Laurieast

Smear, distortion, atmospherics...

Jupiter at 2:22 am. Got yourself a red-ish spot!

Is that image from the front end of the tube, and that's why we can see the diagonal adjustment screws? Have a look here: https://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

Spot on colours! really! These are great.

This is usually a straightforward swop out of the existing saddle by removing the four existing hex bolts, but occasionally some adjustment is required to the mount. But it's worth it, no more destroyed dovetail bars! Please read below. In the first instance follow the instructions supplied with the saddle, there is a plastic washer that must be kept in place, and the clutch lever assembly needs to be removed. First remove the puck from the ADAM saddle, and place on top of the Dec assembly. On first fitting the dec axis it may lock up as the puck bolts are tightened, the solution I eventually found, is to slacken off/adjust the nut under the counter weight bar. There are two set screws to loosen a couple of turns, a 1/16 (1.5mm) allen key fits. Now undo the nut about one turn, now fit the puck and tighten the bolts, return to the nut and adjust so the dec axis can rotate without too much play, and re-tighten the set screws. This may cause the counter weight bar lock nut to now come into contact with the Dec casting, and lock everything again, the solution is to fit 16x26mm washers in that nut to space it back from the casting, 3 or 5mm or so. The rubber washer from a garden hose connector just happens to be the right size. Hope that helps somebody one day.

I just found this today, not sure what made me look (google) and found this below. I was a very young teenager when I was introduced to him by my aunt who also worked at the ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Guildford. I lived just down the road from him, and he showed me his 10" Newtonian in his observatory. He illustrated some of Patrick Moore's books. He gave me the 6.5" f10 mirror mentioned, and I did eventually build a Newtonian with it. It gave superb planetary views. I did a Foucault knife edge test on it and found it to be perfectly figured. I don't know what company made it. I still have that mirror to this day.

Thank you. It was that I was concentrating on when processing it. The seeing was not that great, and it is slightly miss-stacked. Probably looks great in 3D glasses!

Looks ok, that's an amazingly clean mirror you have there! 👍

If you think you have the right gap, then that's fine. The screws will only feel tight if you have gone too far and are pushing against the mirror. Do they feel very loose if not tightened?

In the old days we did the clips with a business card under the clip. Push the clip down and tighten the clip screw until you feel the slightest resistance. Pull put the card (should not be tight to pull out).

Thanks! The right hand side was blown out, so had to do some voodoo in PS.

Ptolemaeus, Albategnius and Hipparchus area. Explorer 150p, Asi 224mc, IR 850nm pass. Best 20% of 2000 frames in Autostakkert and Registrax, PS. Thanks for looking!

Oh dear, following also...

Archimedes and Montes Apenninus region. Explorer 150p, Asi 224mc, 3x Barlow, IR 850nm Pass. Best 20% of 2000 frames. Thanks for looking! Map from Virtual Moon Atlas. Lunar Astronautical Chart (LAC).

North-East of Mare Serenitatis region Explorer 150p Asi 224mc + 3x Barlow + IR Pass 850nm 2022/07/07 19:18 Best 20% of 2000 frames. Thanks for looking!

Did you all see the still image further down the Twitter thread?

Thankyou very much!

I would not complain about those! Great detail on Jupiter! That top image has a strange effect as though it's falling away from you as you look at it, did you notice?

Not the postie, but found in The Works, £3 writing block with drawer. 100mmx100m sheets. Xmas present idea?

Oh yeah! 🤦‍♂️ Thanks! lol

I recently got the ADM saddle for the AVX mount, and looked around for matching colour knobs could not now find them anywhere, so what to do on a too hot day ? 🤔 Get the paint and airbrush out! Waiting a couple of days now for the lacquer to dry.