Moonshed

And that is what this thread is all about. Passion.

I fell in love with my 1985 second hand 8” Celestron SCT the minute I unpacked it, 32 years ago. It was my first scope with an aperture larger than 4” and the views it offered of the Moon and planets, plus DSO’s, I found to be amazing. Okay, I have looked through far better and bigger scopes at society meetings but your first love is the one that stays with you.

The answer is obvious, on their planet they don’t have any cows. 😇

But are you sure about that?

Oops! Done it again, tried getting the quote AFTER typing my reply.

Are you telling me that ET with his glowing fingertip isn’t real? This is so sad, my bubble has been burst after 40 years of believing he is right here. Sigh.

The most interesting thing I learned about muons was the technique of muon transmission radiography based on cosmic ray sources. It was in 2017 that a large void was discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza (with a length of 30 metres minimum) by observation of cosmic-ray muons. Amazing when you think about it.

Hi Jeff, In order to receive email alerts when the ISS will be visible from your location it is necessary to sign up and give your location. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/signup.cfm You will find the sign up link on the top RHS of the page. That’s it, you will soon be receiving alerts, I have been using it for years and it is amazingly accurate, of course it is it’s NASA 😂 Cheers Keith

Hi Jeff, Take a look at this one, it may be the sort of service you are looking for. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/index.cfm Cheers Keith

I am really impressed that you have achieved such amazing images without any post processing, that is an incredible achievement. Well done indeed!

couldn’t find the sun here either, cloudy.

I do love my 8” SCT, had it for 30 years and I have found it to be a good all round versatile scope. My problem is that for some time I have wanted a larger aperture to look through, such as a 12” dob, but they are unfortunately rather heavy. Your suggestion is not without merit, and one that under different circumstances I would definitely look into. Unfortunately the reality is that I don’t have the spare cash to do that, I have to sell my existing scope in order to buy another, I can therefore only have one at a time. Thanks anyway, appreciate all advice given, it all helps.

Thank you for all the information you have given. I was very interested to learn of your experiences in comparing an 8” dob to a 10”. I am surprised that on the planets they were pretty much the same, and what I haven’t taken into account is the seeing conditions, it is only on very rare occasions can it be classed as good. Your comments about the difference in size and weight between the 10” and 12” was also very interesting, it appears to be quite a jump up. Weight is going to be the defining factor for me as well. Again, thanks for all the info, much appreciated.

Not at all, I really appreciate the points that you have raised. I have indeed not looked through a 12” dob, the larger aperture scopes I have looked through were all SCT’s, the largest being 14”. What I am hoping for is a wider aperture than my current 8” SCT, which I have to say I find difficulty in lifting in and out of the shed, a permanent back problem being the main reason. The obvious problem with the larger aperture is the increase in bulk and weight of the scope. I am being perhaps overly optimistic in thinking a sack trolley will solve the problem of transporting the large dob, I’m not really sure it will. For example I was moving some stuff about in my garden shed yesterday, nothing especially heavy, but my back went into spasm and as I sit here typing this it is still giving me grief. This is giving me second thoughts. I am not getting any younger, I am 77, and make no secret that I have advanced prostate cancer, hence the back problems where the cancer has eaten into my lower spine. Maybe I have left it too late, I’ve had the large aperture itch for some time now but taking everything into account and all the good advice I have received here I really am in two minds. If I put my sensible head on I realise I should stick with what I have, better the devil you know. But if I put my daft head on I want that big light bucket! Your comments have given me pause to think and I thank you for taking the time and trouble to give them and to share your own experiences.

The Kelling Star Party will take place in a few weeks and it’s only a 15 min drive for me so looking forward to attending. With any luck I may come across a 12” dob which would be very handy for me to be able see its size, hard to judge from images only. No doubt I will see some SGL members there but I wouldn’t know them if I saw them as I only know them by their username and avatar. Hopefully conversation should solve that. I am looking forward to the Kelling Star Party, only a few weeks to go.

I would imagine that it would not be too big a task to copy and paste a thread onto every single forum, at least it would be seen by the maximum number of members.

Thank you, you raise a valid point. When observing with my SCT I use a swivel typist chair that works okay in some positions but not in others. It clearly won’t be much use with a dob, that’s for sure. Its main use is while I am sitting at the bench using the laptop for images.

I’ve signed. 9785 to go.

That is a big beast! Love your DIY transport method.

Could you please tell me the size of the sack trolley you are using, hate to get one that was too small for the 12” Dob. Cheers Keith

Thank you for that information, it has confirmed my feeling that I will stick with the sack trolley.

Yes, that looks interesting but I don’t have the room in my Moonshed to store it, so it would mean lifting the Dob on and off, whereas with the sack trolley it should be relatively easy to tilt the Dob enough to push the toe underneath it. Thanks for the info though, I’m surprised at the various methods there are of transporting a heavy Dob.

Yes, this does seem to be a point everyone is agreed on, so it’s a sack trolley for me, that will suit me well. Thanks for all the info.

I’m sure that I will be able to manage moving the Dob, after all I do currently manually lift out my Celestron on the mount in one go, and that is really heavy. As for the views……can’t wait!

It is something I have considered but decided against it. With the Dob being relatively easy to move on the sack trolley it will not be necessary now anyway. Totally agree with your comments about the smoking jacket and a Fez, essential clothing. If you could see me wrapped up for a long observing session when the mercury is reading -5C or worse you would wonder if I were some form of alien monster prowling around the back garden!