Zermelo

The following was posted on a thread here not long ago (not by me) :

Yes, I noticed that too. I don't normally pay much attention to forecasts beyond tomorrow, but this does seem like a genuine change to clear and cold for a few days. Fingers crossed.

When I started off, I had a small scope on a manual mount. I found it very useful then to learn something about the sky by doing everything manually. I star hopped using a combination of Telrad and 30mm optical finder, which worked well in my Bortle 4 skies, unless the moon interfered. When I got a goto mount, and especially when I paired it with SkySafari, I no longer bothered star hopping. I rarely need the Telrad now; I either use the goto, or else manually slew while watching the scope direction on Skysafari. The goto isn't perfect, so I still need to do the last bit by eye, in a 9x50 RACI. So I still get plenty of practice matching starfields, judging directions and distances. I personally don't miss the fully manual process. Some prefer the chase as much as the conclusion, I prefer to maximize my observing time under the unpredictable UK skies.

I think @Louis Dhas commented previously on the 2" back provision in different markets. On the bundled vs unbundled differences - yes, the provision of collimation screws, and also the finder shoe is in a different position relative to the dovetail.

I'd say Saturn is definitely male, though these days you can't be too sure.

It certainly looks the part. Stu, you let me look through one of your Morpheuses once, and now I have the set. Please, do not let me try out a Feathertouch. It's either ignorance or penury.

I agree on the recent run of poor weather, but there have been a fair few nights with an hour or two of clear skies, or evenings with a degree of mobile, low cloud throughout. Often, these opportunities have been in defiance of a pessimistic forecast. So perhaps recent weeks have favoured visual observers who have the flexibility to set up speculatively, with fewer commitments, or grab-and-go equipment ready to deploy, happy to look at whatever is in the gaps ... but possibly not so good for the imagers.

+1 for this. I bought one of these for about £6 and it does better bringing out detail on Jupiter than anything else I've used.

Indeed. £10 Plossl and Ethos perform quite similarly on a cloud bank. One of nature's levellers 😊

I think that's because the case is also meant for the Hyperions, but I keep a UFF and a zoom in there.

In an inspired punt, Santa brought me the one Morpheus needed to complete the set (and the only brand new one I have). Also known here as the "they cost how much?) ... and a Christmas family shot:

Welcome to SGL. You should get some great observing with that scope and the eyepiece range you (will) have. On the 25mm, I would stick with the stock EP for a while; they are not that bad, and I think you wouldn't notice so much improvement with a Starguider as you will with the stock 10mm. On the Barlow, again, experiment with it a few times, in different conditions, and see what you think. Compare the views between, say, the Barlowed 18mm with the 8mm. If the Barlow degrades the image to your eyes, consider getting another. I doubt that your 3.5mm will get much use in that scope, though.

And this, as a spreadsheet: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/862337-2023-eyepiece-buyers-guide/

... and more comfortable than the BCO 6mm, another option at the same focal length.

I see another book project in the making ... "101 Uses for a Tak Lens Cap"

I was just watching a bit of that. I think it's been on before? (your spellchecker has converted "Michaela" to "Michael" 😊) Lovely Arabian oryx.

Both my SW mounts are essentially silent when tracking; I assume you're asking about the noise when slewing? The problem with using SynScan on the SW mounts is that you can't set a maximum slew speed when using goto. For manual slewing there are 9 speed levels, and I find anything up to level 6 to be acceptable, noisewise (I share your concern for neighbours' sleep, especially if I'm out in the summer, when I might be aligning the scope at gone ten). However, goto operations (including alignment) always use the top speed, unless the scope is already close to the intended target. One answer to this is to use the SW dual encoders ("FreedomFind") on mounts that support it (mine do). You can then slacken the clutches and move the scope silently. The downside is that the goto will usually be less accurate afterwards. Recently, I've been avoiding this by using the motors manually (at lower speed and noise) to get the scope somewhere near the next target, then issue a goto, which will be carried out fairly quietly. This approach preserves the goto accuracy. However, there's no answer to alignment, so I try to do that once only, at the start of a session. As others have said, belt mods - for those mounts that support them - may be the answer.

I've heard of astro suppliers throwing in a bag of sweets with each order, but I think Peter goes one better with a free gift of juggling balls.

"My God - it's full of LEDs"

In the same neck of the woods, and just brought in the scope that's been sitting outside for three hours, waiting for the clear evening promised only this afternoon by CO and Metcheck!

That is hilarious, thanks for sharing. Even with all the new age language, it accidentally managed to hit the spot: "Fluorite ... aids in staying focused"

Thanks. 2.4.11, no accompanying notes in Playstore, and the SW release notes page only goes to 2.4.8 at the moment. But I just tested it in emulator mode, and it has fixed the "white screen on goto" bug. [EDIT] Release note page now updated for latest version: ## 2023-12-13 v2.4.11 Changes compared to v2.4.8 • Fix broken night mode. • Android SDK to 33 (Android 13)

I've just come in from a very pleasant couple of hours with the 150mm Newt. There was some low cloud about early on, but it mostly cleared up, just an occasional bit of higher mist. The seeing seemed to be good, and the Svbony 3-8mm zoom at x250 split a couple of 1.8" doubles in Pisces, Alrischa and HD 9817. Jupiter was crisp, with quite a bit of detail in the equatorial belts, though I wouldn't be brave enough to assign any to the list of features above. I took in the three Auriga Messiers M36/7/8, and also M35 in Gemini, all with a Svbony 10mm UFF. I bought this recently for £16 and I'm very pleased with it. It framed all of these clusters nicely, with pin sharp stars. I also used it on IC 1805 and NGC 457 in Cassiopeia. I finished on Orion, poorly positioned above houses, but the UFF showed some very subtle detail in M42, and I think the Trapezium F star was just visible with averted vision. The same eyepiece definitely showed four components in sigma Orionis. I wasn't particularly looking for Geminids tonight, but saw at least a dozen, including some brighter ones with trails. As tomorrow is supposed to be the peak, that bodes well.

Further South, the forecast is for a couple of hours early evening, but cloudy at the moment.

As @Mandy D said above, the tread will be accelerating even with respect to the wheel hub or vehicle, as circular motion is accelerated. When you consider it from the perspective of the road or external observer, you add in a constant horizontal velocity (assuming the vehicle speed is constant) to that circular, accelerated motion, resulting in the cycloid. I think the instantaneous direction of the acceleration is still towards the centre of the wheel at all times (the derivative of a constant velocity offset will always be zero and won't contribute), so "accelerating" vs "decelerating" would need to be defined relative to a specific direction in the road's frame of reference.