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hey that reminded me to order a solar filter for my telescope. celestron is making them again; $30 with free shipping 
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Aug 27, 2023 02:56
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| # ? May 14, 2024 11:33 |
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Which reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask.. do foil solar filters lose effectiveness over time? I got one that I used in 2017. Viewing glasses too I guess. A quick google says they don't but does that depend on material/quality?
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Aug 27, 2023 04:00
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Just hold it up to the sun to check for pinholes before you use it. No visible damage and you're fine.
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Aug 27, 2023 14:22
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Took a brief look at Centaurus A over the weekend
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Sep 4, 2023 03:55
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Raikyn posted:Took a brief look at Centaurus A over the weekend 
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Sep 6, 2023 19:25
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Wow, The images amateurs can get now are truly amazing.
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Sep 6, 2023 19:35
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Last night I hit the 25% milestone on the Herschel 400. Luckily I'm managing to pick up the pace now that I've got a DSC. Onward and upward!
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Sep 6, 2023 20:02
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What’s the go to iOS app for sky gazing? I’ve been using Sky Guide for a while but I’ve been getting annoyed with how it locks lots of stuff behind a subscription. I’m not opposed to paying for something but I can’t really stomach a subscription.
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Sep 8, 2023 19:57
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Warbird posted:What’s the go to iOS app for sky gazing? I’ve been using Sky Guide for a while but I’ve been getting annoyed with how it locks lots of stuff behind a subscription. I’m not opposed to paying for something but I can’t really stomach a subscription. Stellarium has an iOS app with a lifetime unlock available; I personally like StarMap 3D+ Plus, which has a terrible name but works well (and has a single time unlock for more stars for like 2 bucks.)
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Sep 8, 2023 21:53
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Stellarium is my go-to for object finding. Photopills for planning events (such as showers and eclipses).
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Sep 8, 2023 22:51
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Thanks! I grabbed Stellarium and am giving the trial a go to see if I want to keep it.
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Sep 8, 2023 23:47
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Kalman posted:Stellarium has an iOS app with a lifetime unlock available; I personally like StarMap 3D+ Plus, which has a terrible name but works well (and has a single time unlock for more stars for like 2 bucks.) How good are the dlc stars?
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Sep 8, 2023 23:51
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I bought it like five+ years ago so I have no idea.
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Sep 9, 2023 01:37
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PerniciousKnid posted:How good are the dlc stars? They're fine, but don't pay the extra for the star armor.
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Sep 9, 2023 14:10
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i like starsense. i have Sky Safari Pro, but it occasionally begs for a subscription which annoys me, since I already paid like $20 or something for it. in general i use starsense over Sky Safari anyway
Achmed Jones fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Sep 11, 2023 |
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Sep 11, 2023 17:55
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Got out to test my first ZWO EAF and a couple dew heaters for the first time last night. It was a short test of 15 mins per filter for HaLRGB and I wish I had time to do at least triple the Lum time, but this is just a test of running the rig fully autonomously without having to babysit it all night. All the bits worked great, I'm stoked to get some longer nights this winter without freezing my rear end off changing filters and focusing manually every time.  Full details: NGC6992 East Veil Nebula - Bortle 8-9 RGB 3x300sec each L 5x180sec Ha 3x300 Skywatcher Espirt80 ZWO ASI6200MM ZWO ASI120MM guide camera ZWO EAF, ZWO LRGB Filters, Baader 7nm Ha ZWO 5-filter EFW EQ6-R Pro mount Capture via ZWO ASIAIR Processed in Pixinsight
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Sep 18, 2023 22:07
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With a set up like that, did you basically own the scope already, and then go all in on the EQ mount, camera, etc all at once? It’s hard for me to chart a path through learning astrophotography without a decent roadmap for what components you want to buy, and in what sequence, so that you don’t plonk down $10k hoping that it catches on.
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Sep 18, 2023 22:17
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Jewmanji posted:With a set up like that, did you basically own the scope already, and then go all in on the EQ mount, camera, etc all at once? I'm finding the same. I got an EQ mount cheap, then upgraded my scope but am still using my phone as camera, next steps are camera, it's such an expensive collection and with so many things to consider
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Sep 18, 2023 22:26
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Jewmanji posted:With a set up like that, did you basically own the scope already, and then go all in on the EQ mount, camera, etc all at once? It's been one step at a time for me since 2015. Started with an unmodified DSLR on a cheap 8" reflector and a celestron goto mount. It evolved over time as I didn't have the money to drop on all this and, honestly, this whole process has been "fix/improve one issue, move on to the next." Over several years it went something like: -New camera and Pixinsight for post processing (ZWO ASI294MC-PRO color CCD - HUGE step up from an unmodified DSLR or phone when combined with Pixinsight. Cannot stress that enough.) -The mount is struggling with the heavier camera and mounting gear. New mount that supports EQMOD and heavier payload (EQ6-R). Used EQMOD/ASCOM with SharpCap and guiding via Stellarium. -Hmm, tracking is better but not great. Got a guide scope/camera and added PHD2 to my workflow. -The optics on my telescope are horrible, the primary mirror is constantly out of collimation, and, even with a focal flattener, the build on the tube/focusers was trash. Time for a new scope (Skywatcher Esprit80) -There's too many drat pieces to tracking/guiding/shooting and every time I set this up I want to die. Picked up an ASIAIR and eliminated SharpCap/PHD2/Stellarium/EQMOD/ASCOM all in one go. (Holy poo poo this made my life so much easier) -Couple years later, now I want to try mono shooting. Picked up a ZWO ASI6200MM last winter (This was me spoiling myself, but I happened to have the extra cash to do so at the time. You can do a hell of a lot with smaller mono cameras than this). Also got a filter wheel and some LRGB filters. -I live in Minnesota and changing filters with my stupid fingers in December sucks. Picked up a 5-spot EFW and integrated seamlessly with my ASIAIR -Hmm, I never realized that changing filters changes the focus on the camera because high school physics was a long time ago and I'm an idiot. Picked up a ZWO EAF a couple weeks ago and installed it on my Esprit80 I really enjoy the process of debugging issues and improving processes, so this worked well for me. I wouldn't recommend someone go out and get all this gear straight out unless you're already well established in this hobby and comfortable with your workflows, that'd be crazy. Start with whatever camera you can afford, whatever scope can get the stars in focus, and a tracking mount that doesn't fall over. Go from there and improve whatever bits you can, when you can.
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Sep 18, 2023 23:20
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Golden-i posted:Got out to test my first ZWO EAF and a couple dew heaters for the first time last night. It was a short test of 15 mins per filter for HaLRGB and I wish I had time to do at least triple the Lum time, but this is just a test of running the rig fully autonomously without having to babysit it all night. I also did the veil in the last week. Not great as it only just gets above the horizon down here, doesn't get above 20° , but I think it's alright. I had to move the mount a few times to dodge some trees.  ASI294MC + Askar FRA300
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Sep 23, 2023 12:45
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Raikyn posted:I also did the veil in the last week. Not great as it only just gets above the horizon down here, doesn't get above 20° , but I think it's alright. I had to move the mount a few times to dodge some trees. Ohhhh I really enjoy the full view of the Cygnus Loop. That was my intent when I went out, this camera+scope has a wide enough view but I think my back focus is off by a couple millimeters, so anything too far from center frame was streaking away from center. One more thing to fix before next time... Did you use Starnet or something to reduce stars? It looks really, really good.
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Sep 23, 2023 19:22
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I'm using a pass of blurxterminator to do an initial reduction before doing the stretch. Most of the time that all I'll do, but on a wide image where I'm just using a ir cut filter the stars can still overpower, so there I'll do a star reduction as a final step after all my other processing. This star reduction I use uses a starless image and pixelmath to do the reduction
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Sep 23, 2023 21:26
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I had about 20 min of decent viewing conditions of the moon around sunset before clouds came over. Did a couple of close up shots 
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Sep 25, 2023 03:38
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Here I thought my dob with a 16" mirror was large. Nah, it's puny when compared to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx0LiDua7Ww  The guy got the mirror from a federal auction. It was originally made for a spy satellite, but had some sort of minor blemish. The video has the detail as to how it works. I'm just glad to see the focuser is not at top near the secondary mirror. Just getting up one or two steps for my dob makes me nervous.
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Oct 1, 2023 19:10
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Liquid Chicken posted:Here I thought my dob with a 16" mirror was large. Nah, it's puny when compared to this: Sweat pants, Monet baby Yoda t-shirt, and a pony tail. What's his forum name? That thing is ginormous.
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Oct 1, 2023 19:24
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That was loving awesome.
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Oct 1, 2023 19:38
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Yooper posted:Sweat pants, Monet baby Yoda t-shirt, and a pony tail. What's his forum name? Yooper
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Oct 1, 2023 22:40
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Here's something super awesome. I posted in my local neighborhood page about hosting a stargazing evening. We wound up with a whole bunch of people coming and going, and 6 or 7 telescopes set up!! Including an absolute monster of a 16" that a guy had custom built. What an amazing evening!  
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Oct 4, 2023 10:52
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Liquid Chicken posted:The guy got the mirror from a federal auction. It was originally made for a spy satellite, but had some sort of minor blemish. The video has the detail as to how it works. I'm just glad to see the focuser is not at top near the secondary mirror. Just getting up one or two steps for my dob makes me nervous.
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Oct 4, 2023 18:25
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It's test run day! So far so good. Now to leave it set up for the next three hours.. 
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Oct 8, 2023 22:57
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So the only failure I had was polar alignment. Turns out when you can't see polaris it's really hard and the sun kept drifting out of frame. Anyone got any tips for better alignment during the day? I set up my phone on the mount and use the PS Align app to align with the compass, which I know has limitations but I figured it would be close enough. And I guess it was, at 500mm I only had to reposition about every 20 minutes but if there's an easy way to get more precise I'd love to hear it.
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Oct 9, 2023 16:01
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xzzy posted:So the only failure I had was polar alignment. Turns out when you can't see polaris it's really hard and the sun kept drifting out of frame. NINA can do polar alignment easily without seeing Polaris but if it's day and you don't have stars to platesolve for, I can't think of anything other than aligning the mount the night before and just leaving it there.
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Oct 9, 2023 16:22
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If your mount is computer controlled (handset, or you can hook it up to stellarium or something), just point it roughly north (phone compass is probably fine). Set your altitude to your latitude. Then tell the software to point at the sun. Adjust your az/alt alignment until you see the sun center frame/eyepiece.
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Oct 9, 2023 16:24
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I'm a little more analog than that, it's just a skyguider pro.  But it's fine, if the solution is "have a fancier gear" I can live with manual adjustments every so often this Saturday.
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Oct 9, 2023 16:29
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Okay. Same steps, just manually point it using the coordinates you get from the software/the internet (https://heavens-above.com/Sun.aspx). I assume it has setting circles?
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Oct 9, 2023 16:32
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simble posted:Okay. Same steps, just manually point it using the coordinates you get from the software/the internet (https://heavens-above.com/Sun.aspx). I assume it has setting circles? No, no setting circles. It's a pretty basic kit. But you did provide some keywords I could plug into google about some daytime techniques and they all definitely work. Nothing got me results any more precise than my phone based alignment but I know they can be precise so either my tools or my skills aren't up to snuff.. I only spent an evening at it so I assume it needs more practice. I'm getting to my site on the 13th so I'll have half a day to experiment with no distractions so I'll try them all and figure out what works for me. I might even get up before dawn on the 14th and align to polaris before it fades out.
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Oct 10, 2023 16:32
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xzzy posted:No, no setting circles. It's a pretty basic kit. But you did provide some keywords I could plug into google about some daytime techniques and they all definitely work. Nothing got me results any more precise than my phone based alignment but I know they can be precise so either my tools or my skills aren't up to snuff.. I only spent an evening at it so I assume it needs more practice. Cool. heavens-above.com also shows the alt az so you could do some phone level and compass trickery to get pretty close too. There's also tricks with the shadow your mount is casting. I'm sure you'll get close enough for the few minutes of actual observation you're planning on doing no matter what. Good luck, looking forward to the pics 
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Oct 10, 2023 17:19
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when i tested out my solar filter a month or so ago, i just put a piece of kleenex over the spotting scope and used that. it was annoying but it worked. it'll be funny if i can't repeat the success on the day of though
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Oct 11, 2023 00:30
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crossposting from cloudy nightsquote:Hi there folks,
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Oct 11, 2023 03:00
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| # ? May 14, 2024 11:33 |
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In regards to setting up for polar alignment, I mark the ground where each tripod leg goes. So to setup for moon or planets I just chuck up the tripod in the same place and it's good enough. For DSO long exposure type stuff I still have to do an alignment but its mostly just a fine tune. I usually setup in the same place 90% of the time though.
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Oct 11, 2023 05:29
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