WADAS (Wakefield and District Astronomical Society)

[Sam Baker]

I totally hope these clear skies hold out for when i get home sp i can have a bit of time with Jupiter

[hazegood]

went to winscarr arrived 2am stayed until 3.15 nice skies  but very windy so windy that the dslr got blown over, didn't bother settting the scope up,  think I got some decent widefields, though

[mapstar]

Looks good at present may be a good night to get the scope out?

[nicks90]

It is looking lovely, but I've had a few sherberts and a BBQ, so backyard tonight unfortunately.

[Sammyb]

Love too, but had a couple too many beers at the ossett brewery to drive.

Me too! It was good to see you there Nick. Felt a bit groggy today

[Soupy]

back in good old yorkshire where there is internet connectivity. Glad some of you are gettign some sky viewing in. I have been spoilt this last week in Kielder. Here is my latest pic but I think I might have gone over board with the processing

slowly getting all sorted but cant wait until we get all get up there for a camping weekend, you will be amazed. I also need to get my HEQ5 up there and get some more pics without trailing

[MattGoo]

Finally moved in to the new house at the weekend, but still plenty of DIY& decorating left to do.

Skies around there seem slightly better than where I was before, apart from a high-powered security light on a nearby school which is serving no purpose.

Plans being made for the observatory in the back garden

[mapstar]

I managed an hour last night just with a pair of 8x40 bino's I got left when my grandad passed away.They're not ideal for astro but I still managed quite a few targets.

M13, 92, 34, 31, 35, 37, 36, 38 and I even managed M33 which was a difficult one with averted vision. Also Uranus which was really difficult but a revisit with the scope is planned

[hazegood]

wide field from winscarr early hours yesterday

Before I broke my month old Nifty Fifty when the wind blew the tripod over
 

the glass is ok, and the manual focus works, but is stiff, autofocus wont work, just think something been knocked out of alignment gonna try and fix it at some point

 

[hazegood]

oh and forgot to say because of the wind I just put the camera pointing upwards on the picnic table, and took a load of 4 sec images stacked them in DSS

[mapstar]

Great shot there soupy

[hazegood]

Before I ask in the DIY forums got a question for you guys as you might know / have done this,

Am thinking of building  a barn door tracker for the camera, I understand the principle of how it works, but am wondering if there is any reason I could not use the motor from my astromaster Gem2 or whatever it is mopunt that I no longer use to drive it instead of hand cranking it,

If so any ideas on how to connect the motor to the crank, I am thinking as the motor is variable speed, a geered system with a 1:1 ratio, either direct drive via cogs or a small chain

any suggestions

[hazegood]

if one of you could tell me what area I was imaging in this image that would be appreciated, am particularly interested in what the whiteish bright object is more or less in the centre

[mapstar]

oh and forgot to say because of the wind I just put the camera pointing upwards on the picnic table, and took a load of 4 sec images stacked them in DSS

Were you in the small car park leigh?

[mapstar]

if one of you could tell me what area I was imaging in this image that would be appreciated, am particularly interested in what the whiteish bright object is more or less in the centre

Struggling a bit here, but looking at the time you took the photo as you said in a previous post it looks like Cygnus to me if you were pointing the camera straight up

Damian

[Soupy]

Cheers Damian, I did over process it to get more detail in but I am not too displeased with it, and Brocchi's looks great right at the centre.

Not too sure there on the pic Leigh, Damian could be right, but this software is supposed to be good at blind plate solving http://larryo.org/work/information/unimap/

Which is what you want to do...

No idea on the barn door set up sorry mate

[hazegood]

Were you in the small car park leigh?

Was at the sailing club one if that what  you mean, its only one I know of

[mapstar]

I thought so when you said picnic bench

Just woke at daft o'clock and had a peek out

The winter constellations are here, Orion and gemini are looking good rising at present. Nice to see Jupiter too

[MattGoo]

Leigh, I've just uploaded your image to nova.astrometry.net, and the results are here: http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/392420#annotated

Looks like Damian is correct, well done sir!

[Sam Baker]

Skies are looking clear at winscarr from 9pm to 3am tonight. Anyone interested?

[rikroe666]

Just ordered everything for leisure battery power supply so until that is sorted I can't really use the mount out of the garden for more than an hour,ha.

Hopefully most of the parts will have come today so should be ready for the weekend.

[stevemuir]

Hey guys, am back in town. Had an amazing time in South Africa. Skies quite phenomenal - but almost completely foreign, except for the odd upside down Orion and stuff like that.

Looking forward to meeting up sometime. Any news on that possible speaker for later in the year, Soupy? Do we need a committee meet at all?

Good to be back - must get the scope out soon and dust off the cobwebs....

[Sam Baker]

Why don't you come out tonight amd dust off thw cob webs!

[stevemuir]

Where are people going tonight - Winscarr? Still pretty knackered from the journey, but we'll see...!

[Sam Baker]

Yeah winscarr. The car park off dunford road