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Showing results for tags 'help'.
Found 85 results
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I'm fairly new and on one of my daily stargazing sessions I viewed, with the naked eye, a huge passing light going SE, from my perspective it was brighter and bigger than any stars, planets or meteors that I've seen before. It was roughly the size of a baseball. If this was a star -> . this is roughly how big it looked -> O It had a trail of similar size, seemingly dusty. It also passed and disappeared between Corona Borealis and one of Hercules' legs. Viewed on May 16th, 22:00- 23:40 I assumed, based on recent headlines, that it was Comet Swan, but upon further investigation, that was far from true. Comet Swan should not be visible with the naked eye, and definitely not to the degree I saw. Additionally, based on my coordinates* it wouldn't even cross the sky I saw, it would be below the horizon. (*roughly 15 °N, 120 °E, PH) Considering again the magnitude of the object amd the fact that I viewed it with the naked eye discounts it from being an asteroid or meteor*. (*More possible but still hard to believe with its size, you wouldn't even see something like that during meteor showers) So I then researched if it could be space debris. I thought that something as big as that should be covered by a news article somewhere. *The only results were of the 18 ton Chinese Rocket but it couldn't be that because: A. It passed over Los Angeles and New York then fell into the Atlantic Ocean, with some pieces landing in Africa. Meaning it wouldn't pass over my country. B. That happened 5 days before my viewing, on May 11 at 11:33 AM ET (08:33 PDT) It's still possible but it just seems unlikely, and with how big it was I'd assume that it would attract some media attention but I cant find anything else. Does anyone have any idea what it could have been? I have to know. If it was debris then all I need is confirmation. * https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/05/16/chinese-rocket-falls-to-earth-space-debris-problem-worsens.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/5/13/21256484/china-rocket-debris-africa-uncontrolled-reentry-long-march-5b
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Hi I am in Burghead, Scotland and would like to know what this object is in the sky. It does not appear every night and is not always exactly in that space everytime. It pulsates light and is the brightest thing I've ever seen in the sky
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So I'm having some issues recently and have a lot of questions for the erecting eyepiece 1.5x. I want to know if they are useful, better, and i also want to know if they have a lot of detail in them. How do you use a erecting eyepiece? What is it for? When can i use it? Also my issue is when I try to use an erecting eyepiece on a star it is out of focus and cant seem to find the right focus. yesterday I had tried on sirius but it just showed me a huge ball of light. Any help and tips will be appreciated. -
Hello all, This is my first post on SL, so please correct me if I have started this topic in the wrong place. I am also relatively new to astrophotography, so please ignore my naivety! I had some clear skies last week, so decided to do some lunar imaging with my new(ish) ASI224MC. I captured my frames in SharpCap as RAW24 AVI files, stacked in AS!2 and processed in Registax and Photoshop. When i got to sharpening in Photoshop, I noticed a sort of mosaic pattern over the image, which took away from some of the detail, and really ruined the image the more I sharpened. I did a quick search and it turned up with 'debayering'. This is a completely new concept to me and all of my attempts didn't seem to improve the image at all (perhaps I was debayering in the wrong order?). I have attached some images and also my some of my SharpCap settings in case they are of help. COLOUR SPACE: RAW24 CAPTURE ARE: 1304x976 OUTPUT FORMAT: AVI files (*.avi) EXPOSURE: 0.29ms GAIN: 282 Thank you in advance Regards, Josh. -
Hi, I am new to this forum, and certainly not an experienced astronomer at all. However while I was out in Herstmonceux, East Sussex during the 2016 Perseid meteor shower on the 12th of August 2016 at around 1am, I saw something pretty strange in the sky. As I was lying on my back looking up at the sky I noticed a small green point of light in the sky, about the size of an average star. It was moving around the sky, it looked slow but given its (supposed) distance I would say it was actually moving incredibly quickly. It couldn't have been a plane as it was a single, tiny point of light changing direction quickly. I live very close to the Greenwich observatory in Herstmonceux, East Sussex and I see their green lasers pointing out at the sky regularly between 8pm and 12pm usually and this also wasn't it as there was no beam, literally just a single point of bright green light moving amongst the stars. I have absolutely no idea what this could be, but I would love to hear peoples opinions or thoughts on what it could potentially be, or if anyone has seen anything like it before.
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help First telescope. Meade LX90
Jimmystargazer posted a topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Hi all. Joined the formum last night after my first use of the Meade LX90 telescope. It was a decently clear night and managed to take a look at the moon but very little else.. Maybe I had massively high hopes of the performance of the telescope but I was very much under awed by the occasion. I couldn't afford a new scope so this was delivered used with a single 26mm eyepiece, no erecting prism. Also paid extra for a variable polarising moon filter. I tried my hardest to align the telescope but failed time and time again due to the fact that the stars selected by the telescope I couldn't really see.. I did a decent amount of research before selecting this telescope and have seen what it can do.. just isn't doing for me at the moment. So I would love anyone's input as to what I should do next. I assume I need more eyepieces. I get that from reading other threads on this forum. By the way.. reading the forum really encouraged me to join as you all seem amazingly helpful and so enthusiastic. I remember having a scope as a kid and it just made stars look a little bigger.. Hence I really hoped that this purchase would blow that experience out of the water.. Not yet.. but with your help and input I'm hoping I've made a good scope choice that will give amazing results in the very near future. I have three young kids and yes I bought the scope for me, but also for them too. I want to be able to point at the nights sky and say.. that star up there is actually Saturn... wanna see it's rings? Then show them using the telescope.. I will stop there.. thanks in advance for any help and advice you may give. Currently jimmystarblurredgazing.... Hipefully with your help and input to become... jimmystargazer.. -
Hi there! I’m looking forward towards purchasing a new wide FOV eyepiece from FLO (first light Optics ) and I do to know which one to pick! i will be using it on my f/6 8” Skywatcher dob and hoping to get good views of the Orion’s nebula , (large nebulae in general) andromeda and others. I ve heard the panaview 32mm is a good choice but I d like to know about the other options as well. I would like the budget to be around 100€ Clear skies, Kronos.
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Hi, this question has probably been done to death here, but can I ask the community to help me decide on a new camera? After struggling with my very glitchy QHY5LIIc camera for a while, as well as having a forced break from astronomy, I have decided to get a new camera. After all the problems I've been having with the QHY, I really don't want to use this manufacturer again. I know lots of people use them quite happily, but once bitten ... I have been looking at the ZWO cameras - OSC, as I haven't the time, clear skies, or patients to do LRGB imaging! I have about £250 to spend, which I may be able to push to £300 if I wait a bit. ? So I've been looking at the ASI224MC, ASI290MC and the ASI178MC cameras. I mainly do planetary/Luna imaging, but I have also dabbled in a bit of DSO and would like to continue with both. I have a C9.25 and a ST80 guide scope. I know these aren't ideal for DSOs but please humour me! I think from the specs/information that the 224 is probably the best option. Although the resolution and QE are the worst of the three, the well depth and read noise are the best and the fps is pretty good too. I don't know if there are better/cheaper cameras using the same chips, such as Altair's range. I just don't want to make the same mistake that I did with the QHY!n Any help/advice you can give will be much appreciated.?
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Probably a stupid question... Heyyy soo i am a begginer and about to buy my first telescope.A Skywatcher 200 p. I ve just though of something , Since i know filters can be stacked i ve been wondering if i could take visual RGB filters and stack them.Specifically blue green and red in order to create a visual full colour image ,like photography. I know its probably a stupid question because people all over the world would have done this by now .But i m just curious. -Kronos
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I am looking at buying an older 1993 version of this model and wondered if anyone had any comments on its performance. Does it have autostar, I don't think it has gps but can you fit one in the way you can for a camera. are the optics good
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So I am very new to gazing the night skies and I have a very important question about equipment / lenses for what I'm trying to do. PLEASE keep in my that I have tremendous respect for the entire universe (whatever and however I may see it, it's just amazing) but my preference in my new hobby is just to view the Planets & our Moon. I'll start off by first saying that I bought the Celestron 8se Goto Scope (8") from Amazon along with 8mm to 24mm Baader Planetarium zoom lense, 2.5x & 3x Barlow lenses and a new Telrad finder scope. I spent over $1,800 and tried for the past week in the evening under clear night skies viewing Venus & Mars. Then at about 4:00am to 6:00am in the morning viewing Jupiter. In all cases for the past week and a half Mars, Venus & Jupiter were clearly seen and they were correctly centered and focused in my eyepiece. I had no success in seeing any features on either planet with using 6mm up to 24mm lenses (with and without the Barlows). I did see Jupiter focused and managed to see three moons. However, very in focus but still just no features! Obviously, the Moon was seen with great features in every case. (Simply incredible for the first time!) So of course I hit the Google button and searched this forum for hours! I ended up sending everything back to Amazon for a refund. I know by this point you must think I'm very impatient but 95% of my search results stated that I do not need an 8" scope or this type of scope just for viewing the Solar System if I'm not really interested in viewing Deep Space objects (which is my current preference). And I pretty much don't need the Goto features of the 8se (which is very difficult to allign anyhow) as I can easily identify any planet and of course, the Moon in the night skies. For the money I spent, I was really hoping to see alot more than just focused colored circles. However, it was very cool just knowing I was viewing these planets for the very first time but not worth the $1,800. Finally, the reason for this post is to ask the more experienced Astronomers to recommend the best sensible telescope / lenses to purchase for just viewing Planets. Thank you in advance for any help and taking your time to read this as I'm very anxious to purchase something new this week. (I got back my $1,800 but I'm not looking to spend it all, lol) Please, give me your best recommendations!
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Should I take an old Skywatcher skyliner 200p for €200 Or a new one for ~€300-400? the old one is black(not a flextube) which should I take?
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Hello. So i am very new to the world of astronomy and i just want to stargaze. I would like a telescope to look at the Moon in decent detail and maybe some other planets too and some stars too. I type this to get some help. Below i have multiple options for telescopes. I am on a strict budget, under $50 and i want a telescope that just does the job. i do not need any extreme scope just one that'll do the things mentioned above. Here are the options: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360-x-50mm-Reflective-Monocular-Astronomical-Telescope-Space-Spot-Scope-Tripod/132194688993?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3D9616727f6af84b67ad88a06df4fed9bb%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D152515267398 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Performance-700-76-Reflector-Astronomical-Telescope-NEW-UK-FAST-DELIVERY-/191464648175?hash=item2c942eadef:g:6gEAAOSwBahVaDII http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/900-60-Reflector-Astronomical-Newtonian-Performance-Telescope-60x900mm-Silver-/262966529588?hash=item3d3a06ce34:g:QRMAAOSwurZZNgwR Which one of those will be the most suitable for me and which one would you recommend. BTW, i live in Birmingham, UK. -
Good morning everyone, Just to start out, a little about me: I'm US Navy stationed in Sicily, Italy, originally from lower Alabama. I've always been an Astronomy geek, pointing out the stars and planets to friends at night....nothing beats a calm, windless, clean night out in the middle of the ocean. Other than what I've picked up over the years sky watching and reading, I've recently finished up my second semester of Astronomy so I have a decent understanding of the sky....but I know bare minimum about telescopes. I never owned my own telescope and it's been a while since I've looked through one. I did some research and almost bought an entry model celestron a few years bac, but didn't. I like to consider myself beyond beginner, so I'm looking for an intermediate level scope. I've done several telescope finders and seen several reviews. On a budget of under $1,000, but would rather stay closer to $500. I want to see the moon yes, but more interested in the planets and deep sky objects. I will be traveling with it...by traveling, I mean driving about an hour or more to get to a nice dark field. With that I've eliminated a dob, as an option. I'm looking for something that will fit in my car, and a grab n' go/no hassle. My main question is does a newtonion/reflector type require much maintenance? like if I pack it up and drive to spot am I going to be fumbling with it in the dark, trying to get a clear picture? I really want something no-hassle and spend more time viewing than aligning. The reflectors get more aperture for the money over refraction type. Astrophotography is possible, once I get more comfortable and can afford it, ill get a mount, but other than that a simple iPhone snap will suffice. That brings me to my next point, I'd like to explore and would rather spend the money for a good view, than the motorized mounts. Are the motorized mounts really worth it? I also planned on getting a eye-piece/filter kit. So, I've narrowed it down to the Celestron Omni XLT 120mm- the entire Omni line keeps popping up best reviewed/high rated lists; The Orion SkyView Pro 8". Like I said I also plan on getting a filter/eyepiece kit. Any other options or are these good?: no-hassle, decent deep sky/good planet view, $500-$1000 budget (including eye-piece kit), fit in a car. It's my first telescope, so I want the best bang for the buck, not a beginner scope. I'm an adept learner so I'm not scared off by non-computerized mounts (and I want to learn to use without it). Thank you for the help!
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Eventually, due to "dark energy", the universe will be expanding so quickly that it will break the speed of light. This, if I am not wrong, already happened at the beginning of the universe for 10 to the power of -43 seconds. So, what will happen once the universe is expanding at that speed. Will the laws of objects moving faster than the speed of light apply (mass increasing, time slowing down ect.)? I have to stress I am my no means an expert on the matter, if anyone could point out mistakes in this question please do. All answers would be much appreciated. -
I've had my telescope (the Galileo G-872 refractor) for several years now and have been able to view planets in quite a bit of detail such as the rings on Saturn and the red spot on Jupiter. But recently every time I have tried to focus in on any planets (I've tried Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) all I get are big grey dots. I am still able to focus on the moon with great detail but the planets still remain to be big grey dots. I have tried several times over the past few weeks in all different conditions and locations, I've cleaned the lenses, I've tried all of my different lenses and attachments and nothing works! I would really appreciate some help from someone who is maybe a bit more experienced in these matters than I. -
I only just got my telescope and have not yet had a clear night sky but during the day i can see light through the telescope but when i add the erecting eyepiece, the view goes black. anybody know why??? -
Hello all, I have just joined and have been looking around, and putting in various searches to find the answer to my question(s). I have already found some valuable information, but i can't find a specific answer to a question i have relating to exposure times. I have shot the milky way several times before, from a tripod and a wide angle lens. I am aware of and understand the "500 rule" and that worked fine for me at first when i was shooting with my Canon 6D Mark II. When i moved over to the Sony A7III i noticed significant trailing using the same rule and that led me to the NPF rule (Via the photopills app incase people dot know). I am heading back to Tenerife once again in about 6 weeks time and want to buy a star tracker so i can get some really detailed images. I have done a fair bit of research and in principle, the whole thing doesn't seem to be too daunting or difficult. I have purchased the Polar Scope Align Pro app so i can align Polaris as accurately as possible, i will practise putting the unit together and familiarising myself with the different parts etc, but it is the exposure times that i do not understand. My best glass is the Carl Ziess 50mm F/1.4 Planar, the 18mm F/2.8 Batis, the Sigma 35mm F/1.4 Art & the IRIX 15mm F/2.4 Blackstone. I currently do not own, nor have i ever used a tracker, and I cannot find any information relating to which aperture, ISO and Shutter length any of these focal lengths should or could be shot at. Is there anything similar to the 500 rule or NPF rule that relates to using a tracker with varied focal lengths? or is it just a case of stepping the lens down for sharpness and then trial and error? Thanks in advance, Matt.
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This is maybe my 3rd attempt at a galaxy and I am trying to figure out the best way of doing it since I live in a red zone of London suburbs. I took this over 2 nights (well, 1.5 really, as my guiding wasn't working and plate solver wouldn't comply after meridian flip...) with my 8" EdgeHD SCT with 0.7x reducer and Atik 490X. Around 20 Luminance subs at 10 mins each (1x1) and around 15 RGB subs at 5 mins each, but binned 2x2. I use Astrodon filters but also have an LP filter permanently in my image train. Question: should I only use RGB and create a synthetic L channel, given LP, or continue trying with the actual luminance? Gradients are horrible with luminance but RGB doesn't have as much detail (only red filter seems to be more sensitive). My stars are all over the place (colours pop out everywhere, in the wrong way), how can I control this better? Also, as I wrote, the red filter seems to have much more detail than the rest and when I add all the channels into PS, the red colour just overpowers everything (and in general, how can I keep the star colours as they are and not have the red and blue go crazy - I am not sure the name for it, but it looks like chromatic aberration on steroids). Any other general tips would be great... Thank in advance. GFA PS: I cheated with the core: just changed the temperature to make it look a bit more glowy; for some reason, I barely had any yellow colour from the data...I will post stacked images, if of interest. -
This is probably my options as of now:I will definetly buy a 12mm BST Starguider A 2X BST Barlow( So thats 100x and 200x magnification) AND Either: 15MM BST STARGUIDER VS 25MM STARGUIDER My dobsonian telescope will include:A 25mm and 10mm Eyepiece . So the obvious awnser is to go for the 15mm BUT i ve read in reviews that the bst s have are noticabely better than the eyepieces that come with my telescope.So i am wondering, should i buy the 25mm or the 15mm BST? Also is it worth to barlow either 25mm eyepiece to make 12.5mm and ditch the 12mm i am definetly buying for a 6mm one? i am thinking not because if i barlow the 6 mm it will give me 400x and i think that is too much magnification for the image to appear clear , plus i will also barlow the 10 mm to give me a 240x the acceptable limit for good clarity / magnification ratio (i ve read that and not sure if its true or not). Thanks again for your time and help! This forum has been very polite, welcoming and kind to noobs like me just getting into the hobby XD I hope i can one day look back at myself and laugh at my ignorance! This site has been truly amazing and i hope i can stay a member for a long time to come! Thanks as always Clear skies everyone Kronos -
I live in south Wales valley so what planisphere do I get
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Hello! I recently bought a Vivitar 76700 on a whim because it was on a sale. I've been able to get it to work alright, but was having trouble viewing the moon because of its brightness, so I ordered a moon filter. In doing research I found that 1.25" is the most common and it seemed that's what would fit mine. It arrived today and in trying to test it, the moon filter is too big to be compatible with any of the eyepieces/tubes. I have googled endlessly and 1. cannot seem to find any smaller moon filters or 2. find any explanation for why it doesn't fit the eyepieces that came with the scope, or really any extra information on the telescope. I know that most of the reviews say this model is not great, but I'm not using it for anything serious. Like I said, bought it really cheap on a whim. I'd like to be able to use this moon filter and not have to return it or get a new one. I read a review that said this telescope model is compatible with 1.25" eyepieces but I don't see how that could be the case because the 1.25" moon filter seems too big for any part of the viewing apparatus. Does anyone know anything more about this particular telescope? Or if there is some kind of adaptor I could use to make this work for me? Thank you! -
This is kind of dumb, but so am I. I've noticed that some people have a little signature or excerpt that is always at the end of every post describing their telescopes or equipment and wondered how I would add one. Excuse my ignorance, I am very new to this site
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My Orion Starseeker IV mount has recently started acting weirdly in that it will continue to spew even after the movement buttons have been released, this will then render all buttons on the handset useless as nothing will work until it is switched off and on again. I contacted Orion and they claimed it may be faulty optical encoders but they haven’t yet replied on how I can fix it and I don’t really want to pay too much to fix it. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could fix it myself?
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Hello everyone! Newbie here, Just registered after looking around the net, trying to find answers! I've always been interested in stargazing, never got a scope, though, Until now, Me and my 6year old decided to get one, I got an Astromaster 130eq, for free, as it has a broken leg brace, and the eyepiece was toast, (I bought a new eyepiece, and got a leg brace on the way) The eyepiece I got, Was a generic brand, and it's a 40mm one, (I got a 40mm one as the broken one was also 40mm) Today me and my son got our first look at the Moon, which we both loved! Now however, I've been looking at getting some better eyepieces, From what I've seen, I believe a 10mm would be better for looking at the Moon? I've seen them from 4mm up to 40mm, And I'm unsure as to what I'm looking at:S Obviously we'd like to view all sorts of things, But as with a lot of people, being on a budget means I gotta be smart with what I get, so any suggestions would be well received! I think I've read something about certain eyepieces work better for certain scopes, And I don't really know much about the one we have, if it's any good for a starter etc, so any advice there would also be wonderful! Thank you for reading my longer than expected wall of text:D -Chris
