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hannibal posted:I got out last night and was able to dodge some clouds and get a decent photo of the day-after-conjunction: That's a great shot!
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Dec 24, 2020 13:48
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Yeah thanks for posting, it's a good video and it's pretty interesting that I did his first suggestion all on my own, which was to use a pair of 12x70 Celestron Comettron binoculars (they're now discontinued) and it's pretty great. As he stated it's only flaw is how you have to strain your neck for anything approaching the Zenith. I think it's cool that I can see all of the Pleiades in a single FOV, and on partially cloudy nights I can still get some observing done as the binocs light gathering beats my puny naked eye, great because I live in a cursed Bortle 6-8 area that's unfortunately near a big city.. I still haven't even seen the Andromeda or Triangulum Galaxies from this place even though I know where to look..
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Dec 24, 2020 14:16
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We bought a house that is in a Bortle 3/2 and I've got decent sky clearance. Really pumped to set everything up once we're in. Not sure I'd go as far as a pier, but I can see why people build little mini observatories if they have the space. Setup time would be super minimal.
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Dec 24, 2020 14:44
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Do it, do it, do it. We might be moving so my scope plans might change. Still Bortle 8 or so but we'll have a rooftop with clear lines of sight that I can set up a bigger scope on more permanently. Excited to see if I can do that instead of the super portable scope. Internet Explorer fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Dec 24, 2020 |
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Dec 24, 2020 16:17
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Yooper posted:We bought a house that is in a Bortle 3/2 and I've got decent sky clearance. Really pumped to set everything up once we're in. Not sure I'd go as far as a pier, but I can see why people build little mini observatories if they have the space. Setup time would be super minimal. If you have halfway decent skies you should definitely look at a permanent setup. I live in the Bortle Infinity skies of DC and when we built a new shed in our backyard I still had it modified to have a roll off roof and added a pier. Having stuff setup and ready to go is amazing.
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Dec 24, 2020 17:25
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How does an installation like that deal with humidity and other issues related to being outdoors?
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Dec 24, 2020 17:56
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Thinking about installing a pier so I can simply carry my EQM-35 top section out and attach it when I am planning a view. Eeek, forget buying a premade pier. Yikes at the costs. Has anyone done anything like this? https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/how-to-build-a-back-garden-telescope-pier/ Hasselblad fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Dec 24, 2020 |
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Dec 24, 2020 19:51
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I didn't know light pollution was measured using the bortle scale. I looked up where I'm spending xmas and it's 3 on the scale. From where I live I can get to level 2 within an hour or so drive. Makes me think about getting a decent pair of binoculars, though I don't like staying up late and I don't like the cold.
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Dec 24, 2020 21:02
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Count Roland posted:I didn't know light pollution was measured using the bortle scale. I looked up where I'm spending xmas and it's 3 on the scale. From where I live I can get to level 2 within an hour or so drive. Makes me think about getting a decent pair of binoculars, though I don't like staying up late and I don't like the cold. Good news! Being super cold out is correlated with being dark super early. I'm super jealous of skies that dark. I'm an hour away from DC and its still 7+ on the scale.
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Dec 24, 2020 21:12
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Salt Fish posted:Good news! Being super cold out is correlated with being dark super early. I'm super jealous of skies that dark. I'm an hour away from DC and its still 7+ on the scale. Yeah 3 years ago i moved back to where I grew up. I'd been living in a major metropolitan area that's not quite DC level but still several hours away from any reasonable viewing. Another issue is that it's very frequently cloudy or foggy here too. Still. The idea of someday being able to see the moons of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn is very appealing.
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Dec 24, 2020 21:30
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Yooper posted:We bought a house that is in a Bortle 3/2 and I've got decent sky clearance. Really pumped to set everything up once we're in. Not sure I'd go as far as a pier, but I can see why people build little mini observatories if they have the space. Setup time would be super minimal. By this time next year I'll be living under Bortle 2 skies on a few acres so I'm going to slowly build up a nicely configured observing area with a master plan of eventually installing a rolling roof observatory once I obtain a bigger light bucket. Going to start with a small level cement pad for scope setup accompanied by a system of setting up a temporary windbreak/light blocking shelter around it as needed. Mostly visual observing with Dobsonians so I probably won't set up a pier.
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Dec 24, 2020 23:43
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Hasselblad posted:Thinking about installing a pier so I can simply carry my EQM-35 top section out and attach it when I am planning a view. I haven't (yet) but my day job is an engineer in a metalworking shop. I don't see anything too terribly difficult. I really dislike the threaded rod arrangement though. You go through a ton of work to make a wicked strong pier and then balance your scope on 3 pieces of 3/8" hardware store all-thread. I know people do it to get it absolutely perfectly level, but if you're autoguiding I wonder how much it really matters? I'd rather go for absolute rigidity than have it perfectly level and have flex in the mount.  I'd rather do something along those lines with an adapter plate bolted securely to the stop. Then you can bolt the whole works to a concrete pad without digging yourself a hole.
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Dec 25, 2020 02:20
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Salt Fish posted:How does an installation like that deal with humidity and other issues related to being outdoors? I have a dehumidifier in the shed (I had power ran out there when it was built). It's two years old now and humidity/mold/etc. have not been a problem, even here in Maryland where we get a decent amount of dew. For scopes outside under scope covers, a common solution is a light bulb or some sort of heating element (like those used for gun safes). You only need to keep the equipment a few degrees above the dew point for water not to collect, which is not hard to do. Hasselblad posted:Thinking about installing a pier so I can simply carry my EQM-35 top section out and attach it when I am planning a view. I had the shed/observatory built for me, but they followed my directions for the pier, which was done with a concrete Sonotube. This is basically the same as in that link except you remove the Sonotube when you're done. I did order a pier plate from Dan's Pier Plates which was not cheap, but works very well. Yooper's metal pier is another common solution. Yooper posted:I know people do it to get it absolutely perfectly level, but if you're autoguiding I wonder how much it really matters? You need to be level to have good polar alignment (alignment of your EQ mount's axis with the Earth's axis) because any misalignment will cause some degree of field rotation. Generally you are correcting for drift in RA with guiding, if you have a good polar alignment your declination alignment will be good. When you have a bad polar alignment, you have to correct for both RA and dec. See: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/85454-lots-of-field-rotation-when-guiding/ and https://www.innovationsforesight.co...Rotation_V1.pdf if you want to get real technical. If you get something like a pier plate, you can correct for leveling very easily so that your pier itself doesn't have to be precisely level. The one I have has three bolts connecting two plates so you can level it. See here: https://www.pierplates.com/doc/8in_CG5_Plate_Installation.pdf hannibal fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Dec 25, 2020 |
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Dec 25, 2020 06:59
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I am bad at astronomy but I saw it and took a picture of it and it was neat.
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Dec 25, 2020 20:29
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bird with big dick posted:I am bad at astronomy but I saw it and took a picture of it and it was neat. That’s actually a really good pic!
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Dec 25, 2020 21:36
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Is there an online starmap of the galaxy that would allow you to find specific stars and measure distances among them? What I've found so far are artistic presentations of the galaxy with a thin veneer of information on top.
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Dec 26, 2020 18:49
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Dick Trauma posted:Is there an online starmap of the galaxy that would allow you to find specific stars and measure distances among them? What I've found so far are artistic presentations of the galaxy with a thin veneer of information on top. Star Safari app does it on the iPad/iPhone. Not sure about an online app.  What could this be?  Yay!  The only bummer is I need a M48 adapter. Unfortunately all I have is M42 adapters. Luckily I have a 3d printer and a machinists handbook. So I'm racing the sun to fit my threads and get a good adapter. My ZWO 553 is back ordered so I'm still rocking the Canon T3. Hopefully photos tonight... 
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Dec 31, 2020 21:28
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Quick night report. Having an actual focuser is amazing. The setup really highlights my need for an actual astrocamera. One is on back order and will arrive... someday. The moon rose fairly early and the snow really shot the histogram into the red. I have not taken flats with the new setup and the dust motes are absolutely from the DSLR and not the scope.  Both images are cropped, M45 is 1 hour of 30 second subs.
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Jan 1, 2021 14:40
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https://twitter.com/star_stufff/status/1346769045907902464?s=20 Youtube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuH6kdN6NBs
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Jan 6, 2021 17:04
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That has to feel so good sharing a mind blowing experience like that with so many people that never would have the chance otherwise.
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Jan 6, 2021 17:18
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Public astronomy nights are great and one of the things I miss most in this pandemic.  Maybe that should be  because I feel that clouds and virus are on the same team here.
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Jan 6, 2021 17:23
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Oof. Nothing's in stock anywhere. Go-to equatorial mounts, star trackers, everything I'm looking at is backordered indefinitely. So right now I have a solid tripod and a good DSLR and a variety of fast lenses ranging from 35mm f/2 to 50/1.8 to 105/2.8 to 300/2.8 (and a teleconverter that changes that to 600/5.6). I figure the 300 is mostly useless for anything other than the moon or planets without any kind of tracking capability. But while I wait for something to get back in stock, I'd like to at least try to start learning how to do the post-processing aspect of things, image stacking and so forth. What would be some good targets to photograph without tracking, keeping in mind I'm northern hemisphere in a Bortle 6ish zone? Pleiades? Phanatic fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jan 8, 2021 |
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Jan 8, 2021 16:42
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Phanatic posted:Oof. Are you in the US? I've got a Star Adventurer Pro I planned on selling now that I have an HEQ6. Let me know if you're interested.
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Jan 8, 2021 16:59
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In reference to the video there is a gentleman in a neighborhood where we go trick or treating with a pretty decent scope. He makes each kid look through before he gives them candy. Honestly I'm more excited about that than my kids about the candy. I think he's had the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and M83 the past couple of times. I love it and I don't even own a telescope or equipment I'm just a space nerd.
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Jan 9, 2021 03:54
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Hello thread. For Christmas my mom got me an eBay special telescope and I haven't given it a try yet but was wondering what a good starting place would be. Look at the moon? Are those apps that overlay constellations to your location on your phone a good option for finding targets?
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Jan 10, 2021 23:51
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net work error posted:Hello thread. For Christmas my mom got me an eBay special telescope and I haven't given it a try yet but was wondering what a good starting place would be. Look at the moon? Are those apps that overlay constellations to your location on your phone a good option for finding targets? What part of the world are you in and what's the scope? The moon is of course a great target, but it might be too bright to comfortably look at depending on the telescope's aperture. It may have come with a dimming filter for the moon though. You can look at objects in the daylight first to get comfortable with the controls. Try spotting a tree in the distance for example. After that you have planets and then other dimmer objects, but it really depends on whats available in terms of sky and hardware. Check out stellarium: https://stellarium-web.org/ Salt Fish fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Jan 11, 2021 |
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Jan 11, 2021 00:09
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Salt Fish posted:What part of the world are you in and what's the scope? The moon is of course a great target, but it might be too bright to comfortably look at depending on the telescope's aperture. It may have come with a dimming filter for the moon though. You can look at objects in the daylight first to get comfortable with the controls. Try spotting a tree in the distance for example. I'm in Southern Florida in a city so light pollution is definitely a problem. I went to a few star viewing parties run by a local club last year before COVID but haven't really dont anything since then unfortunately.
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Jan 11, 2021 01:36
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Just gotta go to the middle of the Everglades and then get carried away by mosquitos.
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Jan 11, 2021 01:54
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 Rosette Nebula First night with the new ZWO ASI533MC and the Radian Raptor. That was 1.5 hours of 90 second subs at 100 (unity) gain. Weather was super hazy but I was still able to get some time. Question on the cooling, should I be able to get it to -15? Right now it's in my house (65f) and I'm not able to get below 8 fahrenheit. Edit : So Sharpcap has no problem getting it to -10. I'm at a loss here? Yooper fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Jan 15, 2021 |
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Jan 15, 2021 00:55
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I don't know the answer to your question, but that's a really great photo!
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Jan 15, 2021 01:04
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Thanks! Found out my temperature issue. SharpCap operates in celsius, my APT is in Fahrenheit.  my conversion.
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Jan 15, 2021 13:14
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 Starting to dial in the Raptor / 533 combo. Had an issue last night where it decided to get stuck dithering for like 90 minutes and clouds rolled in. So I got 22 minutes. My focus looks a touch off. I put in a UV/IR filter so haven't had a chance to do my flats yet. Is there a good starting point for gain/exposure? I'm doing unity gain and keeping the histogram at about 25%.
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Jan 23, 2021 18:39
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Spent two nights fighting focus and what I thought was moisture. Temps were down around 0f. Froze my rear end off trying to troubleshoot the issue only to realize I installed the flattener backwards after I put in the UV/IR filter. Worst part was I lost out on two good nights of imaging. The Astroberry setup is up and running now, but it's kind of fucky. Below is 40 minutes of the Heart Nebula, 30 second exposures. 
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Jan 31, 2021 00:05
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New Space Subforum here : https://forums.somethingawful.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=679 This thread is 11 years old. Should we make a new thread for Astronomy there?
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Feb 23, 2021 13:43
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Isn't the rotating subforum just temporary?
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Feb 23, 2021 13:51
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Drone posted:Isn't the rotating subforum just temporary? I think you're right, in that case consider my above post to really say "e;nm".
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Feb 23, 2021 14:19
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I know there are some rich goons out there, anyone bought an eVoscope yet? Seems a shame to pay $3K for a scope that won't let you take good planetary pics, but I digress..
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Feb 23, 2021 14:47
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I’m sending this thread on a cosmic spaceflight to the new RSF!! (Hopefully they’ll send you back before it closes?!!?)
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Feb 23, 2021 17:00
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Is the orion dobsonian 8" something I should wait on to get back in stock as my first telescope? I've been waiting on backorder for the last month or so and it has an estimated in stock date in late March.
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Feb 23, 2021 17:17
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simble posted:Horsehead and Flame Nebulas - 8.3 hours (100 300s exposures) - This is probably my favorite thing in the night sky. I want to go back and go overboard with the data acquisition to see how noise free I can get this. Might shoot for 24-48 hours on it this winter. This is the picture I used for the new forum tag. 
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Feb 23, 2021 17:28
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