Littleguy80

I recently observed my first Quasar, 3C 273.0, which is in Virgo. It's listed as being 2 billion lights years from Earth. A phenomenal distance and a pretty impressive distance record. SkySafari lists it at mag 12.85 which is achievable in a great many scopes. After reporting on this success, Stephan @Nyctimene, made the excellent suggestion of trying for the Quasar PG 1634+706. This Quasar is in Draco and is a mind bending 8.6 billion light years away. Any light that reaches your eye from this target will have been travelling for more than half the known lifetime of the universe! Last night, I had my first attempt at viewing this target from home. My skies are around 19.5 SQM. I was using my 10" dob and after some experimenting, settled on my Lunt XWA 9mm paired with the Baader VIP barlow, giving 267x magnification, a 0.4 degree TFOV and just under 1mm exit pupil. There are two mag 8 stars near by and I used these are my jump off point. My process was to begin by identifying the stars that were visible in the eyepiece in SkySafari. Initially, I picked up a mag 11 and then a mag 12 star. I was then able to form a triangle with a mag 13 that is very close to the Quasar. I started picking up a mag 14 star intermittently with adverted vision. The Quasar is mag 14.6 and seemed to be within reach. However, despite a couple of possible sightings, I eventually had to admit defeat on this occasion. I intend to return to this target from my local dark site which has an SQM reading of over 21. This should bring the Quasar into range, I hope! I intend to update this thread with my future attempts to view this object. I hope others will also share their attempts and successes. I've also included a SkySafari observing list of Quasars that I've created which includes both 3C273.0 and PG 1634+706. Happy hunting! Quasars.skylist The image below is from the Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide. I've marked the 4 stars mentioned above with their magnitudes as recorded in SkySafari. More info here: http://quasar.square7.ch/fqm/1634+706.html

I think you’re absolutely right, John. The little differences will make certain filters lend themselves better to particular targets. So maybe the NBP has the edge on M42 but the Astronomik wins out on the Lagoon. Once you add in personal preference then it becomes even more difficult to separate the better filters. The answer with astronomical equipment always seems to end up being “give it a try”!

Thanks John. Very interesting comments. I have the Astronomik OIII, UHC and H-Beta which all served me well. I do tend to reach for the OIII over the UHC but that’s probably doing the UHC a disservice. When I had the 1.25” version with my old scope it gave the best views of the Lagoon nebula. I also have an original Lumicon OIII which is noticeably darker than the Astronomik OIII but does seem to draw out the fainter detail better than the Astronomik. I originally thought the Lumicon would replace the Astronomik but overall I think they both deserve a place in my eyepiece case.

Thanks Gavin. That was a surprisingly easy answer. Sounds like an odd effect with the red stars.

I have an Astronomik UHC filter which is excellent. However, I find myself considering giving a DGM NBP filter a go based on the number of positive comments I've seen on this filter. People seem to most commonly reference the views of M42 with it. I'd be interested if anyone has ever tried these filters side by side? Any thoughts or experiences appreciated

Telescope or ice sculpture? You decide ?

I’ve got 19.86 at home and 21.38 at my local dark site by that. Both sites have served me well! 21.67 at the campsite I visited during the summer. It’s only about 30 mins drive so may have to investigate observing there more regularly.

Hi Olli. I used the cheaper plus version for over a year and it worked extremely well. I don't think you need pro. Other consideration is that SkySafari regularly goes on sale at half price. I think they have a newsletter you can sign up for which will notify when you it's on offer. From memory, I got SkySafari 5 plus for £6.99 and SkySafari 6 Pro for £19.99. Wait for the sale and if you don't want to spend a lot get the plus version. The plus version has over 32,000 DSO's in there which should keep you busy until SkySafari 7 comes out Here's the link to the version comparison page in case you haven't seen it: https://www.skysafariastronomy.com/skysafari-6-professional-astronomy-telescope-control-software-for-ios.html

The RASC NGC finest list. A good follow up to the Messier list. Based on this PDF. http://www.astrosurf.com/mmorin/pdf/rasc-finest-ngc-list.pdf RASC NGC Finest Objects-1.skylist Note that the Eastern and Western Veil is listed as 99a and 99b so the list is 111 despite the final count on the PDF being 110.

I thank the judges for their wise decision. Any indication of competence on my part is purely incidental. The competition was tight on this occasion and consider myself fortunate to have fought off so many other great entries. I will be printing the image off to blue tak it in my trophy cabinet alongside my other StuPOD winning images. Surely this now cements my place in the StuPOD hall of fame!

Tonight I present the conjunction of Saturn and the Moon. Inspired by a suggestion by @Davey-T to use Photoshop to combine two images to get the best of both objects. To keep within the rules of StuPOD, I used Pixelmator for iOS to take the better Saturn image and replace the a dimmer version capture of Saturn in the other image. Not a bad result if I do say so myself! The original two images can be seen on this thread:

Yes! A great day. This completes a hat trick of StuPODs for me. However, like my wife, I can never be satisfied and shall therefore continue to strive for further awards!

You should have seen the size of these pigeons, man. They had these weird eyes so you never quite knew if they were looking at you or not.

Agreed, John. The prize for today has been awarded PREMATURELY! I’m here to present my rather brilliantly overexposed and totally unprocessed Lunar X and Lunar V picture. Took this bad boy last week. Totally handheld. There were a couple of pigeons that kept looking at me funny while I took it. I could’ve been pecked to death but that didn’t stop me. I’m ready to die for my art. Anyway enough of my heroics. I present today’s clear winner:

Looks great. Am tempted to get this myself at some point!

Carefully crafted with Pixelmator for iOS ?

I found myself thinking that an award such as the StuPod needs a prize. There are strict rules and winning takes real dedication! I've created the following image that can be added to your signature. I should say that this image is in no way endorsed or approved by the judge of StuPod!

Christmas has come early in the form of an original Lumicon OIII filter! Looking forward to a shoot out between this and my Astronomik OIII

Thanks Philip. How did the Circle T compare? I have a 4mm Circle T Ortho which I really like

Good work. I lasted a week before getting another eyepiece after declaring I had all my planned purchases. This time...this time it’s different.... I will be strong

I don’t have the 18mm yet. You’re welcome to my second born child and whatever major organs Dave doesn’t want in exchange for it

Thank you, Dave. I was only kidding about the packing. Completely agree. Keep it safe and sound It’s a shame you couldn’t get a pair of the 12.5mm BGOs but I’m sure the Fujiyama’s will keep you happy. Fingers crossed one turns up soon. Thank you again for passing the BGO onto me. I promise it’s gone to a good home! Clear skies! Neil

A great big thank you to Dave,@F15Rulesfor allowing me to persuade him to part with his 12.5mm Baader Genuine Ortho! For a small cash sum, my first born child and first option on my major organs in the event of my death, Dave agreed to part with this lovely eyepiece. I’m not saying it was hard for Dave to let this eyepiece go but it was so tightly packaged that I had to call a locksmith out to get it open. But in all seriousness, thank you, Dave! Can’t wait to try it

Do post a comparison of the two please. I’ve never used an Ethos but I do have the APM 13mm. Great eyepiece in my opinion. My scope is F4.7 and I notice the coma but am yet to try a coma corrector to see how much difference it makes.

I’ve had a lot of fun building up this collection of eyepieces for my dob. All I need now is clear skies to enjoy them with.