Zermelo

If you're using an app to make notes at the eyepiece (in my case, it's Sky Safari), I find that a decent predictive keyboard can be very helpful. I normally prefer open source apps, but I've not found anything to touch Microsoft Swiftkey in this area. It learns very quickly from previous typing, so now I just need to type a capital "M" in my notes and it defaults to "Morpheus", and offers "9mm" or "14mm" as the next word. If you find that it is defaulting to some word that has a similar "swipe" to one that you use a lot, you can delete the interloper from the dictionary and it won't be suggested again.

Yes, I should have said that it seems to react more than others to indifferent conditions, and I've found it to be a bit unpredictable in that respect. When it's good, it's very pleasant to use.

I used to work with an Ng several years back. The company's IT system insisted that names had to have at least three characters, so he had to make something up. I've seen a few examples of long names being truncated, but that was the only one I've come across that was too short.

Of course. That was why they spent so much effort remastering the Apollo pics ... they knew that 21st century conspiracy theorists would expect much more detail than their 1960s forebears.

A certain Vulcan might be commenting. I love the Nirvana 16mm. The 4mm not quite as much, it sometimes seems to suffer a bit in iffy conditions. But I don't wear glasses.

Hello, and welcome to SGL. I've found the 150i/Discovery to be a good starter package. With a suitable eyepiece you can push it to a little beyond a 2° field of view, enough for most extended targets, and in the other direction you can get reasonable magnifications for smaller objects like planets. There are some compromises in the scope, for reasons of cost and weight, but the mirror is decent and will not be a limiting factor (until/if you want to go bigger). You are saving the money, in part, to pay for the goto and tracking. If you think that the tech might be unnecessary, or too complicated, you might choose otherwise. For me, it has been well worth the cost, allowing targets to be found more quickly and enabling easier sharing of observing sessions. I also like the ability to run it all from a smart phone, and interface with other software for planning and note taking. Having said that, I agree with @ScouseSpaceCadet that the AZ GTi mount is a bit more versatile should your needs change, and there seems to be a larger community sharing experiences. Some more discussions here: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/375540-skywatcher-explorer-130ps-az-gti-vs-star-discovery-150i https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/383818-yet-another-newbie-‘what-scope’-question https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/369780-just-getting-started-and-thinking-about-first-telescope https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/370305-stargazed-and-confused-🤯

There are plenty of opportunities to spend your pennies in this hobby, so DIY where you can makes perfect sense.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/11/19/0444234/the-world-votes-to-stop-adding-leap-seconds-to-official-clocks?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Obviously targeted at the observer who would go on a session equipped with a hamper from Fortnum & Mason.

That's what I've been saying to myself in my head. Ah, "sveebonnie" it is then. Unless that has been mangled deliberately for anglophone ears. I find that clip to be very soporific.

Thank you, Ratlet! I've been sitting on similar, guilty thoughts since I first saw a Tak, but I didn't want to be the first to risk the ire of Tak owners. Perhaps the start of an "Astro confessions" thread? I think my cheap, white Bresser achro looks much better than those weird Tak colours, but there's no accounting for taste. I don't think we can be banned entirely for our heterodoxy, but it might constitute a sin bin offence.

By the way ... how do people pronounce "Svbony"??

In the Skymax 127 it would give me around x190 - x500, so a lot of the time it would be beyond the seeing conditions. Although I use my Nirvana 4mm more often than you'd expect with the Mak. In the 150/750 Newt it will give about x94 - x250, so I expect it will get more use there. F/5 may challenge the Svbony at the edges, but I'll be using it on a driven mount and I'm mostly interested in the on-axis performance, which is reported to be good. The main purpose will be doubles, but I'll try it on other small targets.

I've just been emailed by Svbony to say that it's been shipped.

Yes, I was aware of that one - I own a SW Newtonian without (primary) collimation. I wasn't aware of different versions of Skymax (except for the positioning of the finder shoe). And these have different tube thicknesses too?

Can you provide some links to show different versions of the Skymax, according to whether it's in a bundle or not? That would come down to whether you choose to buy the same tripod as the one in the package. Or are you suggesting that SW have different variants of each tripod, too, for bundled/unbundled sale?

I believe NASA has already commissioned Northrop Grumman to create a suitable block for Mr. Cruise to stand on, when shooting any lunar scenes with his co-astronauts.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/375282-eyepiece-selection-based-on-exit-pupil/ +1 for the 12mm Starguider if you want 60 degrees at F/5. I don't think you'll do better without paying a fair bit more. I think most of the Starguiders have that Smyth negative group in the base, which will prevent you screwing in a Barlow section properly. I don't have the BST Barlow, but the detachable part of my Baader x2.25 Barlow won't fit into the bottom of the Starguider 12mm.

When I ordered mine, I was given three different options for delivery/duties. I went for the middle-priced one, which said "shipping 8-15 business days" and "Includes customs clearance and taxes". That added on £20.92 to give a total price £126.83.

I've just given my dad his first ever view of Jupiter+moons, at the sprightly age of 88. Since I started observing, his visits have never co-incided with clear skies. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. He has quite bad macular degeneration and isn't too steady on his feet. We had a few minutes where he couldn't see anything, and I was trying different eyepieces with no luck. I thought I might have to throw in the towel. Then he said he could see a pinprick, so I knew he had one of the moons, and it was just down to eye position and not eye capability. Before long, he was describing the view of the planet and all four moons, a great moment. We've come back in to watch the snooker, but we'll go out and have a look at Mars when it rises above the fence.

This is an astro incarnation of the well-known "why on earth did she arrange her wedding on the same day as the cup final?" scenario.

https://www.youtube.com/c/DrBecky/videos

For those not following the CN thread, Ernest has posted a review (pre-production?) here: https://astro--talks-ru.translate.goog/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4585&sid=7fadd2525038bf84fe69c16aeaea49e4&_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp (bottom quarter of the page)

Well, one has just been listed on the Bay ... for £350!

Ouch! But it looks nice ....