Archive for January 2008
Observing Report 27th-28th January 2008 (Stars and stuff)
I got the scope out again last night and had a couple of hours seeing what was about. The views were much better because I had collimated the OTA, after buying a second-hand Baader Laser Collimator from a helpful bloke on the SGL forum.
Mars was a clearer sight than before, but I'm still waiting for better (greater magnification) eyepieces in order to make out detail on the surface.
Next was the Orion Nebula (M42), a truly captivating sight which never fails to impress. Ella was gobsmacked by it when it was her turn at the eyepiece.
At her request, we turned the scope to look at The Pleiades (M45), which didn't fit into the field of view but showed many more stars than she expected.
Finally we had another look at Saturn. Elanor noted that more moons were visible compared to when we had observed three nights before.
Sorry, still no photos. The adaptor widget is on the way. The tracking motors should be here tomorrow.
Kate Flaying
Yesterday we had another fine breezy afternoon, so we went to the local park for another session flying the Imp. I'll let the pictures tell the story...
Elanor learning the ropes
It's up there somewhere
Going in under the radar
Taking the strain
Heads up!
Unbalanced
Chris takes control
Incoming!
Beating a retreat
Observing Report 24th-25th January 2008 (Mooning)
First time out for the new scope. It's not collimated yet (I'm waiting for the postie to deliver the required laser-gadget) so the view quality was never going to be good. Couple that with the fact that I've only got the one eyepiece until the new set is delivered, so I was restricted to just the one magnification (x50).
First off was a shufty at Mars. At x50 it's just a tiny flat orange disc so there was nothing to get excited about. It served as a handy target for practicing with the manual RA and Dec adjusters (leccy computerised set on order).
Next up was the Moon. It's just past full, so there was much detail on the terminator, where there were shadows which added depth to the view. Chris was really impressed when she eventually got a chance to have a look-see. I grabbed the D50 and took some hand-held snaps through the eyepiece. I really need to get a T-ring to fit the camera directly to the scope.
Finally, Saturn was visible to the left of the Moon, so I slewed around to that and got a decent view. Titan was obvious, and two other moons were just visible. Anna was still awake so I let her have a look, she was really wowed by the view. Her class is studying the planets, she's so chuffed now that she can tell all her classmates that she's really seen another planet and another moon! I took a few snaps but they're rubbish and don't show any moons, so I'll not post them here.
Phased out
A few of my blogging friends have added a moon phase module to their blogs, they're using the widget thing that's available at http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/moon_phases.phtml.
Now, it looks fine and dandy when set to display for a Northern Hemispherian like me, it looks like this:
No problems there, that's what the moon looked like last night.
But clicky-clicky on the arrows to set the display for my antipodean cousins and you get...
this:
Tell me it ain't so. Surely the terminator can't just change it's position just because the observer has moved from one hemisphere to the other.
The experts over at SGL concur that it should look like this:
All this space stuff. It's not rocket-science, is it?
Update 27/01/2008: Just visited the website again and the error's been fixed. Another indication of the power of the internet, eh?
My big black 8-incher
During the day, it hides in the wardrobe...
at night, it just wants to go out and have fun, see the sights, shoot the moon, that sort of thing...
I predict that we can look forward to a deep and meaningful relationship.
It's a Celestron Advanced C8-N, by the way. Here's the low-down:
General Details:
- High quality 8" reflector
- 9x50 finderscope with bi-directional alignment screws and a spring loaded pivot support
- 2" focuser allows for use with 2" or 1.25" eyepieces
- Slow motion controls for smooth tracking action
- Heavy Duty (CG-5) German equatorial mount
- Ultra sturdy 2" diameter steel tripod with accessory tray
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps
Technical Information:
- OPTICAL DESIGN: Reflector
- APERTURE: 200 mm (7.87 in)
- FOCAL LENGTH: 1000 mm (39.37 in)
- FOCAL RATIO: 5
- FINDERSCOPE: 9x50
- MOUNT: CG-5 Equatorial
- EYEPIECE 1: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- MAGNIFICATION 1: 50 x
- ACCESSORY TRAY: Yes
- TRIPOD: 2 (two) inch Stainless Steel
- CD ROM: The Sky Level 1
- HIGHEST USEFUL MAGNIFICATION: 480 x
- LIMITING STELLAR MAGNITUDE: 14
- RESOLUTION: 0.69 arc seconds
- RESOLVING POWER: 0.58 arc seconds
- PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOLUTION: 400 line/mm
- LIGHT GATHERING POWER: 843 x
- ANGULAR FIELD OF VIEW: 1 °
- LINEAR FIELD OF VIEW (@1000 YDS): 52.5 ft (16 m)
- OPTICAL COATINGS: Aluminum
- SECONDARY MIRROR OBSTRUCTION: 2.2 in (55.88 mm)
- SECONDARY MIRROR OBSTRUCTION BY AREA: 8 %
- SECONDARY MIRROR OBSTRUCTION BY DIAMETER: 27.5 %
- OPTICAL TUBE LENGTH: 37 in (939.8 mm)
- TOTAL WEIGHT: 67 lb (30.39 kg)
- TELESCOPE WEIGHT: Approx 19 lb (9 kg)
- COUNTERWEIGHTS: 2x11lb
Normally priced up at around £375, they're currently on sale at £249 (inc. VAT and delivery) at various places, I got mine from Rother Valley Optics.
Lunacy
Took a few shots with the D50 + 70-300 lens tonight, the skies were wild with fast-moving broken low cloud, impressively backlit by the full moon, which looks flat without shadows.
First one: handheld stuff only, couldn't be bothered to race upstairs for the tripod. Full manual settings (300mm, f/5.6, 1/1250s, ISO 200), minimal tinkering with PS CS3.
