PeterW

Anyone try having a look? Maybe a multi minute exposure, but with a 66mm scope and a normal digital camera. Wonder if it’s worth a punt putting a filter on a larger scope and eyeballing it… the eye is pretty sensitive, the filter ought to blocking of the stray light, to ohhh extra filtration to remove out of band might be needed. Peter

Sticky back glow sheet for small labels in the dark.

Looking forward to it.. I live in a flatblock with upstairs lights and several carpark streetlights that shine in…. Don’t need to torch to read charts… if this gives me a dark enclave then I might feel like observing more often. Bit more ££ than I’d expect, but could be the best value bit of kit of it delivers. Peter

This one from explore? https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/759787-first-light-with-the-explore-scientific-observatory-tent/ not cheap, but looks like it could deal with the local carpark lights almost as well as an angle grinder. Waiting for a few more reviews, but I could well end up getting one. Seems like you need to stake it well or it could fly off, so maybe best for garden use (was at a starparty once and the weather shredded a cheap tent!) Peter

You got any links to it or the video? Peter

For faint galaxies aperture is probably the answer. High quality refractors are great for detail, but 10-12”reflector would be cheaper and be better for galaxies and alloW more power on globulars etc. You’ll need to be aware they can be surprisingly large (depending on design). Get a collimator and don’t fear using it. It’s quick to adjust if it needs it. Peter

You can never have too much flock…. Flock it and flock it some more….. Peter

Oo excel…. The Swiss Army knife of numbers…. Peter

Eughterrr…. Flip the Y axis…. Brighter being higher…. Messing with my brain! 😉 Peter

… no peeking at the AAVSO curve!!! Peter

Looks rock solid at 5.3 past few nights, don’t know how fast were you expect it to roll off. Get it while you can! Peter

Look up the South Downs national park dark sky maps, should be something at that end of the park, I think they resurveyed that section recently and found some more dark bits. https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fdarksky.box.com%2Fs%2Fii8gm9jnuasf97f24744trxw17l0ju82/view/72189032 look forward to future reports. Peter

Brightness seems have flattened off just fainter than 5th mag. Shamed @Captain Magenta?? I’m normally the one who looks out at the streetlights and goes to bed…. great to hear you got it. Peter

I was changing the focusser on a reflector tube and might have put a wee dent in it trying to get the mirror cell back in….. slightly sitting on it. not that anyone noticed. Peter

I remember @Stus sad looking dented reflector. In that case a hammer could fix, not an option for you. Good to hear you’ve got it sorted. Peter

Straight through binoculars ideally need parallelogram mounts (which are hard to find), angled binoculars might cost a bit more, but work well on reasonable camera tripods, easier to reach zenith and can give you different power views. Peter

Aavso shows a rapid uplift too… wonder what it’s upto…. peter

Just get the fastest you can, “67mm plossl” afocal being the easiest method. Faster means brighter and you can then filter harder which helps under light pollution. Play with extra reducers, see what works for the kit you have. I think some people are offended by NV and so we were banished to mix with the EEA community. @Stu frequency shift aka band shift is when the band pass of the filter varies cross the image due to putting in a light cone that is too fast. Filters ideally like parallel light due to the multilayer etalon design they use. Manufacturers devise how fast their filters can operate so you just need to be aware… if the nebulae begin to fade around the edges on the field then you know what’s happening. Peter

2”-1.25” adapter rings so I can use 1.25” filters in the filter slide i recently picked up. Peter

your assumption is right, I’ve unfolded the Z bracket (screwed the camera screw into the binocular tripod hole) and then made the orange block to “fill the gap to my head”, getting the shape exactly right isn’t too critical as you can rock the binoculars up and down a bit and still look through them. When standing up you press the binoculars into your head, makes the view more stable and easier to hold as well. I quite often observe by on the ground with a pillow and the rest taken the weight better. I have meant to make a bracket to hold 2x54 onto a cheap go pro headband. I do have a 3D scan of my head (and it’s short hair(!), will have a play… I’ve printed some mini heads for “custom lego men” 😉 cheers peter

Cos I am using it with NV, so longpass, narrow hydrogen and spare… good thought for if I feel the need for another filter drawer. One issue with 3DP is fine threads, tend to be a “only thread on once” affair. I could also use stronger magnets too! I wouldn’t trust a fully printed housing due to the thread issue. It could be a bit thinner, but I can reach focus with what I need to. I also printed a thin spacer so the t-thread adapter on one side doesn’t screw in so far it fouls the filter tray. PEter

Picked up an Altair filter drawer system to enable me to hot swap filters when observing. Now what to do with the ones I am not using…?? So I made me a box to hold 2 back to back. Added a few metal screws to give the included magnets something to hold them (not hugely strongly) in place. Worked on the first print too! Peter

Seems like I didn’t post about the use of a commercial widget to make monopod use more stable…. The move-shoot-move Z-V adjustable bracket on a monopod adds a little extra height and also provides extra tilt for observing at high elevations without the load on the ball head become too off centre. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/754824-widget-for-helping-high-angle-monopod-use/ https://www.moveshootmove.com/products/z-v-platform-designed-with-alyn-wallace-preorder Back to the current post…. A new Swarovski binocular has a an adjustable headrest to help stabilise their higher power models. Got me wondering about adding one to my astro bins, but laziness over how to design it set in… until now, when I was playing with the Z-V widget and it got me thinking. On its own it won’t fit properly, but adding a custom block to the bottom places the flat surface in the right location. (I 3D printed the block.. but if wood would work) You could vary the size and thickness if you wanted. I’ll probably round the edges and add a thin bit of neoprene to make it a bit softer on the forehead. Should fit most centre mount binoculars. I am going to tweak the shape of the rest so it is a bit closer to the eyepieces and is more vertical, probably need a different one for each of my binoculars, for instance there is an adjustable locking lever that can get in the way for centre focus, just need to raise the metal up a bit… extend the block down to compensate… Now I can get more stable views, as the more stable you can get your binoculars the more you can see. Peter

Nifty counterbalance on the AZ3, I used a similar mass to help with an st120 I had many years back Peter

The nebulae standout as @GavStar is using a very narrow hydrogen alpha filter that nukes the stars (and light pollution) and only shows the nebulosity. If you add a longpass filter you end up with a sky full of stars and no nebulae. bright star will “bloom” slightly and the resolution is limited by the microchannel plate, but like camera pixels… so depends on what camera you are using as to how the stars look. Gavs mount is actually quite quiet, not like the old Meade “coffee grinders” of old. Getting good footage that gives a faithful view of what you can see with your eye is a challenge. The view is real-time with no integration, just that phone camera need a little longer to give a representative view. Peter