MaHa

Hello again, 

After trying my hand at a sketch last week and receiving some great tips, info and a general positive vibe from the far more knowledgeable, including how to invert the colours - I've given it another bash. This time M44, the beehive cluster in Cancer. This again wasn't at the eyepiece, but instead from an image I had from last year. Now the nights are starting to draw in and are becoming far more favourable for this kind of thing however, I think I'll try it properly using my binoculars mounted for my future efforts. 

Mark. 

45 minutes ago, Stu said:

Practising indoors with a photo is a great idea @MaHa, getting the technique right and working out how to get positions correct is tricky.

I converted and tweaked your sketch in my phone just as an example. If you get more even illumination on the original then it is easier to get a good converted result.

Thanks stu, 

I'm going to have a play about with pixlr app and see what I can come up with. 

I'll try and take a better original photo too, I hadn't actually taken that into account. 

Cheers, Mark 

Davhei, 

Very very kind, thank you. 

Thanks for the great info you gave me also on your other thread. Much appreciated. 

Mark 

That's great, many thanks!! 

I have just downloaded the app, and I'll be sure to have a play around with it as soon as I get some time. No doubt you'll see some of my future attempts around here! 

Thanks again, 

Mark. 

Hi davhei, 

Can I ask how you invert the colours please, making the sky black and stars white? I'm a total novice at sketching so my knowledge is very limited! 

Many thanks, 

Mark 

Thanks Marv 

Best of luck 

Cheers, 

Mark 

Hi Marvin, 

I'm absolutely a complete novice at this, but I've read other places that people use a clipboard and red torch to do a 'rough' sketch whilst outside, then they do a final copy once more comfortable indoors. 

As far as the white on black 'negative' effect goes, I'm afraid I've no clue whatsoever! 

Thank you for a recognising my drawing, it's much appreciated!! 

😂

Mark 

Hello everyone, 

This is a very first for me - you'll usually find me skulking around somewhere in the binocular sections. However, I found myself at a loose end tonight and figured I'd like to try my hand at my very first sketch. So here it is, M45. I'd also like to point out that this is not my view of the Pleiades, it's simply a picture I have been looking at, just to practice. 

I hope to be able to work on some more original pieces and improve my sketching skills during the dark nights of the upcoming winter. 

Mark. 

9 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

I'm currently reading "Star Testing Astronomical Telescopes" by Harold Suiter. Ostensibly about teaching the reader how to diagnose a scope's aberrations using its diffraction patterns, but so much more utterly fascinating stuff besides.

Amusingly, I found myself in a hospital with a lot of time yesterday, and a senior nurse passed by, saw the book and asked "You're not into that airy-fairy stuff are you? I could never get it". I had no idea what she was going on about, until it dawned: she thought Star Testing was a manual for Astrology! The relative prominence given the different words in the title support that I think.

Magnus

 

 

Here is a prime example! I'll be having that thank you very much 😁. 

That's great, 

I've not come across the Patrick Moore book as of yet, so it's one that I'll hopefully be adding to my collection if I can find one. 

Regarding buying second hand, I do this quite frequently from ebay, seller 'world of books' . I've picked up a good few with an RRP of £25 or so for around £3 or £4 with free delivery. They've always been in fantastic condition - you really can't grumble for those prices. Worth a look guys. 

Mark 

Hello everyone, 

I've been doing a lot of reading recently whilst the skies have been overcast, and an inordinate amount of water falling. I'm just wondering what books others find useful - not only to learn constellations and the likes, but also for reading up on all things universe? As I'm almost exclusively a binocular observer (I do own a small telescope - a skywatcher Heritage 130p, but it rarely gets used) my main references are binocular specific books, thank you @BinocularSkyHowever I've found myself reading the wonderful DK 'Universe' book, all 485 pages of it, with the whole of the last section comprised of beautiful colour star charts.. 

Anyway - just interesting to see what other people enjoy reading on their hobby. 

Mark 

3 minutes ago, Paz said:

Don't worry about it, enjoy your new bins and don't look back. There's always something else you could have bought, whatever you went for!

Absolutely. 100% agree with this - there is always something else. 

I'm sure you will get many an enjoyable hour out of your new purchase

Mark 

Hi Space Kat, 

I can +1 for the olympus 8x40's, they are optically excellent under the stars for a very good price.. Way, way under your price range. 

I also +1 for the roofs distorting stars, as my Barr & Stroud 10x42's prove, ( I use them for daytime observation and shooting) and they do not perform nearly as well for astronomy as my porro prism bins. 

If you hold on a little longer I'm sure @BinocularSkycould maybe offer you some sound advice. 

Cheers, 

Mark. 

Just now, BinocularSky said:

You might also find my monthly freebie newsletter useful - just about to post the August edition. 🙂

Oh I do already - subscribed to that quite a while ago! 😁. 

Thanks, Mark. 

14 minutes ago, BinocularSky said:

I hope you find it useful. NB, you can download higher resolution colour versions of the charts - URL in book.

Nice one Steve @BinocularSky, I'm sure it'll be a great resource. 

Looking forward to it arriving in the post and the clouds disappearing!

Cheers, Mark. 

Thanks Mark, great info. I'll dig a little bit deeper into that as soon as I get a chance! 😁. 

Cheers bud. 

Thanks Ed, 

It's not looking great if I'm honest.. But I'm still hopeful 😂. 

That is indeed binocular highlights you spotted, well done sir! I have been reading through that this evening, and also ordered Steve Tonkin's 'discover the night sky through binoculars' book online as well.. I think those two will stand me in good shape for my binocular sessions. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend mate. 

Mark. 

Hi all, 

I've decided to stay in the house tonight with the anticipation of some clear skies later on, and to hopefully get the chance of splitting a few double stars - something that I've never done before. After a while looking through some charts at my desk with a rather nice glass of red, I've come to the conclusion that Cygnus and the Northern Cross seem like a pretty good place to start. 

My first port of call will definitely be Albireo at the foot of the Cross.. I'm excited about this one as it sounds like a beautiful view through a pair of binoculars, not to mention the easiest to find! I'll then move over to the Cygnus triple all being well and then the three doubles (Mu Cygni, 79 Cygni and 61 Cygni). 

Now all that's left to do is await the darkness, and hope the clouds disappear! 

Hope you're all having a great weekend.

Cheers, Mark 😁

Thanks Philip, I decided to download a similar app for my android phone, and it looks to work great, cheers, Mark. 

Hi msacco, 

I started observing during winter past using binoculars, after being frustrated time after time squinting into the eyepieces of small telescopes and struggling to find my targets - subsequently I just gave up in the end. 

I have found the whole experience to be far richer using two eyes, and much less frustrating! It's true that you won't obviously get the incredible details associated with a good scope and eyepiece, but nevertheless its a great experience viewing everything in context, and in their true position in the night sky in conjunction with all the other wonderful targets that are available for you to see using a simple pair of 10x50's or such like. 

I'd definitely go for the bins! 

Cheers, Mark. 

3 hours ago, Philip R said:

Hi Mark / @MaHa.

If you have an iPhone or iPad, Jupiter's Moons app will show you Galilean moons positions. Saturn's Moons app is also available.  Both apps show you the views in 'real-time' past, present, future. 

Thanks Philip, very useful info 😁. 

Thank you, Mark. 

Nice one Mark. Well I can absolutely recommend the oly 8x40's.. You don't need me to tell you how well their big brother performs.. Total bargain! 😉👀. 

Hi Mark, I definitely prefer winter, but I'm glad I gave the warmer 'bluer' nights like you say, a chance! 

What 10x50's do you use? I have my Opticron Adventurer WP's, and both the 8x40 and 10x50 Olympus DPS-I.. They're all great, and I feel its all I really want or need. 

I'd considered buying an astrophotography setup, but I think I've decided to stick to scanning the constellations with my binoculars.. Its just more fun! 

Cheers, Mark. 

After starting to really enjoy observing using binoculars during the winter, I've not been out since some of my favourite targets disappeared. Tonight though, as I was driving home from work, I couldn't help but pull over and point my Sky Safari 6 app at what I thought was jupiter. It turned out to indeed be, and with my opticron adventurer 10x50's tucked away in the boot I was rewarded with a fantastic view of not only the gas giant, but also two pin pricks of light surrounding her, of course being a couple of moon's in attendance... Possibly three. I don't know which of them they were, but I thought it was fantastic to be able to see in such clarity through my relatively inexpensive bins. Safe to say I'm looking forward to some more short summer night observing. 

Mark.