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More stuff to fill the sky with. I’m a bit ambivalent about this.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Unless we’ve been hacked.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
I went with the PDF, I prefer it. Even my ‘The Sky at Night’ is the Kindle version. I decided to embrace the digital age. I can’t remember the last physical book I read. Maybe Dostoyevsky.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
You’re welcome, sorry it wasn’t more useful.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
I’m not sure if this is helpful or not. The link is to Sky-Watcher’s global site (product manuals).
https://www.skywatcher.com/download/manual/goto-mounts/
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Say “The Leeds” and you’re not smiling? lol
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Hi David,
The south polar cap is now too small to see, but the north polar hood is becoming prominent. There is currently a large regional dust storm underway (although it might be receding) so you’ll find features like Solis Lacus a bit more challenging to see at the moment.
Cheers
-PaulHello Paul,
Thanks for the information. I’d noticed earlier that the southern polar cap appeared to be shrinking. There were some transparency issues with my last observation. I suspected that some areas near the equator showed some evidence of localised dust storms as they appeared to lack clarity. But I wasn’t sure if it was the conditions as excess humidity is a problem at this time of the year.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
I had an early morning session on Mars with my 127mm Mak-Cass (05:00 ~ 05:45 BST). Mars was 11.7 arc seconds wide at about 58 degrees altitude and 87.2% illuminated. Seeing was above average although there was a fair amount of humidity with concomitant transparency issues. I used Baader Blue and Semi-Apo filters at magnifications of 205x and 257x. The phase and the southern pole were easily discerned, as were darker albedo features in the south. The blue filter helped greatly with white albedo features. Again, as far as I could tell there was a lighter albedo feature in the north (NPH?).
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
I got a brief view of Mars last night with my 127mm Maksutov Cassegrain. The planet’s starting to look quite big at 11.4 arc seconds. The phase was very distinctive (86.9% illuminated). Although the seeing was fairly good for the time of year there were humidity/transparency issues. At 17° altitude I wasn’t expecting much to be honest. I used a Baader Semi-Apo filter and magnifications between about 180x~256x. I’m pretty sure I could just about perceive the tiny white point of the southern pole. The possible NPH clouds were in the north but quite muted compared to what they were a few weeks ago. I also got a hint of darker albedo features.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Hi Andy,
Most of my astronomy is with smaller grab and go scopes. Even so, I do tend to plan an evening’s viewing even if only at a basic level. Jupiter’s so dynamic as a system it’s worth a bit of preparation. I caught an Io eclipse back in June. It was quite novel to watch the Jovian moon disappear quite rapidly, even though I’d prepared for the event with astronomy software.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Sounds like an interesting night. I find SkySafari 6 Pro is very useful for predicting Galilean eclipses and transits. I viewed Neptune on the 10th of September along with Jupiter with my 127mm Maksutov (Sky-Watcher SkyMax). I could perceive colour in Neptune even though it wasn’t much more than a tiny disc.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
I agree that the LED streetlights have a lot more glare.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
On a good night I can see the Milky Way from my back garden. Although I do live in the greenbelt.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
The jetstream appears to be shifting towards Scandinavia.
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Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Thanks Daryl, I’ve bookmarked the link.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Hello Nick,
Yes, it was an incredible sight alright. At that time I was actually out two early mornings in a row. I probably missed it the first morning as I was concentrating on Mars IIRC. I only saw NEOWISE when I walked back to my house for a drink of water. I put my hand on the door handle and glanced northwards. At first I don’t think my brain really registered it. I eventually realised that it was NEOWISE. I’d looked for it earlier with no success. It did give me a chance to use my Lumicon comet filter! Thanks for the links. I’ll try to find C/2022 E3 in January if the weather allows it.
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Interesting. I was under the impression that most LED lights were deliberately designed to project the light more in a downwards direction, in contrast to the older sodium lamps which did allow a lot more light to escape upwards. Maybe this is a factor?
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
Yep, that is small. It’s certainly dwarfed by my ‘Titchy Sixty’. lol
Telescopes: One Newtonian, three Maksutov Cassegrains, seven refractors, and a large SCT.
