Wiu-Wiu

Sorry to bring this back up, but how do you connect two devices over IP? I have everything running at my home network, but plan to move it to a dark location and it hit me there will be no wifi there... (if off topic this can be done in PM) thx!

Rob, you should consider sharing your sketches/observations on deepskylog.org !

This giant face on galaxy has some fine details under dark skies: the center has a distinct comma shape, and there are two brighter regions in the round halo. Nice one!

Well done! very enjoyable sketches!

A cam 25 miles away would have the meteor in a different place than you have. My guess is also a flare (or better: two). Typically, those would not be visible 25 miles away, as a flare is a very local event.

As stated above, it's all about practice! Sketching has made me appreciate the objects I observe even more, and in time, it will show differences in your observation place, equipment, and techniques. I have only been sketching for about 2 years, and my technique has changed quite a bit. Nowadays, I make a rough sketch at the eyepiece where I make notes about structures, details, and I number the stars by clarity. (1 being very bright, 9 being the faintest) When I finalise my sketch, I start by copying the stars in the finest pencil on a sketchpad (which is also my flat panel). I then draw in the object by using a variety of tools depending on the effect I am looking for. I recently started using brushes and charcoal dust, which gave me a lot more possibilities. To finalise the sketch, I use 4 thicknesses of fineliner to dot the stars. It gives me the numbers 1 to 8 - and 9 will remain a pencil dot.

The tri-pier is a must when using longer scopes. It is a bit of a handfull to level at first, and you need a fairly even piece of ground. (but some leveling on plastic or wooden tiles works well!) In May I went to my favorite dark spot and took both Ioptron mounts: one to image (Esprit 80ED on IEQ45 pro) and one to sketch (C11 on CEM60)

I recently upgraded all firmware to the latest version (last month) On the non-guided pics (30s subs) I had to ditch one in six subs on average. I usually don't have to throw away guided pics, if I have to it is because of external issues (I have cats that really like to bump into my tripod, for example) On my apo's I use an Orion Shorttube guidescope (80mm) and I use OAG on the SCT's.

With the scopes you have, that CEM 60 EC of yours should produce perfect images... Do you have a topic about your issues? There might be something else interfering. I am putting my Esprit 120 and C11 Edge on it, and I'm quite happy with the first results. Unguided results with my old Meade 10" were also quite stunning. I have 0.3" RMS C11 200x30s unguided 10" ACF guided 8x5 min 10" ACF 7x5 min I even put a 10" newton on it: I am still getting to know my setup - tweaking distances, guidescopes, etc etc, but I still have 2 weekends and a whole week of astro fun in dark locations planned for the remainder of this year, so hopefully I can produce some more images by december. (it's been mostly cloudy since I got my Esprit, and now my garden is a mess because of construction work, so it has been quiet...)

CEM 60 user here, for now still on the tri-pier (I move it a lot to darker skies); but I am installing a pier in the garden and will put it on there. I had a Meade 10" ACF on it, and a C11 Edge, both guide beautifully, although the Meade is a lot heavier. I don't know how much of a stretch it is to the Meade 12. If I had a fixed observatory, and no need to move the mount to better places, I'd consider the 120 for sure. I might still consider it in the future if keeping it outside for a longer time is possible. One remark: Meridian flip! I had an EQ mount and imaging over and beyond the meridian looked a lot less troublesome.

Looks like you also captured an asteroid in that frame, just above the fine edge-on on the upper right of the comet. (?)

Could be worse... I'm also working over the weekend.

Known as "Diamond ring nebula" because there should be a mag 14 star on the edge, but it wasn't visible to me, possibly because of the filter. The ring shape was apparent, and the outer edges appeared fluffy. Nice and bright PN - maybe good for summertime imaging at high power one day.

Flat panel of the 1.2 m Mercator Telescope on La Palma: (maybe not a huge one but still a professional scope...)

This software looks pretty promising... For my home pier, I'd be interested in installing it so I can capture frames while I sleep, as it seems it's only clear when I need to work in the morning Does anyone have more info on how to connect the camera, guidecam, mount, focuser, etc etc... to your laptop or PC? I might opt to run my cables all the way into my house - that saves me from leaving my laptop outside... But I will need about 15 meters of cable to do so... The big question is... is this possible and what cables should do the trick?

Do you have to stand up a lot or can you usually sit down? I'm trying to figure out if I would have to sketch standing up...

I already have the Explore Scientific HR Comacorrector for my 12" so I pretty much have that under control; only 2 of my EP need a different setting and I usually only use those for wider views as they are the largest EP in my case. The only difference with the paracorr is it doesn't have the presets but I need to fiddle it until at correct distance. My observing chair is adjustable but I'd have to see to which height I can comfortably (and safely) sit. Paul, how is observing with your f/4? Do you need anything to stand on or raise your feet off the ground? As most people, I'm not getting younger and the scope will need to work for ages

I might upgrade my viewing power from 12" to 16" in the future. Having coma on my mind, I am thinking about which mirror to choose, more specifically, the F-ratio. My 12" is rather short, and maybe even a bit too short, as I usually end up bended halfway forward, looking at objects low in the south. My back can tell you what a strain it is. I could go for a short dob, but would that introduce more coma - but regarding the fact I usually don't look high in the sky, is focal length (read: scope length) really an issue? The telescopes I was looking at were around 2000mm in focal length. That would at some point make me need something to stand on - I am 1m85. Bear in mind I like sketching, so getting to sit down is a real treat. Longer dob owners, please weigh in here?

Thank you all for your kind comments!

Managed to get some more time under the stars after the thunderstorms. Due to lightpollution, the choice has to be clusters. Enjoy!

... or better known as Alcor and Mizar. First sketch to assess the quality of the new scope, it will mainly be used for photography but how to better test the optics under Cirrus and in gray nights than on double stars?

This peculiar planetary nebula looks more like a galaxy than a nebula. I can't wait to see what this one shows from a dark area!!

Take a stroll into the deepskylog database, you can look up by object or by aperture. Some are even brave enough to sketch. I think my first purchase after a 20" would be a brand new deep sky atlas and start all over again. http://Www.deepskylog.be Clear skies!

Finally got some good hours under a dark sky before the summer grey nights hit.

One of my first astrophotography targets ever, 3 years ago. I didn't get much out of it then. So I set out to rematch when I had the plan to gather data with a reliable setup - rather than worry about guiding, flexing, polar (mis)alignment, field rotation,... Plan was to let the setup gather its subs, then take the time to make good flats, darks, dark flats, and learn how to process that data. setup: Esprit 80ED on Ioptron IEQ45pro with Asi 071mc pro. I did make one mistake. Being afraid of little errors in the setup, I restricted the subs to 30s . 400 subs later, and about 2 days of calibrating and stacking (omg), I finally did get something out of the data. Lesson learned: 30s is too short