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- Today
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Wow, that a quasar? That's incredible. I figured it was another faint galaxy. Ray
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Awesome Dave. Yeah I remember mine, it really was a fantiastic little scope. I was amazing at how much of a punch they packed (that's the only way I can exmplain it). I used my Mak as a Guidescope for a few years whilst I was still shooting film. I still have a ton of kodak elite chrome 200 in the freezer for a rainy day. Ray
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500 metres, impressive. Imagine what people who live in high rise apartments look at. Ray
- Last week
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Found my box of remotes, as usual they were in that "safe" place! Here is a shot using the EOS750D Prime focus Mak 127/1500 Range around 500 metres give or take a few. Conditions dull and overcast. Compared with one I took this morning without the remote ....chalk and cheese. Ah the joys of "Essential Tremors" Dave
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Thought I would start a new post with the appropriate Title. The "demo" EQ3-2 mount arrived yesterday, Friday, and very pleased, it was in mint, showroom condition. A veritable bargain Here is photo of the Mak 127/1500 on the EQ3-2 and my Mak 90/900 on an AZ1, behind. The camera is connected "Prime Focus" direct to the 2" focuser. I have replaced the small spotting scopes on both unit with Red LED finders. When this cloud gives me a break will attempt some astro pictures. I also have a motor upgrade kit coming for the EQ3 Plus a WiFi interface for my EQ6Pro. Photo taken with Canon PS-A520 4mpx [wow!]. Dave
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If you know where to look - you can actually see the string of Quasars underneath the Hamburger. Greg
- Earlier
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I have the SW Mak90/900 which I was very impressed with, the 270/1500 is brilliant. I managed to set both up to compare and had a few glimpses of the Moon and Venus the last 2 evenings. Comparing the two, the 90 is good with a variable 25 - 8mm, set to 8mm, but the 127, with an "Angel Eyes" 2" 26mm with a Moon and Lightglow filter on is brilliant, incredible focus ability and sharpness, that even my ancient eyes beheld the smallest pinpricks of craters with great clarity. The provided SW 2" 28mm eyepiece has a local light exclusion cap is very good also. I have also picked up an EQ3 manual mount/tripod for half price from store, ex "demo" unit - I also have a go-to motor control kit coming, from all places, The Ukraine. They were the cheapest of the the bunch. So, I have a setup far below the RRP. Its good to occasionally have a few pennies put aside. In any case the Govt is going to pay me back shortly If there's a break in the clouds will try the EOS750D on it. Some interesting activity upstairs ATM. Dave
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Stunning work mate. Ray
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Very nice Dave. I had a Skywatcher Maksutov once, was a great little scope, they pack a punch. Ray
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Beautiful little target mate. That would look great through my C14 as well. Ray
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Greg was unable to get the Refractor, so he went through his stock and came up Skywatcher Black Diamond Maksutov 127mm x f1500mm OTA. He whittled the price down to bare bones and I just had to find a few more DB. Saved shipping and picked up as NVT is only 15 mins from my place. With 2" Focuser w/- 90 deg adapter 28mm 2" Super plossle. Adapter rings for 1.25" eyepieces. Dave
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Last night's effort with the Hyperstar. 20 x 10-minute subs on the Leo Trio. Greg
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Hi All. Have just ordered a Skywatcher Black Diamond 90X900mm Refractor Telescope from Greg at NVT My local Astro store. Having been in Non-spending mode for quite a long time, had accumulated a few pennies and decided to grab this unit. A tad over $400 with postage and a manual Alt/Az mount. These mounts lend themselves to being motorised very simply by obtained geared 9Volt control boxes replacing the hand control knobs. I have done this with an earlier manual mount. which I have for my MAK90. This and the MAK90 can easily be tossed into the car and drive to a dark paddock and without busting my back with my larger DOBS, Now all we need now is for this cloud to pack up and disappear and the postie deliver to get on board with a bit more activity.. Cheers Dave.
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Got this one last night, 200mm lenses again and M26C OSC CCDs - Double Cluster for the umpteenth time. 20 subs x 10-minutes per sub. Greg
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Another capture with the 200mm lenses and Trius M26C OSC CCDs. Got this a couple of nights before NGC 7822. 7 x 15-minute subs. Greg
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Epic mate. I'm a bit jealous. My PC in the obs died a few weeks back, and I have missed some great skies. Ray
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An extremely rare clear, Moonless night last night and I managed to get 11 x 15-minute subs on NGC 7822 using the 2 x Canon 200mm prime lenses and the 2 x Trius M26C OSC CCDs. Came out way better than I was expecting for only 11 subs. Greg
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A decade of astrophotography
poppasmurf replied to Paramount's topic in DSLR and CCD Astrophotography
Wow. Awesome. Shane -
Holy moly! That was amazing Gordon. Some great work there my friend. Ray
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I have been working on a project for a while to try and link all my astrophotography together. I have now been taking pictures of the night sky in one way or another for the last 14 years. I started off taking pictures of deep sky objects (galaxies, nebulae and star clusters) with specialist cooled cameras, filters and telescopes on computerised tracking mounts. Since moving to Harrogate in North Yorkshire I have been doing time lapse, star trails and single shot nightscape images with off the shelf Sony mirrorless cameras. I have selected a variety of my deep sky images and incorporated them into a video along with time lapse clips and star trail pictures. To try and tie it all in together I have used single shot nightscape images and processed the deep sky images to zoom out from the nightscape image from the position that they are actually in the sky for the time that the image was taken, this took a fair bit of time to get just about right. The video is just over 26 minutes long and doesn't include every image or time lapse that I have done as it would double the length of the video. I chose clips and images that I have taken over the last decade. The music is all by a musician called Caleb Etheridge which was obtained from a website called "Artlist" where I'm a subscriber. The music was chosen for this video as all the titles of the tracks are in some way space or sky related. The deep sky images were all taken from my back yard in Hereford and the time lapse and star trail work was taken in the Brecon Beacons, Heargest Ridge and mainly in North Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Dales. The video can be seen at the link below in HD and 4K, please be patient as it may take a while for the HD and 4K versions to appear, it is a 14GB file https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVsby_6Mxnk
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Snake Valley Observatory Temporarily CLOSED
Dragon Man posted a topic in General Astronomical Discussion
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) NOTIFICATION Due to the current Coronavirus situation we have closed our Snake Valley Clubsite/Observatory to all visitors. Club members may still enter the property and use their own equipment but not share Telescope eyepieces with other members, or allow other members to view through their equipment. ------------------------ We apologise for any inconvenience, and will inform of any changes in policy. ------------------------ Thank you Ken James - President SVAA Website: SVAA -
lol, plenty more of those to come mate. Are they trackable on via software? Ray
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Just saw all those bastard Elon Musk satellites going over. Greg
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Brexit Alternative
Radar replied to scorpius's topic in Off Topic - Funny Videos - Interesting Concepts
All is good on my end. However we had a powercut about a month ago and that killed my motherboard in my observatory computer. So annoying. I imagine it is the motherboard because I cannot get video from either the motherboard or video card. I run four monitors in my observatory. I had just finished revamping the observatory as well. So I have missed some clear nights. I am time poor at the moment, so getting the PC fixed was one of the last things I thought I would have to do. I'll have to get some computer guy out I think. Ray -
Brexit Alternative
scorpius replied to scorpius's topic in Off Topic - Funny Videos - Interesting Concepts
Hi Ray, As well as can be expected. Have just completed a round of Pathology, Bone and CT Scans and now waiting for appointment for review by Oncologist, which will probably be called in the next 2 weeks. As far as I know, everything is running smoothly and the Implant Injection every 12 weeks is doing its job well. No Astronomy, have the SW Mak90 set up and sometimes have look around the Moon. but with all the blinkin cloud (No rain) every night setting up the the 10" is not very inviting. I have an old timer friend who has an 8" dob, who wants to do a local setup with me to check it out. That could be rather interesting "IF" we are ever going to get some clear skies? We have some local parks close by which would be ideal for the project. Trust all is well with you. Dave
