Astro_Dad

Star Atlas arrived yesterday!

“Buck moon” lunar perigee 13th July. iPhone 12 Pro simply held by hand over a 32mm Plossl on the Heritage 150p. 
Sharpened using stock iOS camera app. 
 

Only one target tonight - the moon at perigee - impressive but not as much as last night from my vantage point. Last night was able to view much lower on the horizon, providing a more dramatic illusion of size and brightness, and clouds not adding to the overall spectacle today. Still a treat through binoculars though, and the Heritage 150p for a closer view. 

Most impressive!

25 minutes ago, Louis D said:

They just need to add offsets to the values provided via plate solving to account for inaccurate phone to scope alignment. 

Makes perfect sense - I suggested essentially same in my correspondence with Celestron. Maybe refinement will come, but for now it’s already impressive tech and works well. Not particularly familiar with SkyEye as I believe Android only, otherwise would have tried I’m sure - but principle of use is pretty clear. Thanks. 
AD
 

On 01/07/2022 at 16:46, Louis D said:

Sounds an opportunity for a future improvement by Celestron.

I was curious about this so followed up with Celestron directly. Naturally they couldn’t disclose any NPD in the pipeline but did suggest that the limiting factor is more around current phone hardware - mentioning specifically the accuracy of the digital compass/ inclinometer etc. Still not sure if this would prevent the phone being programmed to offset any error (with updated software), but I guess we can watch this space and find out!

On 11/07/2022 at 17:00, phobos1968 said:

I also own an EQ6 pro equatorial mount, and I was wondering if there is a way to get some mounting rings for this scope to put a plate on them and use it on my eq mount

I’ve no direct experience of this and sure others can wade in, but rings are available for this size of scope suitable for use with eye EQ6 Pro. 
E.g

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/skywatcher-telescope-tube-rings.html

A quick search around reveals several discussion threads about the pros cons and practicalities of this approach such as-

and 

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/516471-10-dob-vs-10-newt-eq6-gem-pros-cons/

It would be interesting to hear how you get on if you progress with this project and see a pic of the rig !

AD

Impromptu binocular (10x50s) session last night - enjoyed the moon a day before full. Swirling dynamic clouds of various shades reflecting the moonlight low in the South created an almost artistic impression with the moon appearing and disappearing from view.  Photo did not do justice. Mesmerising and a welcome contrast to recent detailed crater observation! Hopefully tonight will be similar. 

Great report Paul, some lovely planetary observing last night then, and excellent to hear the new Dob is working out well. Nice use of the StarSense tech to quickly locate Neptune also - I wish I’d stayed up myself!

Andrew

Sunday 10th July 2022, 11.30pm. Waxing Gibbous moon - hunting for Kepler and associated craters (Kepler A shown). 

Skywatcher Starquest 102 mc (Maksutov) and iPhone 12 Pro (along with Celestron NexYZ adapter and 25mm Plossl). 
 

Single shot with basic edits in camera (native iOS app). 
 

Continuing my challenge of observing and capturing the monthly lunar targets highlighted in S@N, this time Kepler. 

This ray crater optimally played 9-10th July. Last night the seeing was good enough to observe it properly, but on the image hard to really make out Kepler B and F. Kepler A shown (I think - always find it a challenge he to not only compare the reference photo to my own image along with the associated mental gymnastics of working out image orientation).

For this session I used the 102mm Maksutov on equatorial mount, 25mm Plossl. 

Packed up at 23.45 ish - starting to be eaten alive by midges etc!

2 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

The thing I find most annoying is the loud chime when you exit

I’ve never noticed this @DaveL59! You’re right it does chime both on starting (Similar to how SkySafari chimes when connecting to a telescope) and existing StarSense. I use mine in silent mode by default so never been an issue. 

36 minutes ago, paulastro said:

ITS WORKING !!!!  

What a relief.  I tried it out last night and it worked fine!  Though there might be an issue with those two screens lighting up (or not)  it doesnt matter anyway as you can bypass it by doing a night alignment which I did last night when cloud briefly intervened a couple of times.  It was also completely clear last night for the first hour or so, which it hadn't been on my previous attempts, so perhaps I had not understood what sky conditions it should work in.

 

Whatever the reason its fine now.

I was out from 11pm to just before 3am. It started working immediately, exactly how it does in all those videos on u-tube, I couldnt believe it.

 

It's bit embarrassing, but I wonder if there may never have been anything wrong with it at all!  Though the mirror/camera and crosshair alighnment screens to me didnt seem to be lit when I thought they should be, perhaps I was wrong.

 

Also when the screen kept coming up with 'cannot find your location', instead of me thinking it wasn't working properly, it was and the conditions were really just not good enough.

 

I may be wrong, but it may be that I'm not the only one who have reported errors when really there's nothing wrong.  I always thought that it's such a simple system, (a phone holder with a mirror stuck on the tube, and an app) that there really shouldn't be a problem.  Except perhaps people like me me who tend to overthink things and create a problem for themselves 😂.

 

Many thanks to all those who have tried to help with my dilemma and offered such good  support and advice, especially DaveL and Andrew.

 

Excellent result Paul, great to hear !

23 hours ago, Mircea said:

for a closer view I use a TS UWA 7mm for 171x

Thanks @Mircea, yes a well recommended eyepiece and equivalent to the OVL Nirvana? I’ve read these work well in fast f/4.7 ‘scopes - good to have some more real world feedback !

Andrew

For clarification and forum members correct if wrong -  there isn’t such a phone as the iPhone ES. There was a 5, a 5S , a 5C and the SE. The SE was the same generation as the 6 but was never called a 6 something. 
The SE (not 5SE but simply SE). was launched as you say to offer equivalent processing power as the 6 in a smaller form factor. Interestingly the SE was rebooted recently as many still desire a pocketable yet powerful phone. 

Courtesy of Amazon - to further my astrobiological research…

Good point and I’ve been thinking the same thing @Sunshine - I’ve created a new section now - let me know if I’ve missed any links or associated conversations, but hopefully this could be a meeting point for owners. 

It will be interesting and hopefully helpful to start a new section for owners of the new Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian range - new to the UK market in May 2022, I’m sure many over the coming months and years will be joining the owners club! There have been a few separate threads started already covering aspects of these telescopes, including my own first light review and a few discussions around compatible phones and other general questions and comments about these new instruments. I’ll link here the main threads, but would be good to try and consolidate here all things StarSense Explorer Dobs!

Moderators please advise if this is the best place for this section. 
 

Thanks

Andrew
 

Any other astrobiology enthusiasts planning on joining this talk? 

http://e.skyatnightmagazine.com/q/12EGHleQRHkkyPJVOkSVixbx/wv

Probably worth clarifying in case others read this for info, I think you are possibly referring to an iPhone SE. This was launched in 2016 originally with the same processor as the 6 (an Apple A9). The iPhone 6 is the oldest phone Celestron claim works. The SE should technically as well based on the spec, but is unlikely to give as fast or responsive an experience as newer phones. (Will take longer to find location and plate solve when moving the ‘scope to a target). 
You might also be referring an iPhone 5S which is an older phone still (A7 processor) and is not supported according to Celestron. 

51 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

ahh but it perhaps was applied for but wasn't yet granted on the earlier manufacturing runs so they wouldn't be able to cite the patent number and couldn't claim that it was yet.

Yes exactly - I assume the patent is now granted at least in some regions, hence they can claim that point. When the first StarSense scope was launched (DX 130AZ ) a couple of years ago, and for probably most of the onward production runs of that model and the other ‘scopes in the series it wasn’t, and hence they could only claim pending. I still haven’t seen a reference to an actual patent number though, and as mentioned I’ve only been able to find a few closely related filings in the admittedly limited search I did. 

This is an interesting question - I’ve seen “patent pending”  and more recently “StarSense Explorer technology is patented” on their website.

Typically a patent would be granted post filing (patent application), and the pending refers to the not yet granted phase!

A bit of rough and ready searching this afternoon (what else to do whilst enjoying a sunny afternoon in the garden…!) on Google Patents and Justia easily pulls up patents relating to plate solving and optical systems (possibly linked to Celestrons other StarSense camera products for auto alignment on their SCT’s   For example) 

Patent numbers 8477419 and 8401307 for example. These articulate multiple embodiments - so may stretch to the system we are discussing here. ( haven’t forensically read them yet). 

I also came across the patent for their NexYZ phone adapter - a similar version of which is found in the StarSense phone dock. 
Patent number 10795146

All interesting stuff  - I’m off to enjoy the sunny weather now so if anyone else on the forum can provide more clarity I’d be interested. 😀

Beautiful clear skies last night enabled a relaxing observing session with both the 10” Dob and Heritage 150p.

In setting up I stumbled across the Coathanger asterism almost accidentally using the Heritage and thought it would be interesting to compare the view using different focal length eyepieces and between the two ‘scopes. I actually thought the best view in some respects was through the RACI finderscope on the bigger Dob as it gave such a wide field of view.

I then focussed on two globular clusters in Ophiucus - M10  and M12. Both excellent targets in the 10” using the 25mm X-Cel and then moving in closer with an 8mm BST. In comparing the two targets, the looser nature of M12 versus the more concentrated M10 was clear. I was particularly keen to return to M10 after the “teaser” view I had earlier in the week when cloud impacted quite heavily.  

I then moved over to Scutum to enjoy  M11 (Wild Duck cluster) which looked stunning, and finished on deep sky by having a really good immersive longer look at M13 (absolutely gorgeous  with the 8mm).

At around 1.30am at this point I could see Saturn in perfect viewing position so moved the Heritage 150p to a slightly higher vantage point and enjoyed a lovely sharp view of the planet for 15 minutes or so before calling it a night.

Excellent session!

Replacement red torch (previous broke) and USB extension cable for use with the Celestron Dob fan 🙂

Some quality tomes suggested here  -  I’ve ordered the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas - was recommended to me and a very good price compared to some of the others:

interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas: Desk Edition https://amzn.eu/d/cAjMuBg

Arriving next week hopefully!