RobH2020

Saw Jupiter through my binoculars for the first time last night! I spent a few minutes earlier in the evening thinking "what is that really bright star..." then later using Stellarium for Neowise I saw oh wow it's Jupiter! Checked it through the binocular and saw it as a disc and all four moons. Such a cool sight!! A real wow moment. But was 00:30 by that time and I was knackered... Going to get my skywatcher 150 on it tonight, i'm hoping to see it in much better detail for much longer. And Saturn!

Thanks all - saw Jupiter last ngiht for the first time ever through my binoculars. Amazing!! All four moons. Can't wait to get my scope out tonight to have a much better look. I'm fingers crossed for cloud bands, great red spot etc.... (skywatcher 150 so should be able to!)

Excellent, thanks! Actually I can even just use my phone... My life was changed when I discovered the "angle meter" app 😉

That's a good bit of kit! Did you just use it for what we're talking about here, or you use it more generally too?

It basically looks as though by this time next month, Jupiter and Saturn will be about +15 degrees above the horizon by about midnight... So I just have to work out whether my horizon is more or less than 15 degrees above my patio... In any case they'll be quite low down... will they visible at that altitude in bright suburban light pollution do we know?

That's great! May i ask how you did that? I'm afraid I'm only a beginner in Stellarium.

Thanks all! Is it literally just the angle in degrees towards the horizon away from flat level (as measured by spirit level)? I can rig that up! Then the number that comes out of that is then on the same scale as those used for describing planetary max altitudes?

Hi all, I'm trying to work out if I'll be able to see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn from my garden this year. I'm south facing, so that should be OK... but I live in valley country, so I'm not sure if the opposite side of my valley means I won't be able to see them from here. Any idea how to calculate what my horizon is, so I can compare with the maximum altitudes of the planets this year? Thanks! Rob

Is the Stellina any good? Not in those conditions I'm sure, but generally?

What on earth is this?!?!

I can't see this photo and not initially see Tony Soprano...

ah that must've been so annoying. wonder if you just got unlucky or if that's a typical pattern..

Thanks, not just me then! The Breaking Bad show creators pride themselves on absolute attention to detail. This guy Gale is meant to be a real nerd - the show creators go to great lengths to fill his apartment with the paraphernalia that goes along with lots of niche enthusiasms, including a potato-powered clock etc. But missed this one. Still, New Mexico would be a fantastic place to be a stargazer... 330 days of sunshine a year, two days drive to an ocean and only 30 min drive to black sky site from the centre of the state capital!

I'm just rewatching Breaking Bad, for the first time since getting into astronomy. I noticed in Gale's apartment (for those of you that have watched it) in s3e13, there's a telescope. But it looks wrong! Is it just me or is that a Newtonian pointing out the window but with the eyepiece at the wrong end?

Ah thanks - forgot about imagers, knowing nothing about the subject

I guess it depends what you mean by shiny. Black 3.0 definitely doesn't look "shiny" in the typical sense of the world. It does reflect some light - e.g. I've painted a golf ball with it, and when you're up close you can tell it's a 3D object with dimples. From 2-3m away (social distancing) it looks like a perfectly black hole in the fabric of spacetime.

What's the issue of black paint possibly reflecting infra-red? There's not enough energy in the EM radiation at night to do any eye-damage I would guess... and we can't see IR so doesn't affect viewing?

Ah nice, thanks for sharing your experience! Did you find it made much difference to your viewing experience? Black 2 absorbs 96% of light, black 3 99%, and vantablack 99.9% 😉

I've heard of people flocking the inside of their optical tubes, with various substances. I've just come into ownership of a tube of "black 3.0", the "mattest, flattest black paint" commercially available, and only just more reflective than the substances made by the vantablack producers used on scientific-level equipment. I was wondering about painting the inside of my OTA with this, probably just around the top end around the secondary mirror. Any thoughts? https://culturehustle.com/products/black-3-0-the-worlds-blackest-black-acrylic-paint-150ml

Hi all, I got started with astronomy in January this year, and had some enjoyable time with the winter sky. My garden's south-facing so I had Orion to anchor my viewing right in the centre, and I could aim off that. Now a combination of it getting dark a lot later and the fact that I don't have that instantly-recognisable, very bright constellation to anchor me means that I'm feeling a bit less interested and a bit more lost. Also the skies don't actually seem that clear - despite beautiful blue skies every day, the night seems a bit thick (see forecast for tonight below, humidity is "very bad"). I'm in Hertfordshire (SE England) in a bright suburban area and have a 6" dob with only manual star-hopping and phone apps to rely on. Does anyone have any tips for key things to look out for, or what they like about summer viewing? I've got Turn Left at Orion but don't feel that inspired by it... Also if anyone can tell me if that "very bad" humidity reading is a serious issue or not for viewing that would be appreciated! Many thanks, Rob PS I'm looking forward to the big three planets being more visible a bit later in summer!

Hi all, Just thought I'd give a review of some binoculars I purchased recently - the Opticron Adventurer 10x50 T WP 10x50, currently being sold for £79 by our sponsor. Straight out the box they feel really quality - excellent handfeel in terms of materials, size and weight. Eyepieces feel nice on the face. Viewing out of them is wonderful. I'm by no means an experienced observer so can't say anything technical, but I didn't notice any aberations - stars appeared as points with no distortions. They're such a handy size for grabbing and going, and holding to your face. I've always had a very minor tremor, not noticeable in everyday life but noticeable when using binoculars so I'll need to get a monopod or something for them - but my wife had no problem holding them steady to her face. They have a very narrow minimum pupillary distance - my eyes are closer together than most, so this was my #1 criteria for purchasing, and it works great. Very minor gripe is that the eyepiece covers don't stay put as well as they might when you're putting them away, feel a bit concerned I might lose them. The covers for the lens end can be a little tricky to get into the barrels. But these aren't enough concern for me to not recommend them. Well that's about all I can say. Overall would heartily recommend these for anyone looking to spend under £100. Cheers, Rob

Thanks for your reply, that's good to know that you need a 10" to see NGC2169, I'm not just being blind with my 6"!

Can i ask what you mean by this? Not a term I'm familiar with! Craters picked out ahead of the terminator? Thanks!

Ahhh magnets, of course! Can't believe I didn't think of that 😂 Thanks everyone!

Thanks folks, that's good to know that NGC2158 at least is very tricky to spot.