Rusted

I start every day by reading the Danish News websites, The BBC News website and Google World News. The BBC News website is absolutely pathetic and unchanging in comparison with the Danish national broadcaster. The latter is constantly updated and presents new stories throughout the day. Most of Google's World News website is blocked by paywalls or demands cookies for inside leg measurements. Even if the story is a readily available YouTube video. If you had to rely on the BBC website from outside the UK for world news. Then your world view would be limited to the BBC selling its own programmes. PLUS SPORTS ON STEROIDS or sports events and sports celebs "doing stuff." The BBC's main directive is clearly dumbing down the masses and feeding the drooling sports fans with ever more laudanum. The world's news media is simply a vast advertising business. Which chooses to have a speciality in (usually) highly biased news stories. Each chooses deliberate filtering and often has a clear, political or nationalist agenda. Or practices denial of service. By hiding behind a paywall or cookie monster. Whoever came up with the multiple options for cookies on every website should be hung up high in a cage. In a very public space. Until they rot and turn to dust. For setting back humanity by decades and increasing the wasted time of countless trillions of man hours in making cookie selections. Not to mention the increased load on the Internet. All it needed was for a simple OPT IN button. No other choice, or visitor decision, otherwise required.

That's a great improvement! Well done! Particularly given the conditions. Keep at it! 😉

Anomalies are not new. Both of my parents worked on radar during WW2. Things were moving back then at several times the speed of any known aircraft. The problem with technical progress, until the desperate hope for AI to fix us, is the grubby human fingerprints left all over it. Concorde, B1, stealth. They all smelt of incremental human progress. That said, blaming the aliens for our reverse engineering. Takes away from the ability of brilliant humans to dream the impossible. Provided they are left to get on with it with adequate funding.

If ghosts and UFO sightings were due to inter-dimensional, multiverse travel it might quickly cause irreparable chaos and damage to each. As in: "You haven't seen me, right?"

This raises an interesting question. Do we have the capability to reverse engineer anything so advanced? This needs unknown materials, mechanical, heat and radiation shielding, possibly hibernation, navigation and controls. In "down to earth" reality it may be completely impossible to travel through space at higher velocities. Every particle wants to pass right through the ship from nose to tail. The only way is arguably to literally jump from A to B. Without ever actually moving through the fabric of space.

No wonder I have no head for heights!

The members of which must all publicly swear allegiance to a loving but genocidal maniac up in the sky. Or fail to be elected. If this post gets past the waiting judges gavels I'll believe in miracles myself. Life! Take him down!

There have never been more cameras in history, in the hands of the masses. Yet the evidence is still underwhelming. Why? I do not believe in "lights in the sky." Not until I see them for myself. Certainly not those recorded by that unique branch of humanity singularly afflicted by Parkinson's. The first time I saw pairs of satellites moving closely together I was simply being mentally prepared. For observing a whole chain of Muskies. Pulling an invisible sled bearing Father Christmas. 😏

If the "inexplicable" was a No29, red, double decker bus it would [probably] pass unnoticed by several billions. Now lift that same bus off the ground and have it fly in a level, straight line at [say] 50'. Does the No29 become anything but a red, double decker bus? Do you need to be an "expert" [or scientist] studying buses [?] to be a qualified "witness" to the "extraordinary" flight? Would you, or any other "expert" fail to recognise that bus and describe it down to the last detail? Assuming you could remember to read the fleeting view of the destination boards or number plate. You might remember the advertising banners on the sides. All useful information for the forum "experts" to pontificate upon. The problem is that YOU had to be there. You weren't. Your NO SHOW makes you literally as useless as a family dog as an "expert." The object, we both saw, had no lifting surfaces. No orifices for exhausts, nor props. No external features at all. A smooth, flat sided, dark, not black, cheese wedge. Somewhere over 20' long. Flying steadily and almost silently over our garden at about 20mph. My wife claimed to have heard a slight hum but my hearing had always been poorer than hers. The trees and shrubs, on the ground, could be dimly seen in the reflection from the smooth, flat undersides. Its reflective qualities suggested [common or garden] "bright" mild steel sheet, without visible seams, rivets or undulations. Interestingly [?] it followed exactly the same flight path as all the other "planes" which flew over us regularly out of a large, local, UK airfield. We could usually see the rivets and even the pilots if that helps. These days they give that same fight path a fancy name. While "enthusiasts" cling to mountain sides to capture their passing for YT. It is sickening that nothing "extraordinary" has turned up so far. Thirty years ago it was a film SLR in a drawer somewhere indoors. So we had no "incontrovertible" proof to share with the forum's, self-proclaimed "experts" three decades later. Perhaps "cheese wedges" became obsolete when YouTube invented "Black Triangles?" I seriously doubt a smart phone could be brought out to useful effect under the brief "fly past." It arrived on a diagonal from beyond a shelter belt of pines at the bottom of our garden. Just as did the countless jet fighters and four engined transports. Which flew over us, on their wing tips, as they banked for the valley beyond. The mountain rescue helicopters usually took another route. But I may have been mistaken. That, being "no real expert" I can't separate a yellow helicopter from a flying saucer.

Until the "extraordinarily unlikely" flies slowly over your rural garden in the presence of your wife. Memories cannot be undone. They are indelible and unchanging until you stop breathing. Two witnesses, who see exactly the same thing, have an "extraordinary" problem. Neither can deny, to the other, what they each saw quite clearly. Witnessing the "extraordinary" is most likely to be dismissed by others. Hence the lack of reports and sneering cynicism. Open acceptance of a new "extraordinary" in society would probably bring down that same society. There are nearly 7 billion skittles. Who must follow society's sacred, local rules, or be damned. It was the same throughout history. The local "authority" can easily suppress anything they do not like the sound of. Suppression of "expert" witness reports continues. Is there a constantly updated P179277[xyz] which "witnesses" can fill out? Then hand into any local police station around the globe? Why not? Because it might affect "national security?" Or undermine some other belief in the mental straitjackets which keep the local pawns cowed? Countless trillions are spent on developing armaments which are proving quite worthless in real combat. Throw the "extraordinary" [cheap drone or tic-tac] into the afterburner and the whole pack of cards collapses. Or, much more likely, leads to the announcement of another explosion in "defence" spending? Forum rules prevent discussion of the "extraordinary" beliefs of billions. Which have not a jot of "scientific" evidence. Some even believe that sport, or the news media, has some value. Outside of advertising income for the "offshore" obscenely rich. The greatest barrier against modern acceptance of the "extraordinary" is the jolly band of self-appointed "experts" and even the "whistleblowers." A nice little earner for the "influencer." To to be able to sell their YT sponsor's logos on T-shirts. They should really be printing their fantasies and "theories" straight onto bin bags! An actual "witness" who doesn't believe all this "UFO nonsense?" Now that is truly "extraordinary," isn't it?

Ian, Great first attempt! But, at the risk of offending, I suggest you ease back on the sharpening. The best way to judge your own images is by direct and honest comparison with an acknowledged expert's results. There is no finer example than Steve Ward's impressive, white light images. Which he regularly posts here and on Solar Chat! He consistently pulls superb images out of every imaginable weather and seeing condition. Dedication and persistence of a very high order. His images are always sharp but always look very natural. As if seen visually with the same size of telescope at the same image scale. My own standard for judging white light images, at these image scales, is a hen's egg. Smooth, but with a hint of fine texture. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/412044-sun-in-whitelight-27th-july-2023/

When I were a lad.. they had a man walk with a red flag in front of new science theories. 😏 Now they just ask a chatbot if it's real.

Talking of increased security: Don't have the heads of screws holding hinges, latches or hasps accessible. An easy target for a rechargeable drill/screwdriver. I recommend coach bolts with domed heads. Nothing to grip nor attack with any normal tool. Make life as difficult as possible for the thief. Many padlock hasps are as strong as butter. Check your contents insurance covers "outhouses."

Deleted post.

Which brings up the subject of "jigsaw" rubber matting around the mount [over the concrete.] To make things bounce nicely.

I really must remember to tighten down my Feathertouch focusers. To achieve that dreamy, muscle swelling resistance to all movement. How else will I ever achieve best focus? Can you recommend an exercise regime to ensure adequate finger strength for this task? 😏

Where a radius is too small to allow effortless turning then adding a force at a greater radius reduces the force required. A cap over the pressure tuning drum could have a lever much like a pencil attached to make a capstan. Just an idea.

I have a self built H-alpha telescope: Baader 160mm D-ERF, iStar 150/10 H-alpha objective, 2" Baader 35nm H-a, 2" Beloptik KG3, Lunt 60MT etalon, Lunt B1200S2 BF, Assorted T-S GPCs or 2x "Shorty" Barlow, ZWO ASI174. Mounted on a massive home made equatorial on a 14' high pyramidal pier in a two story, entirely self-built, 10' observatory dome. Images of my set-up in my profile if you are interested. My pressure tuned Lunt 60MT etalon seems to be in perfect order. It has been reset, by unscrewing, repeatedly.

I admit I was shocked by the effort needed to tune on my 60MT PT. Logic suggests adding a lever to increase the applied torque.

A great set of images Nigella!

The best way to get lucky with seeing is to image as often as possible. This is usually only possible with retirement.

Is it just me or are all the "close-ups" striated diagonally? Particularly noticeable when scrolling.

Ah William Herschel! The real inventor of the altazimuth telescope mounting. [With slow motions!] Sadly, the world had to wait another 200 years for the invention of PTFE and Formica to bring larger apertures within the grasp of the truly impoverished. He melted and cast his own mirrors from metal. [400!] Ground and constantly re-polished them as well as observing the skies with an early form of OCD. He was also a gifted composer and played many instruments. All the while living in an early version of Las Vegas. Which must have hindered his astronomical activities. He worked within a modest, terraced house and garden in what was once a very marshy area of Bath. His work ethic and knowledge would make the vast majority of modern amateurs look like mere, part-time dilettantes. Whatever the New King Street Museum has turned into. You'll want to bring a huge dose of respect, sympathy, empathy and admiration for the gentleman behind its very existence. [And his sister.]

Well done, but is the Barlow vital to proceedings? Do you need it to reach focus? A smaller image scale would not be so badly affected by the seeing conditions. I have used a range of five "Barlow" powers depending entirely on the seeing. Mostly using single GPCs on the nose of the camera. Before dismissing the larger aperture you might benefit from a skeleton tube. Though still largely unproven, some solar imagers are enjoying success after building such "open" tubes. I'd do some online homework on the subject before launching into a new build though. Local seeing can vary enormously depending on time of day. Buildings under the light path, etc. Some swear by early morning seeing. Before the sun's heat causes thermals. My own seeing was best mid morning and [sometimes] just before sunset. Lots of big trees like yours. This will vary from day to day and can only be confirmed by frequent imaging and/or visual monitoring.

Well done. That rash of pores looks like a senile fly, with muddy feet, walked across the sensor. 🪰 Why senile? Because its mind wandered at half distance. 😏