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I've been using an Explore Scientific 80mm refractor with a Atik 460ex camera. But I also have a Explore Scientific 127mm refractor that I need to do some more work with before deciding between them. The 80mm has an awesome Moonlight focuser on it and it makes life so much easier that it get's the nod more often. The weight difference between the two is another factor.
I have a lead on a little-used Celestron NexStar 6SE 6.0" Computerized Telescope owned by a gentleman near La Crescent MN. He received it as a gift from someone who had won it several years ago. As is too often the case, he's never used it. He's aware that it sells for between $700-$800 new and is willing to take offers. Email me for a couple pics and contact info. jack "at" waldenspecs.com.
Even though the Moon is almost full, I'm going to head to Keller tonight to do some narrow band imaging.
Conditions are looking very favorable for this Friday & Saturday nights (10/21 & 10/22). Better than the long range forecast for the following weekend. Anyone have any plans? Might Eagle Bluff be available?
Well, the weather reports sure have been a teaser this week. Clear, mostly clear, partly cloudy. What's the good word about Friday night?
SOLD as of 11/30/16
I"m selling a couple items and would give good deals if selling locally (no shipping)
Ioptron ZEQ25 Goto mount – $600
Atik 314L+ mono CCD camera – $750
A set of Astronomik 1.25" LRGB filters – $160All in great shape. Pictures available upon request. Soon to be offered on Astromart and Cloudy Nights.
jack(at)waldenspecs.com
Josef, Mike and I set up on the Peace Plaza at 8PM Saturday night. Despite wispy cloud cover and the obvious light issues downtown, the views of the Moon were fun viewing for the passersby. Many had never looked through a telescope and were astonished at seeing "all the holes" in the Moon. Because we only had a sliver of the sky to work with before buildings interceded, it was all over by 10 pm. Good fun all around.
Thanks Jeff,
I miss you folks. I've been busy this year and just have not gotten around to coming to meetings (I need to re-up my membership too!). I'm hoping to get down to the Star-B-Q this year. Will it be Friday, Sept. 30th or Oct. 1st?
This past weekend I was able to camp out Friday and Saturday on a farm south of Rushford. It was awesomely dark and remote. I got beautiful images of the Cocoon Nebula. http://www.astrobin.com/262843/
I also got images of the Cresent Nebula, but those were a little disappointing. Earlier this summer I went to the Nebraska Star Party, but I only had one good night of imaging there. Still, it was fun.
Any EB news for tonight? Yes, it will be cold. But how many clear nights with (slightly) above freezing weather do we get in November?
Does anyone have information about whether Eagle Bluff will be an option for Friday night (10/16)? Looks like it will be clear, not too windy, but cold.
I've used a Telrad, a cheap Celestron red dot and a couple traditional 50mm finders. For an SCT, I love a Telrad. Most of my work now is with refractors and I'm fairly happy with either a red dot or a 50mm finder. Once the finder gets me in the ballpark, I like using a low power eyepiece, like a 32mm to center things up before moving on to higher powers.
But now I'll tell you a bit about how I cheat these days. I'm an imager and as such I'm more interested in getting on target as fast as I can. But my field-of-view is pretty small, like 66×48 minutes, and I used to spend an inordinate amount of time getting an object centered. First I use a goto (Hey, I can see you visual guys rolling your eyes). Second, I use Astrotortilla to snap an image, plate-solve it and then re-slew the mount if the coordinates are not correct. It's a thing of beauty to sit back and let the software do it's thing (image, re-slew, repeat) till the target is centered. Finders?
Star hopping? Hah! 😉
