wulfrun

After local midnight you're on the hemisphere at the "front" of the Earth (from the point of view of direction of orbital travel). Before that you're on the "trailing" side, which is shielded by the Earth itself from anything that can't overtake its orbital speed. Clearly there's a gradual rather than an abrupt shift but that's my understanding of the mechanism. "Bugs-on-the-front-windscreen" kind of effect. EDIT: clearly this only applies to cometary (or other) debris-fields, other random junk can overtake the "trailing" hemisphere any time, given sufficient speed.

Somewhere on the net (can't find it again though!) is a photo taken with a camera lens that had been dropped and the front element smashed. The lens was held together only because the pieces could not fall out. The photographs it takes are perfectly OK. I have a camera lens with a small chip that doesn't degrade the image. I blacked the chip with a Sharpie pen, which reduces the chances of lens flare (less problematic with a scope lens I'd guess). As said above though, you shouldn't expect this unless you bought it "sold as seen" and you knew beforehand. However, use it and see if a real problem exists or not.

Exactly what you'd expect...it zooms in magnification by twisting a ring on the barrel. Think camera zoom, it works in much the same way (e/p = eyepiece).

You weren't alone...same here, I was also puzzled but now it's clear (unlike the skies!)

According to Wikipedia, the full moon is about 1/380,000th the brightness of the sun. Logically, a full moon must introduce *some* light pollution when it's close to rising or setting but based on the figure above it's probably not something to worry over. Certainly, when there's some haze, it's possible to see the haze brighten near a not-yet-risen or just-set moon. Note that the above is based on common sense and not direct experience from a very dark place!

In most cases you'd be wrong. Temperature is a measure of how fast gas molecules/atoms are moving. Most gas clouds in space as so low in density you'd struggle to notice you were in one, so the heat transfer would be negligible. I know you tend to think of, say, putting your hand in the hot air in an oven but that is gas at atmospheric pressure and density. Interstellar gas clouds are mostly better than any "vacuum" created on earth.

Rather annoyingly, it has been pretty much clouded out here for a while. However, last night I noticed Jupiter shining brightly through a gap in the clouds as I headed off to bed. Tantalising but not enough clear sky to warrant putting a scope out. I'm glad someone got to appreciate a view of this event.

Good bag of objects there. I've only recently managed to "tick" Jupiter and Saturn in a telescope eyepiece and I tend to agree that Saturn is amazing but Jupiter is the more interesting view. An RDF is probably fine in dark skies and with a widefield EP but in my backyard adding a RACI was transformative. The RDF gets you close but a RACI let's you star-hop via the stuff that just isn't naked-eye visible in light pollution. I use a Telrad and RACI in conjunction with each other.

I'm intrigued, it looks like M8 x 1.25 but apparently not. At any rate, an M8 x 1.25 tap won't go in and the corresponding die won't thread on the screw. Sorry that's not more helpful! I'm guessing it's an imperial size? EDIT: Calipers say 7.84mm/0.309" across the threads, which is very close to 5/16" (0.3125").

Here's one of the best guides, in my opinion. He keeps is as simple as possible: https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/

You should be able to get both sides of correct focus easily, so something's amiss. Post a picture of the focuser end of the scope, I'm not familiar with the scope but others will be and they should be able to diagnose the problem. Do you wear glasses and if so, are you long or short sighted? Are there any extension pieces in the focuser? Within reason, eyesight should not affect your ability to achieve focus but extension pieces would. The difference between the Moon and other celestial objects is negligible (they are all near enough at "infinity", optically speaking), so that shouldn't influence anything.

For me, I like the simplicity and lack of tech of visual observing. I'm still very much a novice so there's still time to be tempted to the other side but I don't foresee it. My challenge is that I need to determine where something is, aim the scope correctly, choose a suitable eyepiece and keep the object in view. The reward is seeing something "live", with just my brain for processing power and nothing but some bits of glassware involved. Saying that, in no way do I detract from the imagers, each to their own etc. I'm in awe of their patience and skills! I've looked at some of the images folk have posted and, apart from the "what went wrong here?" type of threads, I've yet to see something I wouldn't be proud to post if it were my work.

Nice report, your enthusiasm and excitement shine through well. Not so long ago I did my "first" and I haven't forgotten the buzz it gives you. The thing is, although there are plenty of folk on here who've "been there, done that", they are always positive and helpful and never look down on the less experienced of us. We'll done again! I don't know what BST stands for either but "BST Starguider" is the UK branding and they usually just get called BST for short.

Seems not to be an eyesight problem on your part eh? 😉

Just to update this... Another clear one last night, with a bit of swiftly-moving cloud and a slight and variable haze. I had the 150PL out this time with every intention of "a late one" if warranted. Jupiter rose above the houses in my SE not too much after midnight but Saturn was, frustratingly, skimming along the roofs and not viewable in the scope for some time. Several times clouds and heavier haze looked like they would spoil things but they didn't quite manage to get both the giants at once! I got up to x150 (16mm/82-degree plus 2x focal extender) but more than that didn't improve the view. In fact the ES 20/68 looked about the same in place of the 16mm (x120) and I stayed with that until the giants were higher. I spotted only 3 of the Galileans, Io seemed to be hiding (I didn't pre-check where they'd be) but I did notice I could tell Ganymede's greater size. That was a little unexpected. I could see a lot of the belts and zones on Jupiter's equator and spent a long time absorbed by them, teasing out hints that they aren't just smooth smudges, when the seeing allowed. After a time I kept seeing a spot near Jupiter's equator, a dark one (not GRS). Due to the not-quite-steady seeing I wasn't at all sure I wasn't imagining it but I convinced myself it was there in steadier moments and it was heading towards the left edge (newt view!). Shadow of Io? Looks like I'll have to stay up late to be sure! Time for a quick prayer to the clear-skies gods? I moved on to Saturn when it cleared house roofs and managed to get a half-decent view, I found Titan and at times I got hints of the Cassini division. Not having seen Saturn this up-close before, I found it a little disorientating at times. There was a lack of contrast between the planet and rings, which kept making me switch from seeing it looking from "above" or "below" the ring-plane. Almost disturbing how that plays tricks in your head! I switched between Saturn and Jupiter depending on the cloud and haze but managed quite some time on each. Somewhere around 2am I was switching from Saturn to Jupiter and though "oh, wow, Jupiter's got a bright pimple on his side!" so I continued watching to confirm my suspicions. After a while, the pimple detached and the poor, tortured moon Io came back into view. My earlier observation of the shadow was confirmed. It's amazing to watch this play out in front of your very eyes in real-time, with the other 3 Galileans having changed positions quite noticeably through the session too. You can probably guess that I went to bed tired but very happy indeed!

Switchmode mains supplies have a capacitor from each mains terminal to an output terminal. They have to be fitted so that RF interference generated by the switchmode circuitry is bypassed back to the mains and not radiated as interference to radio/TV systems. The side-effect is that the outputs float at about half mains voltage, the two capacitors act as a potential divider. The capacitors are meant to be sized so there's no electrocution risk AND they must be fail-safe types (don't bank on that if it's a cheapo supply though). You can't do anything about the cause, it's in-built by the supply design but you could earth the mount to a ground spike, possibly through a resistor as described above. Whack a tent-peg/piece of copper pipe etc into the ground and make a lead with a crocodile clip each end and a resistor in-line (the above suggested 100-ohm is as good as any). Clip one end on the mount metalwork (bare metal) somewhere and clip the other end on your peg/pipe. If that fails to solve things, your only real alternative is to use a linear power-supply, which won't suffer from the issue in the first place. EDIT: you can check if the supply "leaks" by using a decent test-meter (DVM), connect one test lead to a mains earth and the other to each of your supply power terminals in turn. Set the meter to AC volts. If it reads some tens of volts on both terminals, that's pretty convincing evidence of the issue. If the supply is a switchmode, it's pretty much guaranteed.

Are you using a switchmode mains power supply? If so, the output of those does "float" at about half mains voltage (so 120V ish for UK mains) and it can be enough for a slight tingle. I'd be tempted to earth it with a ground spike to some convenient metalwork (e.g. on the mount), using a tent-peg or similar in the ground as the ground spike. That ought to kill the tingle. Worth noting that switchmode supplies have caused the death of many a delicate input when connected up "hot". Be careful to connect everything up with it unpowered and apply power last.

I think it's generally called "rose-tinted glasses". To be fair, I do very much agree with you though. The seasons had used to be more, er, seasonal in my recollection too.

Funnily enough, Tuesday of last week I got a peek at Jupiter & Saturn. Non-ideal scope, conditions etc but still worthwhile. Thursday night this week started off looking promising, so I put the 150PL out and stayed up late enough. Right on cue, with perfect positioning and timing the clouds rolled in to obsure them both! Followed not long after by the whole sky. Talk about frustrating 😞

I can't say I find the image chilling. Humbling, yes. Mind-boggling, yes. Fascinating, yes. Chilling? Nope. I think you can't infer much about inter-galactic distances either, beyond "a long way". The universe is dynamic and light is (relatively) slow. A lot has happened since the light recorded in the image left its origin points. Some of those galaxies may not even exist right now and it's guaranteed they don't look the same and aren't in the same places. As for whether there's other life out there, we can only speculate. It might be common but simple in form only, it might be common and advanced. It might be rare or even non-existent. We have, at present, no hard evidence for or against. And we may never be in a position to know. Personally, I think probability indicates it's not unique to Earth but probability is just what that word means.

The central screw-head looks rather chewed up and it appears to be recessed. I would certainly try to avoid doing anything first, see if you can get it acceptably in collimation. If it does need to be moved, I'd remove the vane assembly and carefully and slowly drill the head off the screw (if a screwdriver won't give enough purchase). The vane assembly looks like a casting so I'd avoid any major strain on it, it'll probably crack relatively easily. You'd need to wrap the mirror up and be thorough with cleaning up afterwards. Pretty drastic, last-resort stuff! I would not recommend WD40 for much beyond gate hinges etc, it's definitely not the best for freeing stubborn threads. Plus-Gas or similar work far better, as does diesel fuel. I'd also get some heat into the central part where the screw is too (heat-gun). There's a fair risk to the secondary mirror though with any of the above, you need to tread carefully.

A couple things that no-one has mentioned...whatever you choose make sure it is attached securely and check it for damage before EVERY use. A gust of wind or a careless knock MUST NOT dislodge it. Tape, velcro, 2 elastic bands (not 1) etc but something secure, regardless. (EDIT: if you're ONLY taking photos, your worst risk is "only" equipment, rather than your eyesight, so you can be less strict.)

From the article: "For example, in every telescope, there is a large gap between the eyepiece and the objective lens to give light room to spread." Really? Either poorly explained or the writer hasn't a clue what they are talking about.

You may have heard of the "sunny f/16 rule" for estimating daylight exposures? It means using reciprocal of ISO at f/16 in full sunshine. Less often heard is the "loony (or lunar) f/11 rule" which works similarly. So, say f/11 at 1/200th with ISO 200. As with most "rules" in photography, it's an indication not an actual rule! Looks like you weren't too far off. EDIT: since you're exposing for the moon, it makes no difference if it's day or night (unless your background matters but you'd then need to "fiddle it" somehow, fill-flash/stacked/multi-shot or whatever).

Lately the weather here has been solid cloud, at night anyway, for weeks and I've almost forgotten what "stars" look like! Last night, however, looked as if it was heading to be at least part-clear so I decided to take the binoculars out about half-ten, still twilight. I think it's really nice to just sit out and watch as stars appear. After about an hour I realised it was actually heading to almost no cloud, if a little hazy, so I thought it worth getting the Heritage 114P set up. Yes, it was a little hazy but the views weren't too bad and after being clouded out for so long I was determined to make the most. I spent quite some time looking all around Cygnus and as most of you will know, time just evaporates when at the eyepiece! Before I realise, it's around 2am (I'm retired so I don't care) but I thought OK, this will do and thought about packing away. Then, lo and behold, I notice a very bright "star" rising over the rooftops in the SE. Gosh, that's bright, what can it be? A quick look in the binoculars and the penny dropped, er, Jupiter! In my mind it's for later in the year but I'd forgotten the late hour. Unfortunately, it's in an awkward place to get the scope on it so I hastily moved it, without re-aligning and just used the manual buttons to keep tracking. Only 3 moons (no Ganymede according to Stellarium, later) but with the 5mm in - pushing it for the conditions - I got glimpses of possible banding (might have be wishful thinking though). Having spent a while gawping, another thought popped into my head...if I can see Jupiter, Saturn should also be around. Quick scan with binoculars and doh, yes there it is, not jumping out like Jupiter. In a worse position too, so another hasty relocation and manual tracking but my first telescopic view! OK, all I can see is a tiny, featureless ball but there's a distinct gap between planet and rings. Definite "Wow" box ticked. Maybe saw Titan too, the dot was in the right place when I checked Stellarium's view later. Given the poor clarity and low ish altitude, coupled with non-ideal choice of scope, I'll settle for what I can see. I also tried the TMB 6mm I got recently and fancied I could get a bit more sharpness. Slightly lower mag or more suitable eyepiece? Not sure but I spent some time staring and tracking. Watching the slight wobble of the view as our atmosphere wavered was in itself quite appealing, rather than detracting. So now I can happily say that actually it IS worth ending up crawling in to bed at 2.45am when you've clocked the gas giants!