Peter Gudgeon

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Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
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  • in reply to: A good year for Japanese astronomers #618756
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    I’m not sure if it’s disturbing or comforting, that despite various “All Sky Surveys” looking for super novas or watching out for any Near Earth Object that will end all human life, that an amateur with an ordinary camera (EOS 6D with a 200mm f/3 lens) discovers, what is quite a bright, comet.

    in reply to: New website feedback #608607
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    2 points:

    I agree with some of the above that I preferred having the latest comments to appear on the start-up page, and that while the start-up page appears OK on a laptop, it’s not the most ideal for mobile phones. Sorry, as I know a lot of time and effort has gone into the new site.

    While I’ve had no problems in viewing the new site. I did get an error when trying to log-in, due to “referer header” not being enabled on my browser (Firefox), and the option for this was not obvious when going to the preferences/security page. (Obviously I fixed else I wouldn’t be typing this). Although I’m not sure if this a due to the new site or more likely the new site’s host.

    in reply to: J-BAA Electronic #584981
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    I have electronic subscription only, mainly because I live abroad, and snail-mail here can vary from a few days until never. With  printed books/magazines I am much more likely to browse through them several times, whereas with an electronic copy it’s usually one initial read and that’s it unless there is a specific article that catches my eye.

    On the other hand, the one or two magazines I do buy in printed form soon build up, then I’m told they make the place look untidy (!) so end up in the bin after a few months. With the pdf files I automatically save them to an archive and can easily recall them later (even when off-line). So while printed copies feel more comfortable, and preferable, the electronic versions are more practical in that within seconds I can read something mention in a copy a few years ago, long after the paper version would have been binned.

    Peter

    in reply to: Increased Solar Activity #584123
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant
    in reply to: Obs planning software #583954
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    I use Stellarium for this, once set-up with your location you can display the sky as viewed from your site at any given date/time and show both the RA/Dec grid and the local Azimuth/compass bearing grid.

    I googled how to set-up my own horizon, kept it simple with just a list of bearings/elevations to give a simple artificial horizon so I know when things disappear behind trees/mountains. If you want, you can replace the horizon with your own panoramic photo.

    in reply to: Nasa announcement #583292
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    Having just checked that website it refers to “teleconference at 12 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 26”  ?

    My understanding is that there is “12 o’clock midday” and “12 o’clock midnight”. Surely 12 p.m. would come 1 minute after 11:59 p.m. Similarly midday, coming 1 minute after 11:59 a.m. would either be 12 a.m. or even 0 p.m.

    I believe that the NASA website is referring to their midday. 

    in reply to: Webinar #582840
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    I totally agree with the above, from Daryl.

    I also believe it allows a much wider range, or specialist topics to be aired. My first on-line attendance was for the spectroscopic study of molecules in comets, a subject that probably would not have drawn crowds queueing around the block if held at one physical location, but over the Internet reached a larger number of interested members globally, such as myself in Spain.    

    in reply to: Braided structure in F3 NEOWISE dust tail #582821
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    There is a better copy, in colour, on the following website, exposing it as a fake:-

    http://www.rankinstudio.com/How_To_Spot_Bullshit_Comet_Photos

    As to why, ??

    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    Yes, an amazing picture, and lucky, as it was wall to wall heavy cloud in the part of Spain where I am.

    in reply to: Imaging Venus #582262
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    For perigee, during a transit of Venus.  Although I guess that’s not what you meant.  🙂

    in reply to: observing during the covid-19 crisis #582203
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    Hi Alan, that sounds a really interesting idea. For those of us less familiar with Microsoft Team can you give us an overview, or a link to a website, giving more details of how you did this. I generally use Linux, so am a bit dimmy about MS stuff, but appreciate that most of the members of my local group will be Windows users, and can see this might be the way forward if the lock-down continues for too long.

    in reply to: EQ6 Drive Conversions Kit #582122
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    I did the whole modification within an afternoon (< 4hours) even allowing for the problem I had.

    Just make sure you are fully familiar with the modification’s kit instructions (I had downloaded them before I brought the kit). Apart from the grub screw problem I had, the trickiest bit would have been removing the wiring loom to extract the motors, not difficult, mine were wrapped around other wires, a pair of tweezers were useful when putting the loom back. Without the grub screw problem it would have take just over an hour, and I was taking my time and double checking everything.

    in reply to: EQ6 Drive Conversions Kit #582120
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    The other year I installed a Rowan conversion kit on an Orion Sirius mount (different conversion kit to yours). The only problem I had was removing one of the cogwheels that is replaced by the kit. The slot on the grub screw holding it in place was broken and I ended up using a drill and a hacksaw to remove the old wheel. But apart from that everything went fine, and wished I’d carried out the conversion earlier.

    in reply to: When does the new decade begin ? #581967
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    This is the sort of question you only ask if you want an argument, and as no one else is biting.

    While Robin is correct as regards millennium and centuries, in the mind of public opinion a decade is usually considered (whether right or wrong) as going xxx0 to xxx9. When you refer (say) to the 1920’s you tend to think of 1920 to 1929, perhaps because we’re lazy and only look at the “tens” figure, or because our brain starts to hurt when we try and workout how 1930 can possibly be referred to as being in the twenties.

    It’s probably best to use whatever definition your target audience is happiest with, regardless of any legal or technical definitions, and if you’re having a “beginning of a new decade” party then you use the ambiguity to have 2 parties.

    in reply to: Star map/atlas #581694
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    I have Wil Tirion’s Sky Atlas 2000 (brought years ago when it was much cheaper), which I’ve found OK when using just a camera with a medium to wide angle lens. But with a telescope mounted camera there are often not enough bright ( mag >8.5) stars in the field of view, so I resort to Stellarium, not just because of the extra detail but also because I find it much easier not having to mentally convert black dots on a white background to bright dots on a dark background. Ideally I imagine a photographic atlas would be better, but I’ve no experience of one. 

    I don’t know if it’s do-able, I’m running on Linux, but it would be much easier if you could plug (say) a TV into the PC’s HDMI socket and display your photo on that while adjusting the Stallerium view on the PC screen.

    in reply to: Prediction of high activity of alpha Monocerotid shower #581627
    Peter Gudgeon
    Participant

    East coast of Spain, been cloudy all day, forecast for rain Friday morning, but to my surprise the sky seemed clear at 5am here (4:00 UT). Set up camera, but within 20 minutes sky totally covered with cloud again. It did clear in patches by 4:40 (UT) , but camera caught nothing through the gaps. Visually I did see one meteor, but by it’s direction it was most likely a Leonid.

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)