Astro_Dad

Some clear skies and a stunning vista here on holiday in Kirkcudbright - set up last night 😀

7th/8th August In our second Scottish holiday destination near Kirkcudbright and looking forward to to more great weather and hopefully clear skies as the week progresses. Battling the cloud for some of last nights brief session so focussed mainly on naked eye views which were stunning in our location with a near 180 degree vista. The Milky Way looking particularly impressive. Took the 6 inch Newt out for a brief look at some old favourites including spectacular Albireo and impressive M3. Saturn was looking beautifully sharp at 94x power but was trickier at 150x. Titan clearly visible to the SE and Rhea to the NW. Jupiter was looking very promising - before cloud spoiled the view I was able to see the most surface detail yet this year. Tonight is looking promising so fingers crossed !

We passed the campsite at Seaward today on the way to Dhoon beach 😀

Weather is stunning here today and last night the skies were superb in between some cloud…both weather and sky clarity set to get even better through the week…

You’ll definitely need to find a comfortable observing position for longer sessions - I’ve found that standing the Heritage on a picnic bench works well for quickish grab and go sessions, but I find it becomes uncomfortable after a while standing and stooping over - depending on the position of your target. I tend to use a low, sturdy table for longer sessions and various chairs or stools. This is perfectly comfortable. Obviously a dedicated height adjustable observing chair would work well here too. Some use this ‘scope directly on the floor with a low chair. All fine - though not quite as comfortable as an SCT or Mak in this regard, you’ll have no problems using the ‘scope on a low sturdy platform of some description. Re power packs, I know several options are used for powered ‘scopes with varying degrees of success. I’ve seen less than positive reviews of even the older style Skywatcher lead-acid power tanks, so I went with the newer lithium technology. I can’t comment on your specific kit but I’m sure you’ll find some helpful threads elsewhere on SGL. The technical requirements that need to be met with the official SW advice is: “8 AA Size Batteries (not supplied) or External Power Supply (DC 7.5~14V, 1A) Tip Positive. Sky-Watcher 7Ah or 17Ah Power Tank Recommended”.

We’ve just visited the new centre in Kirkcudbright today - missed the opening last year. Well worth a visit and enjoyable for kids if all ages too. The planetarium is well set up, and following a general tour of the universe sad solar system we were shown an astrobiology themed video which was interesting for me and kept my 5 year old quiet for the duration too! Lots of interactive stations with activities and info - a great way to spend a couple of hours.

It’s the ‘scope I currently have with me on holiday, and I’ve had a couple of excellent nights observing with it under clear dark skies (I’ve posted my observing reports on SGL if interested). Once you get passed the nuances of the focuser (easily solved) it’s a very capable instrument and regarded as optically excellent. I still use it manually most of the time but with practice good alignment using the Syn scan app is easily achieved, and I use this from time to time - including last week when I wanted to sweep up more targets than usual given the sky clarity. Also enables tracking planets etc. I use a Celestron power tank - AA batteries deplete too rapidly and are best used for back up. Freedom Find is a feature that enables you to manoeuvre the ‘scope manually after loosening the clutches and still retain the GOTO positional information - it needs to be activated in the app and is a little buried in the Syn Scan settings but it’s there. Freedom Find isn’t a “Push To “ system though. For me the combination of portability and aperture makes this a winning package in many ways. Hope that helps for now!

Hunting the Lunar X and V on holiday in Scotland - Heritage 150p balanced on car bonnet 👍

As is generally the case regarding ‘scope choice there is no “best” per se only differences and preferences depending on your need. There is though considerable overlap between the two, and both offer satisfying views of both planets/moon and the deep sky. The 150p has the bigger aperture and is tuned towards deep sky observing, but will require collimating from time to time (simple once you’re used to it - using the supplied collimation cap) and will need the home made light shroud mod. The helical focuser is the weakest part of the specification in my view - but it is really not a problem and works well. The 150 also provides very sharp views of planets, but to get up close with high mag you’ll need short focal length eyepieces or a Barlow. The Skymax 127 being a Maksutov is geared towards planetary viewing and excels at this. It will also be good for some deep sky, but has a narrower field of view than the 150, having double the focal length. You’ll need a few shield for this one. As you say you could by the Mak afterwards, but I tried this and the version I received had a different orientation with respect to the finder shoe position - it meant that the red dot finder was on the “wrong” side- but there are ways around this, and older style models you could pick up second hand work well. The recommended tripod is the SW: “equipped with a 3/8" standard tripod bush so can equally be used with an optional tripod making it a versatile choice. The Sky-Watcher AZ5 Stainless Steel Tripod (code 20316) is highly recommended for use with this telescope”. My opinion overall is that the 150p is the most versatile model and offers greatest bang for buck, but both excellent and depends on your preferences.

@Mr Spock interesting test - were you able to conclude this experiment and convert the findings into a recommendation for SGL members or was it just for technical interest? What Barlow did you use on this assessment? It would gave been interesting to have done this slightly earlier in the evening when the lunar X and V were visible - did you manage to spot? Sadly too much cloud cover here in Scotland and the midges were out in force anyway!

1st/2nd August around 12-1am 10x50 binocular. Intermittent rain and cloud cover prevented me taking the ‘scope out last night, but there were very clear skies intermittently so an opportunity for some binocular viewing following Steve Tonkins monthly tour. The targets were in and around Cassiopeia and Cepheus. The target first located was “The Queens Kite” close to Ruchbah and centered on Chi Cassiopeiae. A clear pentagon of stars with a tail extending out towards the South. Next yellow hypergiant, Rho Cassiopeiae - an unmistakable bright distinctly yellow star that stood out prominently close to Caph, the most Westerly of the “W” asterism of stars. I failed consistently to find “The Queens aeroplane” ! There were so many stars on view it reminded me of one of those magic eye puzzles that were popular a few years ago - but I just couldn’t pick out the apparent plane shape amongst the crowded star field. Finishing this brief session marked by constant moving in and outside again was the impressive orange supergiant “Herschel’s Garnet Star”. A very fine deep garnet colour indeed, and a stunning way to close for the night as rain and cloud took over.

July 31st 23.50 Another inviting night in terms of low cloud cover on the Isle of Arran. Much cooler than previous night interestingly and more dew on the ground - grass much wetter and the air generally felt more humid. Still preferring the Heritage on a low sturdy table rather than picnic bench so lots of kneeling down tonight as no chair at the right height! First target the Veil nebula NGC6992. First observation of this target for me. Just about visible with averted vision without filter. Seen as a very faint but large patch of light, (Eastern) naturally more prominent with the UHC filter, and I wouldn’t have spotted it so easily without the filter to help reveal it in the first place! Spent longer on planetary nebulae M57 and M27 this time. The ring appearing quite sharply defined again at 50x power + UHC. The dumbbell obvious and with some careful close scrutiny revealed it’s dual lobed form. Returned to a few familiar favourites and then turned to the planets. Jupiter was prominent as usual but still not able to get sharp views of any surface detail. I realised Neptune was close by, to the NW of Jupiter so enjoyed a clear sharp view of the tiny blue disc. Then finished on Mars, my first view of the year and nice to see again, though no detail seen using the kit I had immediately to hand. Made the most of two clear nights - not looking good at all today!

The Milky Way and The Summer Triangle iPhone 12 Pro night mode, hand held.

30th July 2022 - second night of holiday and reasonably clear ! - Isle of Arran Scotland, 55 degrees North, geologists paradise and pretty good for amateur astronomer too! A full degree more northerly latitude than home and a theoretical one point difference on the Bortle scale at Bortle 3. Set up with Heritage 150p at around 23.50. Some cloud but as the night progressed it became clearer and clearer with some truly spectacular naked eye views, and the best view of the Milky Way running through the Summer Triangle I’ve ever had. Used a combination of manual star hopping and GOTO using the SynScan system with a good enough 2-star brightest star alignment. observed mainly old favourites with a couple of new targets too- in an eclectic and not particularly planned list. Albireo to start- an easy target as very obvious with naked eye, then another look at the “Cooling tower” cluster M29. Jupiter was on show - had a look early in the session but the seeing wasn’t ideal and prevented a really sharp view, so moved onto deep sky for the remainder of the night. M13 the great globular exemplified the old adage that to see more you need a darker sky - not necessarily more aperture. It looked superb, bright and pretty well resolved - impressive I thought in a six incher. Nice view of nearby globular M92 also. M57 looked particularly good using a 15mm eyepiece in combination with a UHC filter - hinting at a greyish green hue. M71 next, first viewing of this globular - loose, almost open cluster like as descriptions generally suggest. Then moved to my second new target - open cluster NGC6823. I finished off with a look a three galaxies I haven’t observed since the Winter - Galaxy pair M81 and M82 and finally the great M31. There was more to do but packed up at 2am and inevitably woke the kids up … Hoping for more clear skies over the coming days 😀

Yes, the app development and its background database upgrades are independent of the ‘scope used with it - you can own and receive updates to the Srarsense app without owning a telescope at all. The unlock code only allows the app to be used to navigate with a telescope and plate solve. I had the app downloaded prior to buying the StarSense Dob and that was how I noticed it had been upgraded with more deep sky objects - to take advantage of the larger apertures of the newer Dobsonian models. It looks to be an increasingly popular idea to buy the cheapest version possible of the StarSense system to then adapt another ‘scope. Lots of examples on SGL of this working successfully. The newly updated app is interesting in that there is obvious overlap and duplication between the “more deep sky” section and other parts of the app, but nevertheless it’s an impressively comprehensive database and as noted is probably similar or the same as Sky Safari plus.

With several planets coming to opposition over the coming weeks and months I thought timely to pick up a well priced planetary cam (again) to dabble in the dark arts - both tracked and untracked. Courtesy of 365 Astronomy and including an IR cut filter. Experimental, but we’ll have fun along the way I’m sure.

I’ve been tinkering around this morning trying various apps to connect to and control Syn Scan GOTO on my Heritage Dob. Sky Safari my default but unlike others including Luminos I cannot seem to get Stellarium Plus to connect - not a deal breaker but I was interested to try the mobile version a bit more to see if I liked it. has anyone any tips to get this to work? (I’m running iOS). Thanks, Andrew

Repurchase of one of these Skysurfers after a regretful sale of previous… just arrived this morning 👍

How are you finding the new ‘scope @Sunshine? I’ve had a great month or two of observing with mine despite being one of the worst times of the year in theory - they should come into their own later in the year.

Very good result Paul. I made an attempt using the StarSense on Friday night/Sat morning but despite a reasonably thorough search couldn’t pick out. M10 was quite faint and washed out too.

A little more experimental here - first attempt at processing a video from iPhone. Saturn captured at approx 4am 16th July. 10” Dobsonian (untracked), with iPhone 12 Pro (4K resolution) afocal with 8mm eyepiece (helped by Celestron NexYZ adapter). Approx 1 minute of video in total. Could not get output to work with PIPP at all, even when downsampled. Attempted conversion to AVI format using VCL but the output here didn’t work in Registax or AS3! Then tried importing the 1080p version of the file into Lynkeos on Mac, and this worked ! Aligned, stacked and processed within Lynkeos and final output shown here. I’d say marginally better than my first and only other attempt (so far) at Saturn imaging using a ZWO planetary cam last year.

Yes great to just leaf through casually and learn, or to plan more detailed observation sessions. Includes a useful feature that indicates the objects visible in different sized telescopes too. I’d say it may not be something you need as such, but will likely be enjoyable nevertheless - whatever experience level.

A good clear night last night but the moon and general lack of darkness certainly made things harder. Several of my DSO targets around the Summer Triangle were fairly washed out. I was out with the 10” Dob. Cygnus the Swan was particularly prominent so I went straight for the “head” for a nice easy opener in Albireo. I’m generally aiming to increase my Messier count whilst frequently going back to well known targets, so this time I headed for new to me target M29, an open cluster close to Sadr in Cygnus. Given the visibility of Sadr this was an easy find (48x power using my 25mm X-Cel) - an interesting sprinkling of stars with six or so brighter ones forming two lines that splay outwards, with a central trapezoid shape quite evident. I can see how this is sometimes likened to a “cooling tower” shape. This will be one to go back to next time. I then turned to the StarSense to quickly find more objects. M57 and M27 planetary nebulae were located quickly and although helped by using an OIII filter did not pop with the contrast I recall last time, battling against the light. I was hoping to catch comet C/2017 K2 as ought to have been easy given it’s close proximity to M10, but despite a reasonably thorough search couldn’t pick out with my eyes - M10 was quite faint and getting into the early hours I’d probably left it too late. Will try this again! Then a quick look at globular M14 (which presented as a fairly amorphous fuzzy patch ) rounded off my DSO attempts. On to planets and Saturn at this point (3am BST) was shining brightly up in the South, NW of the moon. I took in some excellent crisp views of the planet - the first in my new 10”- looking particularly sharp and well defined in the 8mm BST. I could clearly see one moon to the NW of the planet, later identified as Rhea. I took a few video clips to have a go at stacking a few frames later - will be experimental! Then Jupiter - not as “contrasty” as it can be and I didn’t stay long here, but the two main belts were clear. The most interesting aspect for me was the arrangement of the four visible moons, forming two pairs positioned either side of the planet. Callisto and Ganymede to the SE, Io and Europa to the NW. 4am finish!

Enjoyed this last night - a very useful run through across the broad sweep of astrobiology. Very good pace and actually got into a surprisingly level of detail given the time available - particularly in the Q&A section. Imagine being able to take real life shot of a methane worm and then posting it on the wildlife thread on this forum! Wondering if any SGL members are also members of the Astrobiology Society of Britain? https://astrobiologysociety.org

This popped into my Indiegogo feed today - haven’t searched properly on here to be honest but curious as to views on this from an EAA standpoint, and if anyone has been involved or experienced the original model. Not looking to acquire one at all but just for pure interest in the tech. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dwarf-ii-smart-telescope-astro-nature-photography--2?utm_content=campaigns_one_column_hero1_title&utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bck-07152022friday&gs_variant=2021_Friday#/