The Astronomy hobby thread

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

Sorry, was participating in jury duty yesterday. Thank goodness I didn't get picked. Gonna be a week plus long trial.

Anyway, these shots were taken with the RedCAT 71, not the FLT-120.

First image is Bodes and cigar galaxies near the big dipper. 3 hours worth of exposures stacked. I believe I was trying 30 or 60 second exposures so lots of them.

Second image is the Leo Triplet which comes up in the east. 2 hours of exposure on this one.

Last is as stated, Markarians chain in Virgo just slightly north of east. 3.25 hours of exposure on this one.

Your algnment and guidance is really something I envy. I continue to struggle with polar alignment.

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Your algnment and guidance is really something I envy. I continue to struggle with polar alignment.

Are you using a GEM? Right now I am using the ASIAIR plus to control the system and it utilizes the main camera to polar align. It takes a shot, plate solves the image, rotates the mount 60 degrees and takes another shot. It then tells you which way to move the mount left/right and up/down taking more shots along the way to verify.

I have also used the Polemaster camera which attached to the polar scope hole, That works great as well.

My guiding so far has been sub 1" total. Usually hovers around .75 arc seconds or so. Might get it a little better with some mount tweaking.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

Are you using a GEM? Right now I am using the ASIAIR plus to control the system and it utilizes the main camera to polar align. It takes a shot, plate solves the image, rotates the mount 60 degrees and takes another shot. It then tells you which way to move the mount left/right and up/down taking more shots along the way to verify.

I have also used the Polemaster camera which attached to the polar scope hole, That works great as well.

My guiding so far has been sub 1" total. Usually hovers around .75 arc seconds or so. Might get it a little better with some mount tweaking.

I am but it's not iOptron quality just a Celestron AVX and i only have a small finder mounted into the mounts' scope hole. My alignment is mostly GOTO as I don't yet have the $$$$ to upgrade.

[Eric Hahl]

The AVX is quite capable. Not sure the iOptron is an upgrade. Some would argue anyway.

Anyway, I think there are free polar alignment programs out there that utilize the main camera. I believe sharp cap has a polar alignment routine.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I am but it's not iOptron quality just a Celestron AVX and i only have a small finder mounted into the mounts' scope hole. My alignment is mostly GOTO as I don't yet have the $$$$ to upgrade.

Options:
1) Celestron has a built in polar alignment aid, called "All Star Polar Alignment" or ASPA. Search "Celestron ASPA" for instructions, but basically you sync on 6 stars to begin with by hand, it then calculates the polar error. It them moves to where a star *should* be if corrected, and you move the mount (not the scope) to recenter the star. That'll get you within a few arcminutes, maybe tighter if you do it twice.

2) Plate solving, using one of many free or cheap programs, like Sharpcap ($10 per year for the full edition with polar solving). You need a wide field imaging scope and a good view of the polar area. 1 arcminute once you get good at it.

3) Drift alignment, either by hand or using software. PhD is free, and can communicate with your camera and your mount. Drift alignment will get you within arcceconds of the pole, if you put enough time in. We used drift alignment to polar align the professional scopes, comparing images an hour apart and moving the scope over several nights, iteratively getting better and better. I use this at my shop because I cannot see the polar region.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Options:
1) Celestron has a built in polar alignment aid, called "All Star Polar Alignment" or ASPA. Search "Celestron ASPA" for instructions, but basically you sync on 6 stars to begin with by hand, it then calculates the polar error. It them moves to where a star *should* be if corrected, and you move the mount (not the scope) to recenter the star. That'll get you within a few arcminutes, maybe tighter if you do it twice.

2) Plate solving, using one of many free or cheap programs, like Sharpcap ($10 per year for the full edition with polar solving). You need a wide field imaging scope and a good view of the polar area. 1 arcminute once you get good at it.

3) Drift alignment, either by hand or using software. PhD is free, and can communicate with your camera and your mount. Drift alignment will get you within arcceconds of the pole, if you put enough time in. We used drift alignment to polar align the professional scopes, comparing images an hour apart and moving the scope over several nights, iteratively getting better and better. I use this at my shop because I cannot see the polar region.

6 stars? Thanks I haven't heard of that. I usually do 2 star with manual centering with the scope not the mount. Interesting I'll give it a read.

[Eric Hahl]

I still say the best tool for polar alignment is the Polemaster camera. So easy to setup and use.

[Tobra]

Venus was spectacular this morning

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

I still say the best tool for polar alignment is the Polemaster camera. So easy to setup and use.

Ordered...ya trouble maker!

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Venus was spectacular this morning

Dang, missed it, cloudy!

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Ordered...ya trouble maker!

You're gonna love it! You're welcome. Did you order the mount adapter as well? You will need it.

[Fast Freddy 944]

I have a odd looking glowing orb in space spinning around and changing shape. It can be viewed from north DFW to the south sky. I have no idear what the heck it is or whats its purpose is. Spy satelite? Who the hell knows? Note, it gets "closer" in the morning, and even in the day sky, its faintly visable. Its not a planet or a star, it moves...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Fast Freddy 944

I have a odd looking glowing orb in space spinning around and changing shape. It can be viewed from north DFW to the south sky. I have no idear what the heck it is or whats its purpose is. Spy satelite? Who the hell knows? Note, it gets "closer" in the morning, and even in the day sky, its faintly visable. Its not a planet or a star, it moves...

I'm not 100% certain, but I think that's either the death star or the moon. I'm still looking into it.

Venus would also fit (moves around, visible day and night, changes shape) except that you said "not a planet." And then, of course, the moon doesn't glow (or get closer in the morning). It reflects (rather than glows), and appears bigger/closer when it's closer to the horizon (many theories, but basically a trick of the brain).

[red-beard]

On Space-X and Starlink, I believe that Space-X uses commercial electronics, not hardened stuff. They "anticipate" some will be lost to solar storms. Redundancy is cheaper than over-the-top space rated electronics.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

On Space-X and Starlink, I believe that Space-X uses commercial electronics, not hardened stuff. They "anticipate" some will be lost to solar storms. Redundancy is cheaper than over-the-top space rated electronics.

I'll bet it hurts though to spend the money to send 46 new sats into orbit to have 40 of them blown out of orbit almost immediately.

I'm in a rural area. My location has no access to any wired Internet. I also have no possibility of access to the various wimax type offerings. My options are satellite (like Hughs), satellite (like starlink), or cellular. I'm familiar with traditional GEO satellite and Hughs and chose to give that a miss. Starlink wasn't quite available when I needed to setup Internet, so I skipped that but got on the list. I went Satellite. My proximity to I-10 means that I actually have decent access. I am almost equidistant between the two closest towers so my access could be better.

When starlink came available in my area, I checked them out. At the time the big problem for me was a statement to the effect of "starlink is still beta, so it can go down at any time for any length of time." Since I'm working over my connectivity, that was no good for me.

I hadn't even thought about the possibility of solar storms potentially causing outages. I would assume that while they use commercial electronics, they probably also add shielding to the packaging. And my guess is that the fact that they are in LEO may mean that they have more shielding from the planet than sets in GEO orbits.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

You're gonna love it! You're welcome. Did you order the mount adapter as well? You will need it.

I did. High Point is very good at making sure you get what you need.

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I did. High Point is very good at making sure you get what you need.

Excellent!

[Amail]

Originally Posted by red-beard

On Space-X and Starlink, I believe that Space-X uses commercial electronics, not hardened stuff. They "anticipate" some will be lost to solar storms. Redundancy is cheaper than over-the-top space rated electronics.

Scott Manley on YouTube has a video explaining what happened to the satellites. Apparently the solar flare heated the upper atmosphere, essentially expanding it into the low orbit the satellites were initially in. Usually the satellites push themselves into a higher orbit once they're deployed, but it takes some time. In this case, they encountered unexpected atmospheric drag before they could move to their higher orbit.

So, the solar flare raised the atmosphere dragging satellites down; it didn't wreck the hardware.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Amail

Scott Manley on YouTube has a video explaining what happened to the satellites. Apparently the solar flare heated the upper atmosphere, essentially expanding it into the low orbit the satellites were initially in. Usually the satellites push themselves into a higher orbit once they're deployed, but it takes some time. In this case, they encountered unexpected atmospheric drag before they could move to their higher orbit.

So, the solar flare raised the atmosphere dragging satellites down; it didn't wreck the hardware.

Right, that's what the article posted said, additional drag from changes to the atmosphere.

[Eric Hahl]

Was able to get out Friday evening with the new 120mm F6.5 scope to test and see if I have the back spacing correct and to make sure the scope is good.

I gotta say I'm really please with my first image. 3.1 hours of exposure time on M81 and M82.

William Optics FLT-120 refractor, 780mm focal length, F6.5


Same target from a few weeks ago with the William Optics RedCAT 71 refractor, 350mm focal length, f4.9. Much smaller image scale.