Alien 13

Have often wondered why would any alien civilization travel across space when probes etc could give them most of the scientific information required for exploration, it can only be for colonization and/or resource gathering so they would see us as food 😱 Alan

I expect its a bit of the unknown similar to when Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 which was predicted as almost a non event hit Jupiter.. Alan

Lovely image but am a bit confused by the star spikes when only using a refractor.. Alan

Very nice, could you supply any details of the case you used? thinking of building something similar myself... Alan

Me too, it starts with a look at other hobbies that might be useful for parts like Cine follow focus systems, camera cage parts, RC cars and aircraft etc and before you know it you are down another "rabbit hole"😃 My big project is still under consideration but will involve robotics and harmonic type drives but fear the cost could be astronomical if I start... a small version of Boston Dynamics "Spot". Alan

Why not, some parts of the universe must be full of sound but not as we know it.. Alan

Looks a good choice to me, thinking of an AOC monitor myself. Alan

My CS6 got progressively worse over the years with improvements to laptop and monitor resolutions and in the end switched to Affinity 😀 Alan

Windows scaling is very handy as is the ability to scale web pages but it might not work with some legacy software like older versions of PS for example where you are stuck with tiny unreadable text in places. Alan

I used to be an engineer in charge of a number of liquid nitrogen environmental chambers and a huge 40 foot tall liquid nitrogen tank and know about the problems regarding its use, one of which was the formation of oxygen rich ice next to the pipes which could be a foot thick and as hard a iron and certainly enough to deform any suspect seals etc. Alan

I wonder if all this dark matter nonsense is due to far more large rocks/rogue planets etc everywhere 😀 Alan

I have to ask how we can be sure interstellar space is mostly empty with a few grains of dust, it could be jam packed with large rocks and as far as I know nobody has been there to check.. Alan

How about a nice trip at 1G provided an engine could provide a constant thrust for a prolonged period, Mars in a couple of days and the nearest star in a few years simple 😀 Alan

The G70A is on my wish-list 😀 Alan

Have been looking at monitors myself for a while now and can pass on a few thoughts. Productivity and gaming don't mix very well unless you have good graphics capabilities, for example a 2560x1440p monitor hits the sweet spot at around 27 inch for productivity but could look awful if it had to downscale to 1080p for games. IPS panels are generally the best all rounders, giving vibrant accurate colours and good viewing angles. Make sure the display has the correct input ports, modern PCs use HDMI, Display port and in some cases Thunderbolt ports for video. Its worth checking too on the monitors menu interface, generally those that include a "joystick" work best (my acer monitor has a terrible interface). Alan

There are a few eyepieces out there that disguise there previous life as CCTV camera lenses by the fitting of a sleeve, some are zooms too. The lens is always mounted with objective end towards the focuser. Alan

Snap!! me too. Alan

I like undercuts but I only use my focuser with a FR/FF for imaging and they provide a very secure connection. Alan

I think Physics has a long way to go and is more "history" at the moment, when we can run our theories in reverse and predict "Humans" from nothing then we will have nailed it. Alan

My travel kit is a Sammy S21 phone, small carbon fiber tripod, Smallrig head and a Zodiac remote.. oh and a 3D printed adapter to remove parallax errors. Alan

Regarding The JWT and its diffraction spikes does anyone know if there is a PS plugin to reproduce them as they look kind of cool 😀 Alan

Very nice but do wonder if M31 is actually much bigger still and even touches our Milky way at its extremes. Alan

Throw a ball at any speed or angle or distance and most dogs will catch it proving that their "Maths" is very good indeed.. Alan

I have one of those small USB rechargeable ones and is ideal for work on 3d prints.. Alan

Mini PCs are so good now that I run one as my main PC, lots of good deals on those with older gen processors too but bear in mind that if you ever intend to upgrade to win 11 at some point you will need an 8th gen or newer. Alan