cletrac1922

Brian Welcome from Land Down Under John

Robert Welcome to you and your family from Land Down Under You cannot go far wrong in your selection of scope, and I have a SW 10" Dob as well Just a couple of tips With the base been chipboard construction, put down a small waterproof tarp to sit the base on, to stop the base from absorbing moisture in the ground Get a right angle finderscope as well, if your Dob came with a straight through finderscope, saves having to lay on the ground when spotting things directly above us John

Mark I am also in the southern hemisphere Currently around 8pm every night have Jupiter directly overhead, with Saturn trailing not far behind Mars appears above the eastern horizon just after 8pm, and clearly visible angle of 45 deg above the eastern horizon around 11pm Just after sunset also have Scorpio, Antares is very visible, and to the south of Scorpio, also have The Crux, also known as the Southern Cross Once the current COVID-19 pandemic has eased, people able to travel again, this stage our border to international travelers will remain close until this time next year, you make it down this way, only too happy to show you what is above us John

Mark With my 10" Dob, when doing Space Badge, cubs and joeys, scout movement, and K- grade 4 primary schools presentations with my club, I use a 15MM and 17MM wide-angle-angle eyepieces Both give good eye relief For the moon, use your 25mm eyepiece, with a lunar filter I also have a 2X barlow, very rarely use it John

Ross Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum John

Maho Welcome from Land Down Under I have SW ED80 on a EQ5pro mount These days lot of people now going for the ED100 or ED120 As made in China, a lot of things are currently not avalable due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, industries closed in China John

@maw lod qan Just slightly west of Jupiter, you will pick up a small red star This is Antares, which is also known as the son of Mars, as a lot of people mistake it for Mars Moving slightly west of Antares, you should see three star at right angles to Antares, this is the head of Scorpio Follow the line of star back through Antares, and you will see the loop, which is the tail of Scorpio Takes up about half the sky Not sure where you are, you can also see The Crux, known as the Southern Cross The Crux contains a number of objects including Jewel Box In Scorpio, you also have Omega Centauri, which is just above the pointers for The Crux John

Are you talking about guide scope of finderscope The attached pic show my right angle finderscope attached to my 10" Dob Have you tried tightening the screw for the show, and should have a locking screw for the finderscope John

Kevin Welcome from Land Down Under John

Mike First of all welcome from Land Down Under For purely visual, you cannot go far wrong with either a Skywatcher 200mm or 250mm Flex Dob Easy to use, just plunk on the ground, then using spotting scope, go to object you want to view Couple of things as well Get a right angle spotting scope, as saves laying on the ground when tying to spot objects directly overhead The base been chipboard material, put down a small waterproof tarp, to stop moisture in the ground damaging the base The attached pic is of my 250mm flex Dob, and in background with shroud fitted is a 200mm flex Dob The Dob comes with a 10mm and 25mm eyepiece In addition, I use a 15mm and 17mm wideangle eyepiece as well, even though I have a 2X barlow, have rarely used it Hope I have been of assistance John

Liv First of all welcome from Land Down Under This question gets asked all the time Since you definitely want to expand into AP, then you will need a scope with GoTo, SynScan controller You cannot go far wrong with a Skywatcher ED100 or ED120 on either a EQ5pro or HEQ5 mount Have attached pic of my ED80 on a EQ5pro mount, taken at a club solar day last year, and I also use a car jump start pack to power it Scope in the background with 600D camera fitted, is also a ED80 on a HEQ5 mount With respect to camera, you can use a Canon 600D or equivalent, or a more specialize unit such as a ZWO ASI, with ZWO AIR WiFi unit, and a ZWO ASI290 mini as a auto guider Then download varies software to control, and Stellerium seems to be main weapon of choice,in here Regi Stack as a staking program John

Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum Just did a bit more research respect to ZWO ASI and Star Adventure The attached link might be of assistance https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=10931 John

Comet Neowise is not visible at all from the Southern Hemisphere John

Brian This same question gets asked every week First of all, you have to decide what you want to use the scope for Purely observing, then cannot go far wrong with a Skywatcher 10" flex Dob If want to venture into AP, then you need a scope with GoTo function using a SynScan controller Then you need ED80, ED100 or ED120 on a EQ5pro or HEQ5 mount Have attached pic of both my 10" Dob, and ED80 on a EQ5pro mount The pic of the ED80 was taken at my club solar viewing day last year, and the 10" Dob, public viewing night with my club as well John

Richard Welcome from Land Down Under 3am this morning had Jupiter and Saturn high in the western horizon, Mars was trailing overhead, and Venus was just above the eastern horizon Earlier in the night had The Crux and Scorpio adjacent to Jupiter and Saturn overhead Since COVID, also not been able to meet with my club as well Find attached link to Heavens Above set for my location https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx?lat=-27.9206&lng=153.28291&loc=Maudsland&alt=0&tz=UCTm10 John

Welcome from across the ditch, Pacific Ocean We do travel the universe in this forum John

@hyak Thank you very much for sharing your pic of your moment where you are for all of us Two years ago was in India, and visited a place called Jantra Mantra, which is located in Jaipur The site was built over 400 years ago, and series of astronomical instruments There is a sun dial there, which is 62 feet tall, and faces towards Polaris, and even today is accurate to within 2 seconds The face of the sundial is done in marble etchings Have attached pics taken of the sundial, and link to the site The third pic is a different sundial, which is double sided, and also is angled, and you use which side when the sun is either over the Tropic of Cancer, or Tropic of Capricorn https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1338/ John

@John This discussion opens up a whole new ball game Several years ago, I had my cataracts done, and lens in both of my eyes were replaced with artificial lens, which do not focus, like lens we were born with Even night time, when driving rural roads, another car approaches opposite direction, I have to glace down toward left hand side of the road, as my eye do not react to oncoming headlights quick enough I now wear glass for reading, do not need them when viewing through eyepiece of my scopes John

Matt Where I am we do not have a Polaris, like the northern hemisphere to polar align With my EQ5pro mount, what I do is have the north leg facing south, and using a compass align the mount allowing for 12 deg east, magnetic variation Then do a 2 stay alignment, and I am within a couple of degrees of object want to observe John

Steve Welcome from across the ditch, Goldcoast, Australia Sounds like you are in good hands with your club Have attached a couple of pics of my 10" Dob, and my ED80 on a EQ5pro mount taken at club my club outings The Dob pic, was taken at Saturn In The Park, public viewing night, and the ED80 club solar viewing day John

Frankie Welcome from Land Down Under For AP, you really need a scope with a Go To mount to enable tracking You cannot go far wrong with either a Skywatcher ED100 or ED120 on a HEQ5 mount Have attached pic of my ED80 on a EQ5pro mount, taken at my club solar viewing day last year In the background is another ED80 on a HEQ5 mount, with a Canon 600D attached These days, lot of people are using ZWO ASI cameras for guider scope and imaging The attached link is my local astronomy shop, showing what is available respect to ZWO ASI camera The ZWO ASIAir, is also a smart WiFi device with multiple USB ports for controlling ZWO ASI camera, and smart device such as a tablet or laptop using Stellarium software to control your ZWO Air devices https://www.bintel.com.au/product-category/imaging/zwo-cameras/?v=322b26af01d5 https://stellarium.org/ John

First of all welcome from Land Down Under If you are after a scope purely for viewing only, then you cannot go far wrong than either a 8" or 10" flex Dob Easy to use and setup, and no electronics, if you want to use for bird watching as well Recommend also that you get a right angle finderscope, as saves laying on the ground when viewing objects over head, and suitable also for scanning trees with your bird watching As the base is made of chipboard material, put down a small waterproof tarp under the base to protect from moisture in the ground Have enclosed pic of my 10" Dob, taken club field night last year, and in background with shroud, is an 8" Dob John

Welcome from across the other ditch, the Pacific John

The ASI120mm mini is ideal as a guider scope using Stellerium For imaging go for the ZWO ASI290MC, and you could also go for the ASI290MM mini as a guider scope as well You will probably get a lot of other suggestions as sell down the track John

Welcome from Land Down Under I also have a background in radio communications and I.T, having served 27 years communications technician with Royal Australian Corp of Signals, including tour of Vietnam You cannot go far wrong with a HEQ5 mount, and can update scope later to a ED100 or ED120 I also have a SolarMax11, which I use on my EQ5pro mount as well, and the new SolarMax111 has a refined focuser over the SolarMax11 You can now also get a WiFi adapter for your HEQ5, and download the SynScan App Attached pic of my Solarmax11 on EQ5pro mount John