Peter_D

Hi, Here are a couple of images from last night. Ground level was still but you could see quite a bit of turbulance in the air. I recently upgraded the motors on my GP mount and I'm finding it alot easier to keep the planet in the fov. I want to get an electric focuser for next planetary season, I find doing in manually still a little difficult. Does anyone use the focusing tools in Sharpcap? Equipment: Meade 8 inch SCT, Zwo ADC, Zwo224mc. Saturn was 2x Barlowed and Jupiter 1.5x times. Jupiter's final image reduced to 80%. Thanks for looking and clear skies! Peter

Hi, so the scope and mount arrived yesterday: not bad as a unit but the mount is not going to work with the Celestron Mak - the prism 'shoe' is too light weight to risk the (relatively heavy) Mak. Ah well. Clear skies Peter

Hi, I just walked out my back door and looked up and saw the brightest meteor I have ever seen. It burnt up very quickly (~ 1 second) with a bright blue white intensity. Traveling from north to south in the Western sky in the southern area of Draco. Time was 21:47 CET, 19:47 UTC. Clear skies Peter

Yes, that's the one. I actually went ahead and bought one - they are always coming up for sale here. A new Eq2 mount costs 199€ (and not even in stock) so if the mount works out with the Mak, I'll be happy.

The one difference using the Mak will be I'll be able to get to the same magnification with a 7mm eyepiece due to the longer focal length.. Skywatcher offer their 102 Mak with an Eq2 so maybe I'll be ok. I suppose the proof of the pudding will be to try it out 🙂 I'll report back anyway.

I actually want to see if the mount will be up to holding a Celestron C-90 Mak I have but don't have a suitable mount for. If not, I'll sell it on, just seemed to get the impression that the mount was better than you would expect..

Hi, I was wondering if anyone is using the first version (blue metal dew shield) of this scope and its EQ mount? The scope was sold in Lidl in the early 2000s and by most accounts was a decent F10 achromatic refractor. I'm interested in buying a used version. I'm primarily wanting it for the EQ mount: it seems to be an EQ2 clone and solidly built. Anyone using the mount with other scopes? Peter

I have a 6 and an 8 inch SCT. For cool down, I place them standing (with their caps on to protect the corrector plate) in a box. I place a piece of gauze over the rear opening just to stop anything falling or crawling in. Not sure this is the 'correct' way but it seems to work.

Absolutely fantastic image! Not sure if you post on CN too but it deserves to be seen far and wide. Well done again 👍

Another thing to help find Jupiter is to maximise the gain on your camera - if the planet is just out of the field of view, you can usually see the brightness of the planet spilling into the fov.

Would using a filter be beneficial to reduce the glare of Sirius A?

Here's an image from last night. The GRS was coming into view. You can also see (l to r) Io, Europa and Callisto. This was unBarlowed. The final image was reduced to 80%. Meade 8 inch SCT, Zwo ADC, Zwo asi224mc, Baader UV-IR cut filter. Clear skies Peter

I agree that handles make life a lot easier. My de-forked Meade came with a homemade strap and rings - I replaced the strap with a proper metal handle.

Thanks Pete! Next time, I need to have a longer gap between captures - it will allow a longer animation. I should have tried doing animations earlier in the season but at least the practice is good for next year.

Here are a few examples of DSOs I took this year with my 6SE using EAA: M13, M51, M57. It's not as immediate as visual astronomy in that you are looking at a screen but the image is displayed in real time (and minimally processed on the fly using Sharcap in this case) so it is distinct from AP. It also allows more than one person to see the object at one time so it's good for family groups or outreach.

The point about light pollution is a very good one. I live under Bottle 6-ish skies and struggled to find DSOs manually. I bought a Celestron 6SE a couple of years ago that has Goto - it works really well. It's on an Alt-az mount so it's not good for long exposure astro-photography. On the other hand, with a sensitive planetary camera (in this case, a Zwo asi224mc), you can get ok results in Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) on small DSOs. It's really satisfying to see your image gradually appearing on the screen in real time as each exposure stacks one image on top of another.

The two objects with which my family here were uniformly impressed were the Moon and Saturn. Saturn's rings just look so strange and nearly artificial when you observe them. The Moon just looks fantastic in most telescopes imo.

I was thinking more along the lines of it maybe being used over time on ground that is damp from dew. It's just something to bear in mind.

Hi, If you are buying a used Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount, obviously check the mirrors are bright and reflective and the coating is uniform. A bit of dust is fine, cloudiness or scratches aren't. Also check that the mount allows for smooth movement. Check that rocker box has not got damp. Disclaimer: I actually don't own a Dob so hopefully others can chime in too 🙂 Peter

Hi, I created this in PIPP from my imaging session last night - 30 captures of 10,000 images over 35 minutes. All the best Peter

Thanks for the feedback..this year has been my first observing and capturing the planets with an 8 inch - it has really whetted my appetite for next year!

Hi, Here's a capture from this evening using my Meade 8 inch SCT. Seeing was a little better this evening - it's been poor for the last few weeks here. Jupiter was at 24 degrees elevation. The image is a little noisy..but always nice to see the GRS! Best 5% used of 30k frames. Clear skies Peter

Ok, I see who the OP is talking about. I used to browse their website and the telescope prices before Covid were sometimes very tempting - much cheaper than here in Germany! After Brexit, I didn't bother looking anymore. Do they offer returns on their sales? At least that might explain some of the high prices.

Hi, I have a Vixen GP mount. I'd like to replace the safety screw with a longer one to give better purchase on the telescope's prism rail. I measured the thread and it seems to be in Imperial - 36G / 36 tpi. Please, can someone confirm this for me? Thank you Peter

I think the best advice I read was along the lines of 'The night sky isn't going anywhere'. Don't rush into buying an expensive scope that might end up unused. Think what astronomical objects interest you the most, how you will observe them and where you will observe them. Once you start upgrading from beginner's scopes, they begin to become more specialised for observing specific objects. Another piece of good advice I picked up was your mount is as important or even more important than your scope.