Moonshed

Of course you can join, we’re not fussy, take anybody. 😂

Hi John, I think it can be said your scope doesn’t owe you anything. It looks a great piece of kit and I can only imagine the pleasure you had seeing the planets through it, no wonder you got hooked!

I’m glad you managed to find a copy, I’m genuinely amazed that so many are still around, we should form a club “Frank’s book of the Telescope” as it’s officially vintage.

I agree about relocating the country, I would love to have it towed to the Caribbean.

That’s the best £45 you will ever spend. None of us will ever forget the first time we saw Jupiter and it’s moons all lined up in a row and Saturn with its awesome ring system, what a stunning sight! You have just started out in what could become a life long passion, I wish you well in your venture into astronomy.

The last time I used an illuminated polar scope the brightness could be adjusted by turning the end of it until the desired level was achieved.

As my comment has been severely edited by those above I have decided to remove all of it as the remaining content did not reflect what I intended.

Talking of waking bleary eyed in the morning, it’s funny how when I was working there were tons of occasions I could have stayed at the scope all night because conditions were so good, but as I was working the next day I wasn’t able to. Now I’m retired I don’t get those amazing long clear nights any more. Someone’s having a laugh.

I’m pretty sure ordering Solar Film is the astronomical equivalent of cleaning your car.

It’s to be expected on Delta Vega really, you can’t have all that wonderful bright vegashine without the storms such heat creates.

True, but I almost choked on it in my haste to get back outside and admire the magnificent fog.

But that could just be a cunning plan.

That’s true, the short time spent looking at Mars in the eyepiece made it all very worthwhile, makes me wonder if all this faffing about is worth the bother. I’m seriously thinking of packing my cameras away for a month or two and instead returning to the great pleasures of observing during the prime winter months.

I stuck my head out the back door at 5 pm tonight to check the weather conditions, as I often do because forecasts are very generalised, and the sky was incredibly clear, stars like lightbulbs, Mars a veritable red spot light! I quickly set up my gear, used PoleMaster, Bhatinov mask, started tracking and Mars showing beautifully in the flip mirror eyepiece and looking great on the FireCapture screen. Yippee! I set the target as Mars, selected RGB and AVI, selected 60 seconds for a first run, and created a Save Folder, set the Automatic Alignment. That’s it ready to go, Yippee again! Sat down in my typist chair and checked everything ready to go.......wait, what’s that noise? Did I hear something? Oh no! It’s my wife calling me in for dinner. What to do? Explain to her that I can’t afford to miss this golden opportunity and risk 24 hours of stony silence? Or be sensible, leave everything set up and pop indoors quickly and eat the meal then come straight back out again? The latter seemed the safer option. So indoors I went, muttering under my breath, and ate my dinner as fast as I could without making a big thing of it. 15 minutes later I was back outside, and you already know what’s coming, zero visibility, nothing to do but pack it all away again. I should have risked it and stood my ground, but then eating is fairly important and domestic bliss priceless! C’est la vie! Keith

Hi Martin, thanks for that information, it looks really interesting, besides not costing a penny. I will give it a go and see how it works out but it does look to be an ideal solution. Keith

Hi wibblefish and welcome to the best online astronomy club there is.

I have only just discovered, by pure chance, that this very handy laptop screen red filter exists and that FLO sell it. The light from the screen has always been a problem, so much so that I have been reduced to throwing a towel over it because it ruins my night vision, so this looks to be a great solution. I would like to hear from other members about their experience with it, how well can you read the screen through it and how effective is it at stopping any light escaping? Thanks in advance of any replies.

Please, please let me into your secret! How on earth do you manage it?

Hi Baz, That is indeed very welcome news, and much needed, because our dark skies are gradually being eroded year on year. Great to see that at least in some special areas their fabulous dark skies are now protected. I have spent a couple holidays in the Yorkshire moors area and not surprisingly I took my trusty Celestron with me. Oh boy, what a treat that was! Thank goodness we have the dedicated people and organisations to ensure these dark skies for future generations to enjoy. Keith

Erm..... ahhhh...well now....how to put this.... if you take a look at the title to this thread you will note that it says: “Frank’s Book of the Telescope”. What can I say? 🤔 The first page here makes interesting reading regarding the book with comments from a number of members. Thanks for you for comments, it’s been such a surprise to me that so many people have had, and still have, a copy of that great little book. Keith

Ouch! Reminds me of the time we went to the far north of Scotland for a short break, we lived in Glasgow at the time. I took along my new Canon film camera because I wanted to take advantage of the fabulous dark skies there. The first clear night we walked along the cliff top until we were well away from the not very bright lights of the hotel, the sky was amazing with the stars like light bulbs. I put my camera setting on bulb after carefully placing it on a handy flat rock then walked back a safe distance so I could light a cigarette, so glad I later gave that habit up! Fag finished we walked back to where we thought we had left the camera but couldn’t find it anywhere. After wasting 30 mins stumbling around in the pitch black we decided to give up and returned the following morning to collect it. Didn’t get another clear night after that, but what can you expect for Scotland? Keith

Hi Mark, could you please explain your set up where you have the cables running down the pillar when you also say you use a tripod cos I’m a bit confused. I wonder if it’s possible to get red tinted goggles? I’m going to Google that right now.

I bet it’s just more snow, the good stuff has already been excitably removed and lovingly caressed. (Posting on behalf of a friend) 🤥

Yes, of course the Hayabusa-2 is a big deal in its own right, as indeed was Apollo. Comparisons have been said to be odious, and in some respects they can be. We are looking at two totally different types of missions in different centuries, but the one thing I feel they have in common is the degree of technical sophistication that went into each. In the 60’s they did not have the technology we have today, nothing like it, but at the time it was truly cutting edge equipment and thinking. Today we have the technology to do far more, but perhaps not so much that the mission to Ryugu could be said to be less technically challenging than the Apollo missions, maybe. The biggest difference of course, all other things considered equal for the sake of argument, is that if the Ryugu mission failed no one would have died. But I am not talking about the magnitude of human risk that was at stake, only of the level of technical achievement each achieved in its own time frame. Keith

Okay gentlemen, I’m ready to go now, you can take me to Shady Pines Home for the Bewildered, I won’t cause any fuss. Can I bring my Celestron?