Captain Scarlet

I reckon it’s a piece of dust somewhere near the eyepiece focal plane, ie sitting on one of the eyepiece lenses

33 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

On this day, 23 years ago, we had perfectly clear skies with not a cloud in sight in a village somewhere in northern France. Then, just as totality was approaching a small cloud began to materialise out of nowhere next to the Sun. There was no chance of moving to a new site, this close to totality, so we had to stay put. The cloud covered the Sun moments before the total phase began and started dissolving immediately it was over! It did still go fairly dark though!

You win some, you lose some!

I had the exact opposite experience. After an overnight drive from London arriving at 3am to an OS-map pre-identified random farmer’s field near Falmouth, cloud cover ruled. Until literally seconds before totality, when a small perfectly-positioned gap appeared and stayed wispy-transparent for the next few minutes. We couldn’t believe our luck.

I was out again last night 2nd night in a row until >2am. 8” newt, I didn’t bother with any recollimation from previous night. Saturn was the best I’ve ever seen, the first time definitely seeing the Cassini Division and atmospheric stripes too just about evident. Jupiter, lower and earlier also not too bad, plenty of detail. Caroline’s Rose and M11 lovely as ever.

Oddest moment was while aligning on Polaris, a bright meteor streaked past as I was at the eyepiece. Christ what a shock, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Smoky afterglow stripe also stayed for a few seconds. I don’t expect ever to see a Perseid at 60x magnification again!

Just too tired tonight though to use the 3rd consecutive clear night to observe 💤 

Magnus

Well done. Enjoy those skies with your big dob.

M

Until recently I had three pairs of Leicas, ranging from 20 years old to current models … none ever came with front lens caps. I never use front caps anyway, they stay in the boxes for my other bins, but I do find rear caps are essential.

Btw this is a dangerous thread for me, I must hurry away quickly…

M

Superb! Your first paragraph almost exactly describes my first view of the Veil a couple of years ago. My brother in law asked me to baby-sit his Heritage 130p while his house was being done up, and I’d just then got myself the same filter, an Astronomik Oiii. I had the same experience. Your labeling it as a window to a secret view of the sky is spot on.

Cheers, Magnus

It seems it’s been nearly three months since I last had an observing session, mid-May was my last report. That was partly down to returning to the UK at the end of May to complete on my UK house sale, not taking any scopes with me, and partly the weather not being conducive once I returned to Ireland in early July. Twice though I got as far as setting out a scope to cool, only to have to bring it back in again under full cloud.

Last night was third time lucky: although it was in fact cloudy as I was setting up, it was forecast to clear and clear it did. It turned into as transparent a night as I can remember here, mag 21.5 pointing the meter directly up at the Milky Way zenith-streak. I regret not having brought out the 12”, but I’m doing a re-arrangement of the garage at the moment and it would’ve been too difficult. As easy as possible was the order of the evening, so I grabbed my Ayo2 and stuck my Orion/Helmerichs 200mm newt onto it. Serge recently sent me some new firmware for my Nexus DSC, and I was keen to test that, too (my Ayo2 has encoders).

Again for ease and convenience I sited it on the North-facing patio just outside the garage, a decision I would regret come the end of the session, as by 1:30 – 2am I could see Jupiter nicely elevated over the top of the house towards the South-East, but my mount wasn’t nearly high enough to get it through the scope.

First up: Collimation. The tilt of the secondary needed tweaking a little for my Glatter to hit the centre-spot, which reminded me that I must replace the (Orion) Phillips-head fittings of those three collimation bolts. Trying to get my Phillips-head screwdriver to site-and-bite properly in the dark, and then having to apply actual inward pressure for enough purchase to turn the bolts cleanly was rather irritating. I have a full set of Torx and Hex fixings for this scope which I haven’t fitted yet. I much prefer Hex fittings for the secondary bolts (even over thumbscrews, actually), as the Hex-L tool provides totally non-slip leverage, and if necessary a very long arm for extremely precise small adjustments. The Primary’s collimation, the important one, was still spot on from my last session in May, as gauged with a Barlowed laser, so no adjustment needed there.

After initial Alignment of the Nexus DSC, with a couple of false starts slewing below the horizon owing to the firmware having restored default settings to assumed scope Initial orientation (thinking I was starting pointing straight up as per Dobsonian as opposed to level), I was ready to go.

First target: The Veil Nebula. The first filter I ever got two or three years ago was a 1.25” Astronomik Oiii, which I have used to observe the Veil a couple of times before, first in a Heritage 130p, then (I vaguely recall) in much more detail with a SW 300p. Recently I bought from @Astro_Gaz a 2” Baader Oiii filter. Although the case labels it as a CCD filter (what’s the difference between CCD and visual filters? It says narrowband 8.5nm on it, whereas the 1.25” Astronomik has  perhaps a wider gap?), I have very dark skies here so I had good hopes for it for visual. I wasn’t disappointed.

I put in my Nagler 31 + 2” filter (giving 32x, 2.5 degrees and 6mm exit pupil), tapped in NGC 6960 (Western Veil) and Wow! I’ve not seen it that wide-field before. I really got a sense of each prominent half being part of a single large bubble. With 2.5 degrees FoV I couldn’t quite get the whole thing into one field (I’ll need my 650mm FL LZOS 105 for that), but it wasn’t far off, and just by moving the scope a touch I could bring the other side into view. Pickering’s Triangle was also evident, a first for me, mainly because I knew where and what to look. I took out the Nagler 31 and replaced it with my DeLite 18.2, showing more fine detail at higher magnification (55x 1.1 degrees). Memorable. Finally I removed both filters and had a look again … no sign of the Nebula. Lots and Lots more stars, but I could not see any hint of the Veil. It’s possible it had moved out of the FoV, but also that the myriad extra bright stars simply drowned out the low-contrast feature. I’ll try again.

Various failed objects in Cygnus. I had screenshotted @Nyctimene’s recent Cygnus report for reference during the session, and for ease chose from there just two open clusters, NGC 6910 “Rocking Horse” and M29 “Cooling Tower”. Stupidly, I hadn’t looked them up so didn’t really know what I was looking for, a schoolboy error with OCs. So neither was a tick. Next time, now I have looked them up.

M31. I couldn’t resist having a look at the Great Andromeda Galaxy at 32x, and it was suitably satisfying, dust lanes evident and of course M110 and M32. I’ll never tire of looking at this. I also quickly looked at M33 which was easily enough evident, but lower down and in my worst “light-dome” direction. A patch of fuzz but no discernible spirality.

M52, Nova (not), Airplane. I had an idea to look to see if the famously variable Nova in Cassiopeia was still around, so I found M52 (very nice in Nagler 31 wide-field), I found with some difficulty the Airplane asterism – nearly drowned in stars and not used to seeing it so big through a scope rather than binoculars – and quickly realized I was never going to find the Nova candidate with that many stars and without knowing its exact coordinates. So I gave up on that. I’ll try again with bins over the next few days. Is it still around?

To finish off I also couldn’t resist the two show-stoppers, Epsilon Lyrae and M13. The double-double was beautifully resolved using my Delos 6 (167x), and similarly M13 was splendid, though I couldn’t make out the Propeller this time. I did just about find its little companion NGC 6207 though.

By 2am it was time to pack up. The temperature had dropped to around 11-12 with a breeze, and although I was wearing a down jacket, my bottom half was only shorts and sandals. My freezing toes drove me in. All in all a satisfying if not especially ambitious session, but very pleased to get my dark-sky-Milky-Way fix. I find it’s good for my mental health. And, I noted afterwards, NO DEW, yet again. Last year I seemed to have been cursed with it, but IIRC the last 10 sessions I’ve had there’s been barely any. Very lucky.

As I write this, 2220 the following evening, it’s clear once again, though Luna will be an hour later setting of course. Nonetheless I have the same rig out and cooling, but on my South side this time, to try to catch Jupiter quickly before bed.

Thanks for reading, Magnus.

In the last 2-3 months tonight was my third time setting up but only the first time actually putting an eyepiece in, and what a night. Milky Way so bright and so many stars! SQM-L measured 21.5. I’d almost forgotten how magical it is. I’d set up my OO-Helmerichs 8”, and my main target was the Veil, using both 2” and 1.25” Oiii filters, the 2” for the first time. What a treat. I’ll write it up as a separate report seeing as it was my first observing since May, but so relieved to get out at last!

Cheers Magnus

On 02/08/2022 at 15:57, Ted Cheerfully Retired said:

…

(a) Say, how free should the white metal focusing ring be? (I’m referring to the toothed disk, prominent in the photo above the text “The mirror off, and the focusing mechanism was revealed:…”) In re-assembly, should that turn freely for (say) several revolutions?  Really, I’m asking:  How much does the mirror have to move to insure sufficient focus play?

That large toothed disk ultimately turns a thread (two half-threads, the two white plastic halves) which drags the mirror-sledge along a groove in the outer baffle tube. At a guess that groove is 2 inches long from stop to stop, which means the primary mirror can move that whole distance. That’s a lot of turns of the focus knob. Once you’ve disassembled it, it should be clearer what’s going on. Very different from the, say, Skywatcher or Orion USA mechanisms, and the Intes method apparently eliminates the mirror-shift on focusing.

I hope that answered your question,

Cheers and good luck,

Magnus

52 minutes ago, Ted Cheerfully Retired said:

Awesome!  Very grateful! 

It’d be great to see some pictures of yours too. Your mirror is no. 127 and mine is no. 117 so really quite close!

Hi

Very gratifying to see someone getting use out of stuff I did years ago, thank you.

I'll answer (b) first as all I have to do is search my emails for the order confirmation. The list was:

SHK-M3-10-A2 M3 x 10mm Torx Countersunk Screws (DIN 965) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.2200 qty:8 £1.76
SHK-M3-12-A2 M3 x 12mm Torx Countersunk Screws (DIN 965) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.2700 qty:4 £1.08
SSN-M5-7 M5 x 7mm Nylon Tip Set Screws / Grub Screws - Stainless Steel / Nylon Insert £1.0400 qty:4 £4.16
SHCL-M3-6-A2 M3 x 6mm Torx Low Cap Head Screws (ISO 14580) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.2200 qty:6 £1.32
SHB-M4-8-A2 M4 x 8mm Torx Button Screws (ISO 7380) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.2400 qty:4 £0.96
SHK-M3-6-A2 M3 x 6mm Torx Countersunk Screws (DIN 965) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.2000 qty:8 £1.60
SSU-M2.5-5-A2 M2.5 x 5mm Cup Point Set / Grub Screws (DIN 916) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.2900 qty:4 £1.16
SSB-M2.5-6-A2 M2.5 x 6mm Socket Button Screws (ISO 7380) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.4200 qty:4 £1.68
SSO-M2-4-A2 M2 x 4mm Cone Point Set / Grub Screws (DIN 914) - A2 Stainless Steel £0.3900 qty:5 £1.95

As for (a), let me re-read what I wrote, search my memory, and I'll try to respond tomorrow.

Cheers, Magnus

5 hours ago, CCD-Freak said:

I got my mini PC remote control system working and I gave it a good test drive early this week.   I am officially spoiled now....operating my imaging setup 60 feet away while I sit in the air conditioned comfort of my caravan ( aka Moonlight Manor) with a cold BEvERage in hand.  I will really enjoy this when it gets cold.

ES 127EDT, AP900 mount, ASI-2600MCP camera.

 

That is a stunning picture

2 hours ago, ED Splitter said:

Not sure what I’m admiring most, your doors, the scope or the view. 
how long does the scope take to cool down? 

Down here poking out into the North Atlantic we get some serious storms … the extent to which the doors/windows bow in and out can be alarming, but so far so good after 6 years.

Scope does take 30-odd minutes to cool, the difference has been quite noticeable from uncooled to cooled. But of course very nice once settled.

Cheers Magnus 

Superb report Stephan, detailed enough that at my next clear sky I’m going to attempt to reproduce the session in detail … you describe objects that I’m not familiar with.

Thanjs, Magnus

Quick question: were you using a filter when viewing the Veil?

M

Very nice to read and inspiring too Stu. I also haven’t looked up through a scope for nearly 2 months. Partly because of moving house plus an operation in June, and poor night-weather through most of July despite some scorching days. Getting over that first-session-in-ages inertia hump seems to become increasingly difficult.

On 16/07/2022 at 01:20, ONIKKINEN said:

First light with a new scope, the Long Perng 90mm F/5.5 doublet:

 

Do I see an eyepiece in that picture? I thought you didn’t do eyepieces? 😁

44 minutes ago, Greymouser said:

Can I come and camp in your garden please?

Well, actually, yes! We might even be able to stretch to a room 😀! 1.5 hours drive W from Cork airport, car hire remarkably inexpensive. And that applies to mostly anyone on here as I’ve worked out that we on SGL are a friendly often nerdy bunch!

Like of cats essential though 🐈 

Not quite yet at night, and judging from the change in forecast, not to be at night at all! Eve of first night of astro-dark here.

Anyway, LZOS 105 cooling in hope:

Cheers, Magnus

1 hour ago, markse68 said:

Tal 100R Magnus- bit more aperture than the Telementor

Mark

I see them come up from time to time. Only a matter of time until I succumb.

1 hour ago, markse68 said:

@Trevor PC Just picked this beauty up  Now to figure out how to mount it to a tripod 🤔

What is it? Telementor?

Wow I’m jealous.

At 10pm on 2nd Sep Jupiter will be 25 degrees up and Saturn 65 degrees up, both rising higher during the night. Most of your familiar constellations will be nearly upside down compared to the same date here in Ireland. Cygnus will be pointing up left for example. Lyra and Hercules will seem upside down. Ursa Minor will be on the horizon! The MW centre will be 60 degrees up but on, say, 2 Sep you’ll have a 39% waxing Moon, ie getting brighter day by day with full moon on 10th Sep. The LMC and SMC won’t be terribly convenient, reaching only to 20 or so degrees up at 5am and 2am respectively.

Binoculars of at least 30mm aperture for wildlife are essential though, I find 20-25mm binoculars, even expensive ones, highly unsatisfying.

Cheers, Magnus

I have a beloved Nexus DSC which I use across three mounts (AZ-EQ6, AYO2, AZ-GTi). Serge has just supplied me with some new firmware to fix a few slewing/tracking bugs, and as he warned, its settings have been restored to defaults. This has given me an opportunity to re-review the included list of 60-odd separate catalogues of objects.

The catalogues are:

Abell PNs; ACO S; ACO; ADS; Arakelian; ARP; Asterisms; Barnard; Bayer Stars; Berkeley OCs; Bright Asteroids; Bright Stars; Caldwell; CGCG; CGCS Stars; Collinder; Comets; Common Named; Critical List Asteroids; Czernik OCs; Distant Asteroids; Dolidze OCs; ESO; F Struve doubles (A); F Struve doubles (B); F Struve doubles; Flamsteed Stars; GCVS; HCG Groups; HCG; Henize PNs; Henry Draper; Herschel; Hipparcos Stars; IC; J Herschel doubles; King; Kohoutek PNs; LBN; Lynga OCs; Markarian; MCG; Melotte; Messier; Minkowski; Misc PNs; Named Stars; NGC; O Struve doubles (A); O Struve doubles; Palomar GCs; Perek Kohoutek; PGC; Pismis OCs; PNs; RFGC; Ruprecht OCs; SAO Stars; Sharpless; Stock; Sun & Planets; Terzan GCs; Trumpier; UGCA; UGC; Washington Double Star.

It's possible to "tick-in" or exclude any of these catalogues to appear when you press "find". It's also possible to specify a completely different selection for the "search within x degrees of here" function. Very clever design.

I'm curious, what do other users of Nexus DSC include/exclude and how do they use them? So far I've included some obvious ones, Messier, Solar System, NGC, SAO, Bright Stars (Harvard I think, e.g. HR424 = Polaris), Named Stars and some others. But some catalogues are huge, and many overlap so that when searching a given area you get multiple entries for same objects.

Cheers, Magnus
 

The most prominent very strong 6 spikes surely are from all those hexagonal edges, 36 parallel edges contributing to each of the six spikes. I’d guess the support arms’ spikes will be a much fainter contribution.

Magnus

On 02/07/2022 at 10:18, Simon128D said:

These eyepieces are incredible, I went mad a few years ago and bought the 13mm and 4.7mm and there is nothing to compare them with. These stand alone and are (in my opinion) the best eyepieces ever made. The 13mm never leaves my 16" and the 4.7 is so good it questions reality. 
I cannot even use any of my Naglars any more, the downgrade in image quality and FoV is just too dramatic. 

If you see me at the Skelligs Star Party also with just the same two Ethos, a 13 and a 4.7, please don’t attack me as a thief!!😁

Those two focal lengths are also my only Ethos; and like you once the 13 is in my 12”, it’s there for almost all a session.

Magnus