Geoff Lister

T Coronae Borealis is due to go from magnitude 10 to magnitude 2 at some time this year. This image has T CrB above-right, of IC4587; and Epsilon CrB (magnitude 4.1) is the bright star at the top left of the image. It should be very obvious when T CrB gets brighter.

12P was too low for me too, so I moved up and left and managed 13P with my Seestar S50

and then further left to C2023 A3

The markers give a good idea of position and also an idea of comet brightness (Stellarium gives NGC5400 an effective magnitude of 13.5). I think the bright spot associated with the comet was a background star.

I also managed an image of T Coronae Borealis, so when it goes from magnitude 10 to magnitude 2, as forecast for some time this year, I stand a chance of getting a second image (clouds permitting).

Geoff

17 hours ago, saac said:

Well you are now in the fortunate position to sell me one

No chance

11 minutes ago, saac said:

Maybe it's the engineer in me but it's just a bit of kit, like any other tool it has a purpose. This one seems to do its job pretty well.

As a 3rd generation engineer, I agree 100%. I could not decide between the S50 and Dwarf II, so I bought both. No regrets on either purchase - I now have 2 sizes of hammer.

Geoff

This evening (29th) from south Devon. There was a short gap in the clouds. Downloaded from my Dwarf II to my tablet and unprocessed.

Rain shower, then:-

Geoff

I like the way that the S50 shows me things that I would not have considered with a purely visual setup. Whilst imaging a magnitude 9 or 10 faint fuzzy, if I select "Mark" other circles often appear, and these are gradually filled by a magnitude 13/14/15 even fainter fuzzy that I would have little chance of seeing, even with my GoTo 10" Dob.

I'm sure that Galileo would have given his eye teeth for an S50 and Android tablet.

I think it is going to take many generations of genetic mutation before someone is born with low-light color vision, and a stacking retina - until then we have the S50.

Geoff

2 hours ago, paulastro said:

It's the best waste of money Ive ever spent 😊.

+1

Another thing to consider is that this comet is now getting close to the setting Sun. The comet will be close to the horizon when the Sun has set and it is starting to get dark-enough to see the comet. The Stellarium view, above, neatly illustrates the problem with houses/fences/trees etc. blocking the view.

I have found that I need to mount my telescopes as high as possible to see over my garage and/or adjacent fences. The Heritage 130P's Dobsonian base needs to be on as high a stand as possible to get a clear view towards the horizon.

A couple of nights ago, to get a clear view of the comet, I had to resort to extreme measures to clear an adjacent fence, this time with a different telescope, but using a stepladder with a painting platform. With a suitable clamp the Heritage's base could work on something like this.

But it was worth the effort to get this view

Geoff

10 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

the Seestar is the only viable option (maybe some of the other smart scopes too, not upto date on pricing of other models).

I have both the Seestar and Dwarf II. The Seestar is (just) better for astro, but the Dwarf is a better all-rounder for astro and things like birdwatching, because of its dual wide-angle/telephoto setup - effectively a built-in, intelligent, finder.

The Dwarf in its bag with accessories is about the same volume and weight as my 10x50 binoculars in their case. The cased Seestar is larger and heavier, but I have added external strapping and D-rings to the case so that I can cary it with the over-shoulder strap from the Dwarf.

I find the Seestar's app more user-friendly - with the Dwarf, I have to reset the exposure time after each GoTo. The Seestar gathers 4-times the number of photons.

With app/firmware updates for both being released at roughly monthly intervals, this is a race from which we can all benefit.

Geoff

I think that we are back to the old adage Your best telescope is the one you use. In the last 3 months, given the variable weather in the south-west of England, for me, it has been my Seestar and Dwarf II. Easy to set up, quick to get going, and quick to get back under cover when (not if) it starts raining. Probably slightly more Seestar than Dwarf, but sometimes both together.

If I can rely on a clear evening, then it is worth getting out the 10" Dob, but, given the narrow time and altitude window for comet 12P, there was no contest.

Geoff

On Saturday, from South Devon, unprocessed from my Dwarf II

Geoff

This evening's view of 12P, but this time from my Dwarf II. To get the clearance over my fence, I used a step ladder with built-in painting tray, and a tripod clamp on the tray.

Geoff

Because the comet is low towards the north west, I have been using my Seestar on the full-height tripod of my iOptron mount. Whilst the Seestar was capturing images, I stood directly behind it with my 10x50 binoculars, to get the correct azimuth angle, and so I was able to spot the comet by using slight up/down scanning for the altitude.

Geoff

18 hours ago, Louis D said:

I didn't think harmonic drives were all that picky about balance.  Sure, when balanced, they have a higher load capacity, but it's not required at lighter loads.

With my 10" Skyliner, the problem was low clutch friction on the altitude axis. It's a compromise between a reliable motor drive and the ability to make manual movements. My 2011 version does not have the clutch adjustment knob shown in the Geoff Barnes' picture (15 August 2020), but has the nylock nut indicated in PlanetGazer's diagram of the same date. I found that it was difficult to get the best compromise, and it required several tweeks with a ring spanner, each time having to remove the OTA. I made the adjustment probably 10 years ago, and have not had any problems since.

Geoff

18 hours ago, LaurenceT said:

One thing that has baffled me is that the subs were labelled IRCUT files so I obviously failed to switch to the dual band filter, I had thought it was automatic when selecting a DSO, obviously not so no nebulosity!

This morning, I had a look at ZWO's web site, and the Seestar S50 manual is still showing 2023-10. There have been many app/firmware updates since October 2023. A download confirmed the same size 29-page manual, and I could not spot any changes from the version I downloaded at the beginning of January. We need an update to give more details, including about the use of the "Light damage filter" (page 18 - I love these translations).

18 hours ago, paulastro said:

It did once stop for about  fifteen minutes and I thought it had frozen somehow or had broken down.  Re- booting it didn't work - and then I noticed it had completely clouded over where the object was!

I had a similar problem with an early morning session. When I looked outside (instead of at the tablet's screen) it was starting to get light, with a clear blue sky, and I could not see any stars either, except light from that big one towards the eastern horizon.

Geoff

On March 16th, I looked at the ZWO web site, and they had updated the Android App from 1.15.1 to 1.16.1, but Google Play  was still showing 1.15.1.

I downloaded the 1.16.1 apk file, and, with the warnings about apps from an unapproved source, updated the app. When run, this prompted a firmware downoad, thus going from 2.30 to 2.42.

I checked Google Play again, at 07:10 this morning (19th) and this is now showing 1.16.1, with a release date of 14th March.

Due to clouds, I have not given the updated version a try.

Geoff

On my Skyliner 10" Flextube, I had a similar slipping problem, and found that I needed to add a weight of about 1kg at the primary mirror end of the OTA. This was to balance the OTA when using my DSLR or binoviewer.

I also tightened, slightly, the central nylock nut on the altitude axis drive plate. This cannot be done with the OTA in place, and so had to be done with small adjustments, replacing the OTA and checking the clutch grip compromise between reliable manual and motor-driven operation. In total, the nut was tightened a few tens of degrees.

Geoff

On 12/03/2024 at 07:24, Richard N said:

I like the idea of this device, however the price is similar to a SeeStar S50 or DwarfLab. Does it do something amazing that I’m missing?

 

This is my concern too. I have both the Seestar S50 and Dwarf II. These have 50mm and 24mm objective lenses, whereas the Astrowl Box can be used with any GoTo/tracking mount, and thus larger OTAs. However, it is unlikely to provide the integrated operation, rig portability, and ease of use, of the S50 and Dwarf II.

I wish the Astrowl Box team well, but I fear that their product will be eclipsed by the S50 and Dwarf II.

Geoff

19 hours ago, LDW1 said:

 I bought 2 s50's I'm keepin' the faith, lol !

I was thinking that with four S50s, a decent sized garden, and the right software, we could start to have "Very Large Telescope" capabilities.

Geoff

20 hours ago, scotty1 said:

I'm guessing there is WiFi on the Seestar that connects to your phone, if you have signal.

Yes. The first connection is via Bluetooth. This then turns on a WiFi transmission from the Seestar. This can then be received by your phone/tablet. Your phone/tablet may either, lock automatically to the Seestar, or, need to go via "settings" to switch from your home WiFi. There is an option to use your home WiFi for the Seestar link, but I have not tried it.

Geoff

I too, have not had significant problems with field rotation effects on the Seestar images; but I have noticed it more with my Dwarf II. If you are going to be spending hours gathering FIT files for off-line processing, you are, perhaps, missing the point of these lovely little 'scopes. They both work at their best, capturing for a few minutes, with a "Live" display on your tablet's screen, and a download of a nice JPEG image for your records, - then a quick slew to the next interesting target, and start "Viewing" again.

I found a very good web site that explains field rotation with an Az/Alt mount.

https://calgary.rasc.ca/field_rotation.htm

About 2-thirds through the document, there is a very nice 3D graph showing field rotation with respect to the target's azimuth and elevation. As far as I could conclude, for minimum rotation select targets near the horizon, and towards the east or west. Anything close to the zenith is bad for field rotation, (and anyway would be challenging for any Az/Alt mount).

Geoff

As far as I know, the Seestar does not need a mobile signal. Some of the weather and "best targets tonight" parts of the Android or IOS app on the tablet/phone require data access to the internet for updating, but I am not aware of a "SIM" equivalent to communicate with a mobile phone base station.

Geoff

1 hour ago, Paul M said:

I think that if they isssue a firmwear that can stack on a comet or other "moving" object, astrophotography will enter a new era.... actually, it has already but, anyway, you get my train of thought!  

I think that ZWO has done a great job with the Seestar - an image building-up on your screen in real-time, downloaded direct to your tablet/phone as soon as you stop capture (and with text showing basic location/date/time/target name details) and the storing of the original captures for later post-processing if you wish. No need to level the mount, or polar align; prior to the initial capture, it works out its non-level mount correction data, and then takes a set of dark frames.

Geoff

Many thanks. Nice video. My Seestar is imaging 13P/Olbers. It's showing the core moving slowly northwards, so I will stop and download from my tablet.

Done.

Geoff

As requested, hot off the tablet from another part of North Somerset

I managed to see it at the same time that the Seestar was capturing - I just stood directly behind it and pointed my binoculars at the same angle as the alt. axis.

Whilst downloading this image, the Seestar app is stacking 13P/Olbers.

Geoff