Bornfree's bedroom obs
Re: Bornfree's bedroom obs
camera is a canon 450D mounted on a mini tripod (legs are no more than 2 inches long) wedge on the window stills for stability. next time add a pic of that..
Born to be Free
Re: Bornfree's bedroom obs
Tonight i helped mystic to collimate her new 8" zingaro mounted on my Astro Inox. with a trusty sight tube and cheshire and a good 15 mins managed to tweak the collimation to at least 90% accurate. as well as regurgitated the info i learnt from the web about manual collimation with sight tube and cheshire to help her get an idea of collimating without the laser collimator. after everything was done, i placed her laser collimator and mine to check the collimation and saw that both our lasers are off centre from the primary mirror's donut. this can only mean that our laser collimators need collimating.. ;D just like any newtonian, i suggest that add 2 washers to the secondary mirror to protect the base of the secondary mirror from scratches and holes bored by the secondary mirror's collimation screws.
mounting the zingaro on the inox was a breeze and balance is easily achieved. with a capability to hold a 12kg payload, this 8" skinny newtonian is easily handled. with the red dot finder and the eyepiece in place, the balance can still be achieved. even without tightening the tension, the scope can point from below horizon to near zenith without losing balance, without tipping in either direction. with the shroud, the wind can easily move the scope as it acted like a sail.
the 8" aperture is great. mirror is clear. jupiter looked great on a black sky background. looking through the celestron zoom ep. from 28mm to 8mm(?) the view was very crisp and contrast was great. then i tested my vixen orthos eyepieces, from 18mm to 5mm. each of the eyepieces, the bands got bigger without losing clarity. more bands were visible. the contrast was there. since jupiter is so close to pollux and castor, why not try find the double star and split it. not sure which was the double, i aimed at castor. using the 18mm, single star.. 12mm, single star. 9mm single but elongated star, 7mm single conjoined funny looking star, 5 mm split it. a beautifully split star. awesome!
just as any good time has to come to an end, we had to pack up. seeing Mystic pack up the zingaro was mind boggling. primary mirror stacked on the secondary and with all the screws are in it became a compact box. @@!! and into a haversack and ready to go in 10 mins. w@@t! its all done.
what i like about the scope:
simple setup
compact
light weight ( about as heavy as my 6" newtonian)
holds its collimation.
what i dislike about the scope:
needs a shroud in singapore
shroud acts as sail, not nice in windy condition. image shaky. even more so when viewing in hi magnification
shroud is limpy due to lack of structural support.
overall: 4.5/5
i am beginning to love this scope. only issue is with the shroud. this scope is a great scope. lets look at the 6" then decide which to get. dont worry about the size. 8" is still very compact.
poisoned level: 3.5/5
tempted to get it. anyone interested in a 6" skywatcher newtonian? mirrors still in good condition.
mounting the zingaro on the inox was a breeze and balance is easily achieved. with a capability to hold a 12kg payload, this 8" skinny newtonian is easily handled. with the red dot finder and the eyepiece in place, the balance can still be achieved. even without tightening the tension, the scope can point from below horizon to near zenith without losing balance, without tipping in either direction. with the shroud, the wind can easily move the scope as it acted like a sail.
the 8" aperture is great. mirror is clear. jupiter looked great on a black sky background. looking through the celestron zoom ep. from 28mm to 8mm(?) the view was very crisp and contrast was great. then i tested my vixen orthos eyepieces, from 18mm to 5mm. each of the eyepieces, the bands got bigger without losing clarity. more bands were visible. the contrast was there. since jupiter is so close to pollux and castor, why not try find the double star and split it. not sure which was the double, i aimed at castor. using the 18mm, single star.. 12mm, single star. 9mm single but elongated star, 7mm single conjoined funny looking star, 5 mm split it. a beautifully split star. awesome!
just as any good time has to come to an end, we had to pack up. seeing Mystic pack up the zingaro was mind boggling. primary mirror stacked on the secondary and with all the screws are in it became a compact box. @@!! and into a haversack and ready to go in 10 mins. w@@t! its all done.
what i like about the scope:
simple setup
compact
light weight ( about as heavy as my 6" newtonian)
holds its collimation.
what i dislike about the scope:
needs a shroud in singapore
shroud acts as sail, not nice in windy condition. image shaky. even more so when viewing in hi magnification
shroud is limpy due to lack of structural support.
overall: 4.5/5
i am beginning to love this scope. only issue is with the shroud. this scope is a great scope. lets look at the 6" then decide which to get. dont worry about the size. 8" is still very compact.
poisoned level: 3.5/5
tempted to get it. anyone interested in a 6" skywatcher newtonian? mirrors still in good condition.
Born to be Free
Re: Bornfree's bedroom obs
View of Venus @ 6am
this morning left customer's depot @ 6am.. looking east wards, saw a uber bright "star" then thought. that must a planet. n next thing was "saturn, y u so bright!" then think again, saturn was never this bright. it must be venus.
when reached home.. was contemplating shd set up my newt to view, since my view face east. then my boss called n said, be on standby since my deployment last nite hit alot of hiccups, though managed to get the system up n barely running.
and i setup my scope. first, the 24mm panoptic. a wide view and a little spike around the star's edge. then the orthos. a 18mm the spikes are more prominent. venus still a ball. 12.5 mm venus a ball, but slightly flatter. 9mm can make out the ,teeth of the crescent, though not that prominent. @ 6 or 5 mm, can see the crescent shape of the venus.then i tried to barlow the orthos. can see the immediate degradation of the view. even @ 18mm.it is like my orthos is not meant to be barlowed.. the orthos @ 9mm has better view than orthos 18mm with 2x barlow.
this morning left customer's depot @ 6am.. looking east wards, saw a uber bright "star" then thought. that must a planet. n next thing was "saturn, y u so bright!" then think again, saturn was never this bright. it must be venus.
when reached home.. was contemplating shd set up my newt to view, since my view face east. then my boss called n said, be on standby since my deployment last nite hit alot of hiccups, though managed to get the system up n barely running.
and i setup my scope. first, the 24mm panoptic. a wide view and a little spike around the star's edge. then the orthos. a 18mm the spikes are more prominent. venus still a ball. 12.5 mm venus a ball, but slightly flatter. 9mm can make out the ,teeth of the crescent, though not that prominent. @ 6 or 5 mm, can see the crescent shape of the venus.then i tried to barlow the orthos. can see the immediate degradation of the view. even @ 18mm.it is like my orthos is not meant to be barlowed.. the orthos @ 9mm has better view than orthos 18mm with 2x barlow.
Born to be Free
Re: Bornfree's bedroom obs
it has been a while since i last posted.. most of the time was just doing bino gazing and sweeping the north eastern, eastern and the south eastern skies from my bedroom... today, it was different..
when i reached home about 10, i saw the east was clear, mars a bright red dot like a pimple in the sky.. not an opportunity to be missed. and its height, just nice! just cleared the top of the opposite HDB block! quickly, i setup my 6" newt and looked at Mars. first using a 20mm Meade plossl. it framed the planet nicely with a few background stars. then my Aunt came in and asked what i am looking at. then i showed her Mars @ 20mm, then i moved on to my 18mm Vixen Orthos. then to the 5mm. i could see the dark regions of Mars. but i couldnt make out the ice caps. enjoyed Mars for a good 10 mins. even barlowed the 5 mm Vixen orthos, but the image degraded quite badly.
next, i saw the south eastern skies. spotted the 2 objects i wanted to see.. jewel box and omega centauri! not a cloud in their region! first i used bino to make sure that they are there. then i coupled my bino with the telrad (my makeshift 8x42 finder)n zero in on jewel box. wow, using the 18mm orthos, the cluster was a beauty, then i used a 12.5mm orthos, it was larger and getting nicer.. then the 9 mm, the outer stars enveloping the inner stars like a box containing precious stones.. it was really beautiful! then i used the 6mm to look at the jewel box. it is now very upclose with the whole box fitting the FOV very tightly. it is like i am looking right at the jewels up close. i could like count the gems in the box. what more could i ask for? this is going to be one of my fave star clusters to look out for.. being next to my fave southern constellation the Southern Cross no less.
finally, i looked for the omega centauri. indeed it is a fuzzy patch in the scope. why?! i can focus to a pinpoint on a star cluster but a globular cluster ends up as a fuzzy patch? do i need more aperture to resolve it better? or is it because Singapore is just too light polluted..
when i reached home about 10, i saw the east was clear, mars a bright red dot like a pimple in the sky.. not an opportunity to be missed. and its height, just nice! just cleared the top of the opposite HDB block! quickly, i setup my 6" newt and looked at Mars. first using a 20mm Meade plossl. it framed the planet nicely with a few background stars. then my Aunt came in and asked what i am looking at. then i showed her Mars @ 20mm, then i moved on to my 18mm Vixen Orthos. then to the 5mm. i could see the dark regions of Mars. but i couldnt make out the ice caps. enjoyed Mars for a good 10 mins. even barlowed the 5 mm Vixen orthos, but the image degraded quite badly.
next, i saw the south eastern skies. spotted the 2 objects i wanted to see.. jewel box and omega centauri! not a cloud in their region! first i used bino to make sure that they are there. then i coupled my bino with the telrad (my makeshift 8x42 finder)n zero in on jewel box. wow, using the 18mm orthos, the cluster was a beauty, then i used a 12.5mm orthos, it was larger and getting nicer.. then the 9 mm, the outer stars enveloping the inner stars like a box containing precious stones.. it was really beautiful! then i used the 6mm to look at the jewel box. it is now very upclose with the whole box fitting the FOV very tightly. it is like i am looking right at the jewels up close. i could like count the gems in the box. what more could i ask for? this is going to be one of my fave star clusters to look out for.. being next to my fave southern constellation the Southern Cross no less.
finally, i looked for the omega centauri. indeed it is a fuzzy patch in the scope. why?! i can focus to a pinpoint on a star cluster but a globular cluster ends up as a fuzzy patch? do i need more aperture to resolve it better? or is it because Singapore is just too light polluted..
Born to be Free
Re: Bornfree's bedroom obs
Nice visual report.bornfree wrote: finally, i looked for the omega centauri. indeed it is a fuzzy patch in the scope. why?! i can focus to a pinpoint on a star cluster but a globular cluster ends up as a fuzzy patch? do i need more aperture to resolve it better? or is it because Singapore is just too light polluted..
To resolve some stars in Omega Centauri (OC), you need big enough aperture and clear enough skies. With a 10" dob near McDonald's at Bishan Park, I can resolve about 10 - 15 stars within the fuzzy patch with direct vision. Should be able to see more at darker areas in Singapore. But having seen something apparently fuzzy into a gigantic cluster of individually resolved stars in Johor with 14"/15" dobs (thanks Rlow & cloud_cover!), still can't help feeling a little disappointed with the view in Singapore.
http://www.astro.sg
email: gary[at]astro.sg
twitter: @astrosg
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
email: gary[at]astro.sg
twitter: @astrosg
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.