The Official Astronomy Thread

:D

I've got a nice 2" 32mm wide angle FOV lens that I use to find objects. I've spent many times just scanning across the sky with that lens on its own and its lovely to use.

But once I have found something that I want to observe, in more detail. It is really nice to turn on the drives and concentrate on the observing aspect instead of seeing it fly out of the FOV in 5 seconds when I switch to something like a 5mm lens. It does also help when you have a few friends with you and you can set it up once, and let them look at their own pace

Maybe one day when I'm big I'll also add a GOTO on the scope
 
Ok the one thing I forgot to mention is the space constraints I have. I drive a small 3-door car and unless the dob can act as a coffee table I do not see myself getting one. Maybe its time to look for a place with more storage space. Anyhow I have decided on the Celestron XLT 150 as my second scope and maybe later I will move up to something bigger. For now I just want to rediscover the skies I spend most of highschool admiring with my 1st scope.
 
JHB Astronomy peeps

Late notice I know, but just got this via email for anyone interested.

Johannesburg centre of ASSA and ASSA Imaging Section are conducting "The Evening of Practical Astronomical Imaging"

Friday 26 June 2009 18:30 till 22:00 at Johannesburg Observatory.
Directions / map are here: http://www.assajhb.co.za/About/DirectionsMaps/tabid/62/Default.aspx


Topics:
  • Solar System:
  • Solar Eclipse and Solar activity imaging
  • Lunar imaging
  • Planetary imaging
  • Occultation Imaging
  • Comets and asteroids Imaging

Deep Sky

We will discuss various types of equipment which are used for Astro Imaging, still images and video recording production. Bring alone your digital camera / camcorder / DSLR as well as adapters if available. Everyone attending will have a chance to take a photo, using their own camera and 26.5-inch refractor telescope (Subject to weather conditions)

The approximate times for activities:
18:30 - 19:30 -- Viewing and imaging the Moon and Saturn from 26" telescope
19:45-20:45 -- talk and discussion in the auditorium
21:00- viewing and imaging Deep Sky objects and Jupiter

One more e-mail will be sent today with more details on what to bring and what to ware.

For booking please contact
Oleg Toumilovitch
ASSA, Imaging Section
[email protected]
0826804700
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Then there is also going to be a viewing evening & Picnic at the Rhenostersoruit Nature Conservancy.
More details can be found in the PDF that can be downloaded here: http://www.assajhb.co.za/portals/0/astronomy_invite_final.pdf

I'm going to see Prime Circle, so wont be going to any :o
 
AllBrain I'm sure you will be happy with that scope. Unfortunately Dobs and space constraints don't go well together. Mine does make a interesting living room decoration.

Kalvaer you guys always have the best opportunities up there. Would like to attend something like that sometime sadly I'm in the middle of nowhere.
 
Kalvaer said:
Your still closer to Sutherland than us up here though :D
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Guess that and the darker skies are the major plus point for my location. :D

As for tracking and Go-To scopes I'd love to be able to afford one. The tracking would be extremely useful, especially when trying to sketch something. Go-to might take away the excitement (plus frustration!) and sense of accomplishment of searching and finding an object. I kinda enjoy the thrill of the hunt, so might not want to use it most of the time.
 
I'm testing a new design for a part of my website so I decided to share my observation reports while at the same time getting some beta testers. :D

If you guys have the time please check out my observation log and share your comments and any errors you might spot.

Thanks in advance!
 
After shopping around quite a bit I bought the Omni XLT 150 and took delivery of it yesterday morning. I was amazed at the quality of the packaging as everything was double boxed and they used loads of bubblewrap. Setup was strait forward and quite easy so no headache there. Compared to the scope I used in highschool the quality of the build on this one is top notch.

So I took it out for a test drive last night and aimed it at the moon to do alignment on the finder scope and see if there were any defects. The image of the moon was crystal clear and sharp. However aiming it at the brightest star I could find showed somewhat of a double affect or maybe more a ring to the one side. I did notice one of the alignment screws on the main mirror was loose when I unpacked it so that and the funny image might point at collimating that is needed. I have ordered a laster collimating tool and hope to have it early next week.

Now this scope comes with 25mm eyepiece that has ajustment for eye relief. What size should my next eyepiece be and should I rather opt for another eyepiece with eye relief adjustment? Seems like they are quite a bit more expensive than a normal eyepiece.
 
AllBrain said:
So I took it out for a test drive last night and aimed it at the moon to do alignment on the finder scope and see if there were any defects. The image of the moon was crystal clear and sharp. However aiming it at the brightest star I could find showed somewhat of a double affect or maybe more a ring to the one side. I did notice one of the alignment screws on the main mirror was loose when I unpacked it so that and the funny image might point at collimating that is needed. I have ordered a laster collimating tool and hope to have it early next week.

Now this scope comes with 25mm eyepiece that has ajustment for eye relief. What size should my next eyepiece be and should I rather opt for another eyepiece with eye relief adjustment? Seems like they are quite a bit more expensive than a normal eyepiece.
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Which star did you aim it at? It could possibly be a double star that gave the strange affect. Another thing is that it could be due to tube currents. The scope needs some time to reach ambient temperature. Normally it takes about 30mins to a hour depending on the aperture. Best is to check collimation with a collimation cap.

I'm not sure what you mean with an eye relief adjustment... a rubber eyecap perhaps? The eye relief on eyepieces are fixed.

Personally I'd suggest that your next purchase be a good quality barlow lens. The Orion Shorty Plus works exceptionally well (although it's not threaded for filters) and will turn your 25mm into a 12.5mm without losing eye relief or having to deal with a smaller eye lens.

Another option would be to get a 10mm for higher magnifications, but these tend to be slightly uncomfortable to use. For ease of use you could also look into getting a zoom eyepiece. These have come a long way and the Skywatcher 8-24mm zoom performs reasonably well especially at the higher magnifcations. Although it still can't beat the individual eyepieces the ease of use is a major plus.
 
I also thought it might be a binary star thus I aimed it at a few other stars and got the same affect. I do admit I was not outside for long last night and the scope might not have been at the ambient temprature yet. Had to go inside when I lost feeling in my toes. :rolleyes:

Ok below is a picture of the kind of eyepiece I got with this scope. The rubbery bit that you put your eye socket on can we screwd closer and futher away from the actual lens. First time I have seen this and was wondering if I should buy my next eyepiece with the same function.

50d51199bad6cca7c51069153b4c5fa5.image.250x250.jpg


Thanks for the advice on the barlow lens. I will buy one of those next as it seems like a great money saver and good for the eyes.

So next week I should have the laser collimating tool and then I can make sure the scope mirrors are aligned right.
 
AllBrain said:
I also thought it might be a binary star thus I aimed it at a few other stars and got the same affect. I do admit I was not outside for long last night and the scope might not have been at the ambient temprature yet. Had to go inside when I lost feeling in my toes. :rolleyes:

Ok below is a picture of the kind of eyepiece I got with this scope. The rubbery bit that you put your eye socket on can we screwd closer and futher away from the actual lens. First time I have seen this and was wondering if I should buy my next eyepiece with the same function.

50d51199bad6cca7c51069153b4c5fa5.image.250x250.jpg


Thanks for the advice on the barlow lens. I will buy one of those next as it seems like a great money saver and good for the eyes.

So next week I should have the laser collimating tool and then I can make sure the scope mirrors are aligned right.
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That seems a bit like a gimmick to me. Doubt that I'd take it into consideration when purchasing an EP. Most of the other EPs just have a foldable rubber eyecap design.

Since your scope does the same on all stars it is likely that the collimation needs adjustment. Did it come with a collimation cap? It should be sufficient to allow you to fine-tune the collimation.

Remember that a laser collimator can be out of collimation itself, so once you get the barlow the barlowed laser collimation method might be more accurate.
 
Ok then I am going to forget about this fancy adjustable rubber eye cap thingy and go for the normal ones like I am use to. Thought maybe things changed since I last looked at the stars.

I did not recieve a collimation cap with my scope unless it is still in the boxes my scope came in and in that case its on its way to the dump. :( However I see it has been discontinued on the Celestron website so maybe it was never there.

I will give the laser a try and hope that is not out of alignment either.

Thanks for the advice.
 
AllBrain said:
Ok then I am going to forget about this fancy adjustable rubber eye cap thingy and go for the normal ones like I am use to. Thought maybe things changed since I last looked at the stars.

I did not recieve a collimation cap with my scope unless it is still in the boxes my scope came in and in that case its on its way to the dump. :( However I see it has been discontinued on the Celestron website so maybe it was never there.

I will give the laser a try and hope that is not out of alignment either.

Thanks for the advice.
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You can easily make one yourself if you can find any old film canisters laying around. Just punch a small hole through the center of the lid and you are set to go.

See here
 
Well seems like there is no stock of any laser collimation tools. Maybe it is a good thing. It gives me time to confirm if the mirrors are out of allignment. Tonight I will brave the cold and do the deed. :p

So my next purchase will either be a barlow lens with another eyepiece or a zoom eyepiece on its own. What you think?
 
You should really try to make a collimation cap. That's the easiest way to check the mirror alignment. To check using a star test you need very stable atmosphere and a mag of 150x to spot the diffraction rings, although stars will look strange if the collimation is out.

Either the zoom EP or Barlow would be a good buy. The Barlow will be the most useful to start out with and since it's the cheapest might be the best first buy.
 
Ok I cannot feel my fingers or toes but it was worth it. I found Saturn without even trying hard and after about 20 minutes outside in the cold the image cleared up nicely but I can see that this 25mm lens combined with my scope is made for moon watching. I am going to get me that barlow lens and maybe even the zoom eyepiece as soon as I can. Man this brings back some fond memories.
 
AllBrain said:
Ok I cannot feel my fingers or toes but it was worth it. I found Saturn without even trying hard and after about 20 minutes outside in the cold the image cleared up nicely but I can see that this 25mm lens combined with my scope is made for moon watching. I am going to get me that barlow lens and maybe even the zoom eyepiece as soon as I can. Man this brings back some fond memories.
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Just got back in from checking out a few things with my refractor. Mostly the Moon, but I finished with Saturn after I cleaned one of my eyepieces. Something I hate to do since I can never get it perfect...

Some high level clouds started moving in so I moved inside as well...
 
hi all
have an old celestron 500mm f5.6 been using as camera lens. any idea where and for how much i can get an eyepiece and adapter.
 
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