Astro_Dad

Looking for any tips on this one please. I’ve used ZWO cameras in the recent past and had no problems using SharpCap (3.2 or 4) in Windows running via Parallels on MacOS. I picked up this entry level planetary cam this week, but struggling to enable some of the expected control options in the software. https://www.svbony.com/SV105 The camera is recognised and can take images - I recorded a sequence of Mars last night, but the camera control pane is limited- only shows frame rate. No exposure, gain or other control available. Result is a very bright overly exposed image. The cam is recognised as a webcam technically, and no driver required, but I checked and downloaded latest anyway, and also upgraded SharpCap. Not sure what the issue is. I tried using oa Capture on the MacOS side, and there the SV105 is recognised, appears in available camera options when attached via USB2, but when selected returns an error message stating could not connect. maybe computer issue rather than the cam, but other systems have been working. Any advice welcome 🙏 .

Also arrived this week - an inexpensive entry level cam for my very occasional imaging - at the price not much to lose with realistic expectations… but jury is out as have already encountered some challenges on the software control front ☹️

A mixed bag last night. Out with the 8” Dob. Mars, Moon and Jupiter - all looking great and first light with SL 8-24mm lanthanum zoom eyepiece which provided good crisp views and matches the SL ‘scope perfectly. I wanted to take an image of Mars on opposition night - I’m not an imager in the main and no longer have mid range ZWO’s but I did pick up a ridiculously cheap SvBony 105 planetary cam this week which should be fine for taking a basic record of events occasionally - but really struggled as simply could not pull up any exposure or gain controls in Sharp Cap - only frame rate. Driver checks, relaunched and more wouldn’t solve. Output was a very bright overexposed video that the usual planetary process flow wouldn’t fix. Oa Capture on MacOS could “see” the camera but refused to connect, showing error messages. A lot of faff and an ice covered ‘scope by 1am, but it’s all a learning curve! Will try my DSLR next time !

A nice zoom eyepiece upgrade arrived yesterday courtesy of @FLO. Tested last night on Mars and Jupiter with the SL Dob. Very sharp views. 👍🏻

Another excellent Dark Skies event last night (7th December) at Stump Cross Caverns. Crystal clear skies and very good seeing conditions made up for last months event here where thick fog prevented any telescope viewing. The session was hosted by Yorkshire based astronomer Richard Darn and provided a superb evening for new and experienced stargazers alike. Presentations in the “cinema” covering general astronomy and examples of astrophotography were combined with a laser guided observing session. The cave tour was also on offer again - but this time I stayed above ground for the excellent solar system views. The highlight was probably Jupiter - the excellent seeing conditions enabled some razor sharp, steady views full of surface detail. I found the view through a Celestron 80mm ED refractor particularly impressive up to 100x power, whilst the view through the Skymax 127 was also impressive at 150x. I’d say the refractor view of Jupiter was the best I’ve had overall. Saturn also nice to view again - and always good to see the reaction of first time observers of this planet during an outreach session. The Moon looked splendid, particularly through the refractor, and provided some fun for beginners in taking some phone shots through the ‘scopes. Mars was good of course, but possibly underwhelmed some. A tricky target to appreciate fully perhaps during an outreach event. The proximity of the Moon and Jupiter hinted at what was to come in the early hours the following morning - and a spectacular view that turned out to be! Overall another memorable N Yorkshire dark skies event at a fantastic location.

The most significant app version update (since the original launch of the DX 130 AZ in 2020) was when they released the 8” and 10” Dobsonians- more objects were included to help take advantage of the larger apertures. This was when they introduced the “More Deep Sky Objects” section. Some duplication of other sections but overall nicely expanded. The update potential is almost unlimited - it will be very interesting to see how far they take it in time.

I generally found alignment during the day on a distant stationary object provided excellent accuracy, and only occasionally needed to be fine tuned or checked. The plate solving worked well in bright moonlight and in much less than perfect darkness (even in Summer with only a few naked eye stars visible). Have you tried aligning in daylight again?

Happy Opposition Day SGL! Brilliant images there @Stu, @Captain Scarlet, @Froeng and others- Didn’t quite achieve anything like that but was pleased I managed to haul myself out of bed at around 4.30am to catch at least some of the event. Amazing binocular view, watching the Mars approach to the Eastern Lunar Limb. A basic phone record of the event was the best I could do at that time but the memory will live on!

Another excellent Dark Skies event tonight at Stump Cross Caverns, local cave attraction here in N Yorkshire and within the designated dark sky reserve area. Crystal clear skies and very good seeing conditions made up for last months event here where thick fog prevented any telescope viewing. Tonight’s session was hosted by astronomer Richard Darn and made for a superb evening for new and experienced stargazers alike. Presentations were combined with a laser guided observing session. The highlight was probably Jupiter - the excellent seeing conditions enabled some razor sharp, steady views full of surface detail. I found the view through a Celestron 80mm ED refractor particularly impressive up to 100x power, whilst the view through the Skymax 127 was also impressive at 150x. Saturn also nice to view again - and always good to see the reaction of first time observers of this planet during an outreach session. The Moon looked splendid, particularly through the refractor, and provided some fun for beginners in taking some phone shots through the ‘scopes. Mars was good of course, but possibly underwhelmed some. I took my binos along and also tried some phone shots of the Moon and Mars in the same field, rehearsing for the occultation later…

06/11 22:00 h Building up to the big night… Intermittently clear skies tonight offering a quick session on Mars with the Heritage Dob again (plus SvBony 7-21mm zoom). Some nice surface features coming through at times but overall fairly poor seeing with the boiling effect all too present, preventing powers much higher than about 100x. Consulting the Mars mapper afterwards I had clearly seen glimpses of Mare Sirenum in the South, and Mare Cimmerian towards the SE. Not the sharpest views though but pleasing enough. Our moon was worth another quick look also - I can imagine how impressive the occultation will be on Thursday - even through binoculars, which given the timing for me might be all that is practical.

What a fine selection of gifts! Happy Birthday for yesterday.

05/11 Unfortunately both clouds and work prevented a view of the occultation of Uranus, but the evening got better with clear skies from around 10pm. I decided to have a good look at the Moon through the six inch, enjoying nice crisp views of some of the well known features, and paying particular attention to the Terminator/ features around Gassendi, (including craters Billy and Mersenius). I also enjoyed a brief binocular sweep across the sky, enjoying prominent Mars and a fine Orion Nebula (Despite the bright Moon dominating the sky). Basically just excellent to be outside again after so much fog and cloud ! This morning at around 7am a lovely sunrise coming up over The Dales almost diametrically opposed to a still stunning bright ochra Mars in the NNW started the day well, but sadly no time for a quick session!

The SL range already offers a good starting position - RACI, DS focuser, quality AZ bearings, good quality tensioner, but enhancing further requires either flocking (not done yet but worked well on previous SW Dob) and something like the Asterion Push To system or a StarSense retro fit - both of which I’m considering.

All the best @cloudsweeper, hope you’ll be at the eyepiece again soon enough. Lovely gesture from your wife - nice image.

Not exactly what the postman brought but a sealing of the deal of an “on loan” 2” OVL Panaview 32mm. Thanks to @paulastro for this, it’s a good performer on my 8” SL Dob - improving on the already high quality supplied SL 30mm Superview.

You have a good ‘scope there - get to know how it works (both manually and using Syn Scan) and gain some experience before worrying too much about upgrades - the 25mm eyepiece is fine and you’ll be more than OK with that for a period of time. You’re right though the BST’s represent a very good, cost effective upgrade. Try the 8mm and 12mm versions in time.

This one came through the Harrogate Astronomical Society news feed - looks interesting, though a fee of £149. A recently developed a new programme of public, six-week short courses which are taught online, on-demand by Museum scientists about some of the cutting-edge research being undertaken behind the scenes in the Museum. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/courses-and-students/NHM_Masterclass/exploring_the_solar_system.html

https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.04683

An enjoyable Thursday Evening watching Part 3 of the BBC S@N Masterclass webinar series: “The planets, from points of light to detailed discs with Will Gater”. Well presented and informative - designed for beginners primarily but as always with these type of events, there is something new to pick up for more more experienced astronomers (or a refresher for all on some of the basics). Fog and cloud prevail again here so a welcome astronomical distraction in the absence of being able to actually observe anything 😀.

I was alerted to a new Coursera course option from the Department of Prof Chris Impey (University of Arizona), having completed their other offerings some time ago - History and Philosophy of Astronomy. https://www.coursera.org/learn/knowing-the-universe Duly enrolled as I contemplate starting a full time astronomy degree … wishful thinking!

Thanks Dave for your suggestions. I haven’t as yet tried filters on Mars specifically (although previously have had interesting results with Saturn and Jupiter) but have been researching this topic recently. The view last week was superb without filters but I’m going to have a try with my #21 (Orange) and #8 (Yellow) - these likely increase the contrast on the surface features. On your suggestion I’ll try my blue (80A) also. I’ve read a few articles and reviews, and the Baader contrast booster seems to do very well, but I’m inclined to try the items I already have in my kit bag first - once the clouds and thick fog subside. Sounds like they will help the views quite a bit from your experience. Did you buy your filters from SGL ? You found a good deal there 👍🏻

I’ll look forward to the review - looks interesting. The 7-21mm is excellent value with good performance so high hopes here!

29/11 A very cold crisp November night last night with brilliant clear skies. I wasn’t planning on any observing but decided to take advantage after enjoying some lovely naked eye views. Took out The Heritage 150p and opted for a manual non GOTO approach taking in a few well known easy to locate targets. The Pleiades and The Orion Nebula impressed as always. The Double Cluster stood out clearly unaided and looked spectacular at low power - although I only had my zoom with me so had a slightly hampered field of view at the longest FL. Took in a nice unstructured tour of the various sites around Cassiopeia- enjoyed seeing the ET (Owl) cluster again, and M103 looking good. Finished the session past 12am with a long look at Mars, seeing didn’t seem ideal overall and image not as sharp as with the 8” last week, but nevertheless a good view with albedo features visible at 150x power.

Welcome back to the hobby - nice rig 👍🏻

@cajen2’s set up here is hard to beat, and it’s a coincidence I was just thinking about optimal finder set ups this evening researching the twin mount approach shown there. I’m currently using an RQ as I think it provides an excellent star hopping experience - but rather than permanently attaching to the OTA via screws or adhesive strips I use strong bar magnets adhesively attached to the Rigel, and protected by some left over flocking material to provide some cushioning - so as not to scratch the OTA. Some have reported that the Rigel slips over time using a similar arrangement but I’ve not found this. It can be knocked if not careful so requires a quick on the fly check and adjustment when outside, but it’s a workable (if not perfect) set up and as a minimum can help establish the most convenient position for the Rigel.