Sunshine

This is great!

3 hours ago, Chaz2b said:

I don’t know which part to start kicking first!

Ahhh that's so unfortunate! I hope you can get them fixed soon, I once tried kicking my own behind but it didn't work 😂

An amazing image!

Omg! Lol, sorry to go off topic but I just love your T-shirt and have one too! In fact, you would love my license plate! not a week goes by where some driver is trying to snap a photo of my plate, im surprised it hasn’t caused an accident 🤣

26 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

Yes, we're a proud yet inclusive group. Please join in 😎

I was kidding, you’re kind but thank you, I wouldn’t, I will follow this thread as I am a huge doubles lover.

This is great! I wish i had a 60mm to participate, would it count if I stopped down my 102 to 60? 😅

Welcome! You’re going to love SGL, I too have been on CN for a few years but SGL feels like home.

Wow beautiful images! Welcome to SGL!

1 hour ago, The60mmKid said:

I don't know about green as a star color, though. Blue,

Yes! I should make notes as I observe and not rely on my memory, blue it was!.

Finally decided to give the dob a break from the fuzzies and take advantage of great seeing conditions for a nice doubles hunt with my 102 which I like to call my doubles scalpel. One would think I look at a particular double star for far too long, I could burn a half hour on a double as I enjoy looking online and learning about their characteristics. Last night I worked my way through many, among my favorites are those listed below.

Kappa 1 Bootes

White primary and bluish secondary 155 ly from earth, wide separation between these two gems. Secondary appears like a ghostly blue at 165x.

Xi Bootis-

21 ly distant, wonderful double which are sub solar in size, both hydrogen fusing stars. Striking was the colors, the primary seemed a warm yellow while secondary was an obvious copper toned star, it could very well be my eyes but the secondary was a delicate coppery disc.

Mu1 bootis-

Wonderful triple system which was unexpected in its placement, to me with a bright white primary and two very distant almost identical tight doubles. This was a system I had trouble prying my eye from, at around 230x all three were so clean and beautiful against a jet black background, true pinpoints, the word diamonds would be a disservice as there was no sparkle or shimmering associated with a diamond, simply wonderful perfect points.

Zeta1 Coronae Borealis-

Reminds me of a pair of headlights in the distance, almost equal in size and color but I was a little confounded by this double ams wasnt sure if i was looking at Zeta1 because just south and just outside the FOV was another double. These doubles were separated from each other by just a little more than the fov of my 5mm XW. Which double is the real Zeta1? Would the real zeta1 please stand up!.

Ras Algethi-

A beautiful double, among my favorites as they are of an orange and greenish color, though I admit with a 4” refractor I can only detect the most faintest of green hue in the smaller secondary, I suspect a larger scope may be able to reveal the green better.

Theta1 & 2 Serpentis-

A pair which are so identical in apparent size, color, and brightness makes one wonder how such a phenomenon could happen. It just happens that these two have almost identical surface temperatures of around 8200K and orbit each other every fourteen thousand years, true stellar twins.

Next time you’re out under the stars, remember to squeeze a double or two into your session, they need love too!

Wonderful seeing conditions, decided to give the dob a break for the 102 on the hunt for doubles. My double star scalpel separates them with surgical precision on good nights, something my dob cannot do as pleasantly.

46 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Agree with this 100% Malcolm. I actually used to use a Tak clamshell originally from an FS102 on my then Vixen ED103s..both scopes had oversized 114mm tubes, so the clamshell fitted properly. 

It made the Vixen feel totally secure..

Above: my Vixen ED103s sporting the FS102 Tak Clamshell, fitted perfectly 👍.

I think there's also another angle to this seeming "Takahashi obstinacy" in persisting with clamshells, and it's to do with their innate attention to excellence..

I believe that in the Takahashi  corporate mindset, they want to build and sell  the most complete and "total" package they can: so, in their minds, their perfect customer buys not just their scope OTA, but also the mount - which means a Tak mount, normally a driven Equatorial.

Now, Taks own mounts are built to accept a Tak clamshell via twin (M10, I think) hex bolts, whereby the bolts pass through the base of the clamshell, directly into the mount itself, and are tightened to ensure total security of the tube, in its clamshell, immovably fixed into the Tak mount (I have this very arrangement with my FS128 and Tak EM2s equatorial).

The worst thing that can happen with the above setup is that if you loosen the clamshell to rotate the ota or move it up or down for balancing, it could allow the tube to slide a bit..but the clamshell would not detach from the mount so your it couldn't fall onto the ground.

So, while the Takahashi "attachment" (sorry😁) to their clamshell system may irritate some, I actually applaud it as proof of their continuing dedication to "system excellence"..

My good astro friend Steve (@saganite ) holding my FS128 "Trinity" to show it's a big tube..(but only 7.5kg in weight as shown)..

Close up view of the heavy duty clamshell which is over 2" wide..making it very easy to loosen and tighten up for easy adjustments.

View of the Tak EM2s head, showing the pair of hex bolt threaded holes at 35mm centres, ready to secure the clamshell (and OTA) to the mount.

The clamshell in situ looks quite small vs the almost 150mm diameter tube, but in practice holds the tube like a vice, but with only one component to loosen or tighten when making adjustments.

..and no problems when holding heavy loads👍

Dave

What a beauty that FS128! I have one waiting certain circumstances before I will get my hands on it but it has my name on it, cant wait!

6 and a 2.5x TV powermate which makes 12 😆

Fantastic!! great to hear Saturn looked so good considering elevation and seeing conditions, I am doubly happy with my 8" and don't get me talking about how awesome Starsense has been.

On 14/07/2023 at 14:42, JeremyS said:

Looking forward to you testing them and reporting back @Highburymark 👍🏻

Jeremy is smart, he waits for word from the scouts 😂

Nice work!

This is a great little scope to recommend for beginners, Starsense has worked absolutely flawlessly for me in the seven or so months I have used it. One really must try it to be fully convinced and converted. Having said that, I can’t even find these on the celestron websit, what’s the deal? interesting.

36 minutes ago, Macavity said:

Suddenly put in mind of Dad's generation - Using the term: "Idiot's Lantern" (for TV)! How do they
find TIME for work, between... Joe Rogan interviews & Tweets / Youtube / Podcasts / Film Premiers? 😛

 

Brilliant post, thanks!

The physicist is from Ottawa Canada, this makes it correct by default 😂 who knows, it may just be right.

best of luck with whatever you choose to do! and of course we'd love to have you around, plenty of threads unrelated to astronomy here.

Welcome! those are some wonderful images on Astrobin.

There's something special about this one, it is my fav and loved scope.

A Vixen GP, yes it is sainted!

This is some great info, thanks!

What is with nukulus? over the years I have heard scientists, heads of corporation, and a lot of other people on television and radio some who work in nuclear energy fields utter the word "newkulus" "neukulus" whatever.

Most recently (tonight in fact) while listening to the gentleman who does the object descriptions on starsense app I heard him vomit the word "newkulus" while describing M5, I can understand this mistake from those who

are not necessarily interested in astronomy or science in general but not from those who work in fields related to science. Atoms and cells do not have a  (pronounced) new-cue-lus! they do have a new-clea-us!.