Author Archives: james

My First Widefield Shot

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

Quite a few “firsts” this week. Makes such a change to have so many nights of clear sky. This night the sky clarity wasn’t great, but I wanted to try a widefield shot and wasn’t too worried about the outcome … Continue reading →

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My First SPC900 DSO Images

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

We’ve just had a full eight days of clear skies and I finally managed to get around to testing my LX-modded SPC900. For the test I used my ST120 on the motorised EQ3-2. This is my first ever attempt at … Continue reading →

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Paper Planet Models

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

I found a set of “nets” for icosahedron models of planets and moons recently and made one each of Jupiter with my daughter. They’re quite tricky to make the final joins on — you really need delicate slim fingers, not … Continue reading →

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A Very Late Swarm

Posted on July 23, 2012 by james

Yesterday (22nd July) morning I received a phone call about a bee swarm in a local garden. The swarm was in a holly bush right next to the path to the front door of the house and the owners have … Continue reading →

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Observation Report, 22 July 2012

Posted on July 23, 2012 by james

Having had an excellent night two nights ago I had six Messier objects left to find and set myself the goal of finding M7 this week on the basis that whatever happens in August, between the Moon and the turning … Continue reading →

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Observation Report, 20 July 2012

Posted on July 21, 2012 by james

With almost horizon-to-horizon blue skies yesterday evening I gambled on putting out both the 127 Mak on the EQ3-2 so I could polar align it for any solar imaging that I can find time for, and the ST120 with its … Continue reading →

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Dovetail Adaptor for Old EQ3-2 Mounts

Posted on July 12, 2012 by james

My EQ3-2 is one of the older models that has fittings for scope rings, but doesn’t have any form of dovetail clamp. The new models have both. I prefer to use dovetails as it makes swapping scopes around between mounts … Continue reading →

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Solar PV Generation Update, July 2012

Posted on July 3, 2012 by james

Unless you have some strange rain fetish, June has been an awful month weather-wise. There’s been hardly a single day here when it didn’t rain and even when rain wasn’t falling the sky has been mostly cloudy. According to the … Continue reading →

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50mm Binocular Objective Finder Howto

Posted on June 28, 2012 by james

My second right-angle finder based on a binocular objective is now built (if not yet cosmetically finished) and this time I’ve taken photos so I can now document the construction process. My aim was to make a functioning right-angle finder … Continue reading →

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Revisiting Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude

Posted on June 23, 2012 by james

Back in March I tried checking stars in Usra Major to get an idea of the naked eye limiting magnitude (NELM) for my home. The seeing wasn’t great that night, but I obtained a figure of 5.55 for NELM. Earlier … Continue reading →

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