a MAK but I dont see the narrow field of view one of them after all traditionally refractors were long and thin with a narrow field too before the advent of ED glass etc. I do agree that they dont scale well but the smaller ones are great for grab and go with little or no cool down time. The biggest advantage of a MAK is its huge back focus range so its very easy to add cameras/bino viewers etc and also the ability to hang large loads off the focusser which no other scope type could handle. I personally like the internal focusing that a MAK offers, cant abide a focusser that moves in and out...its just wrong. Alan

The problem is that its easy to test individual components but not the whole payload as a complete entity, for example I doubt but maybe wrong that they could have got the whole thing into a HALT/HASS chamber capable of simulating the thermal shock as it leaves our atmosphere. Alan

I used to run the testing facilities for a lot of MOD and aerospace projects and I know how hard it is to cover every eventuality no matter how many hundreds of hours you put in, its obviously harder still when you are at the cutting edge.. Alan

I dont hold out much hope for a successful mission, I will be pleased if I am proved wrong though.. Alan

Possibly the best £27 I have spent this year... Huion H420 graphics tablet, its tiny but it is always something I have wanted to go with PS and Affinity Photo. Will be super useful for my other hobbies too. Alan

My pick too. Alan