Show us your set up in action at night.

[Sunshine]

2 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

A rare night excursion for me last night. I planned to image Jupiter and the night after the clouds dispersed was crisp. Io transits of Jupiter's red spot was particularly fascinating. Shot of dome with Jupiter overhead. Lovely purple colour from my mobile phone camera, lol.

You just couldn’t help but shoot an image of your dome in Cal-k 😄

[Nigella Bryant]

11 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

You just couldn’t help but shoot an image of your dome in Cal-k 😄

Well, you just have to do it, lol 😆 

[Mark2022]

Since I don't yet have any pics of my setup of today, I thought I'd throw in my set up from circa 1993 before life took the hobby away from me for decades.

A shot of my AstroSystems 8.5inch Newtonian having a peek at Jupiter above the electrical cables while my daughter (who'd be around 1 or 2 at the time) was asleep in the car. Occasionally, she just wouldn't settle and I'd wrap her up, put her in the car seat and drive the 10 mins or so to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh on Blackford Hill, whip out the scope and its Super Polaris mount and do a spot of observing. I didn't mind when she wouldn't settle, it gave me the excuse!

Not a great shot. I was on film back then. I think it was taken with an old Minolta SLR.

🙂

[josefk]

26 minutes ago, Mark2022 said:

Since I don't yet have any pics of my setup of today, I thought I'd throw in my set up from circa 1993 before life took the hobby away from me for decades.

A shot of my AstroSystems 8.5inch Newtonian having a peek at Jupiter above the electrical cables while my daughter (who'd be around 1 or 2 at the time) was asleep in the car. Occasionally, she just wouldn't settle and I'd wrap her up, put her in the car seat and drive the 10 mins or so to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh on Blackford Hill, whip out the scope and its Super Polaris mount and do a spot of observing. I didn't mind when she wouldn't settle, it gave me the excuse!

Not a great shot. I was on film back then. I think it was taken with an old Minolta SLR.

🙂

i really like the atmosphere that shot on film is creating. 👍

[Mark2022]

1 hour ago, josefk said:

i really like the atmosphere that shot on film is creating. 👍

Yeah, good days. The "atmosphere" may be just as you imagine it. Exceptionally quiet, even though just on a hill in the suburbs of Edinburgh. Kid in the car snoozing away happily and me pinching time (the wife wasn't the supportive type LOL) in what was - contrary to how it looks - a very dark night/morning. That was 'observing' for me at the time and we didn't have anything we have today. No GoTo, no CMOS, no software. Just the scope and the sky.

[WolfieGlos]

6 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

A rare night excursion for me last night. I planned to image Jupiter and the night after the clouds dispersed was crisp. Io transits of Jupiter's red spot was particularly fascinating. Shot of dome with Jupiter overhead. Lovely purple colour from my mobile phone camera, lol.

When I first scrolled down I thought it was the northern lights … 🤣 Glad some had clear skies last night, the predicted ones here didn’t materialise. Supposed to be tonight though 🤞

[Nigella Bryant]

48 minutes ago, WolfieGlos said:

When I first scrolled down I thought it was the northern lights … 🤣 Glad some had clear skies last night, the predicted ones here didn’t materialise. Supposed to be tonight though 🤞

Hopefully you'll get some clear skies tonight. Hope I do too, Jupiter being higher in the sky now is making a big difference. 

[WolfieGlos]

4 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hopefully you'll get some clear skies tonight. Hope I do too, Jupiter being higher in the sky now is making a big difference. 

For once the forecast is right and it’s really clear here 🙂 I was originally planning on more planetary to catch Jupiter …but back on DSO for an unplanned change.

Clear skies all.

Edited September 22, 2023 by WolfieGlos

[Dark Raven]

The local astronomy club had a monthly meeting, so I brought all three setups for the first time. Snaped a photo just before I tore it all down at the end.

SW Heritage 150 on iOptron Cube Pro II for visual, AP 110GTX on AM5, and RedCat 51 on AM3.

One of the club members used flash... 😎

Edited October 4, 2023 by Dark Raven

[RobertI]

15 minutes ago, Dark Raven said:

The local astronomy club had a monthly meeting, so I brought all three setups for the first time.

SW Heritage 150 on iOptron Cube Pro II for visual, AP 130GTX on AM5, and RedCat 51 on AM3.

I like the Heritage and Cube combination.

[Albir phil]

On 12/09/2018 at 20:21, Stub Mandrel said:

Not really night yet, but all set up for first light tonight!

Do I see a cooling system on the dslr

[John]

Not quite night yet and cloud may still spoil the fun but the simple 8 inch dob is out and waiting. If it stays clear the scope will get to use more of my Ethos eyepieces 😁

[Saganite]

Looking good here also but I think I will go to the Observatory tonight and observe with club members.

[Stu]

Not looking so promising here now, despite the forecast ☹️

I spoke too soon! 🤬

[Captain Scarlet]

This was me last night when a (forecast) mild squall came through (otherwise a superb session):

 

[Captain Scarlet]

1 hour ago, John said:

Not quite night yet and cloud may still spoil the fun but the simple 8 inch dob is out and waiting. If it stays clear the scope will get to use more of my Ethos eyepieces 😁

Mimas seems well-placed again tonight.

[John]

1 hour ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Mimas seems well-placed again tonight.

Mimas is placed well but the local clouds are badly positioned - between me and Saturn ! 😒

 

[Stu]

Had an ok night here. Transparency and seeing were both pretty average, with light cloud coming through every now and then. Regardless, I did get my best view of Saturn this year (which isn’t saying too much!) Some decent ring detail and surface shading visible. Titan, Rhea and Iapetus visible but no sign of the three close in. There was quite a lot of glare around the planet for some reason, I don’t think I had any dew anywhere so not too sure what was causing it, possibly haze??

I skipped across some doubles; the Double Double, Zeta Herc and Delta Cygni all split. I used a variety of eyepieces, Pentax XW 10, 7 and 5mm. I also used the 3.4mm Vixen HR Planetary. I was confused the first time I used this as Saturn was quite blurry and over magnified. Then I remembered that I had a x2.6 GPC in the diagonal so was at really silly mag!

[badhex]

16 minutes ago, Stu said:

There was quite a lot of glare around the planet for some reason, I don’t think I had any dew anywhere so not too sure what was causing it, possibly haze??

I had this a few weeks ago whilst in Italy. Did the same checks for dew etc but had put it down to a light haze at the time. I did later wonder if smoke and ash in the atmosphere from some of the Canadian wildfires could be to blame, as I know that has reached Europe too. 

[Sunshine]

5 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

This was me last night when a (forecast) mild squall came through (otherwise a superb session):

 

Observing in the rain! that is some commitment!

[Captain Scarlet]

10 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Observing in the rain! that is some commitment!

lol just a little shower that came through and clear after - well forecast so I came prepared 😁

[powerlord]

Sweep and tidy up ready for season. About 8 months in now with observatory. Metal definately the way to go.

 

[WolfieGlos]

I’m guessing the poor weather has stopped a lot of us in this thread lately. But tonight, only bbc is predicting clear skies. Well, they finally got it right, not a cloud has passed by yet 😳😁

And I’m working at home tomorrow so I can get a small lie in. Well…I’ll take that 😀

I’ve had a few cloud affected nights in the last few days, which is more than some, but tonight is the best I’ve had. It’s also the first time I’ve had a good sky since the council finally installed a light shield to my pesky nearby streetlight. Compare the last image to one I’ve posted previously. Sadly I’m not imaging in that direction but I will try it at some point and compare the difference in the images. 

 

Darkness, with streetlight behind the counterweight…

 

In fact, it’s so dark I need to get a head torch now! 

[bosun21]

On 07/10/2023 at 11:21, powerlord said:

Sweep and tidy up ready for season. About 8 months in now with observatory. Metal definately the way to go.

 

 

Don't you get any reflections from the metal walls caused by lights from the neighbouring houses? Lovely observatory by the way.

[powerlord]

7 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

 

Don't you get any reflections from the metal walls caused by lights from the neighbouring houses? Lovely observatory by the way.

Not that I've noticed.