Captain Scarlet

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

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

Courtesy of @Astro_Gaz a 2” Oiii. Although it touts itself as a CCD filter I thought I’d see what “the whole Veil” looks like through it on my Nagler 31. Magnus

... observing chair! This chair has, I suspect, passed through many owners. I myself picked it up saved it from the dump from @Stu about a year ago, and I did fully intend to do likewise for anyone who wanted a top-class IMMACULATE item. But I fear it's met its end. I sheared a bolt when trying to open it out. So sadly I present to you, its final journey: Magnus 😢

I believe @jetstream has and likes a Stellarvue refractor… Magnus

Don't do what I did to a larger bag of silica gel: put it in the microwave for far too long, forget about it and go for a run, only for my wife to discover the bag had caught fire in the microwave! Lucky escape! Magnus

I too have had to modify my VX8 quite seriously to get it working properly. The tube is, as mentioned, narrow and flexible. The entrance aperture created by the top-ring is exactly 200mm, meaning all off-axis viewing will be vignetted, the more so the more off-axis. I binned my tube and got a Helmerichs carbon one. But the most serious problem I had was the primary mirror centre-spot. It was 3mm away from the centre of the mirror. That guaranteed collimation impossibility. I strongly suspect that was the reason the person I bought it from sold it: a 1/10 OO mirror that produced appalling views. I re-spotted it and all was good. I would check yours if I were you (in fact I would urge all newt owners to check). My OO 300mm also had an off-centre spot, though by not quite as much. Magnus

One needs something to keep breakfast interesting 😁

Just this minute delivered by postwoman, an extender for my az-gti . Funny, when the az-gti arrived it was much bigger than I was expecting. And this pillar is much smaller than I expected! anyway, many thanks to @heliumstar! Magnus

I actually use mine with the focuser on the inside, it allows me to rest a finger or two on the top-boss of the mount to keep my head stable. On the outside, especially at higher elevations, the lack of finger or hand rest is inconvenient for me. ( bringing to attention of @CraigT82 too)

Fantastic read. With lovely dark skies, for me it’s the naked eye view that blows me away the most. I’m almost grateful for the LP in cities for being something to let me compare it to. Magnus

Very nice and the problem-solving must be satisfying! To truly earn the name Phoenix of course, the original needs to have been set on fire 🙂. I will be gratefully drawing on your experience when I, very soon now I hope, start building my own 20” dob. I’ve had the mirrors (Nichol) for a year now, and now my house is sold I have the time and the finances! Magnus

I haven’t organized one myself, but I do recall reading a very useful list of things to consider if there will be any children about. @John posted it a few months ago IIRC. Perhaps he could chime in and point us to it? Magnus

The skip’s needed to hold the magnetic fields in

I’ve been working for ages on a contact-free anti gravity Newtonian mount, no tripods struts clamps or any of that inconvenient stuff … just pure Levitation. Finally I’ve got it working holding my OO VX8, as you can see here: … actually it’s me throwing away my old VX8 tube, having replaced it with a Helmerichs carbon one. Magnus 😜

When you say handheld do you mean literally holding phone up to eyepiece yourself, or using a bracket? If truly handheld I’m impressed you’re a lot better at it than I am!

I can vouch for accu.co.uk, very good indeed domestically. But from outside the UK, I had a different experience. I ordered £45 worth of various fittings. But cheapest post cost to Ireland was £19 UPS. I ordered anyway it 9 May, it still hasn’t arrived! Tracking was telling me they’d been trying to contact me every day, but I’d had no calls. I checked my details, they were all good. After 3 weeks, I somehow got through to UPS with my tracking number and paid the customs. It indicated that delivery would be the following Monday. Not. Tracking since then has been saying UPS have been trying to contact me every day again! I’m now in the UK for completion of my house sale, and simply gave up and re-ordered the same batch. It arrived one day later! Maybe the ones floating around UPS-world in Ireland will reach me, in the meantime I’ll try to call accu and get a refund on the basis of egregious non-delivery. I did contact after that 3 weeks via their “live chat” but all they could say was “it’s up to UPS now, I’m sure they’ll get it to you as soon as possible”. The syntax of the text strongly suggests the live chat was with someone in India (called “Alan” I don’t think) with very little actual link to accu. Rant over.

As others have intimated, the Star Test for a newt, particularly a fast one, is only useful or valid at or very close to focus at high magnification, where the diffraction rings should be concentric. Away from focus, far enough that the secondary shadow shows clearly, the offset will and should be apparent and what you're looking at should _not_ be symmetrical. Obviously, the faster the newt, the greater the offset and the more obvious it will be. Under no circumstances should you try to "collimate away" the offset in rough alignment! (such as you might do for a truly symmetrical scope like a mak or SCT). Cheers, Magnus

Mirror segment hit by micrometeorite, larger than any they modelled... https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/08/webb-engineered-to-endure-micrometeoroid-impacts/

I think it’s called a pawn shop. Rates might not be so good though…

Very nice

I have a PC2 and yes that seems about right. I should measure it though I don’t be able to for 6 weeks or so.

Yes meteor storm for me too. Perhaps only because the engraving is the piece of art of those presented above I’d most like to have on my wall! M

Mmmm that does look interesting. Never averse to a bit of overkill…