Venus

[R.frankish]

Thankyou all for the help I will definitely try look for the nebula in Gemini 

[Stu]

53 minutes ago, R.frankish said:

Thankyou all for the help I will definitely try look for the nebula in Gemini 

The view through your 9x50 straight through finder will be upside down with a 5.6 degree field of view. If you place the star Wasat in the position indicated in this chart, the Eskimo Nebula should be in the centre of your eyepiece, so long as your finder is correctly aligned.

[R.frankish]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

The view through your 9x50 straight through finder will be upside down with a 5.6 degree field of view. If you place the star Wasat in the position indicated in this chart, the Eskimo Nebula should be in the centre of your eyepiece, so long as your finder is correctly aligned.

Yes its aligned correctly I check all mirrors and any thing that can move before use after I move my scope and thankyou looks like cloudy night ahead so as soon as its clear I'll be on it again 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Venus looking totally ace through the scope at dusk! Enjoy the views before it's gone!

[Stu]

57 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Venus looking totally ace through the scope at dusk! Enjoy the views before it's gone!

Looking myself Barry with the 8" f8. Needs to cool a little more but still very nice as you say. E & F visible in the trap too despite it still not being dark!

[Barry-W-Fenner]

39 minutes ago, Stu said:

Looking myself Barry with the 8" f8. Needs to cool a little more but still very nice as you say. E & F visible in the trap too despite it still not being dark!

Great news! I am hoping to get out shortly and will be sure to try and check out E & F - I was looking at M35 a couple of nights ago, I might check that out again with low power to try and get the whole cluster in. That's one of my favourite clusters so far!

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Anyone else get out for a view last night. I had a very short session looking at Venus, the double cluster and M35 at low power. Great targets.

Tried to split E & F but found it difficult as the view was very wobbly at high power for some reason?

[Stu]

6 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Anyone else get out for a view last night. I had a very short session looking at Venus, the double cluster and M35 at low power. Great targets.

Tried to split E & F but found it difficult as the view was very wobbly at high power for some reason?

Yep, I was out with the 8" f8 and Tal. E & F showed nicely in the dob even before it got dark but dropped off later on as the seeing got work. DC looked as good as ever through the Tal.

[mikeDnight]

I managed a brief look at Venus last night, before the clouds noticed I was having fun.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Just been having a look at Venus between the cloud. Just trying to get an understanding of the dual speed focuser.  I am focusing with the larger adjuster then the smaller for fine focus. The adjustment occasionally goes tight with the larger knob, I then have to loosen off the smaller knob to free it up is this correct?

 

Baz

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Just been having a look at Venus between the cloud. Just trying to get an understanding of the dual speed focuser.  I am focusing with the larger adjuster then the smaller for fine focus. The adjustment occasionally goes tight with the larger knob, I then have to loosen off the smaller knob to free it up is this correct?

 

Baz

That doesn’t sound right Baz. Both should run free all the time. Make sure you aren’t accidentally gripping the fine focus knob whilst trying to turn the slow speed one as that will tend to stop it moving. That may be what you are experiencing?

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Cheers Stu, I have packed up now as the sky is all clouded over. Hopefully I will get out tomorrow to get a better understanding of what I am doing wrong.

I have a pic of the focuser maybe I should create a topic and post there for advice?

 

[Stu]

29 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

I have a pic of the focuser maybe I should create a topic and post there for advice?

Good plan!

Just had a quick look at Venus through the 12” dob, looked quite good considering it was low, through cloud and the branches of a tree!

[RT65CB-SWL]

1 hour ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Just been having a look at Venus between the cloud. Just trying to get an understanding of the dual speed focuser.  I am focusing with the larger adjuster then the smaller for fine focus. The adjustment occasionally goes tight with the larger knob, I then have to loosen off the smaller knob to free it up is this correct?

 

Baz

I am assuming that you have a 1:10 Crayford focusser on your tube?

With a Crayford focusser there are two allen bolts/machine screws on the underside. One locks it in position and the other one makes the drawtube/eyepiece holder slide in/out. I cannot remember which one, does what... doh! - I have attached 'Adjusting the Skywatcher Focusser' by SGL'er @Lowjiber 

The two knobs on oneside are... coarse focus, (large one/same diameter as the one on the otherside), and fine focus, (small one).

 

Adjusting the Skywatcher Focuser.pdf

Edited March 21, 2020 by Philip R

[AdeKing]

44 minutes ago, Stu said:

Good plan!

Just had a quick look at Venus through the 12” dob, looked quite good considering it was low, through cloud and the branches of a tree!

Snap, I also managed a quick look through tree branches and cloud, though with the ED120.

I was also surprised how good it looked and I could clearly see the phase through my Panaview 32mm (28x).

Waiting for the clouds clear now.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

15 hours ago, Philip R said:

I am assuming that you have a 1:10 Crayford focusser on your tube?

With a Crayford focusser there are two allen bolts/machine screws on the underside. One locks it in position and the other one makes the drawtube/eyepiece holder slide in/out. I cannot remember which one, does what... doh! - I have attached 'Adjusting the Skywatcher Focusser' by SGL'er @Lowjiber 

The two knobs on oneside are... coarse focus, (large one/same diameter as the one on the otherside), and fine focus, (small one).

 

Adjusting the Skywatcher Focuser.pdf 900.92 kB · 3 downloads

Hi Phillip

You are correct it is the 1:10 coarse and fine focuser.  It was very tight out of the box but seems to be freeing up with a bit of use. I will hopefully get out for a bit tonight and put a few more miles on it. I will also have a read of the pdf you kindly provided and see it there is any adjustment required.

pic attached for reference

Regards

 

Baz

[Pete Presland]

Nice steady view yesterday afternoon up at 50+ degrees. Tried a variety of coloured filters to tease out some cloud, not convinced I saw any though. Used a red and green filter together which dimmed the view significantly, I thought at times I could something, not definite though.

[mikeDnight]

I managed an observation of Venus on Sunday evening against a bright blue sky. The Sun had dropped below the hill and high tree line to my south west and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. Although the image through the scope was shimmery at times, there were still moments of steady seeing when the subtle detail repeatedly confirmed its presence.

[John]

Venus looked nice earlier this evening after the Sun had gone down behind our hedge. That was with the Tak FC-100DL. Quite a nice crisp, steady image even at 280x.

 

[Stu]

6 hours ago, John said:

Venus looked nice earlier this evening after the Sun had gone down behind our hedge. That was with the Tak FC-100DL. Quite a nice crisp, steady image even at 280x.

 

Lucky you John! It looked like it was under a stream of running water at times here

[Barry-W-Fenner]

33 minutes ago, Stu said:

Lucky you John! It looked like it was under a stream of running water at times here

I managed some reasonable views of Venus, However stars at mag x150 and over for me were as you described Stu. They were the worse I have experienced and have me questioning my collimation.  Viewing seemed ok at x100 and lower though so I assume it is just bad seeing, I hope?!

 

baz

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

I managed some reasonable views of Venus, However stars at mag x150 and over for me were as you described Stu. They were the worse I have experienced and have me questioning my collimation.  Viewing seemed ok at x100 and lower though so I assume it is just bad seeing, I hope?!

 

baz

Yes, poor seeing is what causes that. My collimation looked a bit dodgy on Venus last night too but it was just down to the seeing. I’ve been struggling to see much detail on the sun in the last few days too so it seems to be an issue currently. Hope it perks up soon so I can enjoy the clear skies more.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Just now, Stu said:

Yes, poor seeing is what causes that. My collimation looked a bit dodgy on Venus last night too but it was just down to the seeing. I’ve been struggling to see much detail on the sun in the last few days too so it seems to be an issue currently. Hope it perks up soon so I can enjoy the clear skies more.

Cool, I feel much better now having your experienced advise Stu.  I agree that it is certainly hampering the viewing at present. Having said that how good has it been to get out and observe again over the last couple of nights!

 

Baz

[John]

I think the seeing can also be impeded by quite local factors such as a heating plume from a building which you don't even know is there.

I remember once observing Saturn on a warm Summer evening when the planet was just above a line of trees. The seeing was very unsteady. I read somewhere later that under certain conditions, some tree species can emit a sort of haze, maybe even tiny insect swarms which occupy the air above the tree tops. 

 

[Stu]

11 hours ago, John said:

I think the seeing can also be impeded by quite local factors such as a heating plume from a building which you don't even know is there.

I remember once observing Saturn on a warm Summer evening when the planet was just above a line of trees. The seeing was very unsteady. I read somewhere later that under certain conditions, some tree species can emit a sort of haze, maybe even tiny insect swarms which occupy the air above the tree tops. 

 

Very true John, but this was definitely atmospheric as Venus was clear of the normal offenders!! It was a little better tonight, but still pretty shimmery compared with a week or so back.