Pixies

Was that your letter read out on Awesome Astronomy?

More glass (pre-loved): 

My LVW collection increases. Thanks to @Rob for the 5mm - it's in brand-new condition!

The 10mm BCO was purchased just out of interest about all the rave reviews it gets. I wanted to compare it with my other little 10mm EPs (like the Vixen NLV plossls). I have a pair of the latter (for binovewing) and wanted to see if this was a better EP. I really like the 10mm NLVs. Thanks @F15Rules

I've seen hale-Bopp. Although a supernova would be amazing, the descriptions of a meteor storm I've read recently seem staggering. Especially intriguing is the way it was described as showing you how the earth was hurtling through space. We're flying THROUGH the comet debris, so a storm would be like  driving through a snowstorm in  the dark.

5 minutes ago, SacredImperial said:

Is there anywhere I can get that missing piece? 

Why not ask @FLO - the site sponsors? They might be able to source it.

I first heard about them here, back in 2010:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/sywtbas/2010/john/

I've read recently, that they require moisture and dust at certain altitudes to form. This dust was presumed to be from disintegrated meteors! Recent increases in pollution are thought to be making NLCs much more common.  I admit I'd never seen (or perhaps noticed) them until about 5 years ago.

You are missing this thing:

From the Celestron site.

5 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

I plan to use the observing chair with the Explorer 150PDS for which the seat will need to be one position down from the top. I'm already thinking it will need to spend some time in my woodwork shop having a wider seat fitted and some strengthening of the main upright. I might use the strengthening to widen the base. A seat cushion would also be an improvement!

 

A foot rest too, perhaps? In the lower slots.

Yep. They can appear bright and above lower-level clouds that are dark. Normally only an hour or so either side of astronomical midnight (1am). Here's a snap from last year:

2 minutes ago, StuartT said:

interesting. I'd never heard of them. This may be a daft question, but how would I know if I've seen one? i.e. how do I know it's not just a regular cloud?

They glow in the dark!

Seriously, they do. That's the point about them - they are illuminated by the sun below the horizon. Here's a good article:

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/noctilucent-clouds-what-they-are-and-how-to-see-them/

Can you post some photos please?

Posted this in the other thread:

Online all-sky cameras in North and South America observing the shower - from 5am UK (4am UTC) Tuesday morning:

https://www.space.com/meteor-storm-tau-herculids-shower-webcast?fbclid=IwAR0Kjx1WE9qnl9yABgc4CXgQ1zVfol_eYZ2h-TWHHwXO0l_LeRzJ8TsNAJI

LOL - this is how high M7 gets from Edinburgh!

It was impressive even in binos from Melbourne, though.

There's a 50% discount until 3rd June and their site is now saying that v7 for Android is out in June! 🥳

Bet you it won't be out before the discount ends, though!

Oh - and read this to the end:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/689242-source-ac-power-supply-vixen-dd-1-dual-drive-system/

Yep. As long as each power outlet is 12v and it's capable of supplying enough current to both controllers simultaneously.

But it appears the DD1 doesn't like a power supply that exceeds 12v. See:

What is your powertank?

Good session! I managed to bag a lot of the southern Messier objects last month in binos - but during a visit to Melbourne! The smaller/dimmer ones still eluded me due to light pollution.

I'm at 99. 

Great report. Iota Cas is my favourite multiple star.

Some more goodies from Japan:

That's my first Takahashi!

14 hours ago, VNA said:

Hello, only the postman? What about UPS or Amazon, etc.?   ;- )

I think even driving to pick something up counts!

52 minutes ago, kev100 said:

Update: Myself and a friend have booked a 9-day stay at Tivoli Astrofarm in Namibia from the 22nd of August! Including the use of a 25in Obsession dob! Excitement levels are off the scale.

Anyone been there? Got any advice? Going to be putting together a target list over the next few months, if anyone's got any suggestions (LMC and SMC already on it).

Kev

Wow - sounds great. We will be expecting full reports!

Bear in mind that there's no astronomical darkness now, so the light skies won't help. "Galaxy Season" is over now, for those of us at high North latitudes.

M94, near the Cocoon Galaxy is nice and bright. 

M81 and M82 are also good 'starter' galaxy targets. 

To see structure in M51, even with a larger scope, you'll need dark skies. 

There are plenty of globular clusters and planetary nebulae around. Wookie has mentioned M57 (Ring) already.  

I was reading somewhere that the water vapour and dust particles that are required to be present in the Mesosphere for NLCs are increasing due to man-made pollution. They are much more common than they used to be, apparently.

The 8" dob for me. It's kept by the back door, so relatively cool.  Take it out to start cooling, set up the finders, etc. then check collimation. By the time I have the eyepiece case sorted, it's 30 minutes and ready to go. I'll leave it another 15 mins for any high magnification.

During the light skies of summer, it'll be the Vixen 80M. It's on an EQ mount, but I'm getting an old hand at setting that up now. 

Once the planets are about, it'll be interesting to se what gets used the most.

At astro camp, @cajen2and I had our Bresser and StelllarLyra 8" dobs set up next to each other. But to tell the truth, I don't recall us trying out each other's scopes. Should have done, though.

The Bresser can be moved within the rings to help balance, but I found that there is so little room in the base, one can't move the tube down far enough to balance out a heavy finder. One of my jobs this summer is to extend the base height by a few inches, to let me do this.

I'm more than happy to admit that the basic plastic straight finder that comes with the Bresser is terrible. I've no idea why they do that. An RDF would be better. Perhaps this will change.

Bresser did miss out on a golden opportunity these past few years. The dobs haven't been available for around 18 months! They are only just on sale again now! But given the choice again, I would still stick with the Bresser.