Articles

A Menagerie of Mini Mods for Mega Convenience

When I am not ogling the heavens with Big Bertha, my modified 12” Dob, (S&T January 2022), I rendezvous under the bedazzled night canopy with Starling, my 6” SCT, which I use as an incidental/travel scope on a manual EQ mount. The following suggestions are intended for improvements upon those minimalist setups with an SCT on a manual EQ mount.

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Star Adventurer 2i Polar Scope LED and Serial Data Solutions

The Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i polar scope illuminator device supplied is typically deemed inadequate. In addition, there is very little documentation available regarding use of a computer serial data connection using the Skywatcher Mini Console software. This document provides a proposed solution for these two options.

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Taming of the Slew – Transforming Your Dobsonian into a Dutiful Companion

Six years ago I got around to pursuing a long-held desire to educate myself on astronomy and cosmology. I started to learn the fundamentals with an inexpensive four inch reflector, learned the lay of the night sky, and read numerous books and resources. As a newcomer to the hobby I advocate the manual approach - the learning is in the doing, rather than having it done for you by a magical box with a motor. Give me a 1:24,000 topo map and quality compass any day over a GPS. Five years ago I moved on to a 12 inch reflector. I fully expected a beautiful mail order bride to arrive. Instead I received a monstrous, difficult to handle mistress in a casket-sized box. I was nevertheless certain she was the one for me…..with a little grooming. Perhaps some of my features and modifications may inspire you to make those changes to your outfit that will improve handling quality and make viewing more manageable and enjoyable.

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Binoviewing The Deep Sky - An Invitation to Research

Binoviewing is usually reserved for dedicated lunar and planetary observers. But could it be an overlooked tool for the rest of us? Do binoviewers on a telescope outperform mono-viewing for deep sky work by boosting contrast and reducing visual noise? They offer a spectacular visceral experience, but are they useful for serious work?

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I Have a Problem

Author’s note: the characters in the following dramatization are fictional, but the story relates to true events that took place. Source material is listed at the end of this story.

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Smartphone Telescope Finder

Discover a straightforward and cost-effective method to make locating celestial objects with a "non-go-to" telescope easier, especially for those new to astronomy. This technique can overcome a common challenge faced by novice amateur astronomers.

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Reflections on the 55th Anniversary of Apollo 11

This article was originally published in the July 2019 SkyWAAtch, the newsletter of Westchester Amateur Astronomers. The issue was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing. It included several members’ reminiscences and the complete text of President Kennedy’s address at Rice University in 1963, best known for the lines “We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Recently, I was reading about the slow pace of progress NASA’s Artemis program and the difficulties with Boeing’s Starliner at the ISS. I thought about the rapid progress of the manned space program leading up to Apollo 11, in comparison with what has happened in the 5-year interval between 2019 and 2024. When I re-read my essay, I thought the personal perspective might be of interest to CloudyNights members, especially those who were born after the Apollo program and didn’t experience the early days of the space race. I just retitled it so as not to confuse potential readers.

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Observing the Northern Lights

I was excited. After finishing a week of work, I was en-route to my favorite Friday night get-away: Wyoming. Even though clouds passed by as I made my 2 hour trek, all the forecast models were clear that I would have clear skies by the time darkness arrived. As I drove, I thought about my plans for the evening. With my bluetooth speaker, my cameras, and my telescope, I would arrive at my destination (a friend’s house in a Bortle 2), set up my photography equipment, then drive to my observation site where I would observe galaxies and sketch them. When I finish sketching, I would return to my friend’s house and photograph the night sky. At about 5:45 PM, I got a notification on my phone of a G5 Solar Storm warning. I started to think that just maybe I could get a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Little did I know I was going to have an evening I would never forget.

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TRAVELING WITH YOUR TELESCOPE AND A POWER BANK

For over a year now, I've been working with Powerbanks, which have been a game-changer for me, as you can easily carry up to two in the cabin when flying without weighing down your backpack, assuming that an extra kilo for two batteries won’t ruin your back. Thanks to the new Power Delivery (PD) technology, now mature, you can deliver the right voltage up to 20 volts @ 5A to all your equipment.

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$1000 worth of Questar accessories for $30

I recently acquired a Q3.5 (s/n #3QTZ-1697) in very nice shape, but with a couple of surprises. Apparently, back in the day (1964ish), thread on lens caps and flip-down finder solar filters were options….and mine didn’t come with them. Additionally, the Q had the original thread-in EP adapter not compatible with anything else, and lastly, no rear port axial adapter – but no surprise there. I priced these items with the only Q price list I have (2016) and they came to over $1000. So, I decided to have a crack at making my own, while trying to stay as faithful to the Q aesthetic as I could, and of course, doing no harm to the original Q.

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