The Astronomy hobby thread

[mjohnson]

A handy site for keeping up with comets. And it has that charming 1990s webz feel...
Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2023 Mar. 11: North)

[Eric Hahl]

Well, my telescope is repaired and back from the manufacturer. Now if we could only get some clear skies. Nothing in the forecast but rain and grey for the next 10 days.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

Well, my telescope is repaired and back from the manufacturer. Now if we could only get some clear skies. Nothing in the forecast but rain and grey for the next 10 days.

Wait a minute...you had a what, and sent it where, for why? Eric..

Or was that your refractor that you talked to me about some years back?

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Wait a minute...you had a what, and sent it where, for why? Eric..

Or was that your refractor that you talked to me about some years back?

Not the same refractor but the same Quad design. This time it was the RedCat 71 from William Optics. It was out of warranty so had to pay for it shipped, repaired and shipped back from Taiwan.

However, William Optics found a part was disappear (their words) lol. Anyway, they sent back a brand new scope at no charge for repair or return shipping. Kuddos to them!

I assume the missing part was missing the whole time. I never saw it before. Great customer service!

Now, where is that nice Spring weather?

Also, I remembered you weren't keen on trying to collimate a quad type scope otherwise I would have sent it to you.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

It was out of warranty so had to pay for it shipped, repaired and shipped back from Taiwan.

However, William Optics found a part was disappear (their words) lol. Anyway, they sent back a brand new scope at no charge for repair or return shipping. Kuddos to them!

Wow! Awesome, and well worth the cost of shipping, I would think.

[flatbutt]

The RedCat is on sale for 899 at High Point. Tempted...very tempted.

https://www.highpointscientific.com/william-optics-redcat-51-gen-1-5-apo-refractor-with-32mm-guidescope-and-cat-handle?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=RedCatGen1.5Sale_0423&utm_type=Campaign&_kx=1a3fmGukXn5zGv_33dkOmTbrBl7uEAblGofOdkyrF_-TZTq0sdmbaIOncqJlrPpM.W3fn9t

[Eric Hahl]

I love the RedCat 71. The 51 would be great too.

[flatbutt]

My WO GTF 102 is a jewel but the 51 would be so much easier to grab and go.

[Eric Hahl]

Right now I am re-thinking what I have in the stable though.

I have the RedCat 71 which is 350mm for wide shots. I have the FLT-120 which is 760mm for everything else.

I was thinking about selling those two scopes and replacing them with the FLT-91 which is 540mm so its lies in between the two. And then add an 8" RC or Cass at 1600-2000mm for the small stuff.

The problem is, I love the two scopes I have. The FLT-120 is sharp, sharp, sharp!

[flatbutt]

Hey Mike, I mentioned this once a while ago but didn't follow up.

So, I have an original Meade ETX 90. The drive is shot but it was never all that good anyway.

Do you think it's worth trying to repair?

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

My WO GTF 102 is a jewel but the 51 would be so much easier to grab and go.

And if you image with it no need for a field flattener as it is already flat.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

And if you image with it no need for a field flattener as it is already flat.

The GTF is really a magnificent piece of work. Not a Takahashi but damn good.

[flatbutt]

I had a break through in solar today. Here's a still shot of the disk w/out the prominences in focus.




I'm having trouble with tracking / alignment so the video frames couldn't be aligned. But baby steps.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I had a break through in solar today. Here's a still shot of the disk w/out the prominences in focus.




I'm having trouble with tracking / alignment so the video frames couldn't be aligned. But baby steps.

Wow, really spectacular! I got a solar filter for my C8. I used it once very briefly, but need to get back out and use it again/more.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by masraum

Wow, really spectacular! I got a solar filter for my C8. I used it once very briefly, but need to get back out and use it again/more.

Thanks Mas, the surface granulation kinda blew my mind.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Thanks Mas, the surface granulation kinda blew my mind.

Yep, and that's exactly why I bought the solar filter. I know that if you can bump the mag up on the moon, it's a whole new experience. Based on some of the Solar photography that I've seen, I reasoned that the sun should be similar.

[Eric Hahl]

Awesome!

[flatbutt]

A new Nova...maybe

https://astronomy.com/news/observing/2021/03/observe-theres-a-new-nova-visible-in-cassiopeia

A tough find but I'm going to try.

[Eric Hahl]

Well, we finally had some clear skies so I was able to test out the fixed RedCat 71 last night.

I pointed it toward M51 and told it to take 5 hours worth of 2 minute exposures. I then went to bed. Woke up this morning and the sequence was done and the scope was in the parked position and powered down so I assume all went well. We'll see this evening when i process the images.

From what I could see on the table all the corner stars appeared round so that's a good sign.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

Well, we finally had some clear skies so I was able to test out the fixed RedCat 71 last night.

I pointed it toward M51 and told it to take 5 hours worth of 2 minute exposures. I then went to bed. Woke up this morning and the sequence was done and the scope was in the parked position and powered down so I assume all went well. We'll see this evening when i process the images.

From what I could see on the table all the corner stars appeared round so that's a good sign.

Is the image ready yet?

How about now?

How about now?

Now?