Pixies

But with the accelerating expansion of the universe, and distant objects accelerating away from us faster than the speed of light, could there be a point when a galaxy has moved beyond the observable limit and will just vanish to us?

Whatever happened to the old fashioned 'Wales' unit of area? It's political correctness gone mad, I tell you! And anyone of my age knows that an asteroid is measured in good old British donkeys! One 'so-called' giraffe is 3 5/8th donkeys.

The 6 spikes will be from the hexagonal edges of the mirrors, but I assume the smaller 'horizontal' one is from the secondary strut: Apparently it's getting 0.07 arcsecond resolution! 🤯

Thanks. I've little knowledge of PSU electronics so wasn't sure if this was the most suitable type of transformer.

Yep - negative inside. Hence the guitar pedal PSU - one of only a few types of consumer device that uses that polarity at 9v!

Hi, My new (to me) Vixen SP is about to be motorised. The motor controller takes 9v and I'm currently using a guitar effects pedal PSU to power it (it has the correct polarity!) Anyway, I have also just acquired a 12v powertank, mainly for dew bands, but would want to use this to power the motors too. I am assuming a simple step-down transformer would be appropriate for this? Something like: https://www.amazon.co.uk/EBILUN-Converter-Voltage-Changer-Regulator/dp/B07HCW454P Any comments or suggestions on what wold be most suitable? The max current draw would be 1A

Just saw Ed Ting's video about these yesterday!

Keep your eyes open for an older aluminium Manfrotto 055. Avoid the more expensive '055PRO' models which have a boom-type arm, which you won't need. Don't extend the legs fully, either - just 2 out of the 3 sections. As it's for AP, don't extend the legs at all, it'll be very stable then. You can find them on ebay used for around £30 if you are lucky, as prices vary wildly. Sometimes they have a head attached and around £50 but then sell the head for £20 and you're sorted. Here are some examples to keep an eye on: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384777476735?hash=item5996865a7f:g:mD8AAOSwlJ9iLK-q https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203867280095?hash=item2f776fd2df:g:WmUAAOSwczNiLhcO https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185337755641?hash=item2b26fdb7f9:g:gisAAOSwciZiLgBS The latter one is an older type with screw-type leg locks rather than the snappy flip-type. Doesn't really matter.

This - and 24bit PNG format, which retains high frequency detail better on Facebook.

Sorry to bang on about LROC, but just discovered a feature I hadn't noticed before. Under the experimental features section: select 'shaded relief +WAC no shadows': It will try to render the moon with correct shadows according to a surface relief map. And get a load of that relief map:

Here's a tip with the LROC quick map: In the key section, under Overlays - select 'Sunlit region' - and it will set the phase of the moon. It won't alter the shadow direction appropriately, though: However, under the LROC Basemaps section, have the following selected (and no others): Click on the slider button for "WAC Nearside (big shadows)": use the opacity slider to swap between the shadows for each later, and you effectively get to adjust the shadow direction (sort of): You can also adjust the date and time (bottom right of the screen) to select different phases.

"Vixen dovetail"?

There, that's better:

ooops!

I just sing, "Go West..."

There are a few just gone up on the For Sale forum

There's this: https://www.astroshop.eu/other-adapters/astoptics-photo-adapter-for-eq3-eq5-tripod/p,57914 But it would be cheaper to get a new tripod! Although you can get a Chinese version: https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33063326742.html or DIY:

Trying out some new eyepieces today. Didn't really get a chance to put them through their paces properly - transparency wasn't great but seeing was good. Using the 8" dob. The neighbour had left his spare room light on and curtains open, though! 😠 Started with M67. Not the best view I've had recently, but the red star to the north of the cluster was showing its colour nicely. Only the 2 bright Messiers of the Leo Triple were obvious tonight, too. M3 was also a little under-par tonight. A high haze I think. So on to some doubles, then. 54 Leonis very easily split in the 22mm LVW. Pale blue and steely green/grey. Colours better in the 13mm Izar (Epsilon Boo) was split easily in the 10mm Vixen NPL (120x) Alkalurops (Mu2 Boo) - the tight pair of the triple was split at 120x also, but variably as the seeing shifted. Zeta2 Coronae Borealis - Pretty blue and green pair, easily split in the 22mm (55x) Looks like a few clear nights coming up too! 🥳

Yeah - like I got those by mistake!

All Vixen 22mm and 13mm LVW 15mm SLV 2x 10mm NLPs 1.25" prism diagonal 2x 'deluxe' barlow Some were a job-lot, so I might be offloading a few bits. The latter 2 items have pretty old-school clamp screws so not really designed for anything heavy, but my completist bone is itching!

More Japanese boxes!

@cajen2 - bring 'em all down to Astro Camp and I'll help provide an unbiased second opinion!

Very nice. B&Q also have a range of 'dollies' that I have used to move furniture! https://www.diy.com/search?term=dollies

Here you go:

I managed to find a suitably sized metal flight case (secondhand) and put my 60x10 RACI finder in there along with my Telrad. I'll post a pic when I get home, but I managed to cut a suitable hole in the foam to hold it (in rings) securely. It does look like I did it with a blunt spoon, though!