Maxim Usatov

Still at about the same magnitude tonight, V = 15.778.

No problem. Ask any questions.

Hi Steve, Try downloading from here: http://trafyx.com/?p=2669 Note v 0.13 has many more features added, so grab the new PDF file as well for reference. Hope this works. Maxim

Hi All, I would like to share a small program I wrote, currently called MetroPSF for the lack of better name, for differential ensemble PSF-fitting photometry. Initially wrote a small script to double-check the results I was getting through Astrometrica for the SN 2021gmj, however, thought it may be useful for public, so releasing the source code. It's a prototype, so the code quality is pretty low, but the results it produces should be ready for analysis. I would appreciate any feedback and suggestions. I thought I'd check if this is of interest to public at all by making a preliminary "alpha" release. The program files with the READ ME file (PDF) with a brief description and installation instructions: http://trafyx.com/?p=2669 The installation process may seem a bit strange, but it all boils down to installing Python interpreter which is pretty much automatic process, and using pip to install libraries, which is also automatic. This takes a few minutes on both Windows and Unix-like platforms. MetroPSF works with VizieR and Astrometry.net for retrieving catalogs and solving, and the READ ME file describes a quick use case to familiarize with the interface. The screen shot of the program in action is below - on NGC 3310 with SN 2021gmj. Maxim

Thank you, guys!

Lovely little telescope, yes! I bought it from Jauce. They bid on your behalf on local Japanese auctions and deliver. Very smooth, but there's always a risk, as sellers can sell junk, although they often mark it as such. Got FC-100 f/8 from there as well. Both my Teegul 60 and FC-100 are internal market products. The FC-100 manual and the badge are all in Japanese.

Just took delivery of this mighty Teegul 60 which came all over from Tokyo. S/N 91137, so looks like 1991? Amazingly sharp optics and color-free. Takahashi standard 1.25" visual adapter screwed right instead of the standard 0.965" one. Now looking for the finder.. Also new toys: in the background is the TG-L for my Sky 90, and on the left, just arrived also, the classic FC-100 f/8. I thought I could hang FC-100 on the TG-L but it was too much for it. S/N begins from 71, so not sure what year is that. Manual and certificate all in Japanese, I guess an internal market product.

We are definitely at the top of the Bortle here.

Was able to do photometry today in Astrometrica. Have it at V = 15.77 ± 0.05, although correct PSF fit is a little difficult. Observatory: New Mexico Skies at Mayhill, New Mexico - MPC H06 Telescope: 0.50-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer CCD: FLI ProLine PL11002M CCD camera Filter is Astrodon V.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Amazing animation, Rik. Quite a bang there in Cas!

Thank you very much!

One more vote for the 17.5 mm Baader Morpheus here. I use it with the f/5.6 Sky 90 apo and it is one of the real gems in my eyepiece case. Very comfortable, plenty of eye relief, good correction, excellent wide-field effect—to me the immersion effect exceeds even that of the 16 mm T5 Nagler. Lovely modern eyepiece.

Hi All, Just joined this forum and thought I'd introduce myself. I've recently moved from Prague to the UK, and now live in London. I've been an amateur astronomer since 2006, obtained my MSc in Astronomy in 2018 for reasons unknown. My interest is a little bit of everything - this, perhaps, can be summarized as chasing for the pleasure of collecting and mapping general information about our Universe in the attempt to understand how we have all happened to be, and how do I fit in here. As somebody said - give hydrogen a few billion years and it will begin wondering about itself... I do some research in spare time, mostly had some success in finding new variable stars and optically variable quasars via data mining techniques using data from space and ground telescopes, such as WISE and PanSTARRS. Recently, I joined the discussion about the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis by proposing it was actually an impact of a Main Belt asteroid excited by planetary resonances. I have a 90 f/5.6 mm refractor and 210 mm f/11.5 Dall–Kirkham telescopes which I use to observe. Although as I now live in an apartment without a balcony under Bortle 9, I'm mostly doing star-hopping exercises and detecting bright clusters only. I am looking for an astronomy club to join, as still trying to figure out how to occasionally be able to get to dark skies. My astronomy home is located at trafyx.com if anyone would like to take a look. Thank you! Max