Mandy D

If it reaches the predicted brightness, your eye is all you will need! It's about time we had a naked eye comet.

It sounds very likely. We are in the middle of the Aurigid meteor shower right now, peaking on 1 September. https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20220901_10_100

Nope, this is a "comment"! Comets move very, very slowly across the sky and most are dim, very dim. Meteors (shooting stars) tend to be quite bright and move very fast.

That is pretty amazing, considering how small an image I got and how little detail was in each frame. Last night was a complete washout, as I was 2 hours earlier and the sky was pretty terrible. The moons kept popping in and out of view and I was seriously struggling to achieve focus. This was the best from last night with the D3200 and a 2x barlow on the 200P. I might see if I can find a clear night Friday or Saturday when I can stay up much later and see what I can get.

I was honestly surprised when I looked at who had posted that silly response and saw it was you! 🙃 I'm sure I'll post something just as silly before too long. The comment is now immortalised ...

Sorry!

Newts are absolutely fine for solar. I use a 250 mm one for solar observing. You just have to place the filter at the opening of the tube so the mirrors only get a factor 10E-5 of the light and heat.

With a glass mirror that reflects on both sides, you will have a double reflection on the reverse side and only single on the front side. The secondary reflection will be much fainter than the primary reflection and you might have to tilt the mirror and try under different lighting conditions to spot two reflections.

@alecras2345 Here is another possibility offered by the Open University. This is a free, short course (with a certificate) in the use of remote telescopes and provides access to one of the OU's own COAST telescopes in Tenerife. You will have to sign up with the OU and for the course, but it is all free: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/astronomy/astronomy-online-telescope/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab

You might like this article that traces human ancestry back to the extinction of dinosaurs. https://www.inverse.com/innovation/oldest-human-ancestor-fossil-found-in-montana

Nope! Thankfully the smoke was going out and upwards and I was down on the ground. 🙂

Looks like you are in AZ mode, there. How does it handle that scope? I might try my 200P like that if I can find some tube rings for it. Is yours the 1000 mm focal length version? Good luck with your recovery.

@goddasgirl2021 Population I stars, like our Sun are rich in heavier elements having formed from the remains of earlier stars. >1% elements beyond helium. Hence, since our planets were formed from the same dust cloud, they are rich in heavy elements as well as lighter ones. Population II stars contain <<1% of heavier elements, thus mainly hydrogen and helium. Probably less likely to have planets and any that are there will be gas planets like Jupiter. Population III stars are hypothesised to be the first stars and would have been formed from only hydrogen. Any helium in their cores would be as a result of fusion in those stars. Once a Population III star goes supernova, it will build heavier elements and release them into the Universe where they will "contaminate" the material from which Population II stars and, ultimately, Population I stars will form. There is an idea in science that around about now is the earliest point in time that intelligent, technologically advanced life becomes possible. Whilst this is based on science, such as evolution and the time scales we know are necessary, it is also based on our knowledge of life on just one planet in a vast Universe.

Nope, no idea! There appears to be another one in the top left corner as indicated on a copy of your first photo. It moves in the same way as the other two through the first set, but does not appear in the second set due to different framing.

I will check later, thanks. Having blindness in one eye issues at present, which does not help focus and contrast in other eye.

Yes, they do, don't they? However, it was not a telescope focussing issue; it was more of a prime weed issue with the occasional cloud of smoke passing in front of the telescope from a neighbouring flat. I didn't touch focus throughout most of my imaging time, after the scope had cooled. First attempt, I rushed to find some good moons, but had 700 images to go through! Many of them had figure 6 shaped tails, due to the smoke.

I found a better set of moons for Jupiter and re-processed the planet in GIMP. Is this getting better?

IIRC, according to Feynman's own account, he was sat next to a general, whose name I forget, who clued Feynman in on the cold affecting the O-rings. Feynman somehow got his hands on a piece of the O-ring material and, during the hearing requested a glass of ice water and dropped the sample in it to demonstrate it's brittle state. I could never figure why the general fed this information to Feynman rather than delivering it himself. It always looked suspicious to me. He may simply have felt that it looked better with the information coming from a scientist rather than the military!

Yes, I have ASI178MM. I've just set it up in my living room with a 30 mm lens and focussed it on the ceiling as totally clouded over here tonight. I've set gain to 280 and exposure at 5 ms. At 640 x 480 the detail on my ceiling is unreal. You can see the brush marks in the paint with the camera on the floor! Should I be running the camera at 8 bit or 16 bit for planetary? I guess that videos should be two to three minutes long each, from what I have read because of fast rotation of Jupiter. As you suggest, for now I will practice with the ASI178MM, but look towards getting a colour camera later. I am quite happy to spend up to about £500 on a new camera, so the ASI385 is comfortably within reach. Is there any point in spending more within my budget? I did explain my logic behind the 3x focal extender previously as a stop gap for use with my DSLR until I can get my full imaging rig to a location where I can safely set up with a laptop and everything I need. With currently being unable to drive, I am stuck at home and imaging from the street. I have to carry everything out in one go as I can leave nothing outside to go back in for the rest. Thanks.

Yes, this looks like a pl... (the first part of a plan!). I didn't mean that I need astro-dark skies for my planetary imaging, I just need to get away from the uber-bright LED streetlights for the sake of my eyes. I have no chance when pointing due south of avoiding being blinded. From my garden, I have a very narrow window to the south which allows me a few minutes on the Moon or planets per night, then another narrow window to the west, so no chance of doing any serious planetary imaging from my own property. However, I do have a couple of sites away from home with no street lighting and clear views of the south and west horizons that I like to use. I really do not want to set up a laptop next to my scope on the pavement. Hence, my preference to stick to DSLR imaging at this point in my life. I am sure you understand that I am not rejecting your very good advice, but simply putting it into perspective for my situation. I have a an inexpensive 2x Barlow already, so will give that another try and see where we get once I have some clear skies, again. That still leaves me wanting for a 3x Barlow for the DSLR and 200P, but that can wait for now. I'll leave the RC for this endeavour and keep persevering with the 200P. It seems to give reasonable results, anyway. What camera do you recommend I consider for planetary? I'd like to stick with ZWO if possible and am not yet ready to buy, but it will help me budget. Thanks again.

Thanks for your response. Great job on brightening my Jupiter image. It does look improved. I've had a read through the Cloudy Nights thread and found some helpful information. I just need to firm up my ideas, now.

Thank you of the input. It is greatly valued. I already have a ZWO ASI178MM (2.4 micron pixel size), which could be used as a planetary camera, albeit mono. With 2x2 binning, the 3x focal extender would be a good match if I have my numbers right, so I could use it with both the D800 and the ZWO. Would this potentially be a good starting point? If I get on with it, I could then buy the colour version or filter wheel, although I'd prefer one-shot for planetary. Right now, I really need to stick with the DSLRs for my imaging as I am out of action for driving and don't want to set up a full imaging train with laptop next to the pavement outside home. Later, when my eye is better I will be able to throw all the kit in the Land Rover and head for dark skies where I can set up properly. So, I am thinking that the 3x would be a sensible investment now as it would work for both the D800 and the ZWO. I take on board your advice to not use the flattener with the extender. So, I have the 200P which is working great for planetary. Would the RC6 offer any advantage over it? Obviously, I would lose aperture, so I would not be able to go the the same focal long lengths for either camera. I also assume, from your comments regarding flatness over the small area of field required for planetary, that I would not gain anything here, either, with or without the flattener.

Thank you, that looks a lot better. So my next problem is to increase the image size and, from what vlaiv has said elsewhere the limit for my 200P with 1200mm focal length and a D800 camera is about 3.3x. I am considering an Explore Scientific focal extender at 3x, here, https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/explore-scientific-focal-extender-3x-508mm2.html. I want to go with 2" to better match my full frame sensor so I can image stuff other than planets. Is this one a good option? Will it be OK with both the 200P and the RC6? I guess it might be a bit much with the RC6, but I do have a reducer / field flattener for it. Can I use both together. Sorry for so many questions.

Thank you. Do you think it needs to be brighter?

Thank you, that really means a lot to me! I've just stacked 50% of my second run for a total of 190 frames out of 381 taken in 3 minutes. I think it is a tiny bit better.