WADAS forum 3

[rockystar]

It looks like I might have got an hour or two in the garden, if I hadn't have crawled off to bed at 9:30! I was exhausted.

[mapstar]

I'm quite surprised there wasn't more on here as this weekend is probably the last chance till late August to bag some scope time. I've tried twice this week but unusually for April the weather hasn't played ball. I would be out tonight but shattered after driving back from wales. Was good though 

[Vicky050373]

Shame the weather hasn't played ball for you D, and it hasn't really been any better here. Woozy is over at AstroCamp in Wales and the skies look like they were better for her last night which is good news.

I've been out in the front yard doing a bit of solar unaging this afternoon, but the atmosphere is dreadful. Just come in for dinner although I've left the scope out front in the hope of doing a bit of visual later if it stops reasonably clear

 

[Vicky050373]

Ooh, don't forget The Sky at Night this evening on BBC4. It's an hour long 60th anniversary special!

[cosmicbug]

2 hours ago, mapstar said:

I'm quite surprised there wasn't more on here as this weekend is probably the last chance till late August to bag some scope time. I've tried twice this week but unusually for April the weather hasn't played ball. I would be out tonight but shattered after driving back from wales. Was good though 

Was really looking forward to a trip out to the Dales but the weather had other ideas. 

Only managed a quick Jupiter session on Thursday night from the garden with the 8inch maksutov. 

Fingers crossed for this week otherwise it's a wait till August.

[Dec]

33 minutes ago, cosmicbug said:

Was really looking forward to a trip out to the Dales but the weather had other ideas. 

Only managed a quick Jupiter session on Thursday night from the garden with the 8inch maksutov. 

Fingers crossed for this week otherwise it's a wait till August.

2 hours ago, mapstar said:

I'm quite surprised there wasn't more on here as this weekend is probably the last chance till late August to bag some scope time. I've tried twice this week but unusually for April the weather hasn't played ball. I would be out tonight but shattered after driving back from wales. Was good though 

Was camping at Lower Stainforth nr Settle last night, weather wasn't actually too bad. Not perfect but considerably better than the forecast. Brought gear just in case and managed about an hour of decent quality subs before clouds rolled in at 1230.

Might try and get out tomorrow night if forecast is good.

[Vicky050373]

Nice images Gain to say the seeing hasn't been great. Particularly like the shadow transit.

 

I managed to grab a few AVI's this evening before Jupiter disappeared behind the tree opposite my house

Jupiter showing the Great Red Spot (GRS) and Galilean moons 23.04.2017

William Optics FLT-110 and QHY5L-II colour camera

[gtis]

 Vicky Just seen these on Flickr and they are brilliant 

[Vicky050373]

Thanks Neil. Was great to get the scope out to be honest.

Did a bit of solar in the afternoon but the atmosphere was awful. Just had a look at my files, although there isn't a lot worth saving.

The Sun with active region AR2651 23.04.2017
William Optics FLT-110 and QHY5L-II monochrome camera
800 frame AVI with best 50% stacked in Registax6 and slight adjustments in wavelets

[mapstar]

Weather is showing quite good for winscar tonight so I may have a trip up there later. Not sure on the wind speeds though. 

[2STAR]

48 minutes ago, mapstar said:

Weather is showing quite good for winscar tonight so I may have a trip up there later. Not sure on the wind speeds though. 

Hopefully me and Dec are going up to Sutton Bank if you fancy it Damian, meeting at Wetherby Services

eric

[rockystar]

23 hours ago, Vicky050373 said:

I've been out in the front yard doing a bit of solar unaging this afternoon,

is that where you sit in the sun getting younger?

the wind speed is looking like it might be a bit high for this evening - it is over this way, anyway. Sutton Bank is too far for me. I'd also be tempted with winscar, but I've no money for petrol until the weekend, and I think I might have to go to Crew for work on Friday

[mapstar]

24 minutes ago, 2STAR said:

Hopefully me and Dec are going up to Sutton Bank if you fancy it Damian, meeting at Wetherby Services

eric

After 400 miles this weekend Eric I'm not relishing the thoughts of driving far tbh. See how I feel as I would use the spot I always do if going up there. Down by the gliding club with the small farmers track of the slight bend. 

[mapstar]

32 minutes ago, 2STAR said:

Hopefully me and Dec are going up to Sutton Bank if you fancy it Damian, meeting at Wetherby Services

eric

Check your mail Eric 

[mapstar]

Well yet again the weather has changed and thrown a spanner in the works. 

Heres the view out over winscar at present you can see the wind turbines on the top of the hill. 

BBC and Metcheck have a clear spell between 9-11pm then cloud snow and generally poor weather. Also checked Sutton bank and it's pretty much the same. 

Night in I may watch last nights S@N as I've not seen it yet 

[Vicky050373]

It's just been chucking it down here and it is pretty windy too. Hope it is better for Eric and Dec where they are going. I'm just settling down for a night in catching up with TV

[Vicky050373]

2 hours ago, rockystar said:

is that where you sit in the sun getting younger?

Haha, hadn't even noticed that. Stupid autocorrect. Hmm, getting younger, I wish!

[mapstar]

7 hours ago, Vicky050373 said:

It's just been chucking it down here and it is pretty windy too. Hope it is better for Eric and Dec where they are going. I'm just settling down for a night in catching up with TV

Eric hasn't replied to my text so I guess he's on his way to sutton bank. Good luck to them both if they've ventured up that way 

Edit- Eric is up there so I hope its clear. Weather report is spot on here with clear skies at present.

Second edit-Still clear at 4am. Good to see the weather men are consistent and got it wrong again. Hope it's the same for Eric and Dec.

[mapstar]

Looks like it was a missed opportunity for me last night as the weather is clear this morning!

My  trip to wales is here:-

Elan Valley

Enjoy the read and a few pics

[2STAR]

12 hours ago, mapstar said:

Eric hasn't replied to my text so I guess he's on his way to sutton bank. Good luck to them both if they've ventured up that way 

Edit- Eric is up there so I hope its clear. Weather report is spot on here with clear skies at present.

Second edit-Still clear at 4am. Good to see the weather men are consistent and got it wrong again. Hope it's the same for Eric and Dec.

Hailstone when I left Ossett to meet Declan at Wetherby Services, arrived at the viewing spot with little cloud , in 30 mins it cleared to reveal a crystal clear sky and stayed that way, many many stars showing, problem was the bitter cold cold wind playing havoc with my scope, even when I took the dew shield off, great night apart, I had plenty of practice at alignment using the camera & laptop, really accurate so that's my way to go in future, went Comet hunting for a while but couldn't find it ha ha , finished off getting a few star clusters on screen, good laugh with Declan all night, really worth the effort.

eric

[mapstar]

Just now, 2STAR said:

Hailstone when I left Ossett to meet Declan at Wetherby Services, arrived at the viewing spot with little cloud , in 30 mins it cleared to reveal a crystal clear sky and stayed that way, many many stars showing, problem was the bitter cold cold wind playing havoc with my scope, even when I took the dew shield off, great night apart, I had plenty of practice at alignment using the camera & laptop, really accurate so that's my way to go in future, went Comet hunting for a while but couldn't find it ha ha , finished off getting a few star clusters on screen, good laugh with Declan all night, really worth the effort.

eric

Great you got out Eric and wish I'd done the same although the wind sounded like it would've been a big problem. 

[2STAR]

1 hour ago, mapstar said:

Great you got out Eric and wish I'd done the same although the wind sounded like it would've been a big problem. 

It definitely would have been a problem with your scope Damian, and bitter cold haha

[nicks90]

decided my scope was looking a bit ugly with its green nasty BBQ cover over it in my conservatory - so decided to give it a pimp cover!

what do you think?

 

[Dec]

2 hours ago, 2STAR said:

Hailstone when I left Ossett to meet Declan at Wetherby Services, arrived at the viewing spot with little cloud , in 30 mins it cleared to reveal a crystal clear sky and stayed that way, many many stars showing, problem was the bitter cold cold wind playing havoc with my scope, even when I took the dew shield off, great night apart, I had plenty of practice at alignment using the camera & laptop, really accurate so that's my way to go in future, went Comet hunting for a while but couldn't find it ha ha , finished off getting a few star clusters on screen, good laugh with Declan all night, really worth the effort.

eric

Was a great night Eric, really enjoyed it, we were very lucky with the conditions. Thought we'd maybe get an hour or so in but the bit of cloud that was there when arrived soon disappeared and 10mins later the sky was really clear.

The wind was a real problem, even sheltering the scopes behind our cars didn't help much. You'd have needed guy ropes on your Dob Damian ?

I managed a few subs but frustrated with the quality. Still getting misshapen stars in the corner of the images. If they were all consistently bad I could put it down to spacing issues or coma but some are elongated pointing towards the centre of the image others are at a tangent  to the centre and some are ok. Checked my collimation using the collimation aid on APT and it looks ok. Can only assume is down to a combination of flexure/coma. It's driving me potty. I'll post a few pics later see if you guys can help diagnose the problem. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to try next.

cheers Dec 

[rockystar]

I had a couple of hours in the garden, either the wind had dropped for me, or I was will sheltered. Had TLAO out and went through the objects in Cancer and Leo, the plan was then to move move over to coma berenices (is that the one between Leo, Virgo & Bootes?) but I was getting cold and it was nearly 1am - maybe tonight, I think the forecast is for similar