Tiago Ferreira

Made tonight, live action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8DyRNK8UMo

For the beginners buying first telescope and for owners of small refractors my Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ full review with cool improvements to have loads of fun with this budget telescope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfsXvTTlsf8

nice report. i never saw the Magellanic Clouds should be amazing. The Perseus double cluster i see a lot because it's like the Orion Nebula, never fails. cheers

This is not a regular method that use a concenter then use a laser like 2 independent tools. This is a method that use a concenter secundary collimation and then you MANUALLY ADJUST a laser dot at the primary mirror TO THE CONCENTER JOB in order to obtain the full collimation as a hole. It's a concenter and laser INTERACTION that allow a cheap laser to be used with an accuracy it doesn't have by itself alone because it relies on the concenter accuracy.

Video of my method to proper collimate my 12" GSO. It contains a review of the concenter ray since i use it with a laser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bAKN_0l3s

Thanks. I saw a group and asked to join to see how it is. For what i see was not released yet. I like strong platforms so may be interesting. I'm done with light and cheap ones, isn't worth it. That one says until 100kg so it has to be robust.

I've made a video review of my new eq platform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NipBy6E63c&t

This is my "Menú" for tonight. Much left to explore...

lol yes we are all engaged here but the only crazy one that goes when he should not, is me.

Always. Incredible. My brain search for justification not to go but i always fall.

I don't deal very well with cold weather. I feel very comfortable on medium to extreme hot weather 🦎 but i was here before dinner looking at the scope and my mind was fighting between the cold outside and the willing to observe. Every time this happens there's always the same winner: observing. I just never resist the call. Well, warm clothes, warm cap and here we go.🥶 Scope outside,🔭 collimation this time took longer because i was testing the concenter ray in the dark for the 1st time. The plan was practice the zwo224 before dinner because i'm too noob with cams so waited a bit for cool down and pointed MARS with 9mm eyepiece first. Beautiful Mars but not quite sharp, more cool down needed. So let's practice also testing the new focuser with cam, this was a night of technical experiences. Was a nice test, liked the double speed performance. PAUSE-Over and dinner🍖, good for cool down. After dinner the plan was observing and test the filter wheel before the moon gets to high. Started as always, saying hello to Orion Nebula, it' like a magnet, i always have to go there and like hypnotise me for a while👀. Also good chance to test the wheel with 4 filters. OMG the damn wheel is super heavy.🧱 Beside, even with the new low profile focuser i only can get focus with it if i add a barlow. And my barlow is, of course, like a rock, an ES 2x!! Struggling 😣to keep the COG and balance i've managed to keep all quiet and again, hypnotised👀. God, i love that nebula.❤️ Testing filters with it. ok, i prefer without filter, what can i say? Wheel out. The moon rising. My plan was if too cold for me, go straight to perseus and stick there. And so it was. Cassiopeia, up, double clusters. Stop. That was what i was looking for. Only with my 32mm and the scope perfectly balanced, everything was perfect, so perfect that i almost forgot how freezing it was for me. Wow, what a nice bunch of stars filling all my eyepiece, my eye like crazy glued and pressing the eyepiece like i wanted to be there🌌. Eye round and round and round as i like with wide fields of view. Love these nice and perfect clusters feeling the real power of the dobsonian. Those perfect pin point stars blowing my view. I have to share this beauty, i though. Put the red glasses 😎, got inside and shouted: "Alexa! 🤖Announce! "Come and see some beautiful clusters i got. Come on, it's only a minute!" Return to the eyepiece to enjoy those clusters. I didn't even care about trying to see heart & soul, useless with such a moon now like a candle on my back. And my wife arrived.👩 -"Too cold", she said. -"I know, only a minute, come!" - i said, while seeing the kids looking outside thinking "no way i will go outside with my crazy dad"👩‍👧‍👦 And my wife got it too. "It's a double cluster, they are beautiful" Then we talked about them and then she asked "do you have more?" "Sure! Hold on." i said while she run to the warm inside. "Too cold. I wait here"👩‍👧‍👦 SO, i start lifting the tube looking through telrad until i reach my last target, MIRFAK.✨ "Come!" i said. And then we saw, changed positions and comments about and then i said "that's it, go that i put everything inside" I stayed alone with all those stars around Mirfak taking a nice walk there and thinking that next time i will extend to the rest of Perseus, worth it. Time to go, well, not before wishing good night to M42. Just a few more minutes....that's it. Over for today.👍Cold but funny moments.

One more for the concenter club. Ordered yesterday a Concenter Ray to see also in dark and a APM deluxe eyepiece adapter 2"/1,25" to help the laser i also have to be aligned. Will post the results later.

My 2nd photo with my dobson, the first of the Trapezium at Orion Nebula. Still so much to learn lol Anyway, had i nice moment catching this beauty. 12" Dobson on Eq Platform ZWOASI224MC DeepSkyStacker I don't even know very well how i save this on sharpcap. OMG i am sooooo greeen with ZWO. I hope when weather gets hot i can make things nice and steady. I can't think with cold weather lol

Thank you. Positive astro-moments ✨

well...so so, thank you, they were my 1st astrophotos and with an hard setup. The important is that it was a nice start and with the conjunction it will be UNFORGETTABLE!! 🪐

And here's my image of the Great Conjunction Jupiter / Saturn 2020. In a 12 "GSO 1500 f/5 on an equatorial platform and ZWO ASI224MC camera. It took a light touch of photoshop to make Saturn stand out a little more. I still stacked the video but I didn't like the result because it sent Saturn down a lot. I ended up with this one that was a snapshot in Sharpcap Pro. It is also true that I am not experienced in image processing, I am much more of visualization, real and natural. It was a beautiful observation session well spent with the family. A frame and on top of the fireplace to tell the grandchildren the story of this day. See you so close again in 400 years...

muy bonita. don't you see the colors of Jupiter visually?

Just a snapshot on sharpcap pro. Already have one shot for life. I'm waiting for my eq platform so, no tracking. And i first try to process and i didn't like the results. If enhance one, loose another. No way, just the pure conjunction, me,my wife and them and a 12" dobson with ZWO224MC. My 1st astrophoto with Sharpcap Pro and with my new camera, couldn't be a better event to capture for the 1st time. I am very happy!!

At least you already did it. May be tomorrow will be better but one shot you already have for life. Today i arrived home late but i hope tomorrow i can have a chance to hunt them. I am still waiting for my platform so it will be without tracking yet. Also i have no experience with camera and software and i don't even know if i can catch them on my new zwo224mc. Simulation shows it's hard but possible. It will be all new to me at the same time and that makes me feel excited about that. I just want that shot and i will give my best to get that "couple" almost kissing each other.

collimating...

yes, it's small. I saw before buying the cam on simulator. I don't have much faith on the reducer but if it works on my eyepieces i will keep it anyway. I herd that some reducers on visual give distortion or coma but i don't know.

Still working on this EAA project. I was happy to found that i can get focus with the zwo224 so i will try the reducer, i have nothing to loose, i will return it if not happy. It's a 2" ts optics. Or may be it works for visual, i don't know yet so i want to give a try on visual too. No adapters, zwo straight to the focusser. However i've ordered one adapter/nosepiece M42/2" to fit more securely. I realized that the platform i had, the TS Optics, is completely inadequate for my 12" Dobson (too heavy, may be only for 8" max.) so i've returned it and bought this one: https://www.astroshop.eu/equatorial-wedges/geoptik-polar-wedge-eartha-dobson-platform-with-variable-latitude/p,61990 Each one has his preferences and i am a visual guy just giving a try to EAA so if it goes wrong i will keep the platform for my visual comfort (and my family). Now i'm still waiting, let's see. I am anxious to put everything on the way. I am too "green" on sharpcap pro and i've tried the cam only with asistudio, a relief of simplicity however i will come back to sharpcap. Asicap worked with tablet but crashes after few minutes and the image is better on laptop. Step by step.

Nice report. I too love M42. It never fails! And has something that i just can't take my eye out of the eyepiece, some kind of magic. It was the 1st nebula i saw with a telescope.