Sunshine

3 hours ago, josefk said:

-5 is still alive (for children of the eighties)

Spend the night with Wall-E?

11 hours ago, Hawksmoor said:

so now we get a mixture of contemporary and ancient news

This actually sounds like a lot of fun!

We really enjoy reading about the adventures you’re having, you remind me of ME! with my childlike enthusiasm. 😂 don’t forget to explore other thread topics and post discoveries and observations under those topics such as Lunar, planetary, deep sky, observations etc as you will find a broader audience. When I make double star observations I’ll post in the double star thread, for example. We will look out for future observations with equal enthusiasm!

So many fuzzies! a Webb deep field mosaic reveals an astonishing amount of ancient galaxies at the very edge of time, amazing. Link below goes to NASA site where one can select a hi-res image to scroll through, I have spent 

an hour looking through the myriad of galaxies.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/12/14/webb-glimpses-field-of-extragalactic-pearls-studded-with-galactic-diamonds/

4 hours ago, Vroobel said:

Thanks.   What do you mean?

Joking about the mount being too small for the scope 😂

18 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

Hi,

Thanks to @tomato I am a new owner of the Altair 102/715 EDT triplet equipped with a dedicated 3" x1.0 field flattener and simple moto-focuser. Printing some important accessories and adapting my ATM EQ fork mount to such a small OTA took me several days. The shelf made with a piece of plywood is a temporary solution to check all calculated forces and outcoming balance. I'm going to replace it with an aluminium plate that is heavier and will also work as a counterbalance. The shelf will be ready for something like RC8.

Everything works superb and my mount discovered its new face. The big, 17kg 10" Bresser-Messier Newtonian generates big inertia, so I never could set a guiding in Dec in the Auto mode. Now I see it's possible. Also, possible became performing 600s long subs (or longer, depending on the guiding). 😲

Now I learn a new way with the Heart Nebula. 

The unexpected benefit of replacing the OTAs is that I can take the shelf with the OTA and the camera attached home to do flat frames.

Wonderful! Congratulations! but I feel it is undermounted.

What a great story, and the image with young Dylan is so cool, especially as he has now joined us, welcome!

Friday night I was fortunate enough to see a great view of Mars, detail was easy to make out as dark blotching and the “red” of the red planet was a beautiful rusty bronzy ish color with a tiny dot of a polar cap, just like the image above except smaller, of course. 

6 minutes ago, Froeng said:

This somehow reminds me of the scene from 2001, where they examine the monolith on the moon… 👩‍🚀

You nailed it, I was wondering about a movie scene but couldn’t remember which one.

Had a great time with Jupiter and Mars last night! interesting thing about this image is that it was actually pitch dark out, my phone was set to a 3sec exposure so all that light is street light. Even so, that light is a good 70ft away, modern phones are impressive, it was after 9pm and the sun had set at 6pm, even the sky looks blue, I’m a bit stumped.

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Got the big boy out tonight after having a look at Jupiter through the Tak. Conditions aren’t the best, but still getting some nice detail showing up. Baader Maxbrights first light too 👍

Just for the record….

APM LZOS 130mm f6

AZ100 on Rowan pillar and Planet tripod

Baader Zeiss T2 prism

Baader Maxbrights

Zeiss 25mm orthos plus various Barlow/GPC combos

Dew straps!!!

 

That APM LZOS 130 is a dream refractor, any chance you have another one laying around on a shelf? I’ll take it! 😆

If my opinion is worth a squirt I did see the Starfield scopes on display at a local star party and they were impressive in their fit and finish.

Nice image, I like that

1 hour ago, Adreneline said:

Two at once on a freezing cold night - must be mad!

 

Amazing, glad to see visual astronomy is alive and well! 😂

A big welcome to SGL! I’m sure other who have used this scope will chime in with recommendations, thanks for joining and yes! Jupiter is a load of fun to look at, especially those transitions!.

This is the first time i have ever seen such a sight, it is so outside the typical images I've seen all my life which usually involved a view of earth from the lunar surface. Here I see Mars as though it were in place of earth in all those iconic apollo images, a new vista for me, it is a bit surreal. As wonderful as this image is, I love the fact it has been made possible by a member here on SGL, a group of amazing people who never cease to amaze me.

17 minutes ago, josefk said:

It's a Land Rover and my motorised wheel barrow for chunky astro gear - this spot is just a little bit out of the town i live in and super for longer sessions. Being high sided the Land Rover it makes a good windbreak too!

Those old rovers are beautiful, I call them Serengeti rovers.😅

39 minutes ago, josefk said:

Gratuitous shot of the mk2 DIY dew shield (camping mat - matt black on the inside) - not as good as the mk1 variant (kitchen worktop heat deflector). I think mk1 introduces glare, mk2 curls over and into the line of sight. Mk3 will be bought fit for purpose!

 

My eyes can’t be pried from that awesome…is that a rover? whatever it is, I love it!

18 minutes ago, markse68 said:

First proper clear night in ages- not sure it’s going to be wise staying up for the occultation though- work tomorrow 

Mark

Love the image but I am puzzled by your mount/tripod, the tripod resembles trusses on a dob, and the type of mount I cannot say I have seen, before.

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

How long did it take from ordering to delivery? Thanks (Xmas present)

Sorry, just checked, I placed order on Nov 13 and just received it yesterday.

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

How long did it take from ordering to delivery? Thanks (Xmas present)

It was a solid 4 weeks.

1 hour ago, Vroobel said:

Hi,

After welding the fork my mount is ready for the Fish Head Nebula (in action now).

 

 

It's so rigid now that regardless of the average seeing it's able to guide quite decent.  

 

Whoa! It’s monstrous! a grab and go? maybe for the Hulk! what does it weigh and how long does it take you to set up? your neighbors must be speechless when they see it in your garden.

Exciting day! finally got my copy of Discovering Double Stars! It is beautiful and BIG! bigger than I thought, I understand Agnes Clarke is a member here on SGL which was motivation enough for me to order it. Being a huge lover of doubles I can’t wait to get started on working my way through this wonderful book, thank you, Agnes.

These are some great lunar images you take, among my favourites.

+1 for it looking natural, I like the look and tone as though I were seeing it on approach, nice work!