Ags

Started adding in constellation outlines. Not sure about the green color! Need to label the double stars and add page references too.

Another eyepiece for my turret! I am one eyepiece away from a full rotation!

I am focussing my visual observing on double stars and needed a book about double stars to help me. I have got form for buying astro books and leaving them to collect dust, so I decided to write the book myself - I guess I should learn more that way. And at least I can put my skills as a technical writer to the service of astronomy and not in the service of soulless Moloch. As a background, I am using the Henry Draper catalog with stellar positions updated to epoch 2000 by the Vizier service of CDS. I am focusing on stars referenced by these online resources: http://users.compaqnet.be/doublestars/ http://www.jouscout.com/astro/belmont/belmontd.htm https://www.stelledoppie.it/index2.php?section=1 And then various resources to research the stars. The books is assembled using some Java scripting to produce XML Formatting Objects and SVG diagrams, and then using Apache FOP to produce the PDF file. I am printing the book through Lulu as a ring-bound A4 color book. I chose Lulu because I know from other projects their print quality is better than most and they offer ring binding, which I really wanted. The book is organized around two kinds of diagrams - 50 degree diagrams showing bright stars visible from a city, and a zoomed in 10 degree diagram showing the 5 degree circle of a finder scope. The wider diagram is for rough navigation with a red dot finder. In the diagrams I map spectral classes of stars to colors. The diagrams have a deep grey background for field use. Here is the finder view of 55 Psc in Stellarium: And here is my draft generated diagram:

Aperture increaser... better known as a Credit Card?

Telescope mass increases as the cube of aperture, so Noah (focal reducer) wins, for me anyway.

Best time to have a problem is before you launch... 😀

The turret has been like the butterfly that starts a hurricane. It started with a 25 euro second hand turret, which led to purchasing a couple of plossls, then a 50mm finder. Now I need a couple more SLV eyepieces, a new eyepiece for the finder, an AZ5... Here is the latest iteration of my stellarizer:

Don't want to hijack the thread, but I have added a counterweight to the AZT6 (takes same counterweight thread as AZ-GTi).

I am pushing the limits of the TS travel mount/60C tripod with the setup (a wide, one-sided load of 3.5 kgs). Viewing the Double Double last night at 200x, vibrations took 2 seconds to dampen. The setup is still functional but I am going to try an AZ5 next month. Hopefully the issue is in the travel mount not the tripod.

@Voyager 3 you've got me dreaming about maybe picking up the ES 14/82° I have been thinking about for years. That would still give 5.5° true field, 15x magnification, and 14mm will give better exit pupil than 16mm.... but would it reach focus 🙄

I am looking more at the budget end of eyepieces. The ES 20/68 would be pretty good, but I am hoping find a gem in the eyepiece bargain bin!

I am not sure yet how well the TS travel mount will cope with the additional load, I'll let you know when I get a chance to use it. Hoping to upgrade to an AZ5 soon though. The tripod is an Artcise 60C. Very solid and ulta light, being carbon fiber.

I am looking for the ideal eyepiece for my new 50mm RACI finder. I am currently using a Super 25, which I have tried combining with a barlow nosepiece to reduce exit pupil (making it an effective 17mm), although the eye relief is very long with the barlow. Another thing I have noticed is that I can only get sharp focus with my glasses on - possibly the huge exit pupils bring out my astigmatism? The infinity focal plane of the RACI is 5mm above the base of the helical focuser, so eyepiece choice is limited, although I can use the revelation barlow nosepiece to raise the focal plane for other eyepieces. I am looking for an eyepiece with smaller exit pupil than the Super 25, with a wide field. It's also got to be light and cheap and barlow well. The center has to be sharp and the edges only OK (remember the RACI is f4.2). The eye relief needs to be sufficient for glasses. I'm looking for a true field of around 5° (a 21mm Plossl would give this). In terms of the quality of view I am after, the Super 25 unbarlowed seems to offer acceptable views, although given the exit pupil size I expect my eye pupil is stopping the finder down to f6. One EP that might match my criteria is the Svbony 23mm 62° (barlowed), but I know very little about that beastie, except that it is ridiculously cheap and apparently has a plastic aspheric lens.

Is it a finder? Is it an auxiliary telescope? Is it a monocular? Is it an RFT? NO, it's superman! I needed to dive deep into my bits box for some tube rings to create room between the finder EP and the scope EP, but now I think it looks awesome!

Ok, AZ5 it is then! I was tending towards it based on looks alone...

To mount a Skymax 102 or a C6, which would be best: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p9995_Skywatcher-AZ5-azimutaler-Montierungskopf-ohne-Stativ.html -or- https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11386_Artesky-Azimutale-Montierung-mit-Feinverstellung-fuer-Instrumente-bis-7-kg.html -or- https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11387_Artesky-Azimutale-Montierung-mit-Feinverstellung-fuer-Instrumente-bis-15-kg.html Obviously the larger Artesky unit would be future proof but I think the smaller one would be sufficient. Not sure I like the way its mechanics are exposed - I have images of my long flowing locks getting trapped in the mechanism!

Postal executives, surely?

Probably life arose first on Mars and then contaminated Earth! Plenty of opportunity for microbes to hitch rides on ejecta from Mars headed Earthward.

Night draws in...

Just a note - I had the 60C fully extended tonight for a change and was looking at doubles. The tripod held up nicely while using 220x magnification.

@Second Time Around The rubber band hack has been applied and tested successfully tonight. Works perfectly! @AdeKing The click on mine is quite distinct, although tonight was the first time I missed a click stop. But I was trying standing observing for a change, so was probably just finding my star legs. I have been observing sitting for a few years... My experience of the turret is it is an excellent device for my short grab and go sessions. I now carry out telescope and eyepieces in one hand. Setup involves waiting for cool-down, and then taking off the lens cap. I no longer have a lengthy ceremony every time I want to change magnification, locking the mount before removing an eyepiece, fighting to get the EP out (it always sticks!), getting the next eyepiece without getting my thumb on the eye lens...

Very good, fine for my Skymax 102 and for photography with an AZ-GTi. It's a nice size and weight for air travel too 😀 It just feels well thought out and oozes quality.

I am a big fan of Artcise tripods since buying one earlier this year. I got this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001609653198.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.23.3ae41819HSkVOc

"What did you read today?"

Well, I am thinking in terms of airline-friendliness, so those 10cm make a big difference. But you are right the 102mm doublet is a good option. The reason I think in terms of very fast scopes is because I don't want to invest in 2 inch eyepieces - I can do without the expense and I know I dislike heavy eyepieces. In practice, I can't spend all that money in one go on a telescope. So what I will actually do is get the 70mm doublet second-hand, then trade it up for a budget 102mm doublet second hand, and then see if I really need to upgrade again...