iantaylor2uk

Not sure why physicists would be upset at such a question. As far as I know the standard model is the best we've got, but it is definitely not the last word since (1) it doesn't include gravity, and (2) there are other discrepancies for example it predicts that neutrinos have zero mass, whereas experimental evidence suggests they do have very small mass, which is still unexplained. Also I don't think the standard model explains why there is so much more matter than antimatter.

Good option - I have the FRA 300 and love it

I used to be a member about 15 years or so ago but I remember thinking it was quite old fashioned - for example you couldn't just pay and join but your membership needed some sort of "approval". My membership lapsed as I didn't really find it value for money. What put me off reapplying was there used to be a clause they could chase you up for the missing years if you rejoined!

Great review. I have the FRA 300 and have found it great to use, and with my ZWO 071 APS-C sensor I get a field of view of 4.5 x 3.0 degrees. I also analyzed the tilt of the set-up using ASTAP and was pretty happy with the result - shown below. One of the main reasons I bought an ASKAR scope was to get a complete flat field over an APS-C sensor without having to faff around worrying about backspacing. I don't really understand why one would buy an ASKAR 500 and put a reducer on it when you could just as simply, and more cheaply, buy an FRA 400 or an FRA 300. Some images from my FRA 300 are on my blog at: https://chesterastroblog.wordpress.com/

I have a great book "Mathematical Methods of Physics" by Jon Matthews & R.L. Walker which is well worth getting if you can find a copy.

I think it's very unlikely a near earth object would destroy our planet, but it could potentially lead to extinction of some lifeforms on the planet.

It's amazing that of all these people who've been abducted by aliens none of them had a camera on them!

I use UTC on my mounts because then you don't have to worry when the clocks change.

There was a story in the news that the red giant which is thought to have been the star which went supernova was already known. More details at: https://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/uclan-researcher-identifies-origin-of-supernova

Yes sorry, I meant that I personally don't use sharpcap

No don't use sharpcap, I use an ASI Air Pro and sort out the polar alignment, autofocus and autoguiding (including dithering) through that.

Although unity gain is fine with UV/IR filters, I tend to use higher gain when I am using the L-Enhance filter, since there is less chance of the stars saturating, and the increased gain also means lower noise. I took a photograph of the Crescent Nebula last year, through an f/8 Takahashi TSA 102 mm refractor, using 3 minute subs, with a ZWO 071 camera with the gain set to 200 (on this camera unity gain is 90 and maximum gain is 240) and the sensor cooled to 0 deg C. Photo below is result from 3 hours of imaging (stack of 60 three minute images) from this session. I have a higher resolution photo of this if you want to see it (drop me a message).

If you look up the detailed instructions online (available at: http://montage.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/montagePy-UG.html) it recommends using Anaconda and version 3.6 of Python or above. Have you gone to PyPI to download the package (https://pypi.org/) - from this webpage you can search for MontagePy and there is only result from the search (MontagePy 1.2.3). Have you tried downloading this one and then using pip install? Actually, thinking about it a bit more, what I think you have downloaded is the source code, not the actual package for installation. Hope this helps

Managed a few hours of imaging on Friday night. Below is the result from stacking 62 three minute exposures of the Crescent Nebula, using a ZWO 071 camera (gain = 200, sensor cooled to 0 C) attached to an Askar FRA 300 f/5 refractor. Autoguiding etc was managed by an ASI Air Pro, and the telescope was on an RST-135 mount. I used DSS for stacking and a combination of Nebulosity, GraXpert and Affinity for processing. I also used an L-Enhance filter for this image.

I managed a few hours last night on the North American nebula, NGC 7000. The image below is a stack of 67 two minute images taken with a ZWO 071 MC camera on an Askar FRA 300 f/5 refractor. The camera gain was set to 200, and the sensor was cooled to 0 C. Autoguiding was controlled by an ASI Air Pro, and the telescope was on an RST-135 mount. I also used an L-Enhance filter. Image taken from Bortle 7 location (outskirts of Chester).

The L-Enhance will definitely bring out much more on targets like the north American nebula, the veil nebula, the heart nebula and many other emission nebulae. It also works well, in my experience, when the moon is up, and/or there is a lot of light pollution. You will need longer exposures compared to just UV/IR filter - I usually take subs in the 30-60 second range with a UV/IR filter but use 2-3 min subs when I use the L-Enhance filter. I don't use it for galaxies.

I like the L-Enhance filter for my OSC - it doesn't have as much of a halo problem around bright stars that the L-Ultimate has.

I uploaded the above photo into the astronometry website (https://nova.astrometry.net/) and I was amazed how many objects are in the field of view - annotated version of photo is below:

You can't write it down to the last digit because there isn't one. The fact we can approximate it surely means it exists though.

Pi definitely exists as we define what it is and can measure it, or calculate what it is. If it didn't exist how can it be measured?

I agree with one of the earlier posts that lengths and time do not exist if there is nothing. To measure a length you need something there to compare against. Similarly, to measure time you need something to happen.

I use an Innorel RT90c tripod with an RST-135 mount and have used it for a Takahashi 102 TSA and, separately, an Orion Optics CT8 reflector. Total weight of mount head, telescope, guide scope + cameras will be around 12 kg or so (I used a counterweight for the reflector so may been 15 kg or so then) and the tripod was fine. Only thing I did was change the tripod feet to Gitzo big foot 50 mm ones.

I managed to image Makarian's chain for the first time last night. Below is the stacked and processed result from using a ZWO 071 MC Pro camera on an ASKAR FRA 300 Pro refractor. This is approximately 2 hours of 1 minute subs (with gain on camera set to 200, and sensor cooled to 0 C) with UV/IR filter used. I probably need a few more hours on this!

Interested to see the scope labelled HG8 - does anyone know what this is? The model HG8 doesn't appear in the list of OO products as far as I can see.

I tend to use higher than unity gain on my ZWO 071 MC Pro when I'm using a narrowband L-Enhance filter. Unity gain in that camera is 90, and max gain is 240, and I usually use a gain of 200.