Zakalwe

😁😁

Lovely work. I could do with one of those! Got any spare material left over? 😀

They are called "Anti Luce fasteners" https://www.absolutehardware.co.uk/sc/trailer-fittings/?gclid=Cj0KCQiApaXxBRDNARIsAGFdaB_EzMhTLHBlwTXoK8iIoPa1MGL77691wFA1taDiwKFrwVpoJDEYmdYaAjwrEALw_wcB

Its an advert supplied via Google. The ads are targetted based on how much the advertiser bids and from the information Google stores on you. The point is that the advert wasn't selected by the website.....it is served up via a totally unrelated system. I assume that the system isn't 100% perfect. it is, however, clever enough to make Google a very wealthy company. 😀

The adverts will be based on YOUR browsing history, interests Google searches and nothing to do with the website publishers. It's how online advertising works.

The Edge has some significant upgrades: Mirror locks to prevent mirror shift, Tube vents to aid mirror cooling. Extra optical elements in the baffle tube to provide a much flatter field of view The Edge has been designed for astrophotography (albeit at a very long focal length.)

Anything at all will be suitable. Heck, an offcut of 1.5mm would do the trick.

You can download astronomy.net and set it up to platesolve offline with an ANSVR server. https://adgsoftware.com/ansvr/ Or, if you image, invest in Sequence Generator Pro and use Platesolve. It normally blindsolves in well under a minute and SGP is brilliant for imaging.

All user settings for EQMOD applications are stored using text files with a .ini extension. They are stored in the "application data" directory - each user has their own application data so different users can have different settings. To find the application data location type %appdata%\eqmod into the explorer address bar (makes sure you can see hidden files).

This looks interesting: https://www.skywatcher.it/sky-watcher-eq8-rh/ (I used Google Translate). " Same identical technical features as the EQ8-R, same load capacity, same design, same weight and same functionality. However, the substantial difference lies in the presence of a Renishaw encoder on the right ascension axis "

Its the micro-lenses causing refraction. Its a known "feature" of this sensor. Lovely shot overall though

To be fair to Lunt they replace the BG filter with no quibbles, regardless of the age of the diagonal. The PST is a different kettle of fish. I wonder would a blast of UV from a UV bulb down an OTA every now and then help or hinder?

The BG failure on Lunt's isn't caused by fungus though, is it? And the "rusting" failure on PSTs is also caused by another agent.

erm you do realise that this took place on April 11th?

Some details are starting to appear. The Dragon 2 was being tested in a simulation of the Falcon booster breaking up in "two times vehicle level vibro-acoustic-like for abort environments". The 12 RCS thruters had been tested successfully. When they test fired all 8 SuperDraco engines there was a RUD* https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/nasa-safety-panel-offers-more-detail-on-dragon-anomaly-urges-patience/ *Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.

They normally use a robot to secure the F9 cores to the deck of the droneship. This robot wasn't suitable for the heavy core and they only secured one leg. The droneship was over 900Km out in the Atlantic- far further than a F9 landing- and hit very heavy seas with swells over 8 metres. I saw some figures on the core entry- it was moving at 10,300 km/h at MECO and would have accelerated as gravity took hold. That was a LOT of energy to dissipate without destroying the core. Hypergolic fuels take no prisoners. When they go bang the don't do it by halves. This is why they test though...there's only so much you can do in design. Spaceflight is HARD and there's a million different ways to get it wrong and only a single way to get it correct. It was like the failure of the COPVs. They move fast though...only 6 months after the COPV failure to the release of the findings.

Successful launch stats for both Soyuz and Falcon 9 are similar at 97% success. Of course, the Soyuz has made a lot more launches! Dragon or Soyuz capsule? I'll just leave this here....?

It looks like Homer Simpson's car design., i.e. designed by someone with not a clue!

This is why they test. Hopefully it's not down to a SuperDraco design problem and is related to something more easily fixable such as plumbing. SpaceX have shown that they can respond to problems and come up with solutions far more quickly than "old" space. Up to this test they were well ahead of Boeing's effort, so I hope that they recover quickly and manned flights take place in 2019.

That's a good looking mount. The pier looks like it will need a lot of floor space. The centre column doesn't look like it can be bolted to the floor on it's own, though the complete assembly might be able to be adapted. Unless you've got lots of space in your obsy then I might guess that you'll soon get sick of kicking those huge legs and knocking the alignment off

It looks like an internal reflection coming from the bright star that's on the very right-hand edge of the image. Tracking down where the light is reflecting from could be tricky....it could be the inside of the OTA, the focuser draw-tube or any extension tubes. It could even be reflections between the camera sensor, cover glass or filters. images where you have a bright star in the frame can be tricky.

New BG filter arrived today. Great service for a scope that's 6 years old. Not a penny requested from Lunt...that's pretty outstanding customer service.

Hi Dave, I agree that's it not that bad. however, it's not going to improve, only deteriorate further over time. Lunt have been in touch today to ask for my mailing details so they can send a replacement. Superb service! On an aside, I'm not buying the ingress of moisture theory. Mine has developed the spot well away from the edges and with no visible path of damage to an edge. Who knows what is causing it?

I checked mine this afternoon and there's a spot developing on the BG filter. Its 6 years old, so it's had it's use. Ive contacted Lunt to see what they can offer.

Oh I know it won't hurt. But I can't see how "turning the red channel up"* would ever deliver more detail than a mono camera with the same sensor in the same conditions. *I presume that you mean increasing the gain?