Podcaster: Shane and Chris

Title: Actual Astronomy: Listener Emails

Organization:  Actual Astronomy

Link :  https://actualastronomy.podbean.com/ ; https://www.deepskyeye.com/

Description:  The Actual Astronomy Podcast presents Listener Emails. In this episode we talk read several listener emails including Observing Saturn, Equipment reports, telescope making, public outreach, a supernova photo and more!

Bio: Shane and Chris are amateur astronomers who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and performing outreach where they help the eyes of the public to telescope eyepieces.

Today’s sponsor:  Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month:  Paul M. Sutter, Chris Nealen, Frank Frankovic, Frank Tippin, Jako Danar, Michael Freedman, Nik Whitehead, Rani Bush, Ron Diehl, Steven Emert, Brett Duane, Don Swartwout, Vladimir Bogdanov, Steven Kluth, Steve Nerlich, Phyllis Foster, Michael W, James K Wood, Katrina Ince, Cherry Wood.

Please consider sponsoring a day or two. Just click on the “Donate” button on the lower left side of this webpage, or contact us at signup@365daysofastronomy.org.

Please visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy

or you can consider to sponsor a day of our podcast : https://cosmoquest.org/x/365daysofastronomy/product/sponsor-an-episode-of-365-days-of-astronomy/

Transcript:

Listener Emails on Episode 496 of the Actual Astronomy podcast. I’m Chris and joining me is Shane. We are amateur astronomers who love looking up at the night sky and this podcast is for everyone who enjoys going out under the stars.

• Patreon shout out – Howard and Sean

• Have you been observing Shane?
• Any equipment inbound?
• I was looking at those ultra-wide binoculars that come with filters…~$600 but ended up buying a motor for my roll off roof
• We are putting in what I hope is the final push for the observatory build. Rain drip guards and windows are sealed, roof has the rest of combine header foam installed. Blocks installed to keep out snow and heave rain.

Long time correspondent Leonid writes:

Hi Chris and Shane!

As a proud Patreon supporter….. you guys have become my only traveling companions…, I am 3/4 through listening to your podcasts!

It’s too hot here, I will miss the Perseids events at my club because of work….

Last night I had my first view of Saturn using my new 80mm f/10 telescope using my old eyepieces, of which I have put into a Nanuk case that I picked up, it might just make this my travel case!

I have only one 4 inch refractor, and it’s a TeleVue 101. I wanted to put it on PrimaLuceLab 100mm rings…..that is a no go, but I found some rings that can hold my scope and they are made by Parallax Instruments, and Joe the owner seems like a very nice guy, so I ordered the rings from them. I will show you them when they arrive! I love this scope and I really hope that the rings will help reassure me that the telescope won’t fall off my mounts and fall 3 stories down…..I have always wanted to walk in Stephen James O’Meara’s footsteps….

I have a TeleVue 101, a Nagler 22mm, a 3.5 or 5mm Pentax XW’s, and finally better access to darker skies… I think that I can do it! And ultimately 5 other telescopes and way too many eyepieces in between!

All  need now is his Secret Deep book! I already have the Messier and Caldwell objects.

And yes I do ask myself is it really necessary to recreate someone else’s accomplishments? I have the guide books, I have the experience of observing…., anyway it’s just a thought

I also took your advice and got myself a Baader Universal Zoom, which I paired with my 2.25 Barlow also from Baader, and you know what, I love using it!

I don’t regret my decisions, but man I really have enough equipment for a lifetime of exploration….

The moon and Saturn were beautiful last night, I can’t wait to put my scope on new rings,

Thanks you guys for being there, your voices and experiences help me get through my days!

I hope you guys are doing well?

PS, what is the reference from Australia for that definitive atlas/guidebook for Southern skies, uni of Melbourne?

Clear skies for now….

Leonid 

Had an email from Frank Dempsey who is a well known RASC member here in Canada!

Hi Chris and Shane,

Many thanks for presenting interesting Actual Astronomy podcasts each week. I noticed in the most recent podcast (#494) that some observers don’t like RACI finders (right-angle correct image) and prefer straight finders or Telrad-type zero-power finders instead. I totally understand the convenience and benefit of straight sighting when pointing a telescope. However, I have been using a combination of RACI with zero-power pointer for about the past 5 years, after seeing an ATM article in Sky and Telescope magazine, showing how to make a zero-power pointer out of sheet metal, which I followed. The pointer acts as a “finder for the finder”. I’m mentioning it here because it seems to be so useful that its worthwhile to share with anyone who may not be aware of this idea. For me, as a visual observer using visual starhopping methods to find targets, the zero-power pointer on the RACI is hugely helpful and convenient. Until I saw the S&T article providing this idea, I had a Telrad mounted on each of my scopes (various sizes from 80 mm refractor to my 12.5” Newtonian homemade reflector) as well as a RACI finder but the disadvantages of a Telrad are dew formation on the optical surface, and need for batteries. In contrast, my sheet metal plates are simple and reliable and simply require looking through 2 holes,  one on each end of the finder. The attached image shows my 3 RACI finders (9×50 mm, 9×60, and 12×80 mm) each with the zero-power sighting rings.

Best regards,

Frank Dempsey

Pickering Ontario

Our friend Bill wrote:

Hey Guys

It was nice to put a voice to Mike after hearing him referenced so many times. If he’d been on previous episodes I guess I missed them. A funny moment happened last night (Thursday) while listening as I was setting up the Observatory at Pearson College for a 30th Grad reunion. In addition to opening the dome with the 25” I had setup a TV NP101, 15” Obsession, and a little f/8 3” achro for any children that might show up. The point of the 3” was that it was on a simple alt/az mount and at kid height so it would interfere with adults using it. I just let them have at it and they had fun. Anyway to my point. As it was finally getting dark Vega showed up so it was time to see if I could get M57 the Ring Nebula while there was still a very bright sky. With a T5 26mm Nagler in the Obsession I pointed it to where the Ring should be. As I put my eye to the eyepiece and could make out the little circular puff of smoke I heard Mike say, “and then I had a look at the Ring Nebula.” A moment of synchronicity.

Turned out to be a fabulous night. Had between 75-100 people up on the top of the hill all at once. So many people I eventually ran into the observatory and grabbed the 50th anniversary Questar to help deal with the crowd.  It was totally uncontrolled, controlled mayhem. It was only the Moon seeing as it was full but it seemed everyone had fun. At one point one of the Moms came to thank me for helping coach her son on how to take a half decent cellphone shot of the Moon through the NP101. He was then able to on his own show others how to do it. Nurture the future. Got another reunion to do on the 12th.

Anyway, enough about me, I hope the smoke hasn’t been too bad out your way. SSSP is in 2 weeks so I really hope you get the clearing then. I’ll be at Kobau at the same time so will say hi to the gang at the corner before the top of the mountain for you.

Clear Skies, Bill

Richard N. sent us a humorous photo journey from big downs to refractors!

Mike Peoples – well known for working at big east coast telescopes stores over the years.

Hi Chris and Shane,

Attached is a 30 second image of the supernova in NGC 7331 taken on August 1 at 10:30 PM est. , if I used a longer image the core would have covered it. I used my Meade 12” LX850 ACF and an Apogee U47 ccd in my observatory (Pocono Mountain Observatory). The seeing was above average considering we had smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Short time later high cloud came in to ruin the session. The magnitude of the supernova was around 12 from reports by the AAVSO.

I also visually observed with with the 12” using a 20mm UWA Meade eyepiece with a Celestron 2x short Ultima Barlow giving 244x it was a great view showing the SN as a pinpoint bright object and a fuzzy dim core! No other detailed showed in the galaxy do to the smoke and the moon at 55% illuminated.

Best

Mike Peoples

Concluding Message: Please subscribe and share the show with other stargazers you know and send us show ideas, observations and questions to actualastronomy@gmail.com

365 Days of Astronomy
=====================

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Planetary Science Institute. Audio post production by Richard Drumm, project management by Avivah Yamani, and hosting donated by libsyn.com. This content is released under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. Please share what you love but don’t sell what’s free.

This show is made possible thanks to the generous donations of people like you! Please consider supporting our show on Patreon.com/CosmoQuestX and get access to bonus content. Without your passion and contribution, we won’t be able to share the stories and inspire the worlds. We invite you to join our community of storytellers and share your voice with listeners worldwide.

As we wrap up today’s episode, we are looking forward to unravel more stories from the Universe. With every new discovery from ground-based and space-based observatories, and each milestone in space exploration, we come closer to understanding the cosmos and our place within it.

Until next time and let the stars guide your curiosity!