Venus Beautiful NOW

[John]

2 hours ago, Dippy said:

Thank you John. I was also looking at Venus with Skywatcher SWA 3.5mm at the same time. If I say the zoom eyepiece image you kindly shared is 4 out of 10, and the image quality of Skywatcher SWA 3.5mm on the same target is 7, what number from 1 to 10 will you give to the image quality of Pentax XW 3.5mm? I am asking because I am considering to buy a Pentax XW this month. 

I'm not sure that I can really answer that

Perhaps start a separate thread in the eyepieces section on the options you are thinking about ?

[mikeDnight]

Its now the evening of May 14th, and Venus is getting closer to the Sun. Over the last few nights ive caught it before sundown while its still high and set against a blue sky. The phase is narrowing and when the seeing is stable, the horns of the cusps extends finely around the dark side of the globe at 178X. But the seeing degrades rapidly as Venus gets lower in the sky, so the early bird gets the worm, but well worth the effort!

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by mikeDnight

[paulastro]

I'm with you every evening it clear Mike, including last evening. Did you manage to get up for the planets this morning?

[mikeDnight]

44 minutes ago, paulastro said:

I'm with you every evening it clear Mike, including last evening. Did you manage to get up for the planets this morning?

I strategically placed the DX mount in the porch and had all my gear ready for immediate action, a bit like Bat Man. Then went to bed and purposely wore a T-shirt knowing it would irritate the heck out of me and stop me falling asleep, which it did. So after a couple of hours getting all tangled up I threw the T-shirt to one side and fell fast asleep. I woke at 6am with the Sun blazing through my bedroom window. Next time I'll set my alarm! 

[jock1958]

Crude iPhone attempt using my optic star zoom about 8.45pm last night! 
For fun I also tried my 3-6 nagler zoom & 2.5 power mate combination and was was impressed at how far you can push the Tak FC100. 

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by jock1958

[paulastro]

Bad CA with  your Tak Jock - only joking!  😄

[Stu]

Looking good here too earlier on. Picked it up about 8.30 in the binoculars then the scope once I knew where to look. Visible as a crescent in the Vixen finder (6x30), and looking great in the FL102S at up to x300 in the Nag Zoom.

Quick iPhone shot here.

[jock1958]

8 hours ago, paulastro said:

Bad CA with  your Tak Jock - only joking!  😄

I think the CA is more of an ageing operator issue Stu 😂

Bought one of those cheap phone holders you suggested, but as you can see I’m not quite there balancing the light on my phone! 

 

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

I think the CA is more of an ageing operator issue Stu 😂

Bought one of those cheap phone holders you suggested, but as you can see I’m not quite there balancing the light on my phone! 

 

Tee hee. It can be a tricky target can’t it?

Which phone do you have? I use an iPhone and an app called ProCam 7 which allows good control of focus, ISO and shutter speed so that you can keep the exposure down. Much better than the standard camera. Android phones tend to have Pro modes that do the same. Worth experimenting with.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

The crescent getting slimmer! This was at x375 mag. Venus still looked quite clear in the eyepiece

[jock1958]

44 minutes ago, Stu said:

Tee hee. It can be a tricky target can’t it?

Which phone do you have? I use an iPhone and an app called ProCam 7 which allows good control of focus, ISO and shutter speed so that you can keep the exposure down. Much better than the standard camera. Android phones tend to have Pro modes that do the same. Worth experimenting with.

Cheers Stu. I’ve got an old iPhone SE which needs replacing, maybe the new SE with the better camera?  I’ll also check out that Procam app! 

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Cheers Stu. I’ve got an old iPhone SE which needs replacing, maybe the new SE with the better camera?  I’ll also check out that Procam app! 

Each generation of phones gets better in terms of image sensors and the software algorithms running them. My S9 was much better than my iPhone 6, and the 11Pro is another step up again. I wanted to go back to Apple this time and I’m glad I have, even though I think Huawei phone cameras are probably better still.

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, jock1958 said:

I think the CA is more of an ageing operator issue Stu 😂

Bought one of those cheap phone holders you suggested, but as you can see I’m not quite there balancing the light on my phone! 

 

Not guilty Jock, it must have been someone else.  If I reccommended any phone holder it would be the Celestron XYZ (I think!) and is the one I have. 😊

[jock1958]

26 minutes ago, paulastro said:

Not guilty Jock, it must have been someone else.  If I reccommended any phone holder it would be the Celestron XYZ (I think!) and is the one I have. 😊

It’s the Scottish bit in me Paul, I was trying to save a few pennies 😂

[John]

I got this one through the Tak 100 a few days ago. My phone is an ancient Samsung S3 mini and the clamp is a cheapo 6 quid e.bay one

[Stu]

48 minutes ago, John said:

I got this one through the Tak 100 a few days ago. My phone is an ancient Samsung S3 mini and the clamp is a cheapo 6 quid e.bay one

John, you’ve clearly moved on to intermediate level imaging, what with your fancy correct image and titles!! 😉

[John]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

John, you’ve clearly moved on to intermediate level imaging, what with your fancy correct image and titles!! 😉

Signed limited edition prints are available Stu ......

[John]

This one tonight. I ought to have been consistent with my labeling though .....

 

[DaveL59]

yeah the other font is so much nicer

Took a couple shots with my camera only a short time ago but clouds took over now.

some wierdness happened with RawTherapee here tho...

[John]

I've got an old Fuji Finepix S5800. I've been meaning to try it out for eyepiece projection images of the Moon etc.

 

[DaveL59]

Now you mention it I've an old S5000 I might be able to try too, will have to dig that our and see if it still goes...

With the S100FS been trying to get this to work for more widefield, focus was a big issue, but apparently there's a way to trick it to focus to infinity. On mine, scene mode SP1 and pick nature for landscape mode. Then press to focus and when it reports no focus, switch focus to manual and leave the focus wheel alone. Then pick Manual mode and make the ISO shutter and aperture settings and you're away. I set those into custon mode C2 so just have to flip the selector to that 🙂 

[Stu]

Nice shot John. Just had some good views through the Telementor again, looks cracking now it’s such a fine crescent.

How much longer do we think it will be possible to observe it for? A week or so?

[John]

24 minutes ago, Stu said:

...How much longer do we think it will be possible to observe it for? A week or so?

I guess about a week. It's getting close to the conifer hedge at the W end of our property by the time it is easily visible now so I'll have to start finding it a bit earlier I think.

 

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, John said:

I guess about a week. It's getting close to the conifer hedge at the W end of our property by the time it is easily visible now so I'll have to start finding it a bit earlier I think.

 

Thanks John. Still fairly clear of the houses here but I might have to find somewhere with a lower horizon soon. 
 

Not sure if you saw the heads up about the conjunction with Mercury on 21st and 22nd. Should be good if clear.

[AdeKing]

9 minutes ago, John said:

I guess about a week. It's getting close to the conifer hedge at the W end of our property by the time it is easily visible now so I'll have to start finding it a bit earlier I think.

I have to confess that I've been cheating and have used the AZ Pro to find it early in the afternoon (14:00'ish) after I've finished observing in WL (well there isn't much to see) and have synced the mount to the Sun's position.

Today I also managed to observe Mercury in full daylight, though it proved very tricky due to the amount of haze and high cloud up there.

Needless to say, after executing a goto on Mercury, I carefully check the view with the Herschel wedge in place to make sure that the sun is not in the FOV before I switch to the star diagonal.

Venus was a lovely thin crescent (9% illuminated) and the tiny disc of Mercury was clearly showing a gibbous phase being about 80% illuminated.