WADAS (Wakefield and District Astronomical Society)

[astrotyke]

Well I think we have proved SD scientifically that the moon landings were indeed faked. I believe they were filmed somewhere in the Barnsley area due to the amount of potholes in the pictures, they resemble Barnsley roads. Nasa you have been rumbled

Sent from my SM-G901F using Tapatalk

[Vicky050373]

"One teaspoonful of neutron star material weighs more than the entire human race."

I'm not even going to pretend that I grasp that statement!

[mapstar]

"One teaspoonful of neutron star material weighs more than the entire human race."

I'm not even going to pretend that I grasp that statement!

Got to admit I do know some people that are that dense on their own!

[Vicky050373]

Got to admit I do know some people that are that dense on their own!

I hope I'm not one of those people Mr Noble he he

[mapstar]

I hope I'm not one of those people Mr Noble he he

Not at all Vicky

[Vicky050373]

Not at all Vicky

Good job, coz I'm already keeping my eye on you

Hope you are managing to get on with your build inbetween work, and hopefully your mirror will be getting there too

[Vicky050373]

Nice set of sunspots visible today for anyone with solar filters or a solar scope

They are even showing clearly through the Baader safety film - they'll look amazing through a proper solar scope!

[Mark62]

I did get the solar scope out yesterday and there were three proms and a sun spot but been too busy today

Mark

[Vicky050373]

6.7mm ES82 just popped up in the classifieds if anyone is interested

[Vicky050373]

This afternoon I have mostly been carving a Rosetta / Philae Lander inspired design on my pumpkin.

I mean, what else would I choose??

My daughter has, however, stuck to something a little more traditional and suitably gruesome.

Luke has yet to carve his pumpkin as he is being boring.......

[mapstar]

Absolutely brilliant those Vicky

I have been doing a bit of carving myself although it has been the usual plywood!!!

[Vicky050373]

Absolutely brilliant those Vicky

I have been doing a bit of carving myself although it has been the usual plywood!!!

Haha, thanks Damian. My Rosetta looked a bit like a weird duck, but it's all good fun.

Hope you had a productive day on your build.

We've just got back from a brilliant evening at Brodsworth Hall having a "spooky" garden tour with the Victorian undertaker.

Was enjoying the crystal clear sky as we walked round as it is really dark out that way.

You could see the Milky Way running through Cygnus and it looked beautiful.

Looks like the mist is starting to roll in now I've got home.

Did anyone get out to do any viewing?

[mapstar]

I didn't get out Vicky thought it was clouded out.

A good day in the garage making more of the scope (it's a bit like bringing frankenscope to life!)

Must say it's looking large!

[Vicky050373]

I didn't get out Vicky thought it was clouded out.

A good day in the garage making more of the scope (it's a bit like bringing frankenscope to life!)

Must say it's looking large!

Don't know about Frankenstein's Monster, it is going to be the Mapstar Monster and it'll be awesome!

Yes, it was 100% cloud cover when we got to Brodsworth just before 6pm, but it cleared very quickly to leave beautiful skies by around 6.15pm.

It's definitely thickening up again, however they did say it would be very foggy overnight.

I didn't get any viewing done, just with the old MK1 eyeballs as I was going round the tour

[gtis]

Just had a quick 1/2 hour viewing the moon

But the clouds kept coverings it up

Neil

[Soupy]

Guess no one got out to see the Halloween asteroid?

Been very thick but patchy cloud up here

[Vicky050373]

Guess no one got out to see the Halloween asteroid?

Been very thick but patchy cloud up here

Nope, didn't even look for the Hallow'eem asteroid. Think the best skies occurred whilst I was out near Doncaster.

It's just got progressively worse with mist and fog as the night has gone on.

I can still see the moon, although it is very hazy now - can't really make out any stars.

Decided to open a nice bottle of red and enjoy that instead

[Vicky050373]

My friend's husband is looking at a scope they have on offer somewhere (Screwfix?), and asking if it is any good as a first scope.

He doesn't want a GoTo and he doesn't want to do AP (he doesn't have a DSLR, and won't be buying one any time soon).

It is the Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ with motor drive, and is currently on offer for £130.

I haven't used anything other than refractors or the SCT, so not sure what it is like for visual use, or even how easy it is to use.

Their budget is around the £150 mark - can I have any pros or cons for the above scope please.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for this sort of budget to get a fairly decent scope for visual use.

[Soupy]

Not sure on the astromaster Vicky, but if they are in no hurry they would be well advised to keep an eye on eBay, they might just land on a SW 150 Dob for that (or even a 200p) and they are very good for beginners and more dedicated astronomers as we all know!

[Vicky050373]

The Sun today taken using Luke's Canon Powershot with Baader visual quality safety film

[Vicky050373]

Had a pleasant evening with Mark at Winscar. Eventually we were beaten my the heavy mist!

First on the agenda was finding Uranus and Neptune, which Mark was able to do, so we have both seen those.

That completes my visual for all of the major planets.

I just took the Star Adventurer and DSLR to have a play, and I am very impressed with how it performed.

Polar alignment was very roughly done as I did not have an accurate placement of Polaris on the finder.

Here are a couple of images straight out of the camera, and even with the 300mm lens on a 3 minute exposure, there is little evidence of trailing.

Think I might have a play around with some of my images when I get more time, see what detail I can eek out, but here they are as they came out of the camera.

M31 The Andromeda Galaxy with M32 & M110 - M33 - M45 The Pleiades - The Milky Way

Mark seemed to get some good images of M31 using his 200P and DSLR, so fingers crossed for him with his work.

All in all a very enjoyable evening

[mapstar]

Star adventurer? Have I missed something?

Nice that you guys got out, I'm on nights and it's very very foggy down in Rotherham!

More wood work today and a little 180 mile trip north to pick up a bit of glass!

[Vicky050373]

Star adventurer? Have I missed something?

Nice that you guys got out, I'm on nights and it's very very foggy down in Rotherham!

More wood work today and a little 180 mile trip north to pick up a bit of glass!

Yes! Your mirror is ready - fabulous news! When is it going for coating? It's all starting to come together for you

It seemed to be very very foggy everywhere apart from Winscar, although the mist was really starting to roll in when we called it a night at around 9.30pm.

Plus, I was really battling the dew on my lenses.

It was a good night though, and nice to finally get out for a couple of hours.

Hmm, indeed, you may have missed something.......

Anyway, couple of quick crops and now it's time for bed.

[Astronomer69]

Had a pleasant evening with Mark at Winscar. Eventually we were beaten my the heavy mist!

First on the agenda was finding Uranus and Neptune, which Mark was able to do, so we have both seen those.

That completes my visual for all of the major planets.

I just took the Star Adventurer and DSLR to have a play, and I am very impressed with how it performed.

Polar alignment was very roughly done as I did not have an accurate placement of Polaris on the finder.

Here are a couple of images straight out of the camera, and even with the 300mm lens on a 3 minute exposure, there is little evidence of trailing.

Think I might have a play around with some of my images when I get more time, see what detail I can eek out, but here they are as they came out of the camera.

M31 The Andromeda Galaxy with M32 & M110 - M33 - M45 The Pleiades - The Milky Way

Mark seemed to get some good images of M31 using his 200P and DSLR, so fingers crossed for him with his work.

All in all a very enjoyable evening

M31, M32 & M110 01.11.2015.JPG

M33 01.11.2015.JPG

M45 The Pleiades 01.11.2015.JPG

Milky Way 01.11.2015.JPG

Great stuff Vicky so your liking the mount then [emoji106]

[cosmicbug]

Yes! Your mirror is ready - fabulous news! When is it going for coating? It's all starting to come together for you

It seemed to be very very foggy everywhere apart from Winscar, although the mist was really starting to roll in when we called it a night at around 9.30pm.

Plus, I was really battling the dew on my lenses.

It was a good night though, and nice to finally get out for a couple of hours.

Hmm, indeed, you may have missed something.......

Anyway, couple of quick crops and now it's time for bed.

M31, M32 & M110 01.11.2015 (1).jpg

M33 01.11.2015 (1).jpg

M45 The Pleiades 01.11.2015 (1).jpg

Nice work Vicky...did you take multiple exposures for stacking?