jjohnson3803

Wow.  Absolutely stunning!

Maybe it's blasphemy, but have you considered a monocular?  If there are weight / size / portability requirements, a monocular can solve some of that.  Also, some people report having trouble merging images so they wind up using only one barrel of binos anyway. But if your wife says "Binos", best to listen to her wishes.  😉

I go straight here as my primary resource:

SAC DB

Addendum:

There's also this:

Darker View

Somewhat related, I have an ST120, bought an 102ED last spring, and just bought an 72ED because the 102ED is more than my AZ5 or ScopeTech Zero mounts can handle.  There's much more vibration on focusing that I care for.  The ST120 is a bit less shaky with a new 2-speed Crayford, but still isn't ideal IMO.  I'm wondering if an achro 90mm or 102mm would be worth considering.

Anyway, the EDs seem to  be much more bulky and heavy (yes, I read the specs before ordering) than I expected, so I'd advise careful consideration of mount capacity.

I have a Meade ST80 clone and it obviously does much better under dark skies compared to the light pollution soup I'm in a home.  If you're going after a lot of detail in galaxies, etc. I'm not sure an 80mm would be enough even under dark skies.  

OTOH, it's very portable and inexpensive.  Trade offs...

I'd assume Starlink first, then maybe a doublet (I visually caught a triangular formation Chinese triplet once - freaked me out at first 😉).

Also wonder if he checked Heavens Above, etc. to see what was visible at that time.

I'm going the wrong direction I guess - replacing my larger fracs with smaller.  Oh well.  😐

Well, several of those nights are BFM (Big Fat Moon) nights...

I picked up a new refractor from my local FedEx store about 1430 yesterday.  The clouds rolled in about 1800.

I use this to check for satellite flyovers (ISS, Tiangong, HST also):

Heavens Above

You can set date, time, and location and generate sky maps with the object's track on it.

Probably best to match bolts, so nothing gets messed up.  🤔

Interessssssssting!   I read something on Cloudy Nights recently about a dual scope set-up on a GTi.  Looked like it required a bit more kludging than I'd be willing to do.  This potentially changes things.  🧐

I'm also curious about running a 102ED f7 on this.  

PBS Space Time is quite good if you want to get a little deeper into the science.  I also like Sabine Hossenfelder, but she can be somewhat prickly.

Silk base layer, more light weight layers as needed over that.  Main item aside from a knit watch cap is Sorel insulated boots.  

I use a hard plastic case similar to Second Time's.  They come in various sizes and are pretty inexpensive.  I found that pluck foam comes apart in time, so I replaced it with leftover medium density packing foam sheets that I stacked to fit the case depth and then cut holes for vertical EP storage.  Cheap and easy if you don't mind futzing a bit with the foam.

Wow.  Amazing.

I just wish we'd either go with permanent Daylight Savings (Summer) Time or Standard Time and quite flip-flopping twice a year.

Being an early riser, I'd prefer Daylight Time, but there's a movement to go with Standard (too dang dark by 5PM in winter IMO).

I have a 50mm RACI finder that I use as a super grab-n-go with a lightweight photo tripod and alt-az mount.  If I keep an EP in it, I'm out the door and observing almost as quickly as walking out with my binos.  It's quite good for those times when I don't feel like messing about with a larger scope.

Looked for R Leonis before dawn today with my quick-look 50mm refractor.  I wasn't sure where it was in its cycle, but I figured it would be a win if I could at least identify the field.

I was able to identify the field but I'm in heavy light pollution so a lot of comparison stars were invisible.  And sure enough, R is down there - AAVSO lightcurve lists the latest observation as magnitude +9.6, which is a stretch for me at home with even my larger fracs.

But I still consider it a successful, though brief, session

I'd like to change the tube color on a couple of my scopes, but I'm reluctant to try spray cans for fear of trashing the finish.  I don't have access to a professional paint shop with enamels and drying ovens and all that, so any suggestions?

17 minutes ago, Stephenstargazer said:

@Ivan sorry for belated reply! you are not alone I still run an analogue Watec 910 into a 7" video monitor on the mount. Use a flip mirror for parfocal visual.

I keep on looking at higher tech alternatives, but each time I opt for simplicity over performance. No desire to dive into imaging, so live in hope of a cmos based viewer. Probably going to be on a phone or tablet I suspect - yes I have sen the Asiair of course.

Is there an equivalent current version of that camera?  I took a look at the Watec site, but it gives a "not found" when searching for a 910, so I assume it's been discontinued.

Somebody made one out of an old, wide leather belt for their 102-ish something or other.  Cut to length, punched a couple holes with grommets, screwed it on.  A nylon web belt might work - those things seem indestructible.  FWIW.

People have also mentioned yoga mat straps.  

Clearly your system has greater power than might be casually obvious - it's wiped out the entire Midwest of the US until at least the weekend.

There's a reason why "twit" makes up most of its name...

Aside from some specialty discussion forums like this one, I dropped all social media well before COVID.  Can't say that I miss any of it.

Anybody else find the official Artemis realtime tracker NASA Tracker to be clumsy?  Maybe it's me or my browser or my net connection, but I'm finding the site to be slow, clunky, and non-intuitive.  The dashboard showing speed and position is great, but the graphical display is less than what I'd expect for a premiere mission.  I'm not convinced the graphics are even correctly showing the position, but again it could just be me.

Anybody know of a (near) realtime tracker that just shows a projected path and the current location, like the old Apollo tracks, and loads like a normal web page?

Apologies, but I'd really expect NASA to do better.

Opposing opinions and edification are most welcome.

Must be pilot error on my part.  🙄