lukebl

Lovely view across the model boat pond at Southwold, Suffolk, this evening.

Yes, just about. I reckon it must be about mag 0 or -1. Should be good when it moves away from the horizon glow.

Thar she blows. A distinct tail. Should be good in a few days! Canon EOSR6, 55mm, f/6.3, ISO800, 2 seconds.

I’m out right now and I can see it! Looks as though it’s still bright and with signs of the tail, but a bit lost in the glare. Well chuffed!

I had a serious look for the comet this evening, as it should be in view by now. This evening, its altitude would be about 2 degree higher than Venus and about 28 degrees from it, so I knew precisely where to look, using Venus as a guide. I took this 1/3 second exposure and stretched it to the extreme, but no sign. Perhaps it's become really diffuse after its encounter with the sun? A pretty sunset though.

The view from Banham, Norfolk.

I agree wholeheartedly! Unbeatable value for money and so simple to collimate. My 250PDS barely ever needs collimating, and when it does it takes seconds to tweak it.

Not so. Geostationary satellites do create trails if you’re using longish exposures on a tracked equatorial mount. When imaging, you are following the stars, so the satellite gets left behind, leaving a trail. They would only remain stationary if you were using a fixed mount, when it would be the stars creating trails.

Interesting! Apparently their orbital period is 659 years, so wouldn't show any change after just 3 years.

I have this delightful old book called 'Other Worlds Than Ours', published in 1872. It has a quaint style of writing, as you'd expect for its age, and some delightful colour plates. It's also has a strange section entitled 'Supervision and Control' about the Almighty who is controlling it all. I hadn't thought about this book until this thread appeared, and I took it off the shelf and noticed the inscription for the first time: 'R. Kincaid Smith, Eton College, Dec 14 1876.' Obviously presented to him for being 'Honoris causa'. I just did a bit of research and found that it's Ronald Kincaid Smith who was later a Colonel in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars and served in the Sudan and India, and won medals at the battle of Abu Klea. I'd never heard of that battle before but, needless to say, huge numbers of Sudanese were killed there according to Wikipedia. He also owned racehorses and died unmarried at the age of 47 of Appendicitis in Newmarket. He left everything to his younger brother: £104,000. Equivalent to 15 million in today's money! Lucky brother!

I notice that some folks are derotating captures of Saturn using WinJupos. I’ve never got to grips with derotation, but it seems to me that it’s pointless derotating Saturn as there are rarely any features apart from the bands, which wouldn’t benefit from derotating anyway. Except on an occasion when there’s a major feature like the big storm of 2011, meagrely capture here by me with an SPC900 webcam (other old-timers will remember those!) So, is there really anything to be gained with it?

Here's a very rough and ready capture about 10 minutes before first contact, in very hazy and deteriorating conditions. 250mm f/4.8 Newtonian, 2x Barlow, ZWO asi120mc-s camera. A stack of about 400 frames.

I made the rookie error of forgetting the disparity between the very low surface brightness of Saturn compared to the moon. It was academic anyway as high clouds rolled in and virtually eliminated Saturn from view. Anyway, here's a short video a couple of minutes before the occultation. 250mm f/4.8 Newtonian, 2x Barlow, ZWO asi120mc-s camera. 2024-08-21-0326_Saturn.mp4

I feel much the same. As an old introvert I’ve never been a ‘clubby’ person and find groups of more than 3 highly stressful! And having my own observatory, I don’t need to go anywhere! I notice that young people don’t seem to be into these pastimes. As a keen birder and twitcher, I’d see loads of people my age when I was birding in the 1980s. Now, when I go out, they’re still my age. i.e. in their 60s! No one to take up the baton.

Thanks! No filters.