Zermelo

... and quite emphatically, too. I thought I understood the distinction, but this post caused me to check the IAA definitions. I was surprised to find that, while meteorite refers to the impacting object itself, meteor is a reference solely to the effects caused by passage through the atmosphere. Further, while a meteorite is a body that reaches the ground, it actually becomes so named once it has gone dark, if that is sooner. Also of interest is that the IAA defines a bolide as a meteor of a certain brightness, but to a geologist it is a body that causes an impact crater.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65907342

And when planning, you can use the filter criteria in ways that would be difficult or impossible with a hard copy atlas. I still love the paper maps and atlases but, when I realized what the planetarium software could do, I switched to them for planning and running my sessions.

If you are getting a x2 Barlow, you could perhaps go for the Starguider 18mm and 12mm. In the Mak, that would give you approximately x83, x125, x164 and x250. The stock 25mm would also give you x60. That would be a reasonable spread for a range of targets. Conditions won't allow you to go above x250 very often in any case. At some point you might want to add a 30mm or 32mm Plossl for larger targets, though you'll only manage about one degree in the Mak. This is a decent one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

Hello, is this your first scope? An eyepiece or two, perhaps: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html RACI: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/stellalyra-8x50-right-angled-correct-image-raci-finder-scope-with-bracket.html A dew shield: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astro-essentials-flexible-dew-shield-for-5-telescopes.html An observing chair. This doesn't have to be an expensive astro chair. Many people have done well with adjustable stools, or home-made, if you're handy like that.

Just a couple of modest bits from across the water, which happened to arrive together today. (1) A new dovetail, which will be replacing the (very chewed up) one on my Mak, once ADM have gotten around to making a replacement saddle for the AZ-GTiX: (2) A 50 mm finder bracket. I know that some people praise the regular "two screws and a sprung peg" version as "ingenious", but I've never gotten on with them. Whenever I back off one of the screws, the finder always seems to stick, and need a nudge/wrestle. I've also had difficulty, on a couple of scopes, in getting the finder to align with the OTA direction - it always seems to run out of adjustment (yes, I've tried shimming the shoe). This one looks a better bet:

I agree, I mainly use Skysafari too, but I align with Synscan, so bugs like the one in 2.3.5 are fatal.

My comments above all relate to experiences with the new mount I bought recently, but prior to that, I've had several aborted sessions with previous versions on a different mount. As a result, I'd never set up now without having a fallback APK on my phone for a reliable, previous version.

I'm waiting for that guy to start posting on our "What did the postman bring?" thread. I wonder if they've ordered any 3" filters to go with the eyepieces.

I use Skysafari (Pro v7), and I'm not interesred in the social media stuff either. Comparisons? There's this one from last year, but it's not at the level of a feature-by-feature shoot out. This is a more detailed list of features for the Skysafari 7 Basic/Plus/Pro, which you could compare against a list for Stellarium Mobile/Plus (e.g. here or here)

tagging @Second Time Around

+1 For me, this is a very important consideration. If you know you'll be observing solo, it may not be so for you.

I've ordered this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BHTSMRS1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1SZY360Y45R7Z&psc=1

An alternative to a headtorch for use with an e-Reader: https://www.blockbluelight.co.uk/products/red-light-book-light

I presume it's easy to invert and have the star charts as white on black? Is it possible to alter the colour temperature of the built-in lights?

I know the OP has decided, but in my resources folder I find the following that discuss prism vs mirror: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/331772-star-diagonal https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/375363-in-the-market-for-a-new-125-inch-diagonal https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/328670-mirror-vs-prism-diagonal-for-fast-refractor/ https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/mirror-vs-dielectric-vs-prism-diagonal-comparison-r2877

... or describe the deltas from this list:

Of course, you will get differences in quality (especially the flatness of the optical surface) with either, depending on how much you spend, so I presume you're just talking about the suitability of the design. The usual answer is that, in scopes faster than about F/7 or F/6, mirrors are preferred to prisms, because the faster-converging light cone can lead to false colour in a prism. There's also a view that mirrors can give more scatter than prisms, so the latter might be preferred in slower scopes. I doubt that there will be a definitive view, though.

A news item about some recent research that updates our model of the Milky Way: https://www.space.com/map-milky-way-spiral-arms-gaia which reviews the research paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/acc45c

Another very decent evening here, and the moon not rising until 00.30. The seeing was generally good, with the odd wobbly spell. Transparency also good. I had a look at some globs, M3/M10/M12/M14, though they're not at their best in the nautical twilight. Large open clusters NGC 6633 and IC 4756 were both very pleasant in the Morpheus 17.5 and UFF 24mm. One planetary seen, NGC 6572, showing just a faint hint of colour. And then the doubles. The Alkalurops Ba/Bb pair (2.2") split nicely in the Morpheus 6.5mm. Izar was also excellent in the Morph. 16 Vulpeculae (+5.3, +5.2, 0.8") was elongated in the Svbony zoom at 3mm, but just split in the Morpheus 6.5mm with a x2 telecentric - unsteady, and only glimpsed very occasionally. HD 201670 was a nice, unequal white and grey pair. The highlights were two pairs that look very similar - Albireo and 24 Com, both with brighter yellow and dimmer blue components.

I wonder if it's worse on the darkest nights, or at darker locations? During a very dark session, the main optical stimuli would be those seen through the eyepiece. The surroundings may be too dimly illuminated to provide information on position, orientation or depth. If sickness results from the brain receiving conflicting messages from the body's visual and balance systems, and those visual aspects are primarily being delivered via an eyepiece view that may be distorted, or moving in a way that is at variance with the observer's body, perhaps that contributes to the feeling?

I'm worse - I didn't notice you in the other thread! 🤣

Have you seen this thread?

It looks like we might be at the end of the spell: ... although CO has occasionally been wrong before now