Lurcher

On 06/05/2024 at 07:41, Armand Popa said:

very nice sketches @Lurcher. How is the quality of the sky at your place?

Hi. Thank you. I don't think It's not too bad. Although they keep building more and more houses and retail units near us which are all just making things worse! I forget which Bortle number I estimated it to be once. Somewhere near to middling. We can just see the milky way going overhead on a clear night. I just wish I had a larger garden so I could set the scope up in different locations!

On 06/05/2024 at 07:20, SwiMatt said:

These look very nice @Lurcher. 

I wish I could say I share the struggle of not being sure what I'm looking at, but I don't have enough aperture for that. If I find a faint fuzzy, it's probably the Messier I was looking for 😂

Thank you for your great reply! Wishing you clear skies! - I hope you get to see plenty of Messiers and complete your list! I have to say I'm still yet to tick off every Messier too!

On 06/05/2024 at 07:55, josefk said:

Super stuff @Lurcher - how do you manage your dose of red light when you're sketching galaxies - have you cracked how to keep it dim enough? 

Hi. Many thanks. I use a reading light clipped to the side of my clipboard. I've painted over the actual lamp with red glass paint, and I find that just enough light on the sketch pad, and then I just hold the pad down out of the way when I observe. Works ok!

On 06/05/2024 at 06:49, AlcorAlly said:

Thank you for sharing @Lurcher, very nice sketches. Made me curious about NGC 5544 with its unusual shape. 

Thank you. It's a pair of interacting galaxies. Arp 199 I believe. I'd love to see more of the Arp catalogue if I can.

I had a nice clear sky on Saturday night! It's been so cloudy for me (as well as for a lot of other people of course), for a long time, so it made a really nice time to actually enjoy being out with the scope until I was ready to pack up rather than packing up because I couldn't see anything!

I started off with some easy double stars from the telescope's handset whilst I waited for it to get dark, and then moved on to  Messier 90 and some NGC galaxies on the Herschel 400.

I had tried to see and sketch Messier 90 the last time I was out, but incorrectly saw and sketched M91 instead. (Which does go to show the importance of sketching what you see, as it was only by comparing my sketch with images online, that I realized my mistake).

So I was pleased to finally get M90 last night, but this time I was slightly annoyed to find out that NGC 5557 was only a little way from NGC 5544, and so I could've also seen that. (Possibly in the same field of view with longer focal length eyepiece). - I always seem to miss something!

It was nice to see some fairly distant galaxies though, and the scope worked really well again.

Clear skies all. 

nicely done and annotated.!!

Great sketches. I like the way you've produced them.

I don't know if it would work for you, but I use a small reading light clipped to the side of my pad, and which I've painted with red glass paint so that it produces a red light.

I can hold the pad down by my side when viewing so there's no glare near the eyepiece.

7 hours ago, josefk said:

nice - i like the soft star glow and colours in the Leo double double.

Thank you for noticing  and  mentioning that! I was trying something new there! 

Hi All,

Apologies for not posting anything in absolutely ages. I need to get better at keeping in contact with everyone here.

The weather has been so appalling this year, it's been quite dispiriting; but I finally got out for a short while before the clouds rolled in again last Friday. (Sorry this is a week late).

It felt so good to get out again after so long though. Even though it was just for an hour or two.

I felt really quite rusty at everything, so the sketches are nothing amazing, but I enjoyed seeing NGC 2683, (the UFO Galaxy, apparently), and Leo's double-double.

The moon was already quite bright last Friday, but NGC 2683 still stood out quite well.

I'm also really enjoying using my  old12" SkyWatcher Flextube again. It hasn't been operating at all well for some time, but last year I took it to pieces and cleaned the needle bearings, and since then  it's been working really well. 

Looking forward to the next clear night now!

Cheers all.

2 hours ago, andy fearn said:

nice to see you still sketching. Brilliant piece of work.

Nice to hear from you Andy! Many thanks for your comment.

5 hours ago, Ricochet said:

I believe the 8x50 and 9x50 finders are exactly the same model. Some vendors advertise them as 8x and some as 9x for an unknown reason. 

4 hours ago, bosun21 said:

My thoughts are that they’re probably closer to 8.5x so labeling them 8 or 9 will suffice.

Oh this is really interesting!  Thanks! Maybe it's the different  make that's making the difference then. It definitely looks different to what I'm used to seeing. I'll give it a few more tries before rushing into buying another one, but it seemed a lesser view.

Thanks for your comments.

7 hours ago, josefk said:

Wainwright's lakeland sketches

Yes they really are works of art and beautiful.

Hi,

I've been so focused on seeing deep sky objects I haven't viewed the moon in quite a while.

I noticed it was clear on Sunday, and although the moon was bright I headed out with my scope into the back garden with the intention of concentrating on double stars.

After a while I thought I'd take a look at the moon, as it was at a phase, (one day after full moon, which I don't normally catch.  I  noticed a nice line of craters on the edge of the terminator and thought I'd have a go at sketching them.  It's probably been a couple of years since trying to sketch anything on the moon, and I felt really rusty to begin with. But I had forgotten how absorbing and enjoyable it is to focus so much on a few craters! - I think next time I'll pick just one or two craters and try to get the detail  of a limited area correctly.

Excellent!

Excellent!!

On 04/09/2023 at 23:06, Spile said:

Why would you want to change the RACI?

So sorry for not replying to your question before! You're probably past caring now! Lol. I want to change it for a larger 9 x 50 finderscope which I'm more used to using.  (The StellaLyra comes with an 8 x 50). Sorry I didn't reply sooner! All the best!

Many thanks all. I now own the 8" Stella Lyra and am really happy with it. I must post a review, but so far I've only had the one excuse to use it and was hoping for a bit more than that by the time I write anything!

(I was at the Herstmonceux Observatory Science Festival this weekend and saw the Bresser Dobsonian there on the trade stands. It's a nice, clean and smart looking scope! - And as I want to change to small finderscope on the StellaLyra one day . . . . I do wonder if the Bresser might've been a good choice for me?? It's so hard to choose unless you can have three or four scopes delivered to your door to try out and then choose one isn't it!?).

Many thanks for all your replies. I'm looking forward to using it a bit more now!

Hi all!

Firstly, thanks to everyone who kindly replied to my earlier post on here where I was deciding which Dobsonian to go for.

I decided to go for the StellaLyra 200mm Dobsonian, and I had a great opportunity to get out and use it for the first (and at the time of writing, only time. grrrr!), on Tuesday the 15th August. 

I was immediately impressed with the view through the eyepiece. At times I've felt the view through my 12" Skywatcher were grey and unimpressive compared to my 20" Skywatcher, and I was worried that I'd therefore be even more disappointed with the views through this 8" scope, but it wasn't like that at all!! I was impressed how sharp the stars were, and just how many I was seeing and how pleasantly bright they were. I need to go back and compare with my other scopes again now!

I think it's going to take me a bit of time to get used to the right-angled finderscope which shows the view the correct way up. I find that at odds with the inverted view of the scope, and which is what I'm used to dealing with. Although I hasten to add it is alot more comfortable to use on a scope this size. Although I'm used to a 9 x 50 finderscope and I found the view through the 8 x 50 finder a bit small and dim, so I might change that one day.

I'm  a little disappointed with the adjustable azimuth mounts, (which you can slide back and forth to balance the scope to cater for heavy eyepieces etc). But the only way to move them is to lift the scope out of it's base and use an allen key to loosen two bolts which then allows you to move the position to where you think might be good, retighten and then put the scope back together and hope you got it about right! You can also adjust the amount of tension so you only have to get it about right, but I thought it would be designed in such a way that would enable the position to be altered while actually using the scope so you could feel and see whether it was balanced ok.

It might be that with a little more experimenting I find it's balanced to the eyepieces I use and I don't need to worry about it.

I need to get some batteries for the cooling fan. I've never had a solid tube dob before and so this is the first fan I've had, and am keen to try that out, although at the moment it's not cold enough to need it and the scope was ready to use immediately.

I really liked the roller bearings in  the base, and the whole scope was easy to move and position. I was also pleasantly surprised that objects seemed to stay in the FOV for quite a while without needing to constantly nudge the scope. (I was using the supplied 2" 30mm StellaLyra eyepiece but also a 14mm 82 degree Explore Scientific eyepiece).

Oh one other little grumble - I wish it had lifting handles on each side of the base rather than only one on the front and the eyepiece holder tray on the side. I feel I could have lifted the whole scope to move it if it had two handles.

So pleased with the optics though and the view which of course is the most important part! (It was also quick and easy to collimate with the large plastic handled collimation screws for the primary mirror).

I now need to learn how to find objects in the night sky without relying on GoTo, but that's long overdue! I've attached a terrible sketch of two easy to find objects!!

On 07/08/2023 at 09:10, Mr Spock said:

I use a 12" StellaLyra after using a 10" Skywatcher Flextube. One thing to mention is the quality of the optics.

Many thanks for this. 

I have now decided to go for the Stella Lyra, and looking forward to giving it a try.

I own a 12" SkyWatcher Flextube GoTo and have found the optics on that pretty good, so although my StellaLyra will be smaller, I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like!

Thanks!

On 03/08/2023 at 22:10, Spile said:

It’s possible to upgrade the Skywatcher by adding a RACI and a dual speed focuser but if you are buying new then it makes more sense to get the StellaLyra. I speak as a happy 200P owner…https://astro.catshill.com/skywatcher-200p-review/

 

Many thanks for your reply! I'm very much looking forward to being the owner of a 200mm manual scope too! Cheers!

On 03/08/2023 at 13:17, Louis D said:

Is the Bresser/Explore FirstLight/JOC Dobsonian series so bad that no one mentions them as worthwhile of a look?

I did have a look at the Bresser dobsonians. I liked the look of that one first too. I then discounted it for one reason or another.  I'm afraid I can't remember for the life of me why I ruled that one out now. 

Ultimately, it came down to which ones  were readily available in the UK, other people's reviews, and price! 

On 03/08/2023 at 09:11, Carbon Brush said:

Good luck with whichever you choose.

Many thanks!

1 hour ago, Mandy D said:

It is 520 mm on the 150, 200 and 250. They all use the same base and side panels,  just with different separations between the side panels for the different OTAs.

Ahh that's brilliant. Many thanks for that. 

So it's only 40mm less then!

That's good to know thanks. 

Wow, thanks everyone for your fantastic replies, and for replying so promptly. 

I had read good things about the bearings on the StellaLyra, so it was great to have so many comments confirming that. Many thanks.

I haven't looked at the starsense, so I will have a look at that. I was wondering if a push-to scope might be an idea as it still wouldn't use motors, and so would still be quiet. But I think (and I might regret saying this), but I quite like the thought of forcing myself to occasionally find things without any aids! But thanks I will have a look.

Thanks to you all. .

Martin. 

Hi all,

I own a couple of GoTo Dobsonians, but I would like to get a 200mm manual Dobsonian which I can then use silently in the garden without the noise of the motors, and which I'll be able to pack away quickly when I'm finished. (Or just cover and leave out).

I've been looking at the 200mm SkyWatcher Classic Dobsonian, and the 200mm StellaLyra Dobsonian. 

The StellaLyra looks like a good scope, apart from one small niggle, which is that the diameter of the base is 560mm, which is just fractionally smaller than the base on my 300mm GoTo Dob. This seems a bit over-the-top and unnecessairly cumbersome for a 200mm scope.

Can anyone tell me the diameter of the SkyWatcher base please? I can't find that dimension anywhere online. It would be great to know how it compares.

And any other thoughts or comments if anyone has any experience of either scope much appreciated! I'm completely undecided. (At the moment I can get he SkyWatcher dob for £100 less than the StellaLyra scope, with a damaged box on FLO). 

Many thanks,

Martin .