Swoop1

I have a Telegizmo 365 cover for my pier and mount but it isn’t big enough to cover my scope as well. I plan to be up in the morning for the occultation of Mars but would like to set up before bed. Do you think covering the scope and mount with an old vinyl shower curtain will do? I am quite confident re garden security, it is just weather conditions that concern me.

I currently image through a C6 SCT BUT, who knows what the future holds?

If I had to choose one of these filters for planetary imaging, which would be best to go for first? 685nm OR 850nm. Thanks.

C6 SCT on AZ4 mount. Sony a6300 ISO3200 1/1250sec. Single frame. Levels adjusted in GIMP.

If you have access to Amazon Prime TV have a watch of the documentary Good Night Oppy, a film about the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. A couple of the companies involved are Amblin Entertainment and Industrial Light and Magic so you can probably gauge the feel of the film but it is worth a watch.

A quick and dirty process of some data from last night. Best 20% of 100 frames ASI290MC on C6 SCT/ HEQ5PRO combo. Stacked in Autostakkert!, GIMPED form colour and rotated and cropped in Paint.net

Sacrilege time but, I have yet to see a pretty telescope. I have seen many scopes that, to me, look stunning but, pretty is not a word I would use. A classic James Bond Aston Martin is a droolingly stunning machine but, pretty it ain't.

I see outbuildings on the other side of the fence so, height seems not to bother folk if it on their ground?

Yes, it is a not insignificant collection. In fact, we could use it as a new SI unit divisible by three- a full LC or a 1/3 LC. "How much does your scope weigh?" "Oh, about one and two third LC's"

I was fortunate enough to propose to a woman whose primary concern re the big day was ensuring it didn't clash with our season ticket use.

Well done you! A fantastic opportunity to get your hands on a scope of this magnitude and exhibit its properties to the public. Envious? Moi?

Now THAT is just showing off 😜

I've heard of people rescuing waterlogged phones etc. by overnighting them in a bag of dry rice in the airing cupboard?

I had always opted against observing the full (or very near full) moon due to my thinking that the almost direct illumination of the whole visible surface would not provide any inspiring views. Having recieved and commenced my copy of Robert A Garfinkles Luna Cognita however, his advice seemed to contradict my thinking. Tonight, I decided to deploy the C6 SCT and hold him to his word. He certainly knows his onions! The best combination with my particular C6 seems to be the stock 25mm Plossl which shows full disc with a small margin of black. Through this eyepiece, Garfinkles assertion that the ejecta rays and bright craters are good viewing was spot on. I really hadn't thought about the abundance of bright ejecta and craters there is and it was very educational having a cast about the surface, around Tycho, Copernicus, Kepler and Aristarchus. As for bright craters, there are far too many to even start mentioning. Something else I didn't really think about was the fact that the Moon is only full for a given period and shadow detail can still be visible on the extreme limbs. The Eastern limb tonight (between 22:15 and 22:45) was quite revealing. The area around what I think was Neper and Gauss was quite stunning to look at, the western walls seeming to cast a slight shadow. In addition, as the eastern limb seems to have suffered a more aggresive bombardment historically, the limb itself was showing evidence of what looked like mountains but was probably the rims of beyond libration craters, in what I think was the vicinity of Joliot, Hubble or Al- Biruni. Overall, a very satisfying if unexpected dash around our nearest neighbor.

My current crop of main armaments is a Celestron C6 SCT, a Skywatcher 150P Newt and a pair of Meade 7x30 bins. As for how many scopes do I need-it is a simple equation. n+1 where n is the number of scopes I currently own or, in other mathamatical language s-1 where s is the number of scopes that would cause my wife to leave/ kick me out.

This viewpoint looks like you have demolished a neighbouring building to improve your horizon. A bit extreme but I salute you😀

Just realised- mine is visible from space! 😉

What the others have said. My HEQ5PRO lives under an upturned plastic dustbin covered by a Telegizmo 365 cover. I too have dispensed with the elastic cord and use a webbing belt with push buckle to secure it

Nice image @gorann Yes, I see the frog- looks like it is leaving a bubble of wind in its wake.......

I have an upturned bin over mine which is backed up by a Telegizmo 365 cover. Did the job perfectly over our out of character summer. I just uncover for an hour to let things air out occasionally.

Finally got the chance to try some imaging using the handset as controller instead of the laptop. The session involved no sudden departures from the chosen target so I guess the issues must be related to the software (GSS and CdC)?

A very poor and badly coloured image of Io approaching the end of its transit last night. Not good but my first successful transit capture. C6 SCT on HEQ5. ASI290MC, X2 Barlow, trying a red filter as I had heard this can reduce atmospheric wobble. Best 20% of 1000 frames stacked in AS! and tweaked in GIMP.

I find it really pleasing that my local brewery Rebellion, has as its beer of the month, a tribute to Stephen Hawking- Quantum! Rebellion Quantum - Rebellion Brewery (rebellionbeer.co.uk)

Last night was the October meeting of my Astro Society and, in addition to the usual attending members, we had 2 groups of first-time visitors, including a mum, dad and teenage daughter. They all seemed to enjoy our guest speaker, Dr Lillian Hobbs who gave a presentation on the Lunar 100 and dad was very grateful for help in how to set up the small Newtonian they had brought for their daughter but, the highlight for me was the post meeting observing session. We assembled at a local cricket club car park and, our observing coordinator set up his 8" Newtonian and I set up my C6 SCT. The Newt started on Saturn and I went straight to Jupiter with 25mm EP. mum and dad enjoyed the views, but their daughter was absolutely blown away by what she was seeing. I then moved on to the moon and continued with the 25mm for a bit. Again, the young lady really enjoyed herself at the EP but, when I swapped to the 10mm and took her right into the terminator, revealing little points of light where peaks were catching the sun whilst surrounded by shadows, she was almost speechless. Watching then joy of discovery is very satisfying when you have had a part in facilitating it.

I did wonder about cycle transport of a scope and toyed with plans (in my head) for a Bob Yak type trailer with the scope tube suspended in a frame on bungees ala James Bond transporting sensitive liquid explosives.