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Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

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Posts Made By: Alex McConahay

April 7, 2004 01:05 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Renting a Telescope

Posted By Alex McConahay
Miguel,
If you haven't already planned your trip, may I suggest you go out to Landers, which is pretty much the Mojave. On the weekend of April 16-17 the Riverside Astronomical Society will be out there at their monthly star party. YOu will be able to find yourself a telescope (probably a dozen of them) that you can pretty much take over and look at whatever you want. See Rivastro.org for details.

As for renting--I don't really know much about that. As in the LAAS, you have to be a member to check out on of the club scopes from the RAS.

Alex

April 8, 2004 01:59 PM Forum: Digital SLR AstroPhotography

Remote Shutter Release

Posted By Alex McConahay
The Nikons have a remote. I don't like it because I don't trust the connectors.....but maybe that is just my bad luck that I broke mine and it cost me $198 to fix it.

Alex

April 11, 2004 01:44 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Ridiculously Priced Piers

Posted By Alex McConahay
I just made a pier. My friend welded it. It cost about $100 for a 33 inch long piece of six inch pipe, a 12x12 plate, and a block of aluminum to make an adapter to fit my Losmandy head. Used several thousand dollars of machinery and tools to make it. SOme few dollars worth of electricity, welding wire, paint, and so forth. These numbers say that if you have the tools, you can make the pier for a lot less. I did not powder coat, and my finish is good, but probably not to the pro's standards--but it is nice.

Alex

PS, the price of steel has gone way up because of world (Chinese) demand, and the penalty we are paying for violating international agreements regarding steel imports.

April 20, 2004 03:53 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

polar alignment scope

Posted By Alex McConahay
It is not quite as simple to get a perpendicular mount, as you suggested, but, depending on your machining skills, etc, it could be done.

The harder part is getting the proper reticle in your polar finder scope, and getting an adjustment mechanism to move the finder scope around as needed.

THis would all be easier if the north star were really north. In fact it is nearly a degree off. Therefore, it rotates around the sky, just as all the other stars do. Therefore, you need to know exactly where it is in relation to true north when you are "centering" it in the finder scope. The reticle and the aforementioned adjustment device does that calculating for you. That stuff is harder to fake.

So, it is not simply a question of putting a finder scope on the side of wedge. (But that would generally get you pretty close.)

Alex

April 20, 2004 03:58 PM Forum: Star Parties

RTMC online

Posted By Alex McConahay
The website's server has had some problems of late. SOme people are getting on, and some are not. The people who are running RTMC are aware of it, and working with their provider on it. It has been annoying. Keep trying. It comes and goes, apparently.

Alex

April 21, 2004 12:48 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

electronic eyepiece for guiding?

Posted By Alex McConahay
I've seen people do it with a cheap webcam, a television, with a transparent cover over the television screen.

It works. It is better than eyeballing it at the scope, but not as good as an autoguider.

Alex

April 26, 2004 07:48 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Meade LPI imager

Posted By Alex McConahay
As an imager, it will work in anything that can accept a 1.25 eyepiece. I have used OM-1 camera lenses with a 1.25 adapter.

I can't answer the questions regarding deep sky or tracking.

Alex

April 27, 2004 03:40 PM Forum: Film Astrophotography - Imaging and Processing

PLANETS

Posted By Alex McConahay
That changes year to year. I know of no website. However, you can check the ephmerides part of any common planetarium program. For the outer planets, look for when the planet is rising at sunset. For Venus and Mercury, look for when the planets are closest to the sun. (They set or rise as the sun does.)

By the way--except for Venus, Mercury, and Mars, the location relative to the earth matters relatively little for photographic purposes, because the distances do not change all that much.

Alex

May 4, 2004 01:17 AM Forum: Film Astrophotography - Imaging and Processing

Time exposure on fixed tripod

Posted By Alex McConahay
By the time you can get the star to show up on an emulsion, you would probably be able to see some trailing. The wider the angle of the lens (the shorter the lens) the longer you can have. The further towards the poll you aim, the longer you have. At any rate, we are generally talking less than half a minute under the best of circumstances. To actually answer your question, I would have to go to Covington or I think Dickenson.

Alex

May 4, 2004 01:17 AM Forum: Film Astrophotography - Imaging and Processing

Time exposure on fixed tripod

Posted By Alex McConahay
By the time you can get the star to show up on an emulsion, you would probably be able to see some trailing. The wider the angle of the lens (the shorter the lens) the longer you can have. The further towards the poll you aim, the longer you have. At any rate, we are generally talking less than half a minute under the best of circumstances. To actually answer your question, I would have to go to Covington or I think Dickenson.

Alex

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