Astro Noodles

Just now, saac said:

I know the feeling. I'm waiting for some filters but I've resigned myself to not getting to play with them properly until the autumn!

Jim 

Autumn ?!?  I couldn't wait that long for anything. 😄

15 minutes ago, saac said:

Ohh that's a nice frustration  - bittersweet. 

Jim 

I'll be foaming at the mouth with frustration when it finally does turn up and I have the guaranteed 3 weeks of cloud before I can use it. 😁

aargh... now I want a pub shed. 😄

Having to wait 60-90 days for my new astrograph is proving quite frustrating.

In the winter, get all set up, polar align etc.

Go inside to wait for it to get properly dark.

Get all togged up - gloves, hat etc.

Step outside and immediately have an overwhelming desire to answer the call of nature. Happens to me every time. 

27 minutes ago, Stu said:

Really? Why should it be any better defined when it appears the same size in the sky as the M87 black hole ie it is much closer but also much smaller?

https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2208-eht-mwe/
 

Sometimes it’s perhaps easy to forget just how difficult and complex this stuff is to do! Not long ago we would not have thought it possible, now we are disappointed with the images. Seems strange.

It's ok Stu, Dr Becky has explained it all to me and added some perspective and context. 😄 Just need a bit of poetry from Prof. Cox now.

So perhaps it is Sag A* which is less impressive than I had imagined it would be.

I don't like the idea that we might be staring down the barrel of a supermassive black hole - no matter how unimpressive I might think it looks. 

I'm not as impressed by the image as I probably should be. After the astonishing M87 image, I suppose I was expecting something with more definition. This image leaves me with the feeling that it's one they rushed out and snapped through a gap in the clouds - even though it took 5 years to process.

On 13/04/2022 at 21:01, Zermelo said:

Not my publication of choice, but this was an interesting read:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10470075/Sailors-sink-software-tycoons-plan-4m-avant-garde-home.html

 

I didn't really have you down as a Daily Mail reader. 

I think that Sailors and Astronomers are fellow travelers in many ways. I enjoy both activities and there are quite a number of things which transfer from one hobby to another. Being freezing cold for example.

1 minute ago, Jim Smith said:

I'm impressed, especially considering the bright Moon and less than half an hour of exposures.

I might try one of those filters. There seem to be lots of similar ones to choose from. Was there any particular reason you chose that type?

Thanks, Jim

Hi Jim

I had read some articles/posts and seen some videos. I was impressed by some galaxy shots someone had done with an L-Enhance from a bortle 8.

As you can tell, I'm really quite pleased with it but have nothing else co compare it to except my SkyTech CLS which isn't all that effective against moonlight.

With 78% moonlight and no more astro darkness, I wasn't expecting much last night. I decided to give my Optolong L-Enhance filter a test drive around Cygnus.

All images 24x60 sec unguided with flats, darks and offset/bias. William Optics ZS 61 with modified Canon 600D.

Sadr and associated nebulosity. Last year, without a modified camera I couldn't get any of the HA. This is very encouraging. 😁

Part of the Cygnus Loop including the Western Veil and Pickering's Triangular Wisp. It was right in the bottom right hand corner of the frame. Again, really pleased with the HA. I couldn't get it at all last year - just buried in noise.

A rather strange looking Deneb and part of the North America Nebula. I was just pointing to a place in the sky where I thought it might be. 😀

All in all, a very satisfying and encouraging session. It was pleasant yesterday night and I spent quite a lot of time just sitting and observing with a pair of bins. I have a 200mm lens coming at some point in the next 60-90 days. I'm looking forward to using it for some widefield fun in Cygnus over the summer.

I suppose we're stuck with it then. 😁

10 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

Full moons - the moon should only be allowed quarter phases at most.

I agree with that. Why is it that whenever there is a few cloudless nights it's ruined by a full moon? Maybe Elon Musk or somebody could go up there and paint it matt black.

I've tried to get my head around this. The light we are seeing now left 3C 273 2.4 billion years ago. Am I correct if I say that light emitted from the object now will take 4.6 billion years to reach my camera sensor?

1 minute ago, bluesman said:

Ah right, a tad difficult visually then... 😊

Capturing the object was easy enough as 61mm F5.9 gives a wide field. Finding the object in the resulting image was much more challenging. 😄

2 minutes ago, bluesman said:

Nice capture. It's actually not that difficult an object visually, as you are essentially talking about a 12.9 magnitude 'star' when observing. I find it relatively easy in an 8inch scope but you really need to have the field mapped out to ensure you are seeing the right object. Lots of reports of seeing it in a 4inch frac. Sorry, I'm not sure what size your scope is AN. It's cool knowing those photons hitting your retinas left that length of time ago... 👍

61mm frac.

1 hour ago, tomato said:

an optical plasma jet associated with this object

1 hour ago, tomato said:

have a go at this one

I'm not sure my kit is up to the challenge. I had to zoom to 200% and stretch like crazy to get that image.  

Thanks for the suggestions though.

Not much of a picture, I know. 😄

When the light set out from this object 2.4 billion years ago, there was no multicellular life on Earth. It is amazing to me that I can capture an image of it at all, no matter how fuzzy and faint from by back yard with a couple of thousand pounds worth of kit.

19 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

Look at petrol and gas prices, they really have increased and I cannot believe they will come down regardless of which way the war in Europe resolves itself.

LPG is also used for making plastic, so it’s not just transportation costs that will rise and with China going into recession it will get very scary out there.

To add ta data point I’m told that a 105 mm APM triplet with Phenolic tube and FT3545 will now retail for £5500. When I looked 2 years ago they where around £4000.
 

I’m also not surprised that Chinese made products have gone up, the free lunch is over, I.e. relative pay will equalise.

I guess manufacturers will relocate to more stable geo political areas….

I think that the cost of Astronomy equipment is the least of our worries at the moment - what with spiraling prices and high inflation. It probably is a case of if you could afford it before, you probably still can, and if you couldn't afford it before, you definitely won't be able to now. ☹️

2 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

It seems to be impossible to publish a scientific discovery these days unless you also turn it into audio

But if you published it as a graph, or in a spreadsheet or something, most people would just go ugh?!? and never think about it again.

1 minute ago, saac said:

It really is saying "keep your distance, I will do you harm " !!

JIm 

No s**t. Is that really the sound of matter being torn to pieces? I rather expected a belch - black holes are such messy eaters.

Wow - It sounds exactly like I would expect one to sound. 

7 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

... by which time your eyes are a shadow of their youthful selves.

We need our chronology and our careers in antiphase.

I'm not sure about that. All the horrible mistakes we have made in our lives will be in the future. 😬

OK, here's one. not so much frustrating as annoying.

Why, when trying to polar align, do I have to grovel on my hands and knees? And why do the manufacturers of mounts assume that I have a double-jointed neck?

Just now, LukeSkywatcher said:

I never suffered with allergies until 2018, when myself and Lorna became a couple. She's had them all her life.

In the same way, I never suffered with sinus problems until we got together.

Go figure.

Sympathetic suffering - I like it. 😄

Just now, saac said:

Second most frustrating thing is work.  Why oh why do I need to get up for work before I have gone to bed

Roll on retirement . 

Jim 

I was wondering when someone would mention that. 😄