Ags

Our water table in Holland is pretty high and we dig down. A bit of water can be solved with some shuttering and a big pump.

I see you bought your shed some flowers 💐

I am not one to advocate experimentation with visual solar observing, but is it feasible to add an IR-block filter before the herschel wedge to keep temperatures down?

I did this sketch to calculate light ingress from upstairs neighbors, and figure I can get suitably protected by a 2.5 meter barrier just over 4 meters from the building line. The 2 white lines mark eye height when standing and a 2.2 meter space back from the light barrier for a turning circle around the scope. So it does look doable. I don't however think a permanent barrier 2.5 meters high would work - it would block too much light from the apartment, and the garden would also be robbed of light. However a fence 1.8 - 2.0 meters high would be ok, and I can add a temporary light barrier on top while observing (I am thinking along the lines of a camping wind barrier which can be slotted into place along the top of the fence).

Still cogitating on this… My thinking has evolved from building a ROR to building a warm room / Astro shed with rollout pier in the north-east corner of our garden. We’ll construct a paved area extending south from the astroshed with the 2.5m high west wall of the shed extended down the length of the paved area. You may ask, why such a strange structure? There are five issues for me the construction should solve: (1) exclude light intrusion from the north, west (especially including the upstairs neighbors to the west who have no curtains) and south; (2) create storage space for Astro stuff that is scattered over the apartment; (3) improve ergonomics so I can use larger equipment; (4) provide a better spot for computer activities while imaging; (5) improve the southern horizon that is obstructed by trees, a very small warehouse and a large tower block. By clearing the north-east corner, the street light to the south should be more obscured by vegetation, while the security light to the north will be blocked by the astroshed. The lights from the my own apartment and the upstairs neighbors will be blocked by the big wall/fence. The occasionally troublesome lights from the more distant houses to the east will be blocked by the eastern perimeter wall. Obviously the astroshed will resolve storage issues, and with roll out onto the paving a heavy mount can be used, for example a skytee for visual and a proper EQ mount for my imaging. The shed can include a small workbench for my laptop and power and network connection to the home. The workbench needs to be right next to the door or I would find it very claustrophobic. Obviously locating at the north end of the garden will improve the southern aspect, meaning low planets will be accessible from a low pier/tripod. I am not sure about Dutch planning laws, but fences can typically only go up 2m (is that only for boundary fences or also for fences internal to a garden???). However, the light shielding fence would be part of the astroshed structure, and sheds typically can go up to 2.5m. It would be a painful project, as we have to sacrifice my favorite tree - a beautiful red crab apple - and we take down a pergola covered by two thriving grapes. I’m not sure the light shield wall wouldn’t be monstrous, but we can make it pretty with climbers surely

I was impressed that stayed together through it's fairly intense spiralling. I've seen other rockets disintegrate from a slight deviation. Starship seems incredibly strong despite its huge bulk.

That may be true, but when the top stage lifts off from the Moon or Mars, there will be no flame diverter...

It got off the launch pad and flew quite far downrange, so for me it was a definite success. Most people I speak to equate explosion to failure however. SpaceX have revolutionized space travel, and this rocket looks on track to be another feather in their cap.

What are the dimensions? What sort of wood did you use? Is the floor a solid slab (how thick?)or is the pier separate?

Can you come round here and build mine? 🤣

It looks fabulous! Well done!

I saw on CN that the sensor is rotated, so alt-az would be no issue?

I have been very anti-smartscope, but at this price point and this cuteness level, I WANT one of these! https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/zwo-seestar-s50-all-in-one-smart-apo-telescope-tripod.html It looks absolutely amazing, really good value for money.

To me, it looks like SPM is trying to stare a hole in 100% cloud

Would you say it is recommended?

It's a focus mask, Jim, but not as we know it.

...and it will look at it for you

There are a few aspects I am not sure how to solve. Although I can build a big wood box, I am not sure how to guarantee the roof rail end posts will be square with the shed, and that everything will be truly parallel. It looks like there would be very little tolerance... Maybe this book woukd help... has anyone seen it before? https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4939-3011-1

Beautiful photography work - so clear. Please keep up the posts!

Try carrying the tripod + scope back in… with the camera USB still connected to the unsuspecting laptop. Kerrrrrash!

This build is looking very promising!

i owned a Nirvana 16, and found its edge performance very poor even at f13.

Yes lots of ideas, looking through now.

I am coming round to the DIY approach now. It's a big box basically, and roof with wheels. How hard can it be? As far as I can see the hardest thing is getting the ground level.

Took the Svbony out for a quick peek at Lyra. Epsilon Lyra split well at 4 mm zoom, but going to 3 mm degraded the view. Not sure whether 3 mm on the 3-8 zoom is somewhat poorer than the other settings or the scope itself doesn’t hold up at 170x. Zeta was a lovely split in the finder scope and in the main scope. I admired Beta for a bit and then tried to find M57. Unfortunately it is still a bit low and it was only glimpsed with averted vision - unusual for such a bright nebula.