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WADAS (Wakefield and District Astronomical Society)

stonemonkeylives

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Soupy

Soupy

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Sounds like collimination would be the first port of call indeed Scott. Some great advice here as usual, and I am sure Matt can get it sorted for you, but if you don't get the chance you could bring it to the meeting on Thursday and we can have a look at it there. :)

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Soupy

Soupy

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This winter has been very poor again weather wise. I can't remember the last time I was at winscarr for a viewing session this winter and it's definitely not been in the last 2 months!

Totally agree Damian. We'll have to get a micro astronomy session up there as soon as the sky clears. I'll bring my bins.
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Sam Baker

Sam Baker

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Luckily but unfortunately i didn't buy anything in Paris - I had a look around, there were alot of stuff in there. Some really nice takahashi refractors. A few really decent dobs and some gorgeous mounts. I was arguing with the gf about it being better than sex, she disagrees i said either way that's a bonus for me lol

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mapstar

mapstar

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Big bonus Sam.

As for the micro astronomy Damian I have managed to return back to the house and rescue my small Kson frac. And lenses so will be going BIG ;)

Could try it out on Venus and Mars to the south west tonight as they look great

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mapstar

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Luckily but unfortunately i didn't buy anything in Paris - I had a look around, there were alot of stuff in there. Some really nice takahashi refractors. A few really decent dobs and some gorgeous mounts. I was arguing with the gf about it being better than sex, she disagrees i said either way that's a bonus for me lol

Very Romantic, easy there Sam!

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Vicky050373

Vicky050373

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Well, I've been doing some micro astronomy of my own this evening, which has actually been macro for my standards! Got a decent tripod and adaptor today for my binoculars, which has been great to finally have steady vision. Lovely views of Jupiter, the moon etc, but I could not find Lovejoy this evening though. Was fortunate to be given a friend's old scope. It is only an 80mm Celestron NexStar, which did come with a Goto mount, which did not work, however the tube and lenses are in good clean condition. Took it to Green Witch this morning, and he could not get it going, even by interchanging the handset and mount with others in the shop and trying to power it up. Anyway, he has kindly taken out the gear from the mount and reassembled it so I can simply use it as a manual Newtonian scope. We even got the red dot aligner working, so that has really made things easy for me. Been out this evening with Luke viewing Jupiter and its moons. So impressed that we could clearly see 2 orange bands, and a couple of kids on the street were interested and had a look too. It's great to have a beginners scope to use, and even though it's really micro astronomy, it feels pretty macro after using my binoculars lol :)

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Sounds like you had a good time Vicky. Jupiter is a fantastic sight and I've never tired of looking at it.

If you have clear skies and are up early enough (5am eek!) then Saturn is up in the south east and such a lovely planet to view. A really good test of calm atmosphere and your viewing skills is if you can pick out the cassini division in the rings.

Also at around 6pm you can catch Venus and Mars. Venus is like a bright star in the scope but you can pick detail out on Mars the main one being the dark area called syrtis major. If you've got really good atmosphere and your eye in you may be able to pick out the polar cap with its glint of white? It's difficult though and not where you expect it on the side!

Did you bring the gears home as it may be fixable?

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Vicky050373

Vicky050373

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Hi Damian. Yes, we've had a great evening! I have been told that in good conditions I should be able to see Saturns rings, but probably not the divisions, but maybe if it is a good calm atmosphere then hopefully I'll be able to pick out the Cassini division. I'd get up early to have a chance of that. I'll have a look on Stellarium tomorrow if it is clear to see exactly where Venus and Mars are as I haven't viewed either of those before. Mars sounds really interesting - thanks for the useful information, and I'll keep you posted on how I am getting on. Yes, I brought the gear home. He just took out one cog like disc, around 2 inch across and about 1mm deep, so that the mount could be moved by hand. He tried the handset in another scope in the shop, but it was like the power wasn't going through to it. He also tried the mount with another handset. It didn't work, but the did say that it might have been because it was a different model and it might not be able to "talk" to it properly. Anyway, he said it wasn't worth sending it away for repair as it would be too costly for what it was worth, but I am happy for anyone to have a fiddle with it if they think they might be able to get it working. Problem is that I don't have the Celestron cables as my friend has lost it, but it is just the standard input generally used by Celestron. I'm happy to use it manually, but also happy if anyone wants a play at any point to see if it can be resurrected. Thanks again for your advice :)

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Vicky050373

Vicky050373

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It is a fabulous scope and offered surprisingly clear viewing! Even though Jupiter was probably only about 1-2mm diameter through the eye piece, we could clearly see 2 orange bands. It was a wonderful feeling to see them with my own eyes through my own scope! Luke was so excited and I could tell he got a lot of pleasure showing his friends and telling them about what they were seeing, he even got our copy of Astronomy Now magazine, which has a feature on Jupiter this month, and showed them what it looked like in more detail. He was showing them the images in the magazine and explaining that the thicker orange bands were what they could see through the telescope. He was then using the red dot aligner to set up the telescope himself to view other stars and the moon. We cannot see the Orion Nebula from round the back of our house, and there is too much light pollution out front, so we are going to take it down to Parker Road fields on the next clear evening to see what we can view! It was a shame the clouds came over and spoiled our fun! We really appreciate the gift :)

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mapstar

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I have taken the hard decision today to bin my lap and order some more pitch from John.

The lap was just not forming a full shape with the surface being too thin at the edge to press into the curve. This is why the centre of the mirror is hazy and under polished.

It's extra time and cost to make a new one but I will make a better job of it as the last one was very messy. Pitch get's everywhere its horrible stuff.

I should be back up and running by the end of the week but it's a set back in what seem's the never ending mirror making saga

Damian

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