Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. This is the only telescope on my list that features a helical focuser, like the ones you would find on an expensive telephoto camera lens. You can also use the time to rebuild the PHD-2 Dark Library that this system uses for guiding. Cloudy Nights General Astronomy Beginners Forum (No Astrophotography) CNers have asked about a donation box for Cloudy Nights over the years, so here you go. On August 13th, someone named HawaiiAPUser posted a screenshot of a failed login attempt, indicating theyd been banned under another name. Recommendation for Vintage White Spray Paint? Required fields are marked *, document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a6b53ea64264a50d17c028d052fd874a" );document.getElementById("cfd2c22fe2").setAttribute( "id", "comment" );Comment *. To carry out a star test you need to observe a bright star with your telescope and a high-magnification eyepiece, looking at the star when its in focus, when its inside focus and when its outside focus. One thing that has flummoxed me as to how to re-home is an original Vann Solar . Its often caused by the mirror clamps being too tight, which distorts the mirror. Scope Nightsis beautiful, and its simple graphics make stargazing conditions clear at a glance. Glass: FPL-53 The optics are superb and are even better than the advertised 0.9 Strehl minimum guarantee. In a sudden rage, hed spammed the site with pornography, then posted its address on a site called HackForums.net, asking for someone to attack it. Cool concept, for sure, this one took me a while to even figure out what it was, but I'm glad I did! It is also wise to confirm the mounting-style of the dovetail saddle on your telescope mount. Different vendors will offer various packages for the telescopes listed below. At no time did I ever find that the CT-20 mount was anything but superlatively capable to handle even my large 6-inch f/8 refractor. Fully integrated package so no I am often asked this question, and the answer is, the one that provides consistent results. Copyright 2005 Cloudy nights Telescope Reviews Galaxies Groups M65 - M66 and NGC 3628 in Leo While M66 and M65 are just seen in 16x70s and 20x80s, both are readily seen in the 25x 100 s. The companion NGC 3628, not seen in any smaller binocular, w as visible several times in the 25x 100. It is very different from my Celestron mounts and to be fair It took a while for me to learn how to use those mounts also. One of his accounts had been banned a couple of weeks ago, he said. As I continue to receive new astrophotography gear I will be sure to share my results. The attackers may have stopped voluntarily after that, or they might have been stymied by Astronomics new defenses since Bieler had hired a cybersecurity expert to help. wires, hookups or compatibility issues. It is literally killing him, he wrote in an email. If you havent photographed a reflection nebula before, you are in for a real treat. Was you on 1.2 or 1.3 version.? Telescope Live Ltd From what I see they are still advertising an IMX224 sensor, which is just a 1.3 Mpixel sensor. Are you talking about a software update, adding something like software interpolation? Refractors wont have this, so there will be fewer rings in their out-of-focus ring patterns. What did you do to your Scope/Mount Today? I am sure others will do it much better - for that cost people make some amazing custom builds with integrated mini computers that are much more capable. It's small, light and easy to use. Scope Nights' main screen displays the astronomy forecast for six nights. I genuinely love using this compact apochromatic doublet from the backyard and beyond. Both the Orion and Explore Scientific 80mm models included a built-in dew shield and 2 dual-speed Crayford style focusers. astro objects and saving the image files. Update: 10 of the Best Astrophotography Telescopes Available (2022). I bought the scope used, so didn't have to pony up for the full price. Weve described a perfect star test, but this hardly ever happens. Weight: 3.2 lbs The FBI knows what theyre doing, one warned ominously. Several functions may not work. But I am learning that EEA is an up and coming growth industry, and as a result, the components will get cheaper, better and easier to use. Cloudy Nights moderators, meanwhile, had a good idea who was behind the attack. The Sky-Watcher EvoStar 80ED is available at OPT. They all include light baffles inside of the lens cell to reject stray light. lots of plastic). from there on. 1, Do you consider this money well spent? One of the most common is astigmatism. I get several emails each day asking which telescope I recommend for beginner astrophotography setups. The images were shot using narrowband filters to create false-color images of the Rosette Nebula and Heart Nebula. Telescope users recognize two types of atmospheric seeing: "slow" and "fast." Slow seeing makes stars and planets wiggle and wobble; fast seeing turns them into hazy balls that hardly move. The only item that I do not control and is not currently cooperating is the weather. They are also the financial support of the Cloudy Nights Community. We can catch someone doing a DDoS., The argument apparently convinced Goodyear. We can catch someone doing a DDoS.. We are experiencing record-setting warmth for February in Southern Canada. Cloudy Nights Telescope Specific Forums Celestron Computerized Telescopes CNers have asked about a donation box for Cloudy Nights over the years, so here you go. Cloudy Nights is run by Astronomics, an Oklahoma-based company that sells telescopes and other astronomy gear. The Andromeda Galaxy. Your phone or tablet runs the We are experiencing record-setting warmth for February in Southern Canada. Focusing is easy on the EVscope and it's not like you have to do it every time. As you can see, this refractor produces crisp images with a wide field of view. get with any non-equatorial mounted telescope. Thick stratus, cumulus, or nimbus clouds generally preclude a good star-viewing outing. I reached out to the Albion College Astronomy Club and their astro dept - looks like they had one installed there for a while, wondering if they might want a spare. Therefore, iStar Optical can be congratulated on a very well made optical instrument. Review of Explore Scientific First Light 8, COUNTING SUNSPOTS WITH A $10 OPTICAL TUBE ASSEMBLY, Hubble Optics 14 inch Dobsonian - Part 2: The SiTech GoTo system, iStar Opticals Phantom FCL 140-6.5 review. Cataloged as NGC 7023, this deep sky object is a superb choice for your camera and telescope. If you are interested in a super high performing 5+ triplet APO, that is much less than comparative peers, dont be scared, I highly recommend you take a look at a Phantom! HawaiiAPUsers screenshot had a timestamp, so they checked which accounts had been active at that moment and whether other people had logged in from the same IP address. One of the most common is its harsh sentencing rules. Fell in love with the feel and looks of this incredible little scope.. First light was just days agomy target was the lunar surfacethe image was razor sharp..the contrast of craters, rills. The wide focal length (430mm) comes in handy when imaging large targets such as the Andromeda Galaxy. I encourage anyone with a minimum of technical facility to build their own vintage solar telescope, and join with me on the sunspot counting journey. This was not a sophisticated computer crime.. If the view goes off to one side or the shadow of the central obstruction (the secondary mirror) isnt perfectly central in the out-of-focus image (left), then the scope is out of collimation and needs to be adjusted. Not knowing whats going to happen because you have no income coming in to pay peoples salaries sucks, says Bieler. I dont have words to describe my first view other than wow. The RedCat 51 is very small and lightweight, just 3.2 pounds. enhancement) or enhanced vision (EV) which takes frames every 4 seconds and Are you on Astrobin? Not because I have been tweaking it to perfection, but because keep getting newer, better images to add to it! I learned from an Adam Block tutorial that using old dark frames can cause serious issues when processing your images, so I make it a point to constantly update my dark library. Help! We just wanted him to stop attacking our website.. Youll know that the objective mirror or lens of your scope has this if the concentric ring pattern looks elliptical rather than circular and its long axis moves through 90 as you move throughthe point of focus. Sharp rings inside focus, together with misty rings outside of focus, shows under-correction. fuzzies stay exactly like that faint.. even in bigger scopes. I am not an expert astrophotographer, I am just a guy whos been able to capture some decent images with modest astrophotography equipment in my backyard. I dont usually like to make a blog entry without having some new astrophotography images to show, but at this point, I felt an update was needed. Note the pattern of the concentric rings that appear at inside focus. Google Authenticator finally, mercifully adds account syncing for two-factor codes, Apples App Store can stay closed, but developers can link to outside payments, says appeals court, Twitter users are now wondering if mandatory blue checks are illegal, Supreme Court could decide if government officials can block social media users. Weight: 5.5 lbs Next to the study of Earth-grazing asteroids, I can think of no more important branch of astronomy. If you would like to read my Explore Scientific ED80 review, please visit that section of my website for a complete analysis of this telescopes astrophotography performance. Criterion made a similar scope. I can only direct you towards a path that has worked for me personally, and lead to years of enjoyment with this hobby. I have had great experiences with both Orion Telescopes and Binoculars and Explore Scientific. You can then use the results to fine-tune the optics and squeeze the most out of your scope for perfect views. But he thinks that prosecutors often bring even clearly weak cases to court, both because theyre relatively easy to argue and because theres a sexiness factor to computer crimes. But as the case reaches its end, he simply feels bad for everyone involved including Goodyear. For many of the refractors listed on this page, a field flattener/reducer (or focal corrector) is recommended to get the most out of the optics. The Sky-Watcher EvoStar 80ED has been an extremely popular choice for amateur astrophotography enthusiasts for years. This telescope showed me the planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). If you are looking to get caught up to speed with the level the Astro Imaging Channel team is shooting at, watch the video above. Well, here are a few things I do to take advantage of this kind of situation.My first choice is to take a healthy dose of calibration frames, specifically dark frames, and add them to my dark library collection. All of the telescopes on this list are air-spaced doublets or triplets. As it is, set-up and operation are easy, making for a satisfying introduction to observing the night sky. Consider using this device, which allows you to star test and collimate your scope on cloudy nights. Mike. 6se Dovetail on EQ Mount Started by vikings1989 , Apr 30 2023 06:25 PM Celestron SCT No replies to this topic I try not to have to use any dark frames older than about 4 months. From the Albion site the scope was donated in 1971 so it looks they were being made in the earlier 70's. It was almost nonexistent.. That GOTO system does not care about obstacles, it will Even at a smaller scale, they can cause real harm like Goodyears request did to the owners of the Cloudy Nights forum. Not sure it is 100% complete, but pretty darn close to it from photos I could scare up. 23 best telescope mounts, 2023 | BBC Sky at Night Magazine This company has really impressed me in terms of customer support and community involvement. Set your scope up to track a bright star high in the sky, or on Polaris if you have a non-tracking mount such as a Dobsonian. I wouldn't be surprised if future updates of their APP will provide either more targets, or the facility to enter coordinates directly. It is well built, should last for decades from what other owners of Losmandy mounts say. If you plan on using a telescope for photography with your DSLR camera, the following list should help you make your decision. Established in the year 2000, the CloudyNights.com telescope review site is one of the most widely read resources on the Internet for the amateur astronomy community. I would guess it is something like drizzle, a common technique when stacking images. The Leo Triplet of Galaxies This Saturday January 21st was, Here is my image of the M78 Reflection Nebula in Orion. Please follow me, or send me a message over there and I will do the same. DPAC testing refractors - should I take the plunge? The place to discuss older telescopes. Politics are prohibited except on a board for discussing light pollution laws. Price 229. A star test also reveals a feature of a telescopes optics known as spherical aberration. in the way of the FOV, then the scope cannot see a plate to solve. In a 25mm Plossl included Jupiter was crisp edge to edge I discerned color in its banding amazed at the realization that the universe was in color and not shades of grey as in my four-inch scope. If you have watched the videos on my YouTube channel, youll know that my William Optics Zeinthstar 73 gets plenty of use in the backyard. You currently have javascript disabled. It is very stable even with my C14. How many would you estimate are available with the EVscope? Im sure there are some 24 newt owners that would Our club isn't looking to sell this, per se, though not opposed to that. CloudyNights.comis dedicated to provide a forum where you can ask your questions or provide answers based on your experience, and perhaps most importantly, the site publishes reviews of astronomical scopes and equipment as written by experienced observers in the amateur astronomy community. The bigger question I would ask is why Orion, Skywatcher, Meade, Celestron (as well as ZWO and QHY) aren't in this market with add-ons for their much better scopes. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. It also showed me a power line in great detail; the distant object I used to align the finder scope with the main scope. Stellarvue SV130T - Help ID Year of Manufacture and Objective Type. Cancel out field rotation that you Focal Ratio: f/6 Check that the scope is collimated. Before you begin star testing, make sure the telescope has cooled down to the ambient air temperature. They can add extra penalties for using sophisticated means and special skills, even for fairly simple actions like running a script. resolution and light grasp compared to more professional setups. Its not totally clear how the DDoS campaign did end. Flat and Dark Flats can also be taken but usually you want to do these specifically before or after youve done your light images and you have not broken the image train. From what I was able to see, I conclude that the optics belongs to a Super APO class, which is highly suitable for both visual observing and astrophotography. squishy and there is excess play in the AZ axis that may be contributing to Will probably improve your guiding just doing this. 5 hassle-free telescopes capable of jaw-dropping. Here are a few of my favorite pictures taken using the William Optics RedCat 51: Since this article was originally written, I have had the pleasure of testing a number of new refractor telescopes for astrophotography. When the clouds finally part, Ill be ready. Operation of the mount was also smooth and precise throughout the testing and general field observing sessions. looks like they had one installed there for a while. attendant problems with portability. I've long been looking for an occulting disk plus filter type of prominence telescope. Established in the year 2000, the CloudyNights.com telescope review site is one of the most widely read resources on the Internet for the amateur astronomy community. I'd like to see them do it, since they are only charging 10 pounds a year for a great product they should have a chance to make a bit more money buy embedding in hardware. mobile phone or tablet with WiFi. The Meade 70mm Quadruplet APO is another excellent choice and one that I have had the pleasure of testing myself. If the telescope has ideal optics, the rings should be clearly defined. And I dont mean just iffy skies with clouds randomly passing over and confusing your guiding for a moment, but completely clouded over and offering no hope of any relief throughout the evening. I dont believe a beginner should jump into this hobby and buy an expensive telescope for astrophotography right away. Connect PHD-2 and let it guide while you try and dial in parameters to make improvements. This is a piece of kit that uses a white LED and a small length of fibre-optic cable to make a star-like source of light. Youll be able to tell if the scope needs more time to cool if you can see streaks and streamers bleeding away from the out-of-focus view of your star. I loved my CGE Pro, and I had no intention of buying a new CGX-L with tripod or using my CGE Pro as a flower stand or doorstop. Many beginners are using crop-sensor DSLR cameras through the telescope. Wait for a night of good seeing instead. We actually asked in our letter [to the court] that he not get prison time. Have sold or given away a few items through the classifieds, will likely do a bit more of that as time allows. Then again, most of us who put in the effort to be involved and/or lurk astroforums are probably not the target audience. I expect many, Continue Reading Why I Built a Backyard ObservatoryContinue, Over the past weekend, I again traveled to my dark sky observing site for some DSLR astrophotography. The clear skies will return. Observing Secrets of Deep-Sky Objects Revealed - Sky & Telescope Fully integrated package. Historical classic or antique scope threads and links, Classic Telescopes in TV, Hollywood and Movies, Craigslist,eBay and other vintage/classic telescope ads. Astrophotography requires a great deal of patience. I have driven up to 4 hours to buy used astronomy equipment. They share the same focal length, size, and weight, yet use different ED glass. The 42-year-old IT specialist and avid stargazer had frequented an astronomy forum called Cloudy Nights. But as soon as I used the Skyportal module again, the same problems came again: Declination didn't respond correctly and the mount was completely messed up, even a simple polar alignment became impossible. Astro-Physics 110GTX : What is your plan "B" . Big aperture, with all the Focal Length: 600mm These are caused by air currents inside the scopes tube distorting the view. It has an internal filter system and I don't see anywhere that would require electricity. This apochromatic doublet refractor sits in the sweet spot between performance and price point. earth and what time it is and the controller then predicts the target location There's a whole book about the inventor's life - skimmed but didn't read completely, seems very interesting! The axis friction knobs are conveniently located and are tactile-distinctive from the saddle plate knobs that hold the telescope on the mount, so there was never any question in the dark as to which knob-type I was operating. The precision dual-speed focuser is ultra-smooth and stable. Ive made sure my equipment is set up and working properly and optimized for the targets I want to image. The telescope is a Newtonian reflector, which does require collimation to align its two mirrors, but to make things easier for beginners, a big section of this process has been removed. When asked whether he could make the attacks stop, he said he didnt know [the HackForum members] well enough., We caught Osama bin Laden, right? Let's get right to it. SharpStar Askar ACL200 200-mm f/4 astrographic telephoto lens, Astrotrac 360 tracking platform first impression. The agents threatened to start filing search warrants. Explore Scientific also offers a carbon fiber version of the ED80. check (albeit on a limited basis), Ability for scope to operate the target. You can look right through slow seeing to see sharp details as they dance around, because the eye does a wonderful job of following a slowly moving object. I think the family said he maybe made it or had it custom built, that will also be an interesting one to find a home for but not as involved as this. Stargazing Forecast for Night Sky Observing - Sky & Telescope 11 best telescopes for seeing the planets 1 Sky-Watcher SkyMax 180 Pro Maksutov The SkyMax 180's long focal length is ideal for planetary and lunar viewing, but the telescope also gives good views of many deep-sky objects. There are a lot of features I love about the Z73, but here are the ones that really stand out. I used this telescope a lot. In this article, Ill explain why I built a backyard observatory, and how the entire project took shape this spring. How many of you took the time to learn the sky BEFORE you got your quickly to two questions I asked them), Not really intended for the Good basic App interface. Thank you for a nice, balanced and informative review of this product. In December 2018, he was sentenced to more than two years in prison for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Their goal is to assist amateur astronomers to find solutions with their existing equipment and to help in their purchasing decisions by presenting comprehensive and in-depth reviews of astronomical equipment and accessories. As mentioned, the rubber tripod feet or The level of detail contained within most of the photos shared on AstroBin is extremely helpful and inspiring when planning an imaging session. The cost is gas is less than shipping, and I can inspect the item before paying for it. Craigslist,eBay and other vintage/classic telescope ads Started by mdowns , Apr 30 2023 10:27 PM No replies to this topic #1 mdowns Time will tell. Classic Telescopes - Cloudy Nights Were just a small family-owned business, and he shut us down essentially for two weeks, Bieler tells The Verge. The worlds largest database of astrophotography data is waiting for you! New CGX Mount - posted in Celestron Computerized Telescopes: Hi all, Needing some advice from CGX owners. What Criterion did was use an adjustable barlow so you could move it in the light path which changed it's magnification to match the size of Sun's disk to that of the occulating disk. Once it's set, unless things get bumped around - it'll hold. You need to love the process inside and out to push through the steep learning curve and inevitable frustrations along the way. down edge is to place a circular mask around the end of your scope, blocking off the outer few millimetres. The dust and reflected light associated with the Iris Nebula, Back in 2012 when I wrote this post, I had no idea of the dedication needed for astrophotography. We caught Osama bin Laden, right? Speaking of Altair Astro, Ive also had a limited amount of time to try out their excellent GPCAM2 cooledautoguiding camera, and 50mm Starwave guide scope. How to Successfully Beat Atmospheric Seeing - Sky & Telescope Without being able to use each and every telescope on this list firsthand, it is impossible for me to provide a complete review of each model. 4.5 EVscope can show more of deep space objects than you could ever hope to Like the other telescopes mentioned on this page, the EvoStar 80ED is compact and portable. Stellafane is a good idea as a backup, though! Both daily and hourly forecasts are available. The William Optics Zenithstar 73 APO with a 50mm guide scope attached. With the knowledge you have collected during this process, would you purchase this instrument again? I was looking for other ways to see if I could take them out, if I could hack get a botnet or something. He found HackForums.net, said screw it, and signed up. The central bright region of the in-focus image should also show a ring around it (right). If the outer ring has little spikes, like whiskers, radiating from it, it shows that the mirror has a turned-down edge. Things can always be better. Below is a 22 minute image of M51 - not too bad all things considered. scope will drop out of EV mode. I need something that can run my CCD imaging sessions, as BackyardEOS was designed for use with Canon DSLRs. I could easily have spent the same $$ on acquiring a full AP setup and used it in one of my other scopes, but nothing I could find made it seem simple of straightforward. to make their scope more AP friendly for those that want to have more control. Best budget telescopes, 2023 | BBC Sky at Night Magazine If youre using a focal reducer, you can expect to get an even wider image with your DSLR camera or dedicated astronomy camera. 4.8 Megapixel so it 4 times larger than the 1.2. And the problem isnt just overlong prison terms.