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--- In OAFs@y..., jean_dorais@s... wrote:
>

What makes you suspect there's any kind of problem?

Well, when I do a star test, I don't see anything resembling
a 'good'or even 'so-so' result....the airy disc looks like...er cow
poopoo....

The star test can be hard to apply. It needs extreemly good
seeing and fully cooled mirror before you will see the
classic airy disks.

However, there are some basic things you can look for even if
you dont see an airy disk:

So, here are some questions for you:

What kind of scope again?

It's an Antares A520GP...Pythonese for an 8" Newtonian with Discovery
optics on a EQ-4 mount....

What makes you suspect there's any kind of problem?

Well, when I do a star test, I don't see anything resembling
a 'good'or even 'so-so' result....the airy disc looks like...er cow
poopoo....

Has it always been this way or is this recent?

It may have always been this way, and I just didn't know any
better....

What have you tried, so far?

I tried making sure the primary wasn't pinched in it's mirror cell (
looks ok, screws aren't digging into the mirror...)
I tried using the chesire tube and lasermax holographic collimator to
check if I was off( primary or secondary...)I seem to be bang on...
Yet when I do a star test, it doesn't look anywhere near what a good
star test should look like....

I know this is understood, but: yes, I let the mirror cool down each
time I tried the star test....and yes it was a cool down of more than
an hour...(actually 2.5 hours last time I tried...)

What kind of help do you think you need and to do what exactly?

Well personally, I have a fear of cubes....er I mean that I would
like another pair of eyes ( or 10)to look at the optics and
the 'seeing' with my scope and tell me if I'm out to lunch, or if the
optics/collimation/setup are waaaaaaaaaaaaay off.

Everywhere a Photon!

No worries....we'll eventually get together and I can take that 7.5
off your hands!

And thanks in advance for the help!

Jean

--- In OAFs@y..., jean_dorais@s... wrote:

I am in need of serious help...and my scope could use some tweaking
as well...:>

Hi Jean!

Welcome to the OAFs!

My next couple of weeks is fairly busy already with either work or
prearranged commitments. In any case, I'm not sure my relatively
limited level of expertise could be of any assistance. Depends on
what the problem is, I guess.

So, here are some questions for you:

What kind of scope again?
What makes you suspect there's any kind of problem?
Has it always been this way or is this recent?
What have you tried, so far?
What kind of help do you think you need and to do what exactly?

Everywhere a Photon!

Rol

Greetings all,

I am in need of serious help...and my scope could use some tweaking
as well...:>

Before the period of less snow starts (also known as summer), I'd
like to make use of the expertise of those in the know and have you
look at my scope, and once you're done staring at the tube, I'd like
you all to more precisely look at the optics of the scope.
(I know there;s a witty and Python-esque reply in the making
somewhere)

I'm still not sure if the scope is OK, so-so or total snafu....as
I've only my experience to judge by.

So, if a weekend afternoon/evening can be arranged, I'll make sure to
be mobile and get to wherever I need to be to have you share the
wealth of knowledge I know resides here in OAF Land!

In advance of all your kind offers, I say thank you!

Jean

Nice report, Roland.

--- In OAFs@y..., r.prevost@h... wrote: > Eskimo Nebula: Classic
...

MGC4565: One of the classics with it's very prominent dark lane.
Attilla and I thought we saw a second hairline dark lane below the
main one. Perhaps we need to generate an AVIM number for that one

as

well? ;-)

Yup. AVIM2. I downloaded an image of 4565 from DSS. There is no
trace of a second hairline dark lane. Ain't imagination fun?

M51: Beauty Incarnate! ( that prosic enough for you, Attilla ? :)

I think you mean "is that lyrical enough?". Not bad. It _was_
beautiful. One of my all time favorites. This object is the
main reason I bought a 25" rather than a 20" scope.

What can I say -- perhaps better exercise the right to remain

silent

on this one.

Shrug. M51 is one of the most beautiful ojects in the sky which
is also visible in amateur instruments. It is hard to come up
with good adjectives to describe it an not sound like hyperbole.

If there are oafs out there who havent seen it in a 20"+ class
instrument, I heartily recommend they line up at the biggest
scope at the next starparty.

It is a thing of wonder. And well worth looking at, over and over.

Much fun, especially if you consider the various references to

MontyP

during the session. Thanks for the kind invitation.

PhotonMan

Indeed it was tons of fun. Many thanks to our most gracious host,
Mike of the Many Toys. Thanks Roland for a fine report.

-ad

Sess.#278 7:30-11:00pm LimMag= 6.3 Seeing = 6-8 (range) Clear!

A Monday night session at Mike Wirths' Equuleus Observatory near Perth
Ontario. In addition to our host, Mike Zeidler, Attilla Danko and
myself ( Roland ) were there.

Thanks to the goTo capabilities of the 18" truss tube, we were able to
view quite a variety of targets. The 25" was also put to excellent
use on quite a few targets as well. The seeing started out being
fairly good at about 8/10, but gradually deteriorated as the evening
progressed down to perhaps 6/10. We all did some comparative
observing of views with and without the binoviewer to see what
ifferences we might notice.

Transparency was good as well, with MikeW reporting approx. Mag 6.4
overhead. This also showed in the amount of fine detail we could see
in nebulas and galaxies. Here were our targets -- in no particular
order...

Jupiter: Red Spot coming into view, barge in equatorial band. Saturn
was viewed as well, by others before I arrived.

Ghost of Jupiter: Blue-Green with structure visible inside.

Eskimo Nebula: Classic structure with bright central star.

Copland's Septet: Seven distant galaxies. We saw 6 & imagined 1.
Perhaps we need to make a list of AVIM ( Averted Imagination )
objects. That way we'll look real good when the next generations of
overwhelmingly large (OWL) scopes discover faint fuzzies where nobody
suspected there'd be anything.

Hickson 44: Distant Galaxy cluster. Just to be able to see it is
cool. Brightest member is ngc3753. See MikeW's previous report for
more details.

Hickson 57: Another interesting distant Galaxy cluster. Faint but
pleasing.

The Spindle Galaxy: A thin bright galaxy with a bright core.

MGC4565: One of the classics with it's very prominent dark lane.
Attilla and I thought we saw a second hairline dark lane below the
main one. Perhaps we need to generate an AVIM number for that one as
well? ;-)

Owl Nebula: In 18" scope, the eyes of the owl were visible in
binoviewer. Joke Owl and we were both using binoviewers.

M51: Beauty Incarnate! ( that prosic enough for you, Attilla ? :)
Spiral very evident and bright, as well as bridge to smaller galaxy.
What can I say -- perhaps better exercise the right to remain silent
on this one.

M3: Very attractive in the binoviewers. Well resolved, bright,
crisp. Everyone generated equivalent-valued expletives on that one.
We sounded much like sidewalk astronomy first-lookers.

42 & 43: Very very attractive tonight. Colours of red and yellow
were noted. Much smoke-patterned nebulosity. Crisp stars.

M101: Tightly wound. Looking fainter when we saw it due to th Aurora
probably affecting the contrast.

M104: Great view of the Sombrero Galaxy. Dark lane very evident.

M65 & 66: Very bright after some of the fainter targets we saw
earlier. Attractive field of view.

M82: One of the best views ever. Almost like a photograph in the
amount of curdled detail in that disturbed elongated galaxy.

Zodiacal Light was very apparent after sunset. The Milky Way formed
one swath of light while the Zodiacal Light formed another one at
nearly 90 degrees to it. One of the most obvious times I have seen
it.

The Aurora was fairly bright, with tinges of red detected at the upper
edges. 110 degrees wide and 70 degrees ( and more ) in altitude.
Many interesting spikes forming in the northeast. At one point
cascades of light engulfed Ursa Major specifically.

Genral Conclusion: binoviewers help on bright and medium objects to
see more comfortably and more details. However, on very faint
objects, the light does get split in two and there's additional glass
to content with, so very faint things seem dimmer.

Much fun, especially if you consider the various references to MontyP
during the session. Thanks for the kind invitation.

PhotonMan

It was an exellent time at equeleus observatory (as always)
tonight. Roland took note of all the objects we observed and
will hopefully annoy all the people who couldnt come out
to play, but wanted to, with a detailed, yet lyrical and compelling,
observing report.

I'll just mention one object we were trying to observe: copland's
septet. A little cluster of 7 galaxies each about 14 to 15
magnitude. We all saw 6 components. There was some question
as to where the 7th was. I thought I saw someting at 12:30 or
1 oclock relative to the reference star (an 11.7 mag star near
the center of the cluster). Roland thought me might have seen
the 7th component at about 11:30. We both thought mystery 7
was close to the reference star.

It turns out that we did see 6 components in the right place. But
both Roland and I were useing "averted imagination" on the
7th which, in reality, is nowhere near where Roland and I
were seeing things.

The 7th component, I would guess, is ngc3751 and it would have been
about 8 arcminutes away to about 10 oclock.

This is based on an image I downloaded from the Palomar digigal
sky survey and overlayed on Guide 6.0's starmap. Have a look:



Sorry about the pea-soup colored backgroud. Guide 6.0 seems to
have buggy screen-snapshot code.

It was fun. We were sure seeing things.

Clear skies and many photons.

-ad

Welcome Jean,

May you find friends and photons here.

-ad

Well....


After such a welcome, I can only say: Bring Forth the Holy hand
Grenade! And to three ye shall count....:>

Not much excitement happening this eve....just too darned tired from
the weekend with the munchkin patrol to even take the scope outside,
let it cool down etc, etc, etc....
So instead I'm playing with Starry Night Backyard 3.0 Pro....not the
smame but takes a lot less time to setup and takedown!

Hope you all had a wonderful evenin observing....

Jean

PS Mike, the kids were pretty excited about going some night to see
through some 'big' scopes....we should be able to find 4 or 5 that
could make it out for a night....:>


--- In OAFs@y..., jtokar@s... wrote:

Greetings Sir Jean!

A number of our fellows are at Castle Perth this eve. I am sure

they

will give you a hearty welcome when they return from their deep sky
hunt!

A keen eye to you, Sir Jean, as you gaze skyward this fair and

gentle

night . .

Janice

p.s. Don't worry, we don't always talk this weird! :)

Greetings Sir Jean!

A number of our fellows are at Castle Perth this eve. I am sure they
will give you a hearty welcome when they return from their deep sky
hunt!

A keen eye to you, Sir Jean, as you gaze skyward this fair and gentle
night . .

Janice

p.s. Don't worry, we don't always talk this weird! :)

Howdy,

Just me saying hello....

Can't do the Perth thing tonight, but I will be observing when I get
home in beautiful, downtown, Vanier!

Still trying to get the DSC's zero'd in, and the mirror seems to still
be pinched...something I will have to get you experts to look at for
me sometime soon!

Clear skies and Photons for all!

Jean

Thanks to all who sent welcoming messages. Sorry i can't join you
tonight at Equuleus -- work interfering with my life once again (but
not for long!)

Frank

I hope that your still observing tonight, I thought I'd drive out and
join you all.

Mike Z

--- In OAFs@y..., "Mike Wirths" <mwirths@s...> wrote:

Hi everyone,

Looks like its a go for tonight! Rol, bring your sketching stuff you

could

use the moving staircase to sit on and sketch! Its beautiful out

today,

almost 10 C! melt snow melt!
Welcome Frank! Good to see you with us!


-Mike W
-----Original Message-----
From: r.prevost@h... <r.prevost@h...>
To: OAFs@y... <OAFs@y...>
Date: Monday, March 19, 2001 12:02 PM
Subject: [OAFs] Possible Observing Tonite( Monday 19th )

Hello Mike,

I would be quite interested in joining you at the Equuleus

Observatory

this evening, if you do intend on observing. However, I do note

that

you might be fairly tired from the hard work, so if that is the

case,

and you'd rather re-schedule, please let me know.

Also, thanks for the classic report - I really enjoy reading all

your

details, as it gives me the ability to really imagine the targets

you

describe. As a result, I have a quite decent "Virtual Obsession"
thing going here. ;-)

If it's a go for tonite, perhaps I could bring my sketchpad,

pencil,

eraser & smudger?

Le Photon Guy

Rol





Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to

--- In OAFs@y..., r.prevost@h... wrote:

Mister Wirths,

QUESTION:
Would it be at all useful to us if I brought either my 18AmpHr
rechargeable powerpack, or my spare car battery, so that we have

extra

power sources if required? Both of these use cigarette lighter
adaptors, though the car battery, of course, has poles where clips
could be used instead, if your equipment had them.

Looking Forward...

Rol

Indeed. Keeping mike's 18" fully juiced is something I'd like to
see. I too could bring a 30AH battery or a 13A power supply, but I
dont think Mike can connect to them.

However, I have a female cigarette lighter cord connected to aligator
clips. I figure we might be able to clip onto Mike's battery posts
while his battery is still connected to his scope. We'd be running
two batteries in paralell, which should be safe if we get the
polarity right.

I'll bring my cord, if you bring your 18AH supply.

I have this vision of Mike fighting off two large burly guys
armed with wires and batteries intent frankenstiening his beloved
scope. A stuggle in the darkness. Shapes silouhetted by the refected
lights of oblivious horse-riders. Obscure mutterings of "polarity"
and "nagler". Needs some dramatic music.

Hmm. I think need my observing fix.

-ad

Mister Wirths,

QUESTION:
Would it be at all useful to us if I brought either my 18AmpHr
rechargeable powerpack, or my spare car battery, so that we have extra
power sources if required? Both of these use cigarette lighter
adaptors, though the car battery, of course, has poles where clips
could be used instead, if your equipment had them.

Looking Forward...

Rol

--- In OAFs@y..., "Mike Wirths" <mwirths@s...> wrote:

Looks like its a go for tonight! Rol, bring your sketching stuff you
could use the moving staircase to sit on and sketch! Its beautiful
out today!

Great!!

In that case, I'll see you 'round 7:30pm, give or take.

HerrPhotonMann,

Rol

Hi everyone,

Looks like its a go for tonight! Rol, bring your sketching stuff you could
use the moving staircase to sit on and sketch! Its beautiful out today,
almost 10 C! melt snow melt!
Welcome Frank! Good to see you with us!


-Mike W

--- In OAFs@y..., "Mike Wirths" <mwirths@s...> wrote:
> Hickson 57: Also in Leo but much fainter and more compact, this is
Copelands Septet. This was my 1st time viewing this group and I only
got 5 of the 7 but I think it will be easier with better seeing as
several are very close together >

I'd like to try this object with a binoviwer. Many faint fuzzies
are just too big for the field of a barlowed binoview, but little
clusters of galaxies should work.

Now that you know how to find copelands septet, I'll have to
get you to show it to me.

-ad

ps. wasnt it "Fetchez la vache" and in fringlish for "get the cow"?

--- In OAFs@y..., zeidler@n... wrote:

Roland, have you been holding out on us "Photons for hire" I mean
really where were you on some of these cloudy nights? :)

One could really "make a mint" among Photon-starved amateur
astronomers this year if there really was a way to "hire out" some
veiws of the sky through the cloud cover. Usually, if I get the fever
really bad, that's when I take out my observing logbooks, sit by the
fireplace, pour a small Drambuie, and re-visit "past observing
glories". In almost all cases, the words bring back the evenings in
question, and the visual impressions of the targets seen aren't far
behind.

I guess we could hire out our logbooks, eh Mike? Then we'd really be
"Photons for Hire"! ;-)

Photons Rule! ( albeit extremely loosely )

Rol

Hi Frank, and welcome.

Roland, have you been holding out on us "Photons for hire" I mean
really where were you on some of these cloudy nights? :)

Mike Z

--- In OAFs@y..., r.prevost@h... wrote:

Be most welcome, Sir Frank, to our merry band of OAFs!

Don't sweat the Monty Python stuff. In fact, Mike Wirths was kind
enough to lend Janice & I some tapes of Monty Python reruns! As

well,

there are many soundfiles he placed in the "sillyfiles" directory

to

give you a flavour. I think that either astronomy or hilarity OR
both are the general themes here.

Glad you're here...

Photons for Hire...

Roland