Latest News
The Skies of February, 2021
Feb 05 2021 04:55 PM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, February Moon Focus Constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis, Andromeda, Perseus, Auriga, Taurus, Orion, Monoceras, Gemini, Cancer, Leo
Read story →





Cosmic Challenge: NGC 2438
Feb 01 2021 07:00 AM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
M46 in Puppis is one of my favorite open clusters and a striking sight through just about any telescope. More than 500 stars are crammed into an area just a Moon's diameter across, creating one of the most jam-packed throngs in the winter sky.
Read story →






Astrotrac 360 tracking platform – first impression
Jan 31 2021 12:31 PM |
Magnar W.
in User Reviews
After some waiting my Astrotrac 360 arrived, and the drive looks great straight out of the box. Beautifully machined, light weight, and compact. Just what I was asking for, after moving to a city, leaving my fully equipped small observatory behind me at the countryside.
Read story →






FIELD TEST: CARL ZEISS APOCHROMATIC & SHARPEST (CZAS) BINOVIEWER
Jan 24 2021 01:09 PM |
BillP
in User Reviews
This astronomical binoviewer is offered by Denis Levatić of Croatia (denis0007dl@gmail.com) as an after-market modification of new Zeiss binoviewer bodies. Mr. Levatić's value-added modifications to these Zeiss binoviewer bodies are then offered under the moniker of "The Carl Zeiss Apochromatic & Sharpest Binoviewer".
Read story →





The Discoveries of Galileo – Part 2: Sunspots and Their Movements
Jan 24 2021 12:53 PM |
E-Ray
in Articles
Last month I wrote in Part 1 about Galileo’s discovery that the wandering star, Jupiter, was a planet that had four moons. Recall that my motivation was reading the book Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo published in 1957 by Stillman Drake, a Canadian historian and authority on the complete works on Galileo. This article will cover Galileo’s observations of sunspots which got him into hot water with the Roman Catholic Church in 1616.
Read story →





WarpTune my Advanced VX?
Jan 24 2021 12:31 PM |
Gork
in Articles
This question eventually surfaces on just about every mount found in the low to medium range. If you pay $6,000 for a mount it has probably been tuned during manufacturing. For a mount like the AVX what you get is an assembled piece of machinery that is simply bolted, snapped, or screwed together and never really tested or adjusted for fine operation. That is why your mount is usually stiff or tight. I recently bought a new Advanced VX mount as a part of my down-sizing program.
Read story →






Omegon 32mm 70º SWA eyepiece review
Jan 17 2021 12:28 PM |
astrocanito
in User Reviews
There is no review of this eyepiece on internet and i bought it and found interesting to make a video about it.
Read story →





The Skies of January, 2021
Jan 09 2021 10:01 AM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, January Moon Focus Constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Pisces, Perseus, Auriga, Taurus, Orion, Gemini, Cancer
Read story →





Cosmic Challenge: Simeis 147
Jan 01 2021 07:00 AM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
The year 1054 must have been an active one for stargazers. That was the year that the famous Crab Nebula supernova blasted forth, shining brightly enough for Chinese and Native American skywatchers to note a "new star" blazing near what we now call the tip of one of Taurus the Bull's two horns. The 1054 supernova was so bright that it was visible in broad daylight during the summer of that year and remained visible to the naked eye for nearly a year. Today, we know the fading gaseous remnant of that all-consuming event as the Crab Nebula, M1.
Read story →





Beginner's Astrophotography: Can I use my unmodified DSLR?
Jan 01 2021 07:00 AM |
the Elf
in Articles
It is often recommended to modify DSLR's for deep sky photography. It may be one of the first topics a beginner comes across and sometimes the recommendation sounds like modding is an absolute necessity. There are good reasons not to do it, for example the camera is used for daytime photography as well or the budget does not allow either to have an existing camera modified or get a modified one. I don't want to go deeper into it. I'm also not opposed to modified cameras. I just would like to show what can be done with an unmodded relatively low priced DSLR if modding is not an option.
Read story →




