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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 4, 2012 20:40:11 GMT -5
Hi All....... It has been such a long time, that I have not posted in this forum, after the recent June Venus transit................ It is mainly due to work related issues, and only last week, I have managed to plan for a vacation , going to Shenzhen China, to visit my relative..... The Shenzhen city is much much more advance than I am expecting, with sky scrapers all round, and hardly find any low high rise building, in the business district area..... My cousin stays in one of the pen-house, 30th floor level, private condo in the district area, and can see the surrounding view..... This is the short video clip I took, at the top of his 3 levels pen-house.... And my cousin , who appears towards the end of this short video clip, has plan to build the observing deck , on top of his existing 3rd level ....... Hope to visit his place again, once he build the 4th level observing deck..... Back to today's main topic.......Istar 8" F8.8 Coming Star Gazing At Punggai Chalet And this coming 14th Sep 2012, will also be this year 1st Punggai trip, and again, as usual, our group will travel by tour coach, together with another batch of NUS students..... And of course, i will bring the ISTAR 8" along, and this will also be my 2nd time, after the NUS Venus transit, whereby I have the extended pier, so that I can still have a much comfortable visual view, when the scope is pointing vertically..... Hope to come back by next weekend with another report on how the ISTAR 8" performs...... Regards James Ling Attachments:
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Post by borispider on Sept 5, 2012 0:29:24 GMT -5
Nice view your cousin has.
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 6, 2012 1:37:23 GMT -5
Nice view your cousin has. View is nice..... But the city is not suitable for astronomy........ I brought along and gave my cousin my C90 with a photographic tripod, and we can see nice views at 50X , from far away objects, but when we point at the sky, only the Moon and vega is visible..... Shenzhen may not be ideal place for astronomy simply not coz of the light pollution that every major city is facing... But is a thick haze that covers the whole city, and in my whole week stay there, no blue sky at all....... and i can simply look up at the Sun..... But my cousin told me that when the haze is cleared, and blue sky is back, he can see more stars at the roof of his 30th level...... So in my future visit, I will bring a much bigger telescope along..... Regards James Ling |
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 16, 2012 8:06:22 GMT -5
Hi All....... Just back from the 2 nights of star gazing trip to Punggai Chalet, and again would like to share with all of you, this memorable trip....with the 8" Istar Optical F8.8 scope.......  This is the 1st session for the new term, with 30 participants from students and university staff, and the 2nd session for the rest of those interested students will be in coming mid October... We set off from our country, around 8.30pm, on Friday evening, and reaching the destination around 11.30pm 1st Night Star Gazing session (12am till 5am ) Upon reaching Punggai chalet, although there is not even a single star in the sky, due to the recent bad weather, we immediately set up our own personal equipment. As usual, I can easily setup the G11 G2 losmandy mount and assemble the 6Ft long Istar by myself, and just need two more person, to assist me to mount the Istar onto the 7Ft high mount.... We waited for sky to clear, instead of going back to our chalet rooms, for around an hour, until we spotted the hazy patch of M45, Pleiades open cluster, appearing in the sky..... The losmandy Goto is able to move to M45, without need to do any star alignment, and the students , are able to view the wonderful open clusters, through my TV55mm ep at 33X. is really amazing to see those sparkling stars shining, even the weather is considering very bad.....  We also spotted the orange Aldebaran star, and we know very soon Jupiter will also rise from that region.... We waited for another hour, and when Jupiter is spotted, I immediately slew the ISTAR to it...... Again the Istar never disappoint me whenever I look at Jupiter through it...., and this time I am still able to use the baeder Hyperon zoom ep, at 225X, to show the students, this giant gas planet, and its cloud bands and 4 solid moons....... despite the poor weather..... One student is so keen to take the photo of Jupiter with his Canon DSLR, that he waited another 2 hours, until the end of the session, and uses our 2" EOS adaptor and a 2" short barlow....., to capture Jupiter through the Istar..... To my surprise, although the angular size is still small, but the zoom up captured image is showing cloud bands....... And later, as Orion also rises in the East, I showed the students, M42, The Great Orion Nebula....., the fantastic view showing the birth formation of stars and its glowing gas clouds......This is again another great view that the 8" Istar can show great details same or even better than any other similar aperture scopes.... And together with one of the university staff, we located M31, Andromedia galaxy, and show the student, how our nearest galaxy looks like in the scope.... I use again TV55mm ep, at 33X, coz this time , due to the weather, the core is not as bright , as my previous session there....... But the view is very clear, at 33X, and the surrounding stars are still seen clearly.........  The 1st night star gazing session ends around 4am, and I do not dismantle the Istar from the mount, instead just put a cover over it.... And when I have taken my shower, and going to bed , is already around 5am.... Note:- Below is a photo shot taken by me on the 2nd night session at Jupiter with a 5X TV barlow..... As this is just a single shot and non process image, the view is definitely not the same as seen through the Istar scope...... Regards..... To Be continued............. James Ling Attachments:
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 16, 2012 23:43:45 GMT -5
Hi All...... Sorry for the report on 2nd night star gazing activities, as I just returned and not feeling well, so I slept after the 1st night report is posted in this forum... Now as I am away to another country, to work, as such I can only post tonight after my working hours....for the 2nd night star gazing report, and I can tell you it will be more interesting than the 1st night....... But would like to show the jupiter I took in video clip.....under this flicker link..., and as this is still unprocess with regristrax.... www.flickr.com/photos/james_ling/7991968897/in/photostream/REgards james Ling |
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Post by Mike on Sept 17, 2012 19:04:40 GMT -5
Love the reports James. Keep 'm coming! Never get tired of seeing other parts of the world.
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 17, 2012 20:10:31 GMT -5
Hi All.......
2nd Night Star gazing Session ( 8pm till 4am )
Weather was very cloudy during the day, and after dinner , we waited for the dark sky ......
1. Albireo, double star
Around 8pm, we can only spot Vega, which is also very faint......
The portion of the summer triangle , is also very cloudy, but I can still star align using Vega and use G11 GoTo function to spot Albireo.... (through the 8" F8.8 Istar) And the double stars really shine brilliantly under this poor sky condition......
As my G11 tracking is very accurate during this setup, I leave my Istar scope pointing at Albireo, the double, while continue to wait for the sky to clear.....
2. M57, Ring Nebulae
After waiting for an hour or more, the Northern sky seems to be clearing , and once I see the patch near to Vega is clear, I immediately point the ISTAR to M57, Ring Nebulae...., as I have recently read in CN about seeing the central star within M57.....
M57, once the finder align the cross-hair between the 2 stars, the 8" Istar definitely can pick up the M57 smoke ring shape, unless the exact location is block by cloud.......
Perhaps the sky is not totally transparent, I can only see M57 clearly at around 200x, and not the central star, since I heard you need a higher magnification and at least 10" aperture.....to spot it....
But having seen M57 with my C14 at the same location, I do not see any difference , and in fact, the background view seems more pleasing with the Istar.........
The students tonight managed to learn and enjoyed looking at the death of a star.......
3. M27, Dumb Bell Nebulae
M27 is usually a very common target for CCD imaging, but compared to star cluster, usually does not stand out ......
But since the Southern stretch of sky is so cloudy, I point the ISTAR over to M27, and not surprisingly, the ISTAR easily picks up the bigger patch of dumb bell easily....
The dumb bell look through the ISTAR is very clear and defined, even under a not so good sky condition....
4. M45, Pleaides star cluster
Usually I only use my TV55mm ep, to observe open cluster, but during the 2nd night, I brought out my Celestron Ultima 80mm, 2" eye piece, which give a stunning 22.5X , that covers more stars in the 2" field of view....
And imagine under a not very good sky condition, the 8" ISTAR light collecting power is able to show some much that most other smaller scopes couldn't.....
The students really enjoyed looking at M45, as compared to last night, when I only use the Tv55mm ep....
5. M31, Andromedia Galaxy
We waited for the square of Pegasus to appear, and as usual, is not difficult to pick up M31, once you use the telrad to align the same distance from the 2 stars that is below the square....
The 8" Istar , with the 80mm ep, can easily see M31, as a bright blog within the 2" FOV....
Even the university professor is stunned by the view through this ISTAR with the 80mm ep..... You don't need to peep at the ep anymore ....as the glass view is also 2".......
6. M42, Orion Nebulae
Although this is another repeat of what has been shown yesterday to the students, but the 2nd night, seems to show very clear and distinct gas clouds within the M42 region....
7. Jupiter, the main target......
1st night view on Jupiter is not very promising, as I only power it up to 200x with the zoom ep set at 8mm.....
But tonight the weather seems much better, when the sky is clear, I can use my 4mm TMB ep, at 450X, and the view is still so sharp......
And this is only the 2nd time, I have power up to this magnification....above 400X and still getting a sharp view.....
After I have shown to all my friends the stunning sharp and crisp views of Jupiter and its 4 moons at 450X, I decided to use my Canon 550D to capture the image of Jupiter.
This time, I used 5X TV barlow, and after trial and error on the setting, I took a number of shots, to select the best , which is the one I attached in the earlier post....
Then I set my camera to video mode, and knowing previously the image is small, this time I select video crop, and with the 2X barlow, I took this video clip, which is also in the my flicker link...
Perhaps I will use just 5X barlow without video crop, for the next attempt.....
8. End of observing Session.
By the time, at 4am, only my two friends and myself is left behind, we start to remove the accessories, cover the scope, and returned back to our chalet, to take a bath and sleep....
We slept at 5am, and woke up at 7.30am, to dismantle the scope and mount, and prepared to return back home.....
Conclusion....
This star gazing trip, although we do not get perfect sky for both nights, but there are still moments of clear patch of sky for us to do observing.....
Most of the other trips, i used to show star clusters at the Southern region, but this time, only the Northern side.....
And i would say , the 8" Istar has already seen so many objects , in the sky, and now is left with M51, Whirlpool galaxy, which I can then know how is its performance against my C14, at the same place......
Hope all of you enjoy this post and I will be glad to hear your comments.....
Regards
James Ling
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Post by Watcher3 on Sept 17, 2012 21:16:49 GMT -5
Another great report James. I don't know what we'd do without you!
Joe
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 18, 2012 1:25:43 GMT -5
Hi Joe.... Pls don't say that........ Coz here in Istarscopeclub, I believe of all us want to share with every members on how the Istar scope performs....... And I am one of the fortunate one that have come to know Ales, and have decided to give ISTAR a try, since I have been going around with mostly SCT and Mewlon.... And in this trip, the university professor told me that every time, after the Punggai star gazing trip, every student, when they are back, they always mentioned the giant 8" ISTAR telescope..... And that is why during the Venus transit, the 8" ISTAR is the most sought telescope around.....when NUS university planned their Venus transit event..... Hi All...... Next month on 12th October 2012, there will another star gazing session at the same place, organized by the university. NUS university has already plan for 6 scopes for this coming Oct trip, and again we expect to use a tour coach bus to bring us to the country side...... In fact, this trip, I failed to locate Uranus, since is near to opposition, but come to next trip, that will be my prime object...... I hope my work schedule does not affect this coming trip, and I will definitely attend, and give another posting in this forum..... Regards James Ling Attachments:
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Post by boomboom on Sept 18, 2012 3:09:04 GMT -5
Great report there James. The weather in Singapore seems to be better by a long shot than here in Melbourne Australia. Lucky to get my scope out once every couple of months and then the conditions are really poor, often can't put in any thing smaller than a 16mm eyepiece. Roll on summer is all I can say. I would have thought that high humidity would have made seeing conditions difficult but you get out and about a lot...much to everyones enjoyment, well done I say. Your 8" is a beast!
Matt
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 19, 2012 6:11:08 GMT -5
Hi Matt....
The weather over here in South east Asia region, is best for astronomy between Apr till Oct.....as less rainfall......and more sunshine....
But over our region, is not easy to find dark skies like those In USA and Australia......or even Europe....
Over here in Singapore, is a city , heavily light polluted, and that is the reason, we always plan trips out of our country, to darker area....
As for this 8" ISTAR, is also the biggest refractor, in Singapore, and is also the biggest transportable one that being moving around for side walk....And is getting a lot of attention, in my own country.....
Hi Ales / Mike.........
One good point I still want to bring out about this 8" ISTAR is its collimation , never goes out, since I have been using it for almost 2 years....
I have reconfirmed the collimation again this time , at the Punggai trip, when my setup is giving accurate tracking.....
This time, both the in-focus and out-focus is showing concentric circles of the star pattern.....
I think with so many times I dismantle and assemble the 2 cut tubes, is not affecting the collimation...., gives me great confident of moving it around.....for more side walk.....
Perhaps the lens are very well held up in lens cell housing.....
Even the tube is going through bumps, when using a tour bus coach, traveling more than 300km for each trip......
Regards
James Ling
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Post by jamesling1000 on Sept 27, 2012 1:20:19 GMT -5
Hi All.... Just a little update on coming Oct star gazing activities.......... Yes, this coming 12th to 14th October 2012, I will be joining the 2nd batch of NUS students for the Punggai Chalet trip... As of now already confirmed 30 students attending, and by next week should be close to 40pax..... As weather is pretty cloudy and frequent rainfall in our region, I hope by then everything is fine...... I just want to say again, is never boring to bring the 8" ISTAR there , all the time, simply there are so many things to see up there.... And I hope will be able to give another good report after the star gazing activities....... Regards James Ling Attachments:
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Post by jamesling1000 on Oct 12, 2012 1:24:17 GMT -5
Hi all......
Bad news......
Everything I planned for this coming trip is now cancelled due to some foreseen circumstances.....
This is due to the oversea factory that now I am posted there to work, caught fire in earlier this week.....
One of our production equipment caught fire, and it burnt up part of the building ceiling structure....
And after numerous involvement in the investigation, we have also to get the equipment running....
And as of now is still not completely done, as such i need to cancel my this coming weekend trip to Punggai chalet......
But in this coming November and December, I will still side walk in my own country for coming Jupiter opposition night gazing......
Regards
James Ling
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Post by criverside on Oct 12, 2012 1:42:03 GMT -5
Hi James, sounds like you have your work "cut out" for you, good luck.--------Craig
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Post by Watcher3 on Oct 12, 2012 22:04:56 GMT -5
Maybe you can suggest a dome when they repair the ceiling.  |
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