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Articles

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE EYES

Submitted by: Rob Robinson - (515bonner) Bonner Springs KS
member of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City
V.P. of Occultation Services - I.O.T.A.

Chapter One
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE EYES
"They always encouraged me and, of course, the...



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An Accurate Measurement Method for Telescope Focusing System Backlash

The measurement method of the telescope focusing system backlash described in this article was discovered suddenly when I was checking two autofocus curves with a friend some time ago. At that time, a friend sent me two pictures of autofocus curves. The curves are very smooth and fitting well,...

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Choosing The Ideal Setup To Begin Your Astrophotography Journey

This article should be used as a reference source for the ideal setup needed to educate those that would like to start their Astrophotography (AP) journey or anyone switching from visual astronomy to AP. This article is an opinion article and contains one of many possible solutions about what to...

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All New Telescope Owners, Please Read!

Hello to all the new and lucky telescope owners,

Please use your telescope for the very first time during the day.

All of the following information will strive to support the above statement.

But first, WARNING, WARNING, WARNING – NEVER POINT YOUR TELESCOPE...





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Creating a basic set of eyepieces for your new telescope

By: Lady Fraktor

One of the most asked questions by beginners, What eyepieces should I get?

There is always a lot of discussion from people on what eyepieces to get with their new telescopes.

Most people seem to want to get the most magnification possible right away,...



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Collimating a Newtonian Reflector -  A Guide for Novice Telescope Owners

by Joe Cali (OzEclipse)

Collimating a Newtonian reflector fills new telescope owners with fear yet it is a relatively simple process. With the telescope in a normal position, pointing about 20-30 degrees above horizontal, look into the eyepiece holder with the eyepiece...

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Using a Newtonian to view the planets - for complete beginners

Using your Newtonian telescope to view the planets is relatively straightforward. However, a little care and attention will pay off with a more rewarding experience.

by Joe Cali (OzEclipse)


This article was inspired by a question that that was posted on a Facebook astronomy...

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USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION

1. Overview

[This assessment was conducted in 2020] For the vast majority of my astronomical observing life, over 50 years, I have never used filters of any kind for planets or otherwise. But after half a century of reading the extraordinary claims by manufacturers and observing organizations...

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Solar: Increase surface texture in Photoshop by increasing saturation

Often, we will finish processing a solar image in Photoshop only to realize that the surface just does not have enough “texture”. This is a simple, but effective, method of making the surface texture stand out better by increasing the color saturation.

Of course, one could always...

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BASIC SOLAR PROCESSING

Solar processing is a combination of basic principles mixed with art and a little voodoo thrown in for good measure. In this tutorial, we are going to look at the basic process of getting an image from the camera to a finished “product”… A JPEG image that is sized properly...

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How to select your first telescope.

Google the topic and you find tons of hits. Refractor vs reflector, DOB vs SCT - plenty of strong opinions on all sides don’t make selecting the first telescope easier for newcomers. In part, this is because we as observers develop our own preferences over the time and are passionate about...

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102 mm Refractor versus 140 mm Maksutov; Vixen ED102 vs OMC140

102mm refractor versus 140mm Maksutov

Vixen ED102S vs. OMC140

Preface

Some years ago I bought an older Japanese Vixen ED 102 f / 9 refractor from the Nineties. Reason: I wanted to get rid of the long cooling time of my OMC Maksutov, but at least retain the image quality of the...

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Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide - a personal observation


I am sure many will recall that the release of the English version of the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas (IDSA) in December of 2014, through the collaborative efforts of Oculum-Verlag and Cambridge University...

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Glowing in the Shadow of Grandeur

The inconvenient truth is that the vast majority of DSOs are not found near brighter stars. Of course such placement would make finding them much easier. However, and I am sure a few would disagree, I feel that would take away the challenge and fun of the hunt. I like challenges, as they make you...

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Basic Astrophotography

There are basically four ways to connect your camera to a telescope. The most obvious is to remove your camera lens and use the telescope as a telephoto lens, usually called Prime Focus or Direct Objective photography. The other three are a form of Projection lens photography.

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Why Can't I See That Galaxy?

So, you’ve taken your time to learn the bright stars, and you can point out many constellations, and know where the planets are in the sky. You’ve learned how to collimate to your satisfaction, if your scope requires it. You’ve also learned how to star hop pretty well, and locating...

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Deep Sky Objects and Their Observation

To begin this article I will pose a couple of questions. Have you ever observed deep sky objects (DSOs) and perhaps been at a loss for words as to how you can adequately describe its appearance in your notes? Similarly, have you seen a feature that perhaps you didn’t fully comprehend its true...

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21 deepsky tips

A list of 21 deepsky tips that will make you a better observer

1. You have to make sure that the viewfinder and telescope are aligned with each other. But almost everyone will undoubtedly have done that already and we assume that. There are also amateurs who swear by a Red...

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