VNA

Hello: You would think here in Northern California it would be clear, NO! it is foggy and rain later on! Fortunately last night it was clear and was impressed at the view with a 5"SCT using a 25mm and could have easily added more magnification and still have both planets in the same field. The gods of the clouds have the upper hand. Oh well!

Hello: On a different forum I saw a beautiful image of the Horse Head using a 5".

Hello, IMO--A dry place with a minimum of extreme tmps, and the primary mirror kept vertical to keep dust from falling on it. Covered as well.

That télescope must be polished often, I suspect in order to be used?

Rain and more rain and grey skies--no its not England, when it is clear about 8 or 9 months there is still fog to contain and lots of humidity from the Pacific, but there are somme very good evenings. For now we "enjoy" the rain and it will make the garden happy this spring which is around the corner.

Thank you, it is back to normal if not better. It was the night before that was soooo sloooow which was morning for England!

Superb shows that I have watched over the years—highly recommend—produced by WGBH Boston

If you put frogs or fish watch out for wild life stealing them, cats for sure, raccoons or skunks if you have them?

That article is not worth the paper it is written on! It is to be fair that I did not read the article in question--but a title like that makes me cringe in disgust!

Chromatic Aberration does not necessarily bother everyone, I have a Celestron 6" refractor aka "yard cannon" and don't see any CA, but I am not a spring chicken! However young people and well seing people are definitely annoyed by it looking through my scope! With a fringe killer it helps a great deal and in addition you can reduce the aperture--I can't see myself spending ten times the amount for a scope without CA.

Similar experience from Glacier Point, Yosemite or the bottom of the Grand Canyon! "Too many stars" Unfortunately from home I can only see Polaris at 1.97 with averted vision--when I moved to my house I could see the milky way in the winter--that was 26 years ago and yet there is no street lights, but plenty of garden lights illuminating trees from underneat and big cities close by. "Too many stars" or is it "too many notes?" This quote makes me think about a critic of Mozart's music by Leopold the second if I am not mistaken. In any case another critic so fitting is "Music written by an angel and accompanied by celestial harmonies," a critic in a local newspaper of the time! Sorry for distressing!

One big mistake people make is looking through a telescope and it is just that: looking. On the other hand observing is completely different, it takes time, patience and it is an intellectual experience. Curiosity is beautiful to watch: I will always remember a young girl of 10 possibly 12 years old at a public star party where many scopes were present and she would come back so many times observing through my scope for long period of time, I thought she was going to be swallowed by the scope, her endless and pertinent questions moved me.

It is always fun to watchb and informative as well--interestingly enough the satellite reached 19,000 miles but I don't think it is its final placement to be in geosynchronous orbit?

Thank you and more precisely: http://www.ulalaunch.com/webcast.aspx

There is another launch at7:52 p.m. or 19:52 tomorrow Thursday Florida time so it would be early Friday in Europe! https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events/events-calendar/2018/january/rocket-launch-ula-atlas-v-sbirs-geo-4 I would think it will be transmitted as well but not sure the link?

It was great to watch, I had gone a few years ago to watch a lift off at vandenberg AFB, but it is more comfortable on the computer and with explications. Although today with smart phone it would be easier! Stu: I am not from Barcelona (nor from California) but you show great taste in British comedy with your avatar.

Tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time! If my son had gone to see it I would have joined him, but just as well after all! We are about 4-5 hours from Vandenberg AFB.