u/_anupamroy

Have headed out with my scope again. This is from a farmhouse ~100 km from Chennai, have booked a room for myself. Sky’s still cloudy, which is why I’m back in my room for a bit of a lie down for an hour or so before going out into the field again.

1. Ptolemy’s Cluster
2. Butterfly Cluster
3. Lagoon Nebula
4. Saturn with 2 of its biggest moons Titan and Rhea (you need to zoom in for the moons, they’re tiny dots, easy to miss)
5. Saturn zoomed up on my phone. The real thing looked a million times better.
6. My pet monster scope

There’s a star party being organised on Sat next week by the local astronomy club, which means I can finally take my still new-ish 12” Dobsonian out for a spin after what feels like forever. To prepare for it, made the following quality of life tweaks just now. Would be very interested to know any other such small but meaningful hacks people have done with their gear. TIA

1. Dew shield cut out of a yoga mat. Bummer: Ordered black, this is what came, then forgot to hit the Return button on time. Have ordered another one.

2. Stuck a Spigen 30000 mAh battery pack at the top rear end of the tube with adhesive hook and loop tape. Should take care of the cooling fan at the bottom (image #3) + iPhone stuck on the StarSense dock at the top. Because StarSense app running continuously = iPhone camera eating up battery. Bonus: Heavy 30000 mAh power bank at the back also acts as counterweight to my heavy Explore Scientific 82° eyepieces + GSO Coma Corrector. So win-win all around.

3. ⁠Stuck the cooling fan USB + control pod to the primary mirror box with double sided adhesive tape to prevent things from dangling around. Now the cable goes nicely into the power bank.

There’s a star party being organised on Sat next week by the local astronomy club, which means I can finally take my still new-ish 12” Dobsonian out for a spin after what feels like forever. To prepare for it, made the following quality of life tweaks just now. Would be very interested to know any other such small but meaningful hacks people have done with their gear. TIA

1. ⁠Dew shield cut out of a yoga mat. Bummer: Ordered black, this is what came, then forgot to hit the Return button on time. Will be ordering another one soon.

2. Stuck a Spigen 30000 mAh battery pack at the top rear end of the tube with adhesive hook and loop tape. Should take care of the cooling fan at the bottom (image #3) + iPhone stuck on the StarSense dock at the top. Because StarSense app running continuously = iPhone camera eating up battery. Bonus: Heavy 30000 mAh power bank also acts as counterweight to my heavy Explore Scientific 82° eyepieces + GSO Coma Corrector. So win-win all around.

3. Stuck the cooling fan USB + control pod to the primary mirror box with double sided adhesive tape to prevent things from dangling around. Now the cable goes nicely into the power bank.

At this point I’m literally begging! Somebody, ANYBODY, make the clouds go away! I got a new-ish, kinda expensive telescope that can show amazing stuff in the night sky, but since buying it around end-April I’ve had about 2-3 nights of clear sky so far in Chennai. Any metro city is already the worst possible place for stargazing because of the horrendous light pollution, and then these fucking monsoon clouds all the time! Went almost broke buying the scope that’s since been gathering dust for the past 3 months!

Rant over.

P. S. Some of you might have come across a few pictures of the moon I took with my scope a few days ago, but here they are again anyway. Along with my scope. Because the moon’s kinda the only thing I’ve been able to see so far. Except on those 2-3 nights of miraculously clear sky (by Chennai standards). The last picture is of what’s called the Butterfly Cluster (famous cluster of stars in our Milky Way galaxy), taken from my Koyambedu apt. balcony with a handheld iPhone looking through the scope on one of those clear nights. Even with Chennai’s light pollution, you can still make out the shape resembling 2 wings spreading out of the butterfly’s body. That (and much more) is what the scope is capable of, if only the fucking clouds went away.

Rant really over.

At this point I’m literally begging! Somebody, ANYBODY, make the clouds go away! I got a new-ish, kinda expensive telescope that can show amazing stuff in the night sky, but since buying it around end-April I’ve had about 2-3 nights of clear sky so far in Chennai. Any metro city is already the worst possible place for stargazing because of the horrendous light pollution, and then these fucking monsoon clouds all the time! Went almost broke buying the scope that’s since been gathering dust for the past 3 months!

Rant over.

P. S. Some of you might have come across a few pictures of the moon I took with my scope a few days ago, but here they are again anyway. Along with my scope. Because the moon’s kinda the only thing I’ve been able to see so far. Except on those 2-3 nights of miraculously clear sky (by Chennai standards). The last picture is of what’s called the Butterfly Cluster (famous cluster of stars in our Milky Way galaxy), taken from my Koyambedu apt. balcony with a handheld iPhone looking through the scope on one of those clear nights. Even with Chennai’s light pollution, you can still make out the shape resembling 2 wings spreading out of the butterfly’s body. That (and much more) is what the scope is capable of, if only the fucking clouds went away.

Rant really over.

Not the biggest problem in the world atm, but I’d like to know why nonetheless. Why are some calendar events stacking up diagonally while others are perfectly vertical? There’s no overlap between them. My OCD riddled brain would like them all to be vertically aligned, so if anybody can tell me the fix, I’d be grateful. Stock Calendar app. TIA

Not the biggest problem in the world atm, but I’d like to know why nonetheless. Why are some calendar events stacking up diagonally while others are perfectly vertical? There’s no overlap between them. My OCD riddled brain would like them all to be vertically aligned, so if anybody can tell me the fix, I’d be grateful. Stock Calendar app. TIA

Taken with an iPhone peering through my telescope.

With a 12” Dobsonian telescope. Shot on an iPhone aiming through 3 different eyepieces for 3 different zoom levels. Lightly edited on stock iPhone photos app.

Have had zero chances lately to take the scope out because monsoon has set in. Until earlier this evening when the tiniest of windows of opportunity opened up. Quick collimation while running the primary mirror fan at the same time, then out to the balcony. First time looking through the 1 week old ES 24 + 14mm 82° eyepieces on the 2 months old Celestron 12” Dob. Also used the Celestron 3-axes mobile phone holder for the picture through the 14mm (the thicker 24mm is too big for said holder, so the first picture was just hand held iPhone). The scope/eyepieces did an ok enough job, given Bortle 8-9 sky + monsoon clouds.

P. S. Also realised why moon filters are a thing. Left eye got blinded staring at it! Kept seeing weird colours for a good few secs after looking away.

Have had zero chances lately to take the scope out because monsoon has set in. Until earlier this evening when the tiniest of windows of opportunity opened up. Quick collimation while running the primary mirror fan at the same time, then out to the balcony. First time looking through the 1 week old ES 24 + 14mm 82° eyepieces on the 2 months old Celestron 12” Dob. Also used the Celestron 3-axes mobile phone holder for the picture through the 14mm (the thicker 24mm is too big for said holder, so the first picture was just hand held iPhone). The scope/eyepieces did an ok enough job, given Bortle 8-9 sky + monsoon clouds.

P. S. Also realised why moon filters are a thing. Left eye got blinded staring at it! Kept seeing weird colours for a good few secs after looking away.

Slightly odd question, specifically for Kolli Hills/Yelagiri locals: Are there a lot of firecrackers burst during and around the Diwali period? I'm looking to plan a road trip from Chennai (I know it's thinking quite far ahead, but hear me out!) with my new-ish telescope to spend 3-4 quality days in one of these 2 places, when I need the night sky to be as clear and pristine as possible (because otherwise there's no point), and firecrackers would be a complete deal breaker even if the weather is perfect! So help out a brother here, people!

Secondly, anybody with a lead on a place where I could stay, that has access to open fields where I can set up the scope, and is safe in the dark? I'd need a car park and a ground floor room (telescope is heavy) unless there's a lift. Don't require any luxury, just a decent clean room will be fine. I do have the contact details for a home stay in Yelagiri, but nothing for Kolli yet.

In return for this favour, if you're interested and can join me on any of those nights, I can show you some cool stuff in the night sky. I have quite a high-power telescope with some pretty high end accessories to go with it.

Thanks in advance for any help possible.

[OC]