What have you been up to lately?

[Ylem]

Still unpacking here at the new house.
Its a bit smaller than the old one back in NC, still may need to donate some more household stuff.

I've got decent views of the southern skies and reasonably good views to the east and west. The north has sky glow but is blocked by trees anyway.

Life is good

[StarBru]

Well, I've been gone from here for about 2 years and in a nutshell that time has been spent with: our 5 young granddaughters (we have the first grandson on the way, due in October!) family and family drama, playing guitars, resurrecting my 1970's stereo, traveling, our inherited senior dog, Juno, and still working 40 hours or more weekly with medical issues at the age of 70! Whew! It's been quite busy and I never get enough sleep.

[pakarinen]

Stepped out this morning to check the Moon-Jupiter conjunction (or near conjunction). Took a few pics with my phone, but they're mediocre - phone camera couldn't handle the brightness difference very well.

[Ylem]

I'm living in a DMV nightmare

So 2 years ago my Dad past away and I inherited his car.
He lived in GA so the GA DMV sent me a title with my name on it but with his old address on it.

Then I got them to send me another title, a GA title with my old NC address on it.
Then I took that to NC DMV, and after several more months I get a NC title, but it shows the mileage as 444,444!

So I pay more money for their mistake and in another 2 months I finally get a clear title...

Now I go to the NJ DMV and show them the NC title to get registered here.

Uh oh, the nice lady has to go speak to her supervisor...

Sir, your title shows 4,444 miles and your car now has 13,000 on it, But in the national data base your car has over 444,444 on it!!!

Such fun, now I have to get NC to make the corrections, and in the meantime I can't drive the thing because of insurance regulations.

Such fun

[Lady Fraktor]

Returned from the mudfest that was Wacken 2023!
A fantastic time and looking forward to 2024

[pakarinen]

Ordered a 6x30 SW RACI finder from Telescope Service for my ST102 since I couldn't find any US vendors that had any in stock. DHL delivered it yesterday, faster than most deliveries from US vendors. Mounted and aligned it but no first light yet.

[Graeme1858]

An ex work colleague and I went here today:

https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronom ... exhibition

Some excellent images on display. We had a great day.

Graeme

[Star Dad]

Our new heat pump "mini-splits" are 90% done. One final unit to hook up and months of work will finally be done. Our contractor is really good, but could have done it all in1 week instead of 4, but between anniversary, bad back, emergency calls and weather events - well you get the picture.

Had TWO clear nights last week, but couldn't take advantage because of getting the sheet rock in place in the new bedroom/office. Had to get that done before the inspector shows up to confirm a good install on the mini-splits. Old houses are not up to today's standards, but I do the best I can. No need to poke the bear if you get my drift. Nothing square, level, or parallel. For that matter - not even 24 inches on center can be counted on. Plaster was much more forgiving than sheetrock/gypsum board.

Busy weekend starting tomorrow with Perseid Meteor Shower camping and getting kids their National Park Service "Junior Ranger Night Explorer" badge. So much to do, so little time.

[SkyHiker]

Yesterday morning at 7 AM the power went out followed by a loud bang about 0.5 seconds later from an exploding transformer. It came back on about an hour later. Then tree trimming crews moved in around 11 AM and the power went out again. I have one of the most notorious trees, a huge oak tree that keeps the house cool and has branches pushing on the power lines. After a meet and greet with the trimmers I went for a hike expecting that power would be restored by the time I got back. Not so, googling on my cell phone I found it would be restored by 6:30 PM. At 6 PM I made a pizza in anticipation of this; then the power restore time was changed to 10:45 PM. No TV, no internet, early to bed. That was a long day.

How many more fires and electrocutions do we need to put the lines underground? When I was 5 or so, 1962 in the Netherlands, the utility company buried everything underground and power failures became a thing of the past. Of course, this could be done because it was a semi-government owned company, which makes it possible to plan for the long term. Not so, here. It is cheaper for utilities in the short term to keep everything above ground at the risk of fires and electrocutions and several power outages per year plus ruining our trees, so they will keep doing so with no end in sight.

[StarHugger]

So many things going on from meteor watch with clear skies forecasted on Saturday wich I plan to image the radient and be out til dawn.

So last night we packed everything in the car and pulled the interrior light fuses.

An upcoming astro trip to Wyalusing state park to party with the StarSplitters has a new inverter tested in the car (also last night) with my imaging laptop and its working now flawlessly, I am so ready for this little trip after all the storms and damages, time outs with the wildfire smoke and on and on...


Also working on a trip for my and my daughters continued annual astro bonding journey, last year it was Yerkes and I still remain at a loss ideaing this years event.


My Solar imaging of late has been sporatic due to smoke and cloud, trendy year so far...

[SkyHiker]

Who expects rain in August, well it happened. My metal shed observatory without floor was now flooded. Not horribly, and everything was in plastic boxes so it's ok. The humidity is worse than the water. I had yet to secure the bottom to the concrete so I could seal the walls to the floor sometime before the rain hit. I just secured it with 4 bolts and the floor is drying quickly with a fan on it after mopping. When it is dry I will just caulk it and see how it holds up. The water comes in just from one side, I hope the caulking can hold up against the floppy wall. If not, epoxy or hydraulic cement.

[Chich]

Been enjoying the heat here (I lie a lot )
Actually had a day of rain last week which was nice but now we are headed into the high 30s for the coming week. So happy I had a heat pump put in a few years back that doubles as an A/C. I stay inside during the heat of the day. Just cannot handle it as well as I once did.

I have been watching the news from the NWT. We moved down here from Fort Smith when I retired and I still keep in touch with folks up there. The town/access is threatened by wildfires and they are currently under an evacuation order so everyone is heading to Hay river. The Thebacha & Wood Buffalo Dark Sky Festival has been cancelled due to the wildfire situation for this year. Hope they are all Ok when it passes.

[Lady Fraktor]

Ordered a 6x30 SW RACI finder from Telescope Service for my ST102 since I couldn't find any US vendors that had any in stock. DHL delivered it yesterday, faster than most deliveries from US vendors. Mounted and aligned it but no first light yet.

If you ever want to upgrade to a higher quality 6x30 finder I would suggest putting a wanted ad out for a TAL 6x30, they are straight through but the optics and helical focuser are top level and could be considered a small refractor on its own.

Takahashi also sells a 6x30 but the price is a bit much.

[Ylem]

First time out with a scope at the new house, now keep in mind I have a tiny piece of property here.

While checking out the Lagoon, I hear a voice say Hello, I turn around and it's a COP!

He asked for my name, then hands me my wallet, apparently it slipped out of my pocket downtown and a good hearted stranger turned it in!

I think I need a purse, because this is the second time I lost it, the first time was on a NYC Subway, and again a good hearted stranger turned it in with all my cash/cards.

There is certainly more good than bad in this world.

My wife now carries my wallet for me, but unlike the strangers, she is spending its contents

[Graeme1858]

My wife now carries my wallet for me, but unlike the strangers, she is spending its contents

[OzEclipse]

Just finished a 1 year contract back with my former employer....so I guess I just retired again or maybe I just got sacked.

Don't really care, just looking forward to ending the climate change research and getting back to doing my own thing - astronomy & photography.

I'm spending another week and a half in Canberra taking care of a few things, winding up some data processing that I didn't finish by knock off last Friday, tax return, passport renewal, drivers license renewal, see a few movies, some lunches with friends.

Watched the world cup final tonight........

Rule España, España rules the play,
Britons, never ever ever ever shall win today.

I support Australia and any team playing England!

[StarBru]

We've had nothing but clouds and higher winds than normal ever since I received my Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount. Of course I can't take all the credit, we're getting the very edge of inclement weather from Hurricane Hillary, but no rain has fallen yet.

Couldn't find the dovetail bar and rings for my 10" f/4 Schmidt Newtonian, and I could hardly step into my telescope/hobby room where they are kept because somehow over the last couple of years, it has become our "catch-all" room. So this weekend I decided to clear out and organize the room. In the process, I found the rings and dovetail bar along with some other items I couldn't find.

Now I thought I'd be able to attach the 10" to my mount. Nope! I'm missing the hex-bolts. I've decided to just buy new ones. If the sky ever clears up, maybe I will be able to try out the mount after I recover from a medical procedure I need to have next week.

[SkyHiker]

I made an effort to waterproof the cracks under the tin can obsy before tropical storm Hilary hit. I did that by squeezing strips of yoga mat foam underneath the long wall where there is a slight dip in the concrete. The foam stabilized the wall bottom that could otherwise move by an inch at the center. I did not expect perfection but was surprised to see that my fix made no difference whatsoever. I suppose it only takes one little gap! So, I'll be mopping the water out again. Next time I will cut the foam off by the wall and add spray foam all around the walls, with maybe a sealant over it. If that doesn't work, I'll make a little rim of cement all around.

[Chich]

We have smoke on the island for the first time this summer. We usually get it from the mainland but the winds have been in our favour this year.

Been in touch with friends in NWT. They have evacuated Yellowknife, Ft Smith, Hay River and several other communities. 20k+ people. The fires have eased up a bit but new winds are expected. I used to work fire and I know many of the people involved. They are tired but keeping at it. Part of me wishes I was there but another part is thankful I'm not. They would have trouble hearing the radio over my creaking joints BC is also getting hit hard with several evacs and only essential travel recommended.

In other news, I won a dishonourable mention in the 2023 Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest where the challenge is "to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written" https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2023

[SkyHiker]

I have spent the whole day tracking down all kinds of flexure in my 12" F4 GSO Newt. With my Howie Glatter in the donut, slewing the Newt shifts the position of the laser dot. It causes my flats to be off-center and the coma to be unevenly distributed.

My first suspicion was flexure of the spider vanes for rotations around the optical axis (I even built a counterweight today for the secondary that has an offset - it fixed nothing). Number two was the focuser (can be minimized by tightening the lock). Number three was the mirror cell (I tightened all 6 collimation screws). While each of them had a little flexure, my fixes did not change the amount by which the laser dot shifts when slewing.

For now, I conclude that it had to be flexure of the steel tube and perhaps the mirror suspension. I tried testing that by shaking the OTA on the aperture side. I imagined feeling some springiness and seeing vibrations on the mirror side. I could very well be wrong of course, but I can't think of a good way of testing that. Meanwhile I will collimate the telscope in an upright position as much as I can because that's how it will be used.

It was good to check into this because I might have bought new spider vanes, secondary holder and secondary mirror, but I now believe it would not have fixed it.