wulfrun

19 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

With your f/8 scope I think the lower power Barlow would definitely be a better bet.

I may be mistaken but I think the OP's scope is a 150/750, so f/5.

Don't forget to cover any finder you have on the scope too. I'll leave the other answers to the experts but my understanding is you are correct. You should also check the filter EVERY time before use.

A zoom is a personal thing, some love them, some don't. The Baader and barlow are well regarded and would certainly cover most of your likely needs. Be aware though that zooms usually have a narrow field of view at the longer end, which is not the most useful. If you go the zoom route you'll probably want to supplement it with a fixed EP at the longest end for finding stuff and for larger DSOs. Your 25mm could serve that purpose initially though, it's not too bad a quality until you feel the need for something better.

Give us some idea of budget and you'll get more suggestions.

I have a couple of Photon Freedom micro-lights, a yellow with a wide beam and a "covert" red one that has a narrow beam. Both have variable brightness, ranging from extremely dim to fairly bright. I use the yellow for setting the scope up, finding things and so on. I use the red one for charts, planisphere etc and try to keep either of them at the lowest setting I can get away with. I have a clip that accepts them and allows me to clip them to whatever and aim wherever I want, if needed. The clip is also magnetic, so can be put on a scope tube for convenience or loss-avoidance.

I think if life were found somewhere like Europa, or signs of past life found on Mars, it would point the finger at the idea of it being likely where conditions permit. That, in turn, suggest life could be commonplace throughout the universe. If it's not found despite permissible conditions, that suggests it's rare. Neither possibility is confirmed by a few observations though, so I think the search would or should continue regardless.

One thing I think few people actually consider though (except astronomers, probably) is that the size of the universe isn't the only problem. It's also the age - is contemporaneous life commonplace (or not) or is life just commonplace at any point in time (or not)? Not sure we could ever answer the second question, even given the means to explore anywhere. We can only explore the "now" (give or take) and that's an utterly insignificant part of "all". Meaning we'll never have a definitive answer - which is not a suggestion we shouldn't bother looking.

Welcome to SGL. The H prefix probably means "Huygens" and the R in SR might be "Ramsden" but I'm not sure on that one. Both refer to the optical design IF that's what the manufacturer meant, which isn't certain. Take it with a pinch of salt.

3 hours ago, Pixies said:

It's Darth Vader! 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/372805-the-darth-vader-constellation-indulge-me/

Yes it is - and I got there first so hands off 🙂

Seriously though, it's a perfect sketch of what I can see, except my view's in a Newt and inverted.

It's made the main headlines on Beeb:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56241511

I saw it streak through Orion, heading SE ish from here. I had the scope out on Orion and happened to look from the eyepiece, towards the end of its trail. Spectacular!

37 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Anyone see Fireball 28th Feb 2021 Ireland to Southwest - Observing - Widefield, Special Events and Comets - Stargazers Lounge

Oops, never spotted that thread!

I was out with the scope last night, looking around Orion. I happened to look away from the eyepiece and saw a very obvious fireball streaking by, with various "outbursts" and a bit of a "pop" at the end. I think I must've missed the earlier part of the trail since I was at the eyepiece. It passed right through Orion, heading SE ish. There's a clip on the BBC news saying it was seen over Bath and souhtern England, I assume it was the same one I saw. Like a fool I omitted to note the time but it would have been roughly 9.45-10pm (I think). Anyone else out there see it?

1 hour ago, Zermelo said:

Ah, I didn't read far enough.  Perhaps third-party software isn't able to access down to the hardware in the way that manufacturer's code can.

Another possibility for this kind of thing in previous times was to hack the BIOS.  Now we have UEFI, so things may have changed ...

But you say you have an HP - would this work on yours?

Nope, that doesn't help but I appreciate your trouble. Mine's not on the list in that link. There's nothing in the BIOS and nothing online that I can find. Anyway, we've derailed this thread a bit far. I'm resigned to doing what I do already, it seems the battery is still in good health after 4 years so we'll see how it goes.

12 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

There is apparently no way to do this within Windows itself. If the capability exists on a particular machine, it is provided by the manufacturer (or, if not installed by default, can be downloaded from their support website). On some machines, the manufacturer's battery utility can also be accessed from an additional link from a relevant Windows Control Panel item (e.g. Power Options, or Device Manager>Batteries).

For example, mine is a Lenovo, and you can set a max charge threshold in the Lenovo Vantage utility. ASUS have a similar Battery Health Charging function.

Another option is downloading a third-party utility such as Battery Limiter (I'm not recommending it, I just found it in a search).

 

Looks like I'm out of luck on my HP, I can find nothing useful on a search online. In fact, the question has been asked on the support page and the summary of the answer was "no, it doesn't exist". The battery limiter you linked to merely provides an audible alarm, better than nothing but not preventative or automatic. I was hoping for something where I can just leave it plugged in when in use and limit charging, seems like HP didn't include such a thing. Hey ho.

I tend always to pull the plug when it reaches about 90% anyway, probably explains why the battery health app reports it's at 99% of its original capacity (actually over 99% based on the figures, it claims 5344 of 5350mAh!). It also reports 826/1000 cycles, so I assume that means it's on 826 of an expected 1000-cycle life.

4 minutes ago, reezeh said:

I think that'll be called an asterism. Somehow I don't think the IAU will be in too much of a hurry to add that as an 89th

Now if you could find a Trek-inspired reference; say, The Klingon's Forehead it'll probably be official faster than you can say "beam me up Scotty" 😃

Indeed, asterism would be a better title. Twas only light-hearted, I don't expect much IAU interest! I wonder what names we'd have if we started over, from scratch.

I sat on a chair in the garden for a couple of hours, armed with the binoculars and ducking by the fence to escape the moon's brightness. I was 50/50 about a scope, the full moon was washing a lot out and although it looked fairly steady seeing here it was very hazy. To the point that you could see the light-cone from nearby streetlights. Still enjoyable just perusing, with no set agenda!

I see it more in real life since simulations "bloat" stars based on magnitude. This villain, from the Star Wars films:

(Photo from Wikipedia)

8 minutes ago, evertonian7uk said:

would something like this kit work - or should i go for better quality singles ? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/eyepiece-sets/astro-essentials-1-25-inch-eyepiece-and-filter-kit.html 

The general advice is not to buy a set, because it'll invariably include some stuff you'll never use and yet you've paid for it. Better to buy individual items where you can mix & match and tailor it to what you actually feel the need for.

50 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Yes, I've seen that, usually in utilities provided by the hardware manufacturer (which can appear or disappear with updates). I don't know why the article would say it ain't so.

Any ideas where to go hunting for such a thing? It'd be nice to activate it if it exists.

42 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Well it's actually Li-ion though I don't know if there is any real difference in charging characteristics etc.? Thinking about it, I've never tried running the laptop without a battery i.e. just plugged in the mains. Not sure if that would work or if something terrible might happen! I've been 'sitting' on the new battery for several years for fear of something going wrong if I removed the original battery! Not rational of me, I know, but it's actually my first laptop so no experience of them. It sounds like it might (probably has!) have age deteriorated, as you say. In which case - my bad. It can't be worse than the original one which discharges pretty quick in use. I'll be brave and attempt the swap tomorrow. What's the worst that could happen? The same ones cost about £45 to replace now  

Louise

Lithium-Ion-Polymer aka LiPo, it's what virtually all laptops, notebooks, tablets, phones and a heap of other things use. There is also Lithium-Iron Phosphate but that tends to be found in things like electric cars and BIG batteries. As best I know, it's not used in any more mundane things, partly because it's the more expensive option. I think some power banks use it though.

My last laptop actually had an easily-removeable battery pack that slotted in. It worked fine on mains alone and I only used the battery when I needed to. No such luck with the current one, it's internal as most are.

2 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Oh great, thanks for that, Peter! I've always been thrown by the laptop warning about it being fully charged with the charger still plugged in. But not leaving it at 100% charge when not in use makes sense! I think!

Cheers

Louise

It's correct that you can't over-charge them, the charging shuts off automatically. The article makes sense, it's not good for a LiPo to be kept fully charged and it also shortens their life by repeated cycling. You can't win is the correct conclusion. LiPos also deteriorate just with age, used or not. I may have this wrong but I recall some laptops may have had the means to set the charger to stop at 80% unless overridden. Such a feature would allow best battery life by not cycling it, yet still let you charge to 100% when you knew it was needed. If it ever existed, I can't find such a feature on mine. I can only assume that either the battery replacement market is too lucrative or they expect folk to buy a new laptop by the time the battery becomes unusable.

Tip: Don't buy a replacement battery well in advance of needing it, it'll be age-deteriorated when you come to fit it.

11 minutes ago, Soligor Rob said:

Really pleased I read this thread, as a result of which I have just ordered the 8mm BST Starguider, so thanks to Wulfrun for the top tip.

They get mentioned a lot, including by several others in this thread. I can't take all the credit, I just mentioned them first 🙂 Glad it helped you though.

I've noticed a couple of times when looking near Alderbaran, about three degrees away there's a line from theta-2 Tau to 75-Tau and another from 80-Tau to 85-Tau plus HIP 21029 and HIP21053. When viewed in my scopes, i.e upside-down, I keep thinking Darth Vader's mask. I can't seem to un-see it now! Anyone agree?

1 hour ago, Skygazerlass said:

Right now my budget is 50 which is right on the mark for the eyepiece you recommend I'm willing to collect them up rather than all at once I just ordered the Cheshire collimator for it as the guy said it may need adjusted a little

When you get your cheshire, I can recommend this guide:

http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

Don't be in a rush to fiddle. Take your time, check everything (twice!) first and don't adjust anything until you're certain it actually needs it. If it's only a fraction out, it's probably not worth bothering with adjustment.

Half-price bargain, well done! I'd start by replacing the 10mm eyepiece with something better (it's not very good). A budget would help you get better advice but something like the 8mm BST starguider is well thought of:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-8mm-ed-eyepiece.html

I'd keep the 25mm for now and see how you get on. It's easy to rush out and buy a load of eyepieces and discover you don't use half of them. Ditto filters. Better to use it a while and see what you feel the need for, then buy appropriately. Keep a check on the classifieds too, often some great bargains pop up and most folk on here look after their gear. Your scope is what's known as a "fast" scope so it won't appreciate cheap eyepieces. Doesn't mean you need to break with bank though, with careful selection.

Oh and welcome to SGL - remember no question is too daft to be asked, you'll always get a friendly and useful answer.

Just an update, I managed to find it again last night, this time in the 114P Virtuoso. Despite an almost-full Moon and being plagued by surrounding insecurity lights in all directions. Actually, the conditions were such that it looked even less obvious and even more a faint smudge than last time with the bins.

I suppose like anything else, once found you know where to look next time!