Craney

Everytime I look at the FLO offers page I have a good smirk at seeing the HST sat there 'on the shelf'. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/offers/hubble-cassegrain-reflector-telescope.html Over the past 3 days, I must have over a hundred new notifications of cut price items and customer returns. All very tempting. Cannot be much left. Surely the ol' beastie must be coming up soon as a seasonal tempter. ( packaging might be a bit scruffy after re-entry though).

This one drove me mad last year. The bat came out fine.....( as they do on a night !!)...... but I could not for the put the hours in to wrestle the squid out of the images. This is a great image. May I ask which "Dual Band filter" you used on this ?? I am trying out the L-enhance from Optolong tonight with my old QHY8-pro, since my go-to mono camera is a bit unreliable at the moment. Sean.

I hope it is bigger, then I will be able to see it around the edges of the tree that blocks it all Winter !!! <grump...grump....>

Indeed. Good point. My camera field of view is less than 1/2 of a degree. There are another 179 and a 1/2 degrees up there that I'm missing on a clear night.

Welcome to the forum Katie. Oh yes... don't talk to me about street lights and trees....!! my advice is to take advantage of having a garden and learn the skies, how to jump between stars and locate objects. Once you are out in the countryside, then you will save so much time because you will have learned your way around the heavens and you will maximise the very infrequent clear spells we have these days. Maybe buy a decent second hand DSLR and learn the basics of star trail photography, long exposure meteor recording and then connect it to the scope....and off you go... So much to discover. Good luck. Sean.

Keep me in the loop about that one...

Hi there, I saw your FB post. This could be an interesting project, especially for those of us who have high hedges surrounding our astro-bases. A few questions if I may . Can the column be powered at either end ?? What type of material is the outer cladding made from ? Are the ends made of the same material.....?? Do you think it could withstand the turning forces that a base plate would exert on it ( with, lets say a medium sized scope...8"SCT for example). Cheers, Sean.

ooh!.... wouldn't fancy loading the filter-wheel with a full set of astro-dons after munching my way through a few bags of Scampi Fries and Pork Scratchings !!!

I agree totally.. always had helpful responses and great customer service from them. Same with Starlight Xpress as well. I think I sent my filter wheel off to somewhere in Norwich, England, but I seem to remember on FB seeing images of a new factory complex in Portugal.

I see you got one of the lesser gas giants.

Well, with the astrology bit, you might be able to predict a clear, dark, handsome evening ahead......

Yes, photography at long focal lengths is "demanding"..... especially with environmental factors in the UK especially, but I suspect PhotoGav might be hinting at the fact you will need various accessories to add on to your rig for astrophotography that might impinge on the 'useable' load limit of the mount. eg. camera, filterwheel, reducer(?), after market focuser, guide scope, guide scope rings or attachment, guide cam, electronic focusing tool, dew heaters...... and there is probably more.... Saying that, I was surprised at how light the Edge 8HD was when I bought mine.... so you could be OK. Rgds, Sean

That's the exact, perfect, definitive phrase to sum it all up. We need to get a SGL Tee-shirt designed around it.....

Reading through the posts, I share your pain. We ... ( as a hobbyist community ).... do have a lot of factors against us and we do our best to persevere. One of the problems is that the key knowledge that you accumulate when you have a few sessions in close proximity, makes further sessions much more productive and rewarding. There must be a law somewhere that states that if you do not touch equipment for a period of time it will inevitably fail in multiple aspects the next time you pick it up and try to use it...... (astronomical entropy ??)..... 2 weeks ago..... rig works fine (more or less). Work and life intervene. Last night....... usb connector falls off EFW. Dew heater has a frayed cable. Power supply now seems to have rattle. Hitec Power box does not talk to the computer. Computer does not recognise Lodestar guide cam. Metallic dewshield falls off ( I'm pretty sure it was on tight ) breaks a plastic bolt and dents the metal...... ....by which time it has partially clouded over... Yep.... it tests one ability to stay mellow.....

Wow, that is quite spectacular !!

Only ones that looks like this....

I think you need to De-Bayer the video ( the colour information is in the file, but not shown in the display capture). The Bayer mask effectively gives the colour to your image, but the chip only records the signal at the pixel regardless of coloured mask above it. I think that is what you are seeing. Programs like PIPP and AutoStakkert will do this. Regards, sean

That's a neat way to display the 'Grand Tour'. (Don't forget the Earth.... )

and another......

Beautiful pictures. ..... and what a display !! Did the lens get a traditional flaming long-boat send off ??

Have a look on Astrobin to see how long folks have exposed at various wavelengths with similar kit .....( passing swiftly pass those who live in the Atacama or ClearSkies, Arizona). This object is designated Sh2-264 Sometimes their data suggests that maybe O3 or S2 just is not worth the effort with our patchy skies. I have noticed a trend recently for the serious dudes to post pictures that have 30+ hours integrations !!! You just have to be a little bit circumspect and know which battles to fight. Plenty more (angel) fish in the sea.

One day I will re-read all this and it will make sense..... but what really is crystal clear, is the wonderful community of help that these pages offer when things go egg-shaped. Well done everyone.

That's good for an unmodded camera. The 'dark' clouds have come out well.

Nicely done. Always difficult with a long focal length.

Reports of blue Polar clouds on Spaceweather.com this morning. https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=168015