Show us your set up in action at night.

[johnturley]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Out of curiosity: what company made the "Andromeda" telescope. It is impossible to google "Andromeda telescope" and getting anything but M31 images.....

Looks a bit like one of the 4 .5 in Refractors that  Astronomical Equipment (Luton) used to manufacture in the 1970's and 80's.

John 

 

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Out of curiosity: what company made the "Andromeda" telescope. It is impossible to google "Andromeda telescope" and getting anything but M31 images.....

Andromeda is just a nickname the owner gave the scope and I think it was a restoration project from an older achromat.

[Saganite]

3 hours ago, gorann said:

Out of curiosity: what company made the "Andromeda" telescope. It is impossible to google "Andromeda telescope" and getting anything but M31 images.....

Hi Gorann,

My 5" f15 was made by the American company D&G Optical.  She was named Andromeda by my good friend Dave (  F15 Rules ) from whom I purchased the scope in 2015, and I loved the name so kept it.  I wish very much that I could have kept the scope but my post, in the " show us your most loved scope "  gives the reason for selling.  A picture of Andromeda is now my Avatar, changed just yesterday from the image of my beloved dog Bailey.

The blue scope shown in your reply is  a 4.5" f14 Achromat bought by me  and restored to this condition.  I named her Arcturus, and she was in a terrible state when I bought her.  The details of the transformation are all on the forum. This scope was made by A.E. (Luton) Ltd, a manufacturer of Astronomy equipment based 25 miles from me, but, sadly, long since gone.  The thread indicated comes up on Google if you type the name as I have shown it.

Cheers,

 

Steve

Edited July 9, 2023 by Saganite

[DrMike]

OK, here is my contribution to this thread. What with the 1st decent night in ages (mist, fog, clouds, smoke, sea haze, etc., etc..) I thought I’d trundle out the STELLINA  for a few hours. Workd well, not brilliant seeing, and after a few ours, a faint, but perceptible orange cast to the sky became apparent. I’ve posted some of the images I acquired in the deep sky thread: M96, M13, NGC6888. 
you can see the amount of light I have to put up with. Roll on retirement, and moving to a darker place🥳

[Captain Scarlet]

Last night the MW was on show, a good observing session was had after a long break, and I had to commemorate by getting more than just a phone pic of the occasion. So I put my 6D on a tripod, snapped 30 seconds and did a couple of seconds of phone-torch light-painting of the immediate scene.

Cheers, Magnus

 

[Sunshine]

Wonderful seeing conditions, decided to give the dob a break for the 102 on the hunt for doubles. My double star scalpel separates them with surgical precision on good nights, something my dob cannot do as pleasantly.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Sunshine

[JeremyS]

Dizzy’s turn. Tak FC 100DZ. Set up in 2-inch mode (Baader BBHS mirror)

[WolfieGlos]

Finally some clear skies again. All set up and ready to go.

Work tomorrow? Ah, so I’ll be tired, so what! 🤣

[Vroobel]

Hi,

Nearly 6 weeks after the purchase finally got the first light: my new Askar FMA230. A lot of clouds tonight, but at least a focus point is found and some tests like framing bigger objects are performed.

 

 

 

On top of my CGX it looks like...

 

[Sunshine]

3 hours ago, Vroobel said:

Hi,

Nearly 6 weeks after the purchase finally got the first light: my new Askar FMA230. A lot of clouds tonight, but at least a focus point is found and some tests like framing bigger objects are performed.

 

 

 

On top of my CGX it looks like...

 

There's a telescope in there somewhere? 😅

[WolfieGlos]

12 hours ago, Vroobel said:

On top of my CGX it looks like...

 

That was my first thought too 😆

[DirkSteele]

On 07/08/2023 at 00:41, Vroobel said:

Hi,

Nearly 6 weeks after the purchase finally got the first light: my new Askar FMA230. A lot of clouds tonight, but at least a focus point is found and some tests like framing bigger objects are performed.

 

 

 

On top of my CGX it looks like...

 

As I recall, that little thing packed a heck of a punch.

[Vroobel]

1 hour ago, DirkSteele said:

As I recall, that little thing packed a heck of a punch.

I believe that the tiny FMA230 can give me a similar satisfaction... 😆

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

First Light. A very short session however I'm happy up to now. Typically tonight is looking good but I really cannot stay out. ☹️

[bosun21]

33 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

First Light. A very short session however I'm happy up to now. Typically tonight is looking good but I really cannot stay out. ☹️

That's a handsome telescope. I'm looking forward to when you can get a proper session with it 🤞.

[Sunshine]

2 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

First Light. A very short session however I'm happy up to now. Typically tonight is looking good but I really cannot stay out. ☹️

it's beautiful and BIG!

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

8 hours ago, Sunshine said:

it's beautiful and BIG!

Haha... The carbon fibre tube combined with the handle does make the the ota easy to wield. For me the tube is no more difficult to move around than the 4" f7.

The AZ5 with the mount arm moved to the alternate vertical position just about did the job but I'll likely sell it in the coming months and pick up a Skytee II style mount.

I did a rudimentary star test and to my very amateur eyes the optics showed no spherical abberations or false colour out of focus and in focus the stars sparkled... 😀

 

[DirkSteele]

Spent several hours last night with BBC London Radio on Primrose Hill. Decided to bring one of the bigger guns so took the LZOS 130/1200 across the capital. The taxi was easy, walking up the hill carrying everything, not quite so much! Good interview and at the end of the session, shared a few views with all of the crew and radio host.

 

Worth it though. Saturn in particular was pretty special last night and was holding up well at 200x plus. With the biggest scope there, I was constantly nudging it to keep it view for everyone that showed up. Without exaggeration, at times my queue was 50 people deep. 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Hi all,

I hope everyone are keeping well.

I managed a bit of time at the ep last night. A bounce around the usual prominent stars this time of year. Im still a big fan of the subtle glow of Arcturus & the bright White/Blue glow of Vega!

While looking at Cassiopeia with the naked eye I was fortuanate to have a white meteor flash across the sky and burn up. Only the third time I have seen this. Was it a meteor or "man made space junk"? 🙂

Enjoyed an hour at the ep - Collimation could do with some attention, But thats a headache for another day.

Cheers

Baz

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Clear to 3am the forecast said.... At 00:15 just as I'm about to aim at Saturn a thick blanket of cloud arrived... The night started well with a cracking fireball at 2315 as I was polar aligning... 🙄

The SM125 is solid on the AVX. The stiff breeze didn't have a noticeable effect.

Edited August 12, 2023 by ScouseSpaceCadet
Speeling

[Vroobel]

50 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Clear to 3am the forecast said.... At 00:15 just as I'm about to aim at Saturn a thick blanket of cloud arrived...

 

Yeah, in my case it wasn't a long session, only 1h 50m subs of North America & Pelican. It will take 8 nights this way... 😠 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Vroobel

[WolfieGlos]

So jealous of that Stellamira 125 ScouseCadet!

Generally clear skies down here since 11.15, some passing clouds but not much, but seeing isn’t the best. I was hoping to  catch some Perseids but no such luck after sitting outside for a few hours just staring up. Predicted to be clear until 6/7 am…fingers crossed.

Did catch the scope in action, framed in the Summer Triangle 🙂

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Clear to 3am the forecast said.... At 00:15 just as I'm about to aim at Saturn a thick blanket of cloud arrived... The night started well with a cracking fireball at 2315 as I was polar aligning... 🙄

The SM125 is solid on the AVX. The stiff breeze didn't have a noticeable effect.

This scope with the red accents looks smashing.

 

[Guest]

You guys are killing me, we have solid cloud cover this evening and tomorrow is anybodies guess at this point.  

[Vroobel]

That's right, none of my 8 forecast programs (including a few ones for astro purposes) gave me a hope today for anything tonight, but it happened!

Edited August 12, 2023 by Vroobel