Ags

Explore Scientific eyepieces.

I am thinking of saving up for one of these - just wondering how good they are? Or should I get the bigger 80mm refractor I long for, bite the bullet and save for a Quark. Iam a bit put off by the SS60-DS because the 60mm aperture can't be changed easily, but the price is a very strong factor...

The plural of Ethos is Morpheus 😀

Had a look at the Sun today in white (green) light. Some gorgeous sunspot groups on view, dominated a huge sunspot with a wide and sharply defined penumbra.

It is not in our power to receive such gifts, but it is in our power to GIVE such gifts! 😇 If anyone wants to practice their gift-giving, just pm me 🤣

I'm not convinced of the advantage of long subs, given the low read noise and high QE of modern CMOS cameras. I think what I need to focus on in is increasing total integration time. I have tried EQ mode but I need a few more bits to avoid scope-tripod collisions.

I have the same scope - it is capable of some reasonable views. Earlier this week I was admiring some star clusters in the little scope. In addition it shows off binocular doubles really well.

I've posted these elsewhere on the forum, but thought they would be relevant on this thread - some galaxies and a big nebula. 4 second subs with the AZ-GTi in alt-az mode.

It's interesting to compare my slacker effort to an APOD from 1996... https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap960522.html How technology moves on!

I am stunned by what I can get with the ASI 485 MC with very short subs. Coming from a mono camera (178 M) I was concerned about loss of sensitivity when moving to OSC, but it almost feels like I capture more data with the OSC. It's not mathematically possible, but that's how it works out for me. If I can just get more time on target I can easily improve, 1360 seconds is nowhere near enough. I was going to get another hour tonight, but the evening has been stolen by pre-flight covid paperwork instead. I am however pretty pleased with the capturing regime, which involves rough alt-az alignment of my AZ-GTi (point and track actually, not goto) and a little course correction every ten minutes or so. The only limiting factors are the hard disk space needed, and the processing time in Astro Pixel Processor given the hundreds or thousands of subs. I would like to go for longer subs (12 seconds ha ha) but for that I need to be a bit more careful in setting up the AZ-GTi. @Rodd I normally do flats, but didn't have a chance last night (just family commitments). I will do better next time 😀

1300 seconds or so of exposures, taken from a Bortle 6 location in the Brecons. 340 x 4 second frames, 100 darks, no flats. ASI 485 MC, Gain 300, Astronomik L3 filter. Zenithstar 66 reduced to f4.3.

So you mean I don't need one now, but I will need one after I buy one? 😀

I took this 27 minute holiday snap with my granddaughter last night.

I see 3D printers are now in the sub 200 euro price range, which is below my pain threshold. I want one, but just need a little final convincing these are essential. What are the top 10 things to make in 3D, astro or even non astro?

RA: it is Really Annoying that stars drift out of view as they move through Right Ascension.

Was out tonight with my granddaughter doing a bit of EEA on M42, a bit of AP on M81/82 and then while the photons rained down on the sensor we switched to a naked-eye tour of the sky, taking in the zodiac, Orion, Auriga, Ursa Major/Minor.

Found a better spot away from the lights ... but it is next to graveyard. Also, three cop cars turned up and arrested some rowdy yoofs at the bottom of the hill 🤨

Visiting UK to see my family in the Brecon Beacons and got a chance with the ZS 66 and AZGTI tonight. These days I don't align the mount, I just point at what I want and click point and track. No arguments from the electronics that way! Orion Nebula was a bit disappointing probably due to thin cloud and streetlights, then we took in a few doubles. We finished off with M81 and M82. Hard to see these from Amsterdam but nice and clear here. Lovely sight to see both in the same field of view!

I have been playing with the sliders in Astro Pixel Processor, and also working with layers and noise reduction in Gimp. Here is the new version. I did a careful stretch to make the core larger, did convolution to "resolve" the core better, and didn't push the colors so hard.

The JWST is a scope for those dob extremists who claim to enjoy collimation!

A quick Messier 3 with the goal of trying to get a little star color, something that has always eluded me. Zenithstar 66 @ f4.3 with ASI 485 MC. 740 four second subs, gain 100.

I did a microsession with my C6, using a 20mm eyepiece throughout. First up was the moon, it was painfully bright so I tried a deep red Wratten 29 filter as an experiment and it certainly helped although it was a bit too dark. I really should buy a neutral moon filter. Orion next, first unfiltered, then with a UHC filter and back to unfiltered because the UHC did not improve things at all. Then Castor, which was a lovely sight. I tried to split Sirius using the UHC to dim it a bit, but no luck. Mizar and Polaris too. Mizar is always wonderful.

I am still plodding on with this book. I have covered the Caldwells and Messiers, and now I am working on the supplementary objects (variables, carbons and some more planetaries and clusters). I am enjoying the filler material more than the Caldwells and Messiers for some reason. They seem to be a bit more peculiar and unfamiliar. But I wonder, how many long-period pulsating variables is too many? I do like them for their disappearing act.

A cake with Ha icing, plus a blu-ray copy of Star Trek: Picard series 1.

On the contrary, I think a centrifuge can impart more energy. It spins up over an hour, while all Bull's cannon could offer was a flash of cordite. He made the barrels longer so the projectile could benefit from a longer powder burn, but barrels can only get so long... But... a malfunction in this machine would be apocalyptic!