Kn4fty

On February 12, 1947, the skies of eastern Siberia lit up as one of the largest witnessed single meteorite falls occured. Shining brighter than the sun, it came from the northern sky at an angle of 41°. Low in the sky with a flash and a deafening explosion, the bolide shattered at 5.6 km above the ground. 23 tonnes of iron showered the area and left over 120 impact holes. The meteorites show regmaglypts or thumbprint like depressions. The meteorites tend to have ragged, twisted, and distorted surfaces due to the low altitude break up. This particular sample was obtained from the observatory in Cincinnati Ohio. Rob

Im by no means the best astrosketcher, but I usually do black on white sketches. I use a clipboard and a small red torch attached to it. My sketches are part of my note sheet. For pencil I usually just use a #2 and I use my finger to smudge. Rob

I've seen Triton in my 8" Newtonian. It was mostly stellaring and only occasionally obvious. So keep trying, it can be done!

I've had that happen before. In my case Jupiter was starting to move behind a pine tree. I was getting views between the needles. Rob

Howdy and welcome to the forum. As stated earlier, it could of been a meteor. Could also be an iridium flare from a satellite. Thats around the time that many of the Iridium satellites can catch the Sun's light and brightly reflect it for a second or two . Rob

Welcome to SGL! Enjoy the exploration! Rob

Awesome save and great report! Sometimes ya cant beat a small scope! Lately I've mostly used my 90mm mak instead of the 8" reflector. Rob

To polar align in an equatorial setting will allow your scope to track your target using only one axis, the RA. This makes for easier tracking especially for astrophotography. Tracking in the alt az mode means the computer must make adjustments in two axis to stay on target. You might not notice it visually, but some cameras might . Personally, I use a manual equatorial most of the time for viewing. I just prefer it. Rob

Just start working as much of the Messier catalog as possible. You likely wont see all of them from your location, but you'll still see a good number of them. Those you can't see will give you an excuse for a trip to a dark site! 😁 Rob

That's a good looking scope! I wouldn't mind having one of those!

One word..... GORGEOUS!

Nice report Stu! Enjoyed reading it! Thanks for sharing! Doubles are something I've only recently gotten into. You mentioned a couple I haven't seen and they're on the list for tonight! Thanks! Rob

Thanks, I enjoyed both nights. Thanks. I hope he sticks with it. Unfortunately I live hours away from my brother's house and only see them a couple times a year. But hopefully he'll stick with it. Most folks dont know about the observatory. Many people there are surprised to find out there is one there. I've been trying to post pics of the scopes, but after the first one my phone stopped cooperating. Rob

The 1904 scope

First the new... Friday, the first full day of vacation, I was at my brother's house. One of his foster kids had asked me if I was the one with the telescopes. I said yes and told him I brought one with me. Once the Sol was going down, I set up Cassini ,the ETX 90 , and put Jupiter in the view. I showed him how to use RA (this was the maiden voyage for the homemade wedge) and to focus. He looked in the EP and said "Oh cool!" I pulled out a log sheet and showed him how to use it and why. He began to sketch the Jovian. He continually asked questions about Jupiter and the Galilean moons, while viewing and sketching. After awhile I changed the view to Saturn and he said"Woooooooowwwww, I see the rings!" He immediately started sketching again and continued to ask questions. He asked about a dot near the planet. I said it was the moon Titan and he said "Whoa!" It was almost time for him to go to bed, so I put the moon in the EP. He looked and said "Ohhhhh, so many craters!" Once again he began to sketch. Unfortunately he had to go to bed now, but hopefully I helped make a future astronomer. He got to look at some gorgeous sites for about two hours. Now the old.... Saturday night found me with my other brother and his wife at the Cincinnati observatory. We had been planning this for a couple of weeks. The observatory is the oldest public observatory in the US. We got to view Jupiter in a 1904 Alvan Clark and Sons 16" x 22' refractor. It was mounted on a weight driven equatorial mount. Periodically, a lever had to be cranked that brought the weight back up. Gorgeous scope! Next we went to the building with the old scope. It was built in 1843 and installed in 1845. It is a Merz and Mahler 11"x18' refractor. We got to see a gorgeous view of Saturn in it. It was my sister in law's first time seeing Saturn. She came down from the viewing platform saying "Oh my gosh! That was so cool! I saw the rings!" It was definitely a night to remember! We also saw Dean Regas there. He's one of the host for the mini show "Stargazers". If any of you find yourselves near Cincinnati Ohio, I highly recommend a visit to the observatory! Its been cloudy since then, but if i cant get the scope out the rest of vacation, I'm ok! Rob

Yes! Absolutely nothing wrong with small scopes. Sometimes I take my ETX 70 out when my time is limited. Im leaving on vacation tonight and the mak is going with me. On Saturday my brother and I will be going to the Cincinnati observatory to view Saturn thru their scopes. Afterwards, the mak has a date with Jupiter!

Yeah! I have a feeling that Copernicus, my 8" newt, is going to get a break for awhile. 😂

Thanks Stu. It really surprised me on its performance. I was just completely floored! Today I plan on finishing up the equatorial wedge for it I've been working on. Its going on vacation with me this Thursday.

A few months ago, a coworker gave me a scope his grandfather bought and stored away. It was never used. It was an ETX 90 RA in new condition. I had named the scope Cassini. Tonight it was time to see what it could do. I had never used MAK before, much less owned one before this. I had heard people refer to them as planet killers due to outstanding performance. Well I'll believe it when I see it! I had planned to view Jupiter, Epsilon Lyrae, and Albireo first. Then I was going to try some star clusters. Well sometimes plans fall apart! I first tried to find Jupiter. I popped in a 26mm plossl and looked in to go ahead and get focus. Nothing but deep dark blackness! Hahahaha I didn't unscrew the objective cover! I remove the dew shield, take off the cover and replace the dew shield. I look in and focused on a bright star. Next I point the scope at Jupiter and peer into the finder.....well fiddlesticks!!! I had forgotten to align it. No big deal. I sighted down the tube and looked on the EP. WOW!!!!! There it was in all its glory! Even as small as it appeared, it was very sharp and crisp. The detail was just staggering! The equatorial bands were super sharp. The four Galilean moons were sharp bright pin points. Io to the left of the disc, with Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto to the right. I took a moment to align the finderscope on Jupiter and got back to the awesome view! I increased the mag and added an 82a light blue filter. This revealed temperate details and polar shading. It was all in crisp detail! I now understand why MAKS are planet killers! I had fantastic views in my reflectors over the years, but none compared to the sharpness of the ETX 90. By this time I had forgotten about doubles and clusters. I swung the scope to Saturn and looked in the finderscope. I centered the planet and looked into the 26mm EP I had put back in. As tiny as the planet was, it was obviously a disc surrounded by a sharp ring. This was despite the hazy sky getting even hazier! I put in the 9mm plossl and focused. Gorgeous sharp view with Cassini's division stellaring in and out. I put on the 82a filter, but removed it quickly. The haze was getting thicker and darkening the planet. I next decided to push the envelope and raise the mag ever so slightly. I popped in the 26mm into a 3x Barlow. This gave crisp views that would occasionally soften, then crisp back up. Cassini's division was no longer stellaring. It also revealed polar shading and a lighter and wider equatorial region. By this time the haze turned into full blown clouds. So I packed up. Little Cassini performed amazingly! I now officially have a scope for rocking the planetary views! Its also official that I'm a MAK fan!! Keep looking up!! Rob

Howdy Rob! Welcome to the lounge. Friendliest astro site in existence! Rob

Yeah, one of my favorite YouTube channels! It's easy to binge watch this channel. As to the terrascope, its a very interesting concept. I'd like to see more research into the feasibility of it. Rob

An easy to find, but often overlooked target that I enjoy is Brocchi's Cluster in Vulpecula. Its near border of Sagitta. Its a nice binocular/ small scope target with it's coat hanger asterism. Right Ascension: 19h 25m 24s Declination: +20°11′00″ Magnitude: 3.6m (visual) Diameter: ~60' Magnitude of Brightest Star: 5.19m(visual) Rob

Yes, the filters definitely work better at low powers. That night there was no getting away from low due to seeing. Yeah, i usually just switch the filters between EPs. I had a filter wheel once, but not any more. I have considered getting a sliding holder. Rob