Marvin Jenkins

I have hesitated to say anything as I did not know the man or had any interaction with him that I know of. However, I do know, that shortly after joining this forum I realised that there were quite a few ‘Big Guns’ as I thought of them and he was definitely one of them. We all lost Gina a while back. I remember looking at posts from these senior members of SGL and being blown away by their knowledge and experience. Now this sad loss. It is a loss on a personal level to his family which I extended my deepest sympathy. It is also a loss to those of us that would have loved to have learned from the man and never got the opportunity. M

I am super happy with that as I miss out on buying any cameras due to being skint. I can just ride out the tech wave and save up for three years when the old tech is being chucked out for fiver. Just a thought. All those SBIG ccds that cost a house are going to be worthless soon.

NOW

I just thought I would add that to avoid dropping anything onto the primary mirror whilst doing colimation you could turn the scope to the horizontal. That way anything dropped just falls in the tube.

Hi Ty I have the very same mount. Great bit of kit. Give it a go anyway, but you may struggle on the odd occasion as the 200 is generally considered the limit for visual observing on this mount. I use mine with a 150 pds and 60 mm guid scope for entry imaging and even a little amount of wind ruins the subs. Newts are known for being like a sail in the wind. Good luck anyway and enjoy the night skies and your scope. Marvin

After checking the Spaceweather website for the sunspot numbers and work out north south orientation I noticed something curious. The spots seem to be in two horizontal bands similar to the EBs on Jupiter. Is it always like this? Some kind of natural mechanism? Or is just chance alignments this time? Marv

We had Covid over Christmas and new year so feeling much like yourselves. Horrible weather day after day and by sheer chance a clear spell today. I actually ummed and arrd for a minute or two, then had a stern word with myself. I didn’t know there was that much on show as I haven’t been keeping up with events. Sometimes when it is slim pickings Solar wl really saves my sanity. Marv

First time out with the WL on the 150 pds this year. I can’t believe how much surface activity there is right now. Nothing but bad weather for ages and the skies cleared as I came home from work. It would be rude not to get out after all my moaning, so a short session before the sun dips below the tree line. I did a quick biro doodle at the EP which is a first for me. I hope it doesn’t offend the amazing sketch astronomers on here. Marvin

For just 15 minutes data that is great. I am sure there is plenty right with it, and plenty that can be improved upon.. but that is name of the game. I am sure there are members on here that will be able to give you further direction. Well done. Marv

Yes please🤞

I too are intrigued by the ‘hole’. You state the sky was clear, so I am unsure what you mean. Exact date, time, location and direction of view would get it down to handful of objects I guess, no matter how many years in the past. Marvin

I personally have never used one but just judging from the name Angel eyes is enough for me to run away screaming.

No problem.

Hopefully I make it to 51! 😂

And my final entry in this hallowed thread is not Astro at all, but came in the same box. Angling themed socks!!!! My other life long love Angling.

Also included in the box of treats.

Wow how do you follow that! I say with something small and different. I recently saw in my big 50 by going to bed early after working too much. However, good friends from the USA sent me this. They know I am Astro mad and a geology nut. This seems to encapsulate both and look great.

Great start. Well on your way, congratulations I can say for certain it will not be your last and I look forward to seeing them. Marv

I think the Skytee II is designed for the EQ5 tripod. I have the same issue with my EQ5 mount that I want put on a spare EQ6 tripod. I found an adapter by Geoptik for this very solution. The page is TS in Europe although FLO may sell it or something similar.

New meteorite in the house! A lovely little etched slice of Muonionalusta. That takes my collection to four.

Just a thought… if you have two Barlows stack them for 4x mag. The planets are very bright so I wouldn’t worry at first about quality. On top of that you are planning to take a single image??? Planetary is normally a video image of single frames. You get rid of the bad ones and stack the good ones. YouTube vids for planetary photography are very good. Marv

That is where the huge expense telescope comes in I am sorry to say. Use a Barlow between the camera and scope to get at least 2x mag. I think a lot of planetary photographers use Maks and SCTs as they have a very long focal length for their aperture so the planet seems a lot closer. I found it very strange at first that seeing and taking a picture of galaxy light years away is actually easier than taking a picture of a planet next door. The reality is that none of it is easy at all.

Also your shutter speed for lunar will be different for deeper solar system but this is something you can find by trial and error. I am sure someone on here with experience of your camera or similar will be along shortly. M

Take a step back. The moon is a very large and very bright object, so the settings you are using for the moon are probably not at all what you need for very small distant points of light, like stars. Does your dslr have a live view on the back screen? If so then find a very bright star and focus. Then zoom in on the live view to max and focus to a small point of light. There you have it. You may have to put your ISO to 800 ish maybe more I am not a Canon user. If you find that the planets are still small points of light then you can help things a tiny bit by using a Barlow. If still dissatisfied then buy a very large telescope with an equally large fl then you stand a chance of taking a detailed planetary picture. Marv

Can anyone see the Honey Monster?