[adrian]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

Has anyone watched the movie / documentary called “The Phenomenon”? The Phenomenon is a UFO documentary that takes an expansive look at 70 years’ worth of history regarding investigations into the existence of aliens and UFOs
or UAP's as they are called now (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon). It goes right up to the latest and most recent discoveries in Ufology. It’s directed by James Fox. I watched it and to say the least it’s an absolute eye opener. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this subject.

Thank you for the tip

Was checking the trailer of the documentary in Youtube and one comment by floopyc caught my attention

"Finding intelligent life elsewhere, isn't the problem, finding intelligent life here on Earth, now there's a challenge"

There is another documentary that I saw a long time ago


https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/uf...%3aoverviewtab


Do we have a UFO thread in TBHP ?

[sparky@home]

Originally Posted by adrian

Thank you for the tip

Do we have a UFO thread in TBHP ?

I have a thread in one of my FB groups, so the link is this

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1071131603344070

, if this does'nt work try it in the FB group " The Angry UFOlogist".

[oldshivabull]

Those are amazing photos.

I am in the market for a telescope. Does anyone have experience buying from Tejraj (in Mumbai), or can they recommend a good dealer.?I have almost settled my heart on an 8' GSO Dob, but would love expert recommendations. Context: Am in Gurgaon, relatively new (though have used binos on the night sky), light and dust pollution is quite a lot, and I will do visual observing from my rooftop.

Here are the shortlisted scopes:

http://www.tejraj.com/gso-8-pro-dobs...telescope.html

Or maybe SkyWatcher 200P.

http://www.tejraj.com/bresser-130-1000-exos-1.html

http://www.tejraj.com/es-150750-eq3-reflector.html

Thank you for your advice!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by oldshivabull

Those are amazing photos.

I am in the market for a telescope. Does anyone have experience buying from Tejraj (in Mumbai), or can they recommend a good dealer.?...
Here are the shortlisted scopes:

http://www.tejraj.com/gso-8-pro-dobs...telescope.html

Or maybe SkyWatcher 200P.

http://www.tejraj.com/bresser-130-1000-exos-1.html

http://www.tejraj.com/es-150750-eq3-reflector.html

Thank you for your advice!

Of the three you have shortlisted, the 8" GSO Dobs is better for visual astronomy for its 1200mm focal length and F/6 focal ratio.

I recently bought the William Optics GT81 and the guide scope from Tejraj. They imported it on order from William Optics and I am happy with their support.

Apart from Tejraj, you can also check out C-Sky. They are official dealers for Skywatcher. Check out what options they have in Dobs or Newtonian telescopes. I bought my EQ mount from C-Sky and they have a good sales support as well. They responded to all my enquiries quickly and also sent the mount packed safely in a wooden crate.

There is also a dealer for Orion telescopes - www.goscientifics.com based in Madurai. I know someone who bought a telescope from them and were happy.

Apart from Tejraj, check out both C-Sky and goscientifics on what models they have and then finalize the purchase.

[oldshivabull]

Thanks. I have checked both goscientific for Orion Xt8 and Sky-Watcher's 200P (8'). The difference seems to be in optical material for the glasses. Orion has borosilicate; SkyWatcher has Pyrex; and GSO has 270 “water white” optical crown glass. A little Googling doesn't really help me make out if these are significant differences. Of these three, the GSO is the only one made in Taiwan.

What do you think? The cost range is marginally different, but approaches the limits of my budget.

Not sure about refractors for now.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by oldshivabull

Thanks. I have checked both goscientific for Orion Xt8 and Sky-Watcher's 200P (8'). The difference seems to be in optical material for the glasses. Orion has borosilicate; SkyWatcher has Pyrex; and GSO has 270 “water white” optical crown glass. A little Googling doesn't really help me make out if these are significant differences. Of these three, the GSO is the only one made in Taiwan.

What do you think? The cost range is marginally different, but approaches the limits of my budget.

Not sure about refractors for now.

For observation, I wouldn't worry much about the glass type. All of them should be equally good. Check which of these scopes come with better accessories like number of eyepieces, barlows etc and then decide.

I also checked cloudy nights for comparison between these and most of the comments are to choose based on the accessories offered. There are some comments about Orion having spring loaded axes whereas Skywatcher is clutch based. But Orion users have mentioned they don't have any problem with the system.

So, you would not go wrong with any of these. Check out the accessories and decide.

Refractors would mostly be of lower focal length and will not be very useful in observing planets or deep space objects like galaxies with narrow FOV.

[oldshivabull]

Thank you. I will do so. Tejraj believes his GSO scopes are really good, and I can't fault him. The finderscope is 8X50 RAIC, which is all right.

Someone threw Bresser Messier 8 into the mix: https://tejraj.com/bresser-8inch-dob...telescope.html . I am not sure what to make of the design, though it is apparently more portable than any other equivalent Dob.

What's your expert opinion? Please don't hesitate to give a recommendation. As a newbie, this is helping me sort out stuff.

Warmly,
Jitendra

[graaja]

Originally Posted by oldshivabull

Someone threw Bresser Messier 8 into the mix: https://tejraj.com/bresser-8inch-dob...telescope.html . I am not sure what to make of the design, though it is apparently more portable than any other equivalent Dob.

To be honest, I don't have first hand experience with Dobsonian scopes. I have an SCT (Celestron 6SE ) and a refractor (William Optics GT81). I was only looking at the optical characteristics (focal length and focal ratio) of the scopes you had listed and was suggesting based on this

I haven't heard much about Bresser scopes. But read somewhere that this company is under the same umbrella as Explore Scientific who make really good scopes.

The optical parameters is almost similar to the Orion and Skywatcher models. So you wouldn't go wrong there. Check out the weight and size of all the telescopes. That will give you an idea of portability. Bresser mentions that the base can be dismantled into flat pieces and can be put together quickly. This may be helpful in portability.

I would suggest you to also check the cloudynights.com forum. I saw a few posts discussing about the comparison between the Orion 8" and Skywatcher 200p, and a few topics on the Bresser telescopes in general.

[graaja]

Clicked a picture of Jupiter and Saturn in the same frame using my 6" SCT telescope using cell phone. This is a once in 800 year event where Jupiter and Saturn are visible this close. They are the closest on 21st December.

[graaja]

Jupiter and Saturn - The Great Conjunction
A conjunction is an event when two or more planets seem to come close to each other.

Once in 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn appear to pass each other in the solar system. This year is special that on December 21, they aligned so close that the separation was less than 0.1 degree. To the naked eye, they look like a single bright star. Though this alignment happens once in 400 years, it is visible in the night sky once in 800 years.

I wanted to capture this event using my telescope and planetary camera. But due to very active monsoon, it has been cloudy the past few months, and even on 20th December, there was only about 5 minute window when the clouds opened up to show the planets. I managed to capture the planets using a cell phone placed on the eyepiece of the telescope which I posted in the previous post.

Was lucky to have a completely clear sky on 21st. Had a full hour's view of the planets (before they went too low on the horizon and became dim due to light pollution) to capture them on the telescope.

Equipment used:
Telescope: Celestron Nexstar 6SE and Meade 4000 0.63x focal reducer
Camera: ZWO ASI 224 planetary CMOS camera
Software: Sharpcap for capture, PIPP, Autostakkert and Registax for processing

A few pictures from the session.

The telescope pointed to the planets.


The setup. The camera connected to the laptop for capturing the images from camera.


Capturing in progress.


The planets with their moons. 3 of Jupiter's moons and two of Saturn's moon visible.


The planets and moons labeled. HD191250 is just a bright star in the field of view.


Exposure reduced to bring the details of Jupiter.

[mankuthimma]

wow! one of the best captures so far that I have seen online!

We realized bit late and couldnt see it last evening I guess due to light pollution. Any chances of seeing it today?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

wow! one of the best captures so far that I have seen online!

We realized bit late and couldnt see it last evening I guess due to light pollution. Any chances of seeing it today?

Thank you for your kind words. Yes. You can see them tonight as well. Should be visible for a few more days. Look out immediately after sunset.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by graaja

Was lucky to have a completely clear sky on 21st. Had a full hour's view of the planets (before they went too low on the horizon and became dim due to light pollution) to capture them on the telescope.

A few pictures from the session.

Stunning captures! Thanks so much for bringing back some of that interest and wonder we had as children staring up at the night sky! How amazing is it that that we can now capture the Rings of Saturn and the Storms of Jupiter from our own homes!

[sairamboko]

Great capture graaja! I tried to capture with my iPhone . Can someone say which is which ? I am confused which is Jupiter and Saturn. I circled what I think is Saturn. Watching both the planets was exciting last night! I was actually able to see with naked eyes the bright planet.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by am1m

Stunning captures! Thanks so much for bringing back some of that interest and wonder we had as children staring up at the night sky! How amazing is it that that we can now capture the Rings of Saturn and the Storms of Jupiter from our own homes!

Thank you for the kind words.

Yes. Technology has become very advanced these days, we can take pictures similar to what was possible only with hubble telescope earlier. I also have put together gear for deep space objects like galaxies and nebulae. Will share pictures once I have them working.

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Great capture graaja! I tried to capture with my iPhone . Can someone say which is which ? I am confused which is Jupiter and Saturn. I circled what I think is Saturn. Watching both the planets was exciting last night! I was actually able to see with naked eyes the bright planet.

Thank you for the kind words.

By the order of magnitude and position, the one that you have circled definitely looks like Saturn. How did you shoot this picture? Through a telescope or binoculars?