Tomatobro

Getting a UKMON camera and so contributing to the citizen science project of meteor detection is my daily activity. My name gets listed in the papers that are published. You have to look for it as there are around 250 cameras active in the UK and with the availability of Raspberry pi's more names will be added this year for sure.

while waiting for some solutions and we get a clear night PHD will guide on a slightly out of focus star so don't loose out on a clear night.

Like woldsman says more detail on the guide scope setup would help.

I am sure that I read somewhere that the same people that "invented" CMOS detectors have built a quantum detector for the next generation of imaging hardware. I recall a price of around £30000 for the first chips. I was surprised that it was not mentioned in the AN article. If I can find the link will post it here

I well remember, many years ago, while in the USA an argument started in a local paper about the cost of space programs and how it all was a waste of money etc.

I think it was a NASA accountant who published a reply which went something like this. 

A high proportion of NASA money goes into wages which are taxed so some gets returned. The goods and services they buy are also taxed. The people involved demand that local facilities such as hospitals, schools and support facilities be improved which benefits all.  local support business are created and grow and create employment which generates local revenues and taxes. Higher education is stimulated which leads to advanced technologies further down the road.

I wish I had cut it out and kept the reply as it was a masterful rebuke of the waste of money comments.  

I think this is the effect you are looking for but I do not know how it is done.

1 hour ago, tomato said:

+1 for Telescopius

Use it a lot........

A member of my Astro club had an old film camera and a bag of lenses. They looked to be in good condition and I offered to adapt the lenses to a ZWO camera provided it was ok for me to take the camera mounting off the old camera to make up an adapter. It was not too difficult to do and the imaging results were very good. At least I saved the contents of the camera bag going to the skip and helped a budding astro photographer.

I have some pictures somewhere and if I find them will attach to this post.

Just remember that a good scope on a poor mount is next to useless but a poor scope on a good mount is usable. The mount is everything!

Alien technology? I am old enough to remember when lasers were described as a solution looking for a problem

The replacement bolt suppliers are quoting M10 (55mm and 75mm long)

Those collimation issues down to the ring spacer on the mirror?

try replacing the thumb screws with M4 stainless grub screws 10mm long (Ebay). Don't go mad when tightening them with a hex key. For convenience you can also get long handle keys with a Tee grip which is easier than the conventional 90 degree keys

For me the real winners are the folks that write the incredible image processing software that magically turns my data into what we see.

Did I not read somewhere that there is a town in the USA that has had two Chevys badly damaged by meteorites?

You don't need anything special so consider an Intel NUC i3 or i5. Available second hand with windows 10 pro so you can connect via Remote desktop. Being windows you are not restricted to ZWO. They run quite happily on 12 volts. If your existing laptop is windows 10 pro you can connect the two together via remote desktop.

wow I see what you mean. It looks as if the faint lobes are being ejected from the central bar structure.

I came across a NASA website and it contains hours of videos and transcripts of all the stages of each Apollo mission. Search on Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.

To read and view it all would take weeks.  Nice to explore and pick out bits of interest

Anybody tried the Astrohopper app? Is it as good as the Youtube video suggests?

I built a pneumatic rocket launcher and paper rockets for our local play group but I don't think I am featured on the program.

Re the Link

For some reason the "Get in Touch" pop up does not work. I have contacted UKRAA direct about this and they confirmed that they raised the issue but tried it just now and it still returns the email as undeliverable. Will raise the issue again

Based on the research done by others these trace's can be interpreted as follows.

The thin horizontal line at the start of the trace is the meteor head echo and shows the doppler shift. The broad vertical trace is the ionisation trail echo and can be used to identify wind shear and other high altitude atmospheric conditions

Recorded with a Moxon antenna and a SDR RSPdx reciever.  Some 10 hours of recording split into 30 minute sessions. 230 meteors in total. Aircraft are a bit of a problem but not too bad.

Mostly tiddlers recorded but a couple of notable ones as per pictures

I have used GRAVES in the past but thought I would see what the UK beacon would produce. At least they won't turn this one off during the peak meteor showers

22 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

No don't use sharpcap

Did you mean "No I don't use Sharpcap"

34 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

this will depend on many factors

I would say Messier objects that appeared in the first catalogue ( M1 to M45) would be a good starting point. Even so, most first time observers react with a "err is that it? That faint grey bit I can see?"

Saturn however never fails to impress the first time!

32 minutes ago, RobertI said:

be available on iOS or Android?

Windows only as far as I know. Sharpcap is £12 a year for a pro license