A reason to get up early

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djewesbury
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by djewesbury »

LGTrotter wrote:
DRT wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:I happened to notice a low moon this evening, 'frail and faint as a sickle of straw'. It might be a bit thin for your purposes, but I understand that can be an attraction.
Did you notice the name of the file I uploaded, which is the date and time stamp of when it was taken :wink:
My moon was more on it's back. Anyway they can't possibly have the same moon covering the whole country.
Come on people, are we all just giving up completely on Owen's grammar? What happened to the good old days of naming and shaming apostrophic solecisms?
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by LGTrotter »

DRT wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:My moon was more on it's back.
Are you sure it was the moon that was on its back?
PS: Camera + telescope optics = things do not quite appear as they do to the eye.
Mine was quite definitely different, it was less pimply.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

DRT wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:I happened to notice a low moon this evening, 'frail and faint as a sickle of straw'. It might be a bit thin for your purposes, but I understand that can be an attraction.
Did you notice the name of the file I uploaded, which is the date and time stamp of when it was taken :wink:
Picture posted on 3 Jan 2014 at 17:38.

Picture taken on 3 Jan 2014 at 18:56.26 :shock: Does DRT own a Delorean?
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DRT
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

AHB wrote:
DRT wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:I happened to notice a low moon this evening, 'frail and faint as a sickle of straw'. It might be a bit thin for your purposes, but I understand that can be an attraction.
Did you notice the name of the file I uploaded, which is the date and time stamp of when it was taken :wink:
Picture posted on 3 Jan 2014 at 17:38.

Picture taken on 3 Jan 2014 at 18:56.26 :shock: Does DRT own a Delorean?
No. That's the time on the moon.
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DRT
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2726&p=70598#p70598]Here[/url], commenting on an answer to One Quiz, PhilW wrote:
DRT wrote:I'm going to give you that. From 9pm until midnight Jupiter is at its closest point to Earth and the Sun, Earth and Jupiter are in alignment, in that order. It is known as Opposition and is the best time to view Jupiter from Earth, provided the sky is clear.

My completely inadequate photographic capability managed to take this shot a few minutes ago. The large smudge is Jupiter, the four small smudges are the moons Calisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. Calisto, bottom left, is extremely faint in this picture.
Jupiter_20130104.jpg
How did it look by eye through the 'scope by comparison?
It is difficult to find pictures that look exactly like what you see through the scope because all of the images are either blurry like mine or heavily processed. The closest I could find was this, but what I see is brighter and the bands on Jupiter more distinct.
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote:It is difficult to find pictures that look exactly like what you see through the scope because all of the images are either blurry like mine or heavily processed. The closest I could find was this, but what I see is brighter and the bands on Jupiter more distinct.
Based on that, it sounds like the image you are seeing is pretty good; a decent eyepiece. More photographic equipment next on the shopping list?
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

PhilW wrote:
DRT wrote:It is difficult to find pictures that look exactly like what you see through the scope because all of the images are either blurry like mine or heavily processed. The closest I could find was this, but what I see is brighter and the bands on Jupiter more distinct.
Based on that, it sounds like the image you are seeing is pretty good; a decent eyepiece. More photographic equipment next on the shopping list?
Larger scope first.
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

PhilW wrote:a decent eyepiece
If only it were true that the singular would do :roll:
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Re: A reason to get up early

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DRT wrote:Larger scope first.
Decided what you're going to go for? Or will it require the building of a new shed/garage with sliding/glass roof first?
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote:
PhilW wrote:a decent eyepiece
If only it were true that the singular would do :roll:
Heh, I wasn't suggesting that your *other* eyepieces would not be high quality too :nirvana:
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Re: A reason to get up early

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The box currently contains 4 x Celestron X-Cel LX's, 3 x Skywatcher Plossls, 1 x Celestron Omni Plossl, 3 x Barlow lenses, 1 x Seben Zoom lens and a range of filters. Roughly equivalent £££ to a case of Warre 1970 :?
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote:The box currently contains 4 x Celestron X-Cel LX's, 3 x Skywatcher Plossls, 1 x Celestron Omni Plossl, 3 x Barlow lenses, 1 x Seben Zoom lens and a range of filters. Roughly equivalent £££ to a case of Warre 1970 :?
oosh, that's quite a collection; I'm guessing you have at least an 8" tube to go with that? (Yeah, yeah, double-entendre guy)
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

PhilW wrote:
DRT wrote:The box currently contains 4 x Celestron X-Cel LX's, 3 x Skywatcher Plossls, 1 x Celestron Omni Plossl, 3 x Barlow lenses, 1 x Seben Zoom lens and a range of filters. Roughly equivalent £££ to a case of Warre 1970 :?
oosh, that's quite a collection; I'm guessing you have at least an 8" tube to go with that? (Yeah, yeah, double-entendre guy)
Not yet. I am building up the bits and bobs and then going for one of these when the bonus arrives 88)
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote:
PhilW wrote:I'm guessing you have at least an 8" tube to go with that? (Yeah, yeah, double-entendre guy)
Not yet. I am building up the bits and bobs and then going for one of these when the bonus arrives 88)
veeeery nice; straight to 12" with goto and tracking. It could be high-dynamic-range CCDs next...
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Re: A reason to get up early

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PhilW wrote:It could be high-dynamic-range CCDs next...
I very much doubt it. Having read lots of stuff on the net and looked at some of the images people produce with thousands of pounds worth of equipment I am not seeing the attraction of plunging into that pool. I really enjoy looking at the images in the eyepiece. Looking at a picture on a laptop is much less fun.

A good analogy between observers and astro-photographers would be people who taste VP versus people who talk about tasting VP. I know which camp I want to be in 88)
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Re: A reason to get up early

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PhilW wrote:I'm guessing you have at least an 8" tube to go with that? (Yeah, yeah, double-entendre guy)
I have had second thoughts and have ordered one of these to test the step-up in size. I decided that going from 5" to 12" in one go would be challenging for any man so have gone for the intermediate 8" to ease my way in.
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by LGTrotter »

I am delighted that astronomy, not noted for its sexy profile, has been needlessly sexualised in this way. Brian Cox *snigger* would be especially pleased.
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

LGTrotter wrote:I am delighted that astronomy, not noted for its sexy profile, has been needlessly sexualised in this way. Brian Cox *snigger* would be especially pleased.
If I'm honest, it was "The Cox" that got me into it.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote:
PhilW wrote:I'm guessing you have at least an 8" tube to go with that? (Yeah, yeah, double-entendre guy)
I have had second thoughts and have ordered one of these to test the step-up in size. I decided that going from 5" to 12" in one go would be challenging for any man so have gone for the intermediate 8" to ease my way in.
I bet you decide to go to 12", especially given the track facility on the larger scope, within a year.
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Re: A reason to get up early

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PhilW wrote:I bet you decide to go to 12", especially given the track facility on the larger scope, within a year.
I'm still planning on buying one at the end of March. This interim step is simply to confirm that increasing the size of the scope results in a materially better viewing experience. It is a no-lose experiment as the scope I have just ordered sells for almost full price on Ebay. The experiment might cost me £50, but could save me £1300 if I find I am unhappy with the results 88)
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by mpij »

Northern lights may be visible tonight, even as far south as Cotswolds.
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by djewesbury »

Dimly visible in Belfast for the last hour or so.
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

Woo-hoo!
2014-01-10 19.48.35.jpg
2014-01-10 19.48.35.jpg (35.49 KiB) Viewed 5473 times
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by jdaw1 »

If you really need to inspect the ceiling that closely, wouldn’t a ladder be, well, cheaper?
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DRT
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Re: A reason to get up early

Post by DRT »

But look what I found on my ceiling...
2014-01-11 17.50.40.jpg
2014-01-11 17.50.40.jpg (98.78 KiB) Viewed 5461 times
:piginpoo:


This picture was taken in daylight at approximately 16:10 today. I have now fixed the time stamp on my camera.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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