Hubble Optics Big Telescope

Mr. Tong of Hubble Optics has supplied me with the illustration of a new prototype telescope UL40 being introduced at this very moment to a customer. This is the second illustration showing a massive telescope with a 40-inch mirror. The first illustration is found here:
https://otisastro.blogspot.com/2020/06/breaking-telescope-news-ul40.html

Storm Continues

Monsoons Interrupt Summer Season

The storm continues all day and night preventing any work on the Celestron GGXL mount in preparation of imaging Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus in their favorable positions.

The weatherman predicts approximately one week to 12 days, every day with the same storms, with the usual dark and gloomy appearances, plus extremely hot rain and utterly dismal conditions. Extreme humidity prevails. Of course all projects are now shifted to indoors.

We learn new things everyday. Today, email brought in new telescope mirror bids for very large Dobsonian mirrors of varying glass material, F/ratio, thickness, diameter and completion times. One thing is certain, premium mirrors command a premium price. One optics company has mirrors in stock and one does not. It takes approximated 10 months to have a mirror made. Apparently for at least two premium optical companies, annealed plate glass has become a thing of the past. In its place we find lower thermal expansion glass - Pyrex, Borosilicate and Quartz.

Working in Hot Humid Weather

Tuesday June 20 2020
The project remains to get the massive Celestron CGXL mount into full operation, however the heat and humidity is off the scale due to global warming in the tropics and no human can survive in such weather for very long.

The humidity is above 90% and the heat is 115 deg. F. I tagged myself at a survival rate of 5 minutes outdoors and no more than 10. Then heat stroke sets in and the recovery process takes 1 to 2 days.

Wearing anti-mosquito clothing contributes to the escalation of overheating. This method is undoubtedly unsuitable for getting the telescope mount fully operational in a short period of time. After July, the planets in question will no longer be in a viable observing/ astroimaging position. Therefore, it's now time to develop ways to survive and work in this weather.

Caveat & disclaimer - the following is only recommended for my personal use, and immediate implementation at my observatory:

* A large fan(s) should be placed in a direction to provide forced air flow along the long axis of the observatory directly in the line of work
* A second juxtaposed fan can intercede in the air flow, at which the worker can be positioned at the focal point
* Perhaps two power fans can expel mosquitoes from the vicinity and less heavy clothing can be worn
* The tent should be completely removed
* Work should proceed in shade when the position of direct sunlight has passed the roofline
* The hottest time of noon should be avoided
* The early morning time slot is the least hot, however it's when the most mosquitoes are present
* The evening time at sunset or one hour before sunset has a less hot period
* Multiple ice packs should be placed around the body inside slings
* Anti mosquito clothing must be worn, however it can be somewhat loose fitting for air flow
* The screened sliding door can open, a fan inside the room can direct the flow of cold air conditioning, thus expelling cold air conditioning directly onto the worker
* Prep for the event with a cool shower, take good rest, have short hair, eat ice cream or cold fruit, drink water, and stand by the air conditioner absorbing the coldness prior to going out
* Take more frequent breaks when working outdoors

Frankenstein Telescope

FRANKENSCOPE!!!
The new project in line after the 14-inch wood dobsonian mount is the future Frankenstein Telescope. Dubbed the AstroImaging FrankenScope, this monster will take the cake and perform unlike what you'd normally expect from a Dob.

This is a big Dob Frankenscope made from the best, finest, and most suitable collected telescope parts and put together.

Key features will include large size mirror, ultra light ultra compact telescope that can be disassembled and put into a car or erected in the back of a Tesla Cyber Truck or conventional SUV, maybe even a mid sized car, and hauled out to the mountain. It must also have a size that fits onto the skyscraper deck thousands of feet in the air hanging off the building side, so weight is another consideration. It won't be as large as Mike Clement's 70-inch scope for sure as it must fit the deck and remain portable. These quality astro parts come at very hefty premium prices so we'll do a bit of savings before taking this plunge. There are also big decisions to make - for example, the focal ratio of the mirror. Too long and the telescope needs a tall ladder which is prohibited in this project. Too short and performance issues come into play. The range, on one side of the coin is F/4 to F/4.5 and the other side is F/3.2 - F/4. Noted there are only a few optical companies in the world that qualify to make the exceptional mirrors.

SCT to Big Dob

SCT to Big Dob
I'm using my big SCT with the massive Celestron CGX/L and converting it to a Dobsonian telescope.

The first thing is to lose the mount. It's a massive mount so heavy you can't move it or carry it so out it goes. Plus, it takes too much time to setup and is too complicated with too many technological components that function subpar near EMI or don't function at all.

We will keep the Celestron EdgeHD 14" OTA and build our own wooden mount. It will have altazimuth motions and no electric motors. In traditional Dob style, it will have wood construction, simplicity and hand movement. The objective is to use and equip the 14" for Dobsonian use and run all those dob experiments. At f/11, the first focal reducer will take it down to f5.5. The second reducer forces it down to f/2.75, equal to a very fast Dobsonian and forgiving on deep sky imaging with no tracking.

These are special order focal reducers without the edge correction, and they insert into the optical train at the size of an EP, to be used with EdgeHD designs which already have correction. It will then be suitable for lucky imaging and taking thousands of short 1-second images for deep sky imaging. Without the reducers, the scope will handle planetary imaging with software and a special sensitive low noise CMOS camera.

This may become the intermediate step and test before the purchase of components to make a much larger Dobsonian telescope. It will all depend on the success of lucky imaging techniques and the ability to filter out and subtract a heavy dose of light pollution.

Saturday June 27

Good Weather
The weather has improved after the furious storm yesterday, giving way to lots of puffy cumulus fast moving clouds. Visibility increased by several miles. In the morning I was able to call Taiwanese Morning Doves. They have a slightly different song compared to their American counterparts. It's a mother bird talent I developed after my Indian heritage friend taught me the technique when I was growing up. Becoming more with nature and talking to the early bird Doves is very relaxing.

Tent Results
After the storm, the observatory tent  was checked - no leaks or tears, and the inside telescope with 3 coverings remained in good condition. For safety, I did shut off the electricity to the mount and to the computer outlet in case of flooding. Also the small sliding door gap through which the wires pass to the telescope made a fierce howling noise but fortunately no rain came in.

Cloud Gapping
The above photo shows a large gap between the clouds which often occurs at night, making planetary imaging possible for the required short stints of activity. Gaps contain a certain amount of haze and water vapor which has several effects on planetary imaging.

Haze as a Filter
The changing light vapor haze acts like a variable filter and this will undoubtedly become the subject of future wavelength experiments and analysis.

Telescope Mount Work
If this weather holds up without any more afternoon bouts of rain, the telescope will be opened up and work will commence on the Celestron mount. Work won't last long to avoid heat stroke. Maybe the locals can take the heat better than me. I was born on a snow day and raised in cool northern country with snow. Moving to a tropical center does have its advantages however (super seeing conditions) and disadvantages (super heat and humidity).

Work Point by Point
The current temp is 118 deg. F. so the new idea is to work quickly point by point, one step at a time on the mount, solving one issue as quickly as possible, in 5 or 10 minute stints.

Revamp the Ramp - Point Number One
The telescope previously was ramped up on the ledge to gain added inches of space, now deemed dangerous in the event of an earthquake. In the new config, the mount is now flat and no longer ramped. The granite lip is actually containing the telescope mount and helping it to resist from buzz-vibration sliding in the East-Southeast direction.

Duct Tape to the Rescue - Point Number Two
The active water spigot which periodically is bumped which begins the action of flooding the floor was fixed with a good dose of good ol' American Duct Tape. Think of it, it saved NASA Apollo 13 astronauts to build a CO2 scrubber, patched Watney's cracked helmet on Mars (in The Martian), and now provides a good fix for my observatory!

Fastest Way to Log in to Blogger
It takes only 3 steps to log into your Astroimaging blog.
1) type in the url  www.blogger.com
2) log in from the right top corner
3) enter email password

Friday June 26

Details from Friday, June 26, 2020

The wrath of Weather Gods 
They thought I bought another telescope, but I swear, it didn't happen! More rainy days and nights.. I thought about unveiling the telescope but luckily did not - about ten minutes later it was a torrential downpour with storm warning alerts coming in my phone from the government. Pics show disappearing mountains, a water covered deck floor, and the door stopping rain. This is a huge storm as rain almost never touches the floor or reaches the sliding door. The deck has a protective granite overhanging roof! Unusual high wind tried to take the observatory tent but it was tied down and remained ok. The weatherman predicts about 10 days of exactly the same weather. There are three simultaneous initial levels of weather leading up to the storm - high upper level atmospheric haze, mid layer cirrus, and low level cumulo-nimbo-stratus.

Expensive Big Telescope Mirrors
Those mirrors are more expensive than expected. Price quotes are in. Figure in some tax and shipping and a 32" is at least $20,000 and a 40" is very close to $40,000. Add another $6,000+ if you want the telescope to go with it. This is definitely out of simple amateur hobby budget range. What is the solution? We shall soon see.

DOB Experiment
I'm looking at setting up the DOB experiment using the 14-inch optics to determine if very short exposure imaging can be successful in extreme heavy light pollution. The 14" is f/11 however the first focal reducer will take it to f/5.5 and the 2nd reducer to f/2.8 which is close to a fast Dob. The idea is to run without a drive, take several thousand 1-second exposures, sum the best results, then process. A big dob can handle the selective light pollution filter which has reduced transmission. We already know the technique can handle bright planets. On bright DSOs, the 9.25-inch scope could also conduct the same experiment. If this works, expect another technological revolution in astronomy.

Order for Telescope Parts
No word about the telescope accessories order. They don't have the parts in stock so what can they do? This will unfortunately hold up almost all of the outdoor imaging projects and experiments. Going back a few months, I got my order for the Orion CT80 guide scope (but now need adapters for mounting and focus), the Celestron Focus Motor, etc. I was also immediately shipped the order from Svbony which contained other adapters, filters, lenses and EPs for experiments. In that order, Plossl and Aspherical configurations were obtained for performance comparisons with different telescope combinations. Some simple lens combinations are vastly superior performers and should not be overlooked.

Astro Gym Completed
The astro gym at the observatory is now complete. Getting a good workout and building strength with the machines will be helpful when it comes time to moving the bigger and heavier telescopes around.

Breaking News Telescope UL40

OK so we are continuing with the large Dobsonian telescope purchase project to help scratch the proverbial aperture fever itch. How is this commencing?

The rumor? I learned of this by being in contact with Japan, and Master Tong of Hubble Optics. You've probably heard about Hubble Optics and their sandwich mirrors. You might love this new mirror design for one reason or another, perhaps its light weight or ability to rapidly conform to temperature changes. Everyone seems to have an opinion these days. So what's new? There's a commercial big dob in the works so new and so fresh that only one is built thus far and being delivered to a customer. This is the UL40, 40-inches in diameter, being introduced by Hubble Optics and master Tong. With the HO sandwich mirror and a popular UL Ultra Light modern day Dobsonian construction, it will be one of the lightest in weight massive aperture telescopes in the world! Stay tuned for more information.

Telescope Discussion

This is your defective grade F mirror with several
zones and defects, holes and rough spots. After testing
with a judiciously placed swath of measurements,
the mirror appears to become grade A at 97. You
cannot trust the paper documents that come with the
mirror.

The open discussion is about commercial big Dob telescopes. Either you pay the price, ie for a typical high quality Zambuto mirror for example with limited diameter (20-inch for $5,900.00+), or you accept mediocre. If you accept the latter, there are several possibilities that can happen.

1) The mirror will incur scratches during the polishing and the finished aluminized mirror will show these defects, which will lower image contrast. The larger the mirror, the more scratches.

2) Fast polishing means pits on the mirror limiting contrast etc.

3) The telescope is only good for deep sky objects. At higher mag, the planets will fall apart and the image may not have good contrast, sharp focus, or will have other defects. The fast mirror is good at lower power with smaller images which are more forgiving. A focal reducer could also improve the view.

4) Also some fudging may take place when holding the mirror analysis as detailed in the above rough sketch.

What is the solution? You get what you pay for? What happens when a quality mirror is no longer affordable? Do you settle for a so so mirror and simply bypass the passion of owning a superb mirror or give up the hobby? Sometimes life is a compromise. Maybe you already have an excellent Celestron C9.25 or C14 for planetary and a good fast big Dob is just what you need!

https://zambutomirrors.com/mirrors.html
http://hubbleoptics.com/mirrors.html
http://www.kennedy-optics.com/telescopes.htm
https://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/
http://www.jimsmobile.com/buy_mirrors.htm
https://www.telescope.com/Orion/2160.home
https://explorescientificusa.com/products/explore-scientific-generation-ii-20-inch-truss-tube-dobsonian-telescope-dob2036-00
https://optcorp.com/products/sky-watcher-20-inch-stargate-truss-tube-dobsonian
https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/telescope-making/show/finished-mirrors-and-mirror-cells-in-stock

Telescope Decision

This is the proverbial new dream telescope I've chosen to span the Heavens like the world's biggest Dobsonian-mounted beast, at the crux of eternity of exploration in the Universe. (or one like it). The largest telescope in the zone is the choice and the order for it is going in soon!

Finding a Bigger Telescope to Literally Scratch the Aperture Fever Itch

I'm literally perched up here thousands of feet in the air, atop one of the tallest regional skyscrapers with one of the largest modern decks now converted into an astronomical observatory with multiple telescopes. The view is very good, facing East, Southeast, and South, with the march of rising planets in full oppositional view -Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Mercury etc. Spun off of weather from the Pacific Ocean, the stars are so stable they don't twinkle. Now this is the place for born astronomers and we must take advantage of these conditions as this is undoubtedly the only chance we'll get in life to make the best of it.

But what about it? Aperture fever now dictates a telescope far larger than 14-inches is needed. This has remained a several year analysis of all the telescope Dobs out there, and this year the conclusion was reached. The big Dob telescope zone is 18-inch, 20-inch and 24-inch. These more or less affordable UL type open serrurier truss scopes are lightweight, easy to handle, relatively easy to modify and improve, portable, and come in fast ratio sizes of f/3.2 on up. This means no tall ladder needed for observing. It also means no drive is needed with the advent of one second DSO Lucky Imaging. Additionally with image processing and light pollution filters the massive Dob can perform far better than ever before in a heavy light polluted environment. Amping a telescope like this one is all new territory. Imagine a new telescope giving the appearance of 2,400 inches in diameter or 61-meters with a focal length of 77 inches. Telescopes like these take time after the order is placed. We will see exactly how long. Stay tuned for updates.

Mac Astro Software

Mac Astro Software

https://www.macobservatory.com/mac-astronomy-software

• AstroPlanner: Astronomical planning and observation, visualization and logging with telescope control.
  
• Observatory: Astronomical Image management with file organization in smart albums, manual and automatic image tagging with plate solving, notes, and Mac Finder Fits, XISF file previews. Access to research images from professional archives.
  
• Cartes du Ciel: Sky charts with access to multiple astronomical catalogs.
  
• SkySafari 6 Pro: Highly visual planetarium program with telescope control, object information, and access to hundreds of Hubble telescope images.
  
• Our Galaxy: Our Galaxy from a different  perspective, helps you visualize the spacial relationships between different objects within our galaxy.
  
• Uruk_One: An astronomical event analyzer aimed at experienced astronomers who study past, present and future astronomical events.
  

PLANETARIUM & SCOPE CONTROL

• CloudMakers AstroTelescope: Simplistic native Mac application that controls your telescope to go to objects. Part of the CloudMakers suite of astrophotography applications.
  
• Stellarium: Highly visual planetarium program with more than 1 million objects that includes telescope control.
  
• KStars with EKOS: KStars planetarium program with accurate sky simulation and access to many object catalogs, offers planning, custom horizons, telescope control, and EKOS imaging suite.
  
• SkySafari 6 Pro: Highly visual planetarium program with telescope control, object information, and access to hundreds of Hubble telescope images.
  
• Starry Night: Deep sky database of 38,000 objects, highly visual, and includes telescope control with an interactive sky guide.
  
• TheSkyX: An essential tool for observatory control, deep space imaging and scientific discovery. 
  
• AstroGrav: A full-featured, high precision solar system simulator that calculates the gravitational interactions between all astronomical bodies, so that the motions of asteroids and comets are simulated much more accurately than with planetarium applications.
  

CAPTURING & PROCESSING

• ASTAP: A free stacking and astrometric solver (plate solver) program for deep sky images.
  
• Astro Pixel Processor: Advanced image processing software for Deepsky and Widefield Astrophotography.
  
• Stark Labs Nebulosity: Designed to be a powerful, but simple to use capture and processing application.
  
• PixInsight: Advanced Image Processing. PixInsight is a modular, open- architecture, portable image processing platform.
  
• CloudMakers AstroImager: A powerful, but easy to use image capture application for the astrophotography. 
  
• CloudMakers AstroDSLR: A digital camera tethering and remote capture application specialized for astrophotography.
  
• CloudMakers AstroGuider: A simple to use guiding application for your telescope mount. Works with the rest of the CloudMakers suite.
  
• PHD2 Guiding: Free community driven and developed guiding software.
  
• Open Astro Project: Free planetary imaging application.
  
• Lynkeos: Free planetary stacking and processing application.
  
• Keith's Image Stacker: Planetary and astronomical image processing. Not in development any more.
  
• StarTools: Advanced image processing software for astrophotography.
  
• FireCapture: Advanced planetary image capturing software.
  
• SiriL: Free, highly automated image processing software for both planetary and deep sky images.
  
• Planetary Imager: Free image capture software for planetary imaging. (Website link temporarily broken, but if you can compile software from GitHub, here’s that link.)
  
• KStars with EKOS: The free EKOS fully automated astrophotography suite with automatic focus, camera and filter control, target acquisition, scheduling, mosaics, plate solving, and guiding includes KStars planetarium program for planning and night sky simulation.
  
• CCDciel: Free deep sky imaging platform that features automated control of camera, focuser, focus wheels, rotators and more with accurate plate solving.
  
• StarStaX: A simple but fast imaging stacking software with different blending modes.
  
• Startrails Creator: An an easy-to-use application to create star trail photos.
  
• AstroImageJ: Enhanced image processing especially for photometry.
  

UTILITIES

• CloudMakers FITS Preview: A native Mac FITS file viewer.
  
• CloudMakers INDIGO Control Panel: Can be used to connect to a remote INDI or INDIGO server to read device and driver properties.
  
• CloudMakers INDIGO Server: Server for the INDIGO driver platform that allows for remote astrophotography operations over a network.
  
• CloudMakers Astrometry: Native Mac Astrometry image plate solving system.
  
• CloudMakers INDIGO Dashboard: A versatile tool that allows for custom created control panels to view and control all remote imaging operations using the INDIGO platform.
  
• Collimation Aid: A collimation overlay to aid in collimation of a telescope. Does not run in Catalina.
  
• SER Player: SER video playback.
  
• Nightlight: A modern interface for viewing fits files and their properties.
  
• QFitsView: A free, very simple FITS viewing program.
  
• PHD2 Log Viewer: Can open and view PHD2 log files.
  

HARDWARE SPECIFIC

• Open PECTool: Celestron mount PEC recording tool
  
• ASI Studio: ZWO imaging suite, live stacking, planetary capture, and DSO capture
  
• QSEye: Quantum Scientific Imaging software
  
• PoleMaster: QHY Polemaster software
  
• iOptron iPolar:  iOptron’s polar alignment camera software
  
• MountWizard4: for 10Micron mounts (mount model creation)

Astro Software Installed on My Mac

Gimp
NeatImage V8
FireCapture 2.6
ASIStudio
ASICap
AstroLive
oaCapture
Stellarium
StarryNight 8
SirL
Supreme Player Light
VLC
WineBottler
Photos
Paintbrush
Lynkeos
SER Player MacOS v1.7.2
QFITSView

https://www.macobservatory.com/mac-astronomy-software

Wednesday Astro News

What's new for Wednesday June 24 2020

TICKETS TO MARS
Get your ticket ready, we are going to Mars on July 17 if all goes well. Here's a copy of my boarding pass obtained from NASA.  :) Some time ago, NASA created a cache of names to put on the Mars spacecraft that will land on Mars. They issued these boarding passes to those successfully registering their names.

POSTPONING OUTDOOR ASTRO WORK
By 8 am the heat has reached 100 degrees and outdoor work on the non-functioning Celestron mount is postponed. Rain is predicted with extreme high humidity levels already present. At this rate, the blog name could be changed to "Indoor Astronomy."

STILL NO QUOTE ON BIG MIRROR
The optics company wrote back regarding the quote on the large finished mirror. They only said they will be in touch. They are probably over their heads in orders.

PLANETARY GOOD OR BAD?
Research continues into big Dobs and there is a decided lack of planetary use. The ongoing contention is that average mirrors of big Dobs can be used at the lowest possible power for DSO thus minimizing imperfections. This confirms the trend of shorter and shorter FL scopes.

FORGET GOTO
Big Dobs can inexpensively find objects using smart phone apps and a machine that determines angles, as a substitute for expensive GOTO systems. Telescope technology is rampantly changing.

BIG MIRROR SCRATCHES
The letter from the owner of one optics company states the bigger the mirror, the more embedded deep scratches it will have that occur during polishing. They are trying to convince people that such scratches are unavoidable and unimportant in the final image. This is certainly believable with less than billion dollar NASA white rooms of ultimate cleanliness. Other sources definitely have different opinions. As a telescope mirror maker for many decades, I know it's vitally important to polish and figure the mirror in a clean room at a different location, and to use the highest quality optical grade rouge and cerium oxide polishing compounds, among other ATM handling techniques. Of course budget mirrors are not going to have the quality control, or pricing, of NASA.

COMPASS BE DAMNED
Smart phones generally have compasses that may not give accurate results. Many star planetarium programs that use the internal compass are known to have failures and drift off cardinal directions. Smart phones and iPads generate their own EMI and can interfere with their own compases. Telescope mounts have metal compounds that interfere with magnetic fields. This can throw off the compass and wireless communications such as WiFi and GPS.

DECK SCOPE SIZE
Measurements show the deck can hold some of the largest commercial Dob telescopes with the limitation being the scope's elevation and the floor depth from the skyscraper to the drop-off. The range of consideration is probably a telescope 18 to 24-inches diameter at f/3.3. In the larger example, the rocker base spans 788 mm on the longest side, or 31-inches. The typical new deck span is 45-inches from the granite safety lip to the skyscraper wall, sufficing for the largest rocker base with a clearance of 14-inches - 7" on each side of front and back.

DOB LUCKY IMAGING
Lucky imaging is taking off with owners of large Dob telescopes without drives. An object is placed in the corner of FOV and allowed to drift to the opposite corner. Some software like FireCapture has a feature to center the object and keep it there as long as possible, even the object is drifting from no drive. Thousands of images are obtainable by recentering the object and repeating the process. Processing removes the motion. Exposures are usually 1 second or less.

ASTRO ORDER CHALLENGES CONTINUE
The large accessories order list was sent back to the company for the third time and thus far no response. The manager states almost all items are sold out but they can be at hand in a month. A second company confirms all those "stay-at-home individuals" as a result of rules governing the Corona Virus, are pursuing their astronomy hobbies and buying pretty much everything available.

VENUS FLOPS TO AM
Early this morning a small break in the overcast clouds had Venus showing at a relatively favorable position. Unfortunately all Venus filters for cloud study are sold out. Ever since planet Venus flopped over to the morning sky, the new position in the East is ideal for deck observations.

ASTRO GYM
With ultra-hot weather conditions and rain, and the inability to get key accessories for astroimaging, the hobby has become excessively sedentary. For this reason, I'm erecting a workout Gym amidst the observatory.

Heat & Humidity

Standing by for very hot rain at any second in current Taipei: it's already raining on the other side of the mountains. The clouds hold heavy accumulations of precipitation caused by daytime Pacific Ocean evaporation due the high heat levels. It is not reasonable to unveil the telescope from its protective coverings for work at this time due to the guarantee of incapacitating heat stroke.

Today is Tuesday June 23rd 2020 and the current temp has soared to 116 degrees at 3 pm. We are not far from matching the 120 deg. F. we had last summer. High humidity levels with the prediction of 50% possibility of rain and the continuance of inhuman heat-stroke-causing temperatures have canceled any outdoor work on the errant Celestron telescope mount.

We are looking at a weather prediction of ten more days with the same weather, however nights may dip down into the mid to upper 80s with partly cloudy skies. Last night Jupiter and Saturn were shining bright through breaks in clouds.

Solar Eclipse June 21 2020 Taiwan

Color solar images: shortly after noon, it started out looking like a partial solar eclipse over Taiwan but the Moon continued to eat a larger and larger chunk out of the Sun until it took on the Annular Eclipse appearance shown below. Thick overcast, haze, air pollution and rampant clouds blocked the sun. A solution had to be found for imaging the eclipse. A high tech approach was taken using a series of alternating small telescope sites connected by ISP.

The view at 4:16 pm local time had this maximum coverage.

WEATHER - At this moment, the sky is cloudy with upper atmospheric haze and low level high speed clouds passing overhead. Normally you would not see the eclipse today.

To continuously watch the annular solar eclipse unobstructed from Taiwan, I put together a small telescope system of localized video networks photographically linked together with video cams to cover the best weather portions of the island. Small telescope locations linked

A Celestron 3" Dobsonian reflector FirstScope is the prime telescope used for solar viewing by quickly projecting the sun's image onto a sheet of paper, firmed up by a clipboard. It's easy to stop down the aperture to reduce heat intensity and use a safe solar filter over the front tube. A camera photos the image projected on the paper and corrections are applied with computer image processing to clean up the image and correct for foreshortening effects. Photos taken over a brief period of time are ok but any activity too long will have active heat build up, and could start melting the internal plastic secondary mirror holder or other plastic telescope parts. Photo'ing the clipboard paper is safe but never look through the eyepiece. The setup is ideal for briefly imaging the paper at the final time of maximum coverage during a total Solar Eclipse, at a time of reduced heat.

include Taipei, Yunlin, Chiay, and Taichung Taiwan. At 4:16 pm local time around maximum, the day darkened substantially and a strong breeze suddenly appeared. Humidity stayed very heavy, temperature stayed exorbitantly hot, and visibility suddenly and unexpectedly increased by 5 to 10 more miles. The observatory tent abruptly began flapping in the wind and I remember thinking it's a good thing it's tied down. The telescopes did not image any solar prominences because the video exposures capturing the phase sequences were not set to do so. Many images were obtained but for brevity only a few are shown here. The entire imaging project was conducted with Apple iMac running MacOS system Catalina @3.4Ghz

StarryNight Solar Eclipse

Installed StarryNight 8 on both Mac and PC computers. It fails on the PC with the bottom part of windows being cut off. Murphy's Law. On the Mac, it's smooth sailing and a charm. Here's a screen shot showing the solar eclipse tomorrow from India.

Celestron SkySync Design Flaw

BAD Celestron SkySync Etc.
is another bogus $200 accessory bought from Celestron that does not work. Led to believe it worked in Taiwan at the time, now I discover it apparently does not. It returns the wrong time zone, wrong time, and wrong date from Asian GPS Satellites. Whether this is the reason the Celestron CGXL mount does not work or not, will be investigated after I pull off the unit. So far, Celestron is not scoring well in the line of accessories. This one is going in the trash.

Looking at all these failures it will be reasonable to assume the Celestron StarSense AutoAlign will be another. This will be reported in the future after testing.

Recapping, the Celestron SkyPortal WiFi hardware is also a failure due to the magnetized CGXL mount and the software sends the telescope randomly head-on into a dangerous run-away condition. With the C14, this would break through the sliding glass door or break the C14's corrector plate across the wrought iron railing.

While we're at it, enjoying the fruits of Murphy, the Celestron Luminos is also a waste, with an overblown bloat size and massive unreasonable overly-heavy weight, to support a few tiny lenses in the center.

Obviously when it comes to accessories, Celestron had a shotgun wedding with Murphy.

My Homebuilt 8-inch Telescope

It took 100 hours to make the primary mirror and figure it with an accuracy of a millionth of an inch.

The mirror was sent in to be aluminized and silicon overcoated. The tube came from Parks Optical, the finder from Unitron, and the adjustable rack & pinion to hold the eyepiece was from Criterion.

Ken Novak & Company supplied the spider vane for the 1/20th wave accuracy flat diagonal. On the side was an Edmunds camera holder for SLR cameras. Large aluminum rings adjusted the tube tension and allowed it to rotate for balancing. I built a variable frequency oscillator that adjusted the drive to lunar, planetary, solar, sidereal and in-between rates. It could also handle an infinite number of variable slow motions for guiding and tracking objects. Orthoscopic oculars were purchased from Brandon Company. The telescope performed outstanding and its performance on Mars was award winning. It was used to study Mars and make maps of its surface features at close approach during opposition, as well as developing a Fortran IV computer weather prediction program for future Mars colonists, presented at UCLA and the Academy of Sciences. I co-authored a paper - the Occultation of Mars - with a Mars expert at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona, Dr Charles Capen. The study determined the shape and orbit of the Moon and Mars with greater accuracy. I studied the Martian South Polar Cap and derived new math formula to predict its behavior. Many results were provided to the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. NASA and its agencies such as JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory adopted the program for their use in sending spacecraft to Mars. Using spectroscopic film and various specialized emulsions, I took over 80,000 astro photographs. To save expense, I developed a way to place multiple planetary images on a single film frame.

My Equipment List

EQUIPMENT
The equipment list is used to determine which accessories and components are available for projects and research programs. Items are at multiple observatory locations.

Telescope - for more telescopes see

https://otisastro.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-list-of-my-telescopes-tasco-30x30mm.html

Celestron 14” Edge HD f/11 OTA
Celestron 9.25” Edge HD f/10 OTA

*** NEW! ***    Celestron NexStar 6SE 150mm f/10 Altazimuth GoTo

Orion Starblast 4.5" Tabletop Dob f/4

Orion Starblast 4.5" II EQ with Clock Drive f/4
Orion CT80 80mm (3.25") f/5 Doublet Refractor
Celestron 76mm (2.99") f/3.9 FirstScope Dob

*** COMING SOON!***     Acuter 60mm (2.4") Maksutov f/12.5  750mm fl
(2) Celestron 9x50mm (2") f/4.5 Finderscope

Svbony 6x30mm Metal Finderscope

(2) Celestron 5x24mm Plastic Finderscope

Other Telescopes

12.5" f/6 Newtonian

8" f/2 Schmidt Camera

4.25" f/11 Newtonian

Meade 60AT (2.4") Goto Refractor 350mm f/5.8

Former Completed Telescopes

1 - 40" Newtonian Dob with Belgian Plate Glass Primary *

2 - 50" Aluminized Plexiglass Reflector

2 - 8" Newtonian f/6 with Pyrex Mirrors

*Largest amateur telescope in the world (1970s, 1980s)

Returned Defective Telescope

4.5" Unistellar eVscope

Telescope Mirror

12" in Polishing Phase

4.25" RFT for Space Telescope

Telescope Mount
Celestron Edge HD CGX-L Equatorial GOTO

Celestron Nexstar 6SE Altazimuth GOTO

Celestron FirstScope Dob

Orion StarBlast EQ-1 Equatorial with Clock Drive

Orion StarBlast Dob

Tripod
3110 Long 4-section Camera Tripod
2 - Short Plastic Camera Tripod

Celestron NexStar 6 SE Tripod

Orion StarBlast Tripod

(Acuter 60mm Mak Tripod)

Camera
Zwo ASI224MC Color CMOS One Shot Camera
Canon CCD Camera
Apple iPhone Xs MAX Camera, Apps
Apple iPhone 5+ Camera, Apps

*Apple 8 iPhone Camera, Apps
Computer CAM
Wireless Cameras

2 - Remote Shutter

Eyepiece 1.25" Aspheric

2 - Svbony 4mm Aspheric

3 - Svbony 10mm 62 Deg Aspheric

3 - Svbony 23mm 62 Deg Aspheric

Eyepiece 1.25" Plossl

Orion Explorer II 6mm Plossl

Svbony 9.7mm Plossl 52 Deg (Super Plossl FMC)

Orion Sirius 10mm Plossl

Orion Explorer II 1.25" 17mm Plossl

Orion Sirius 25mm Plossl
Svbony 26mm Plossl 52 Deg  (Super Plossl FMC)
Svbony 32mm Plossl 46 Deg
Svbony 40mm Plossl 40 Deg

Celestron 25mm Plossl

Eyepiece 1.25" Plossl Illuminated Crosshairs

Celestron 12.5mm Plossl 40 Deg CrossAim Reticle

Eyepiece 1.25" Orthoscopic

Celestron 6mm

Eyepiece 2-Inch Plossl

Televue 55mm Plossl 50 Deg

Eyepiece 2-inch Other

2 - Celestron 23mm Luminos 82 Deg (6 Lens Design)

Eyepiece Zoom

Baader 1.25/2" 8-24mm Hyperion Clickstop Mark IV Zoom  

Focal Reducer
2 - Antares Focal Reducer 
1 - Celestron Focal Reducer f/6.3 with Field Flattener
4 - Svbony 1.25" .5x Focal Reducer Eyepiece Thread

Barlow
3 - 1.25" Svbony 2x Barlow Eyepiece Thread
1.25" Celestron X-Cel 2x Barlow

1.25" TeleVue 2x Barlow

1.25" Televue 2.5x Powermate
1.25" Celestron X-Cel LX 3x Barlow

1.25" TeleVue 3x Barlow
2" TeleVue 4x Powermate with built in 1.25" EP adapter

Filter Filter Graphs

Astronomik Planet IR Pro 742 1.25", pass IR after 742nm

Zwo ASI224MC clear glass window

Zwo 1.25" LRGB

           contains the B filter which is IR cut only

           use the B filter with UV or V filter on Venus, B cuts off a 700nm

Zwo 1.25" UV/IR Cut

              use as a regular color cam

Zwo IR 850nm Pass 1.25"

              use as a near IR b&w cam

Zwo HA 7nm & 656 nm 1.25"

               light pollution

Svbony 1.25" LRGB Set SV127

             #15 Deep Yellow

             #25 Red, better red filter goes into IR

             #58 Green

             #80A Medium Blue

Svbony Set 1.25"

             23A Light Red
             56 Green
             82A Light Blue
             21 Orange
             12 Yellow

Svbony 2" CLS

              City Light Suppression, broadband

Svbony 1.25" Moon & Skyglow

Svbony 1.25" CPL circular polarizer/linear

              1-40% light xmission, F9147A, cut atmospheric haze,

              reduce reflections in the atmosphere, shoot through glass,

 

Svbony 1.25'' CPL Filter Variable Polarizing SV128

Svbony 1.25" IR-Pass Filter 685 nm, SV183

              reduce the effects of seeing for planetary photography,

              contrast enhancement, passes infrared only,

              blocks wavelengths below 670nm to enhance contrast and surface detail

              and reduce the effects of seeing when used in IR-LRGB imaging of the

              moon and planets

Svbony 1.25" UV/IR Cut F9127A

Svbony SV164 Dark Frame

Optolong 1.25" L-Pro Light Pollution

Optolong 1.25" UHC Ultra High Contrast, wide band

AngelEyes Red 23A

*Orion Premium Set of 20 Filters

          #8 Light Yellow

          #11 Yellow-Green

          #12 Yellow

          #15 Deep Yellow

          #21 Orange

          #23A Light Red

          #25 Red

          #29 Deep Red

          #30 Light Magenta

          #32 Magenta

          #38A Blue

          #44A Light Blue-green

          #46 Deep Blue

          #47 Violet

          #56 Light Green

          #57 Medium Green

          #58 Green

          #64 Blue Green

          #80A Medium Blue

          #82A Pale Blue

Celestron Moon Filter 1.25" 18% 94119-A

Tech
Celestron SkyPortal WiFi Module
Celestron Starsense Autoalign
Celestron SkySync GPS
Celestron Focus Motor
Celestron VSP Vibration Suppression Pads

ZWO ADC Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector

1PC Portable Mini Precise Compass

Military Compass

Zwo Electric Filter Wheel

Red Laser

Green Laser

AngelEyes Brackets for Above Laser

Celestron Bino Viewer

Hercules Pro Imaging Flip Mirror

Zwo EFWmini Filter Wheel 5 Position 1.25″ electric

Svbony Manual Filter Wheel 5 Position 1.25"

Large Mirror Grinding Machine / up to 40-inch

Adapter
Baader 2” to 1.25” Reducer with T2
Baader 2” ClickLock Adapter (3.25” SCT thread, Visual Back to 2”)
2 - Svbony 1.25" 56mm Extension Tube

2 - Svbony 1.25" 70mm Extension Tube
Svbony 1.25" to 2" Eyepiece Adapter

Dovetail

2 - Svbony 42mm Dovetail Groove F9176A

Svbony Dovetail Bracket

Dovetail
Celestron Narrow Dovetail Bar for C9.25"

Cell Phone Holders
Celestron NEXYZ 3-Axis Universal Smart Phone Adapter

Cell Phone Holder Eyepiece Grip

Cell Phone Holder Screw Grip

Cell Phone Holder Camera Tap

Power

Celestron 5 Amp AC Power Adapter for Mount CGX/L

Celestron 5 Amp AC Power Adapter #18780 for Nexstar 6 SE

Meade Power Supply 12V 17ah

Star Diagonal

Celestron Nexstar 6 SE Star Diagonal 125" #94115-A

Celestron EdgeHD 14" Star Diagonal

Celestron EdgeHD 9.25" Star Diagonal

Misc.

Wireless Bluetooth Camera Shutter Release
Portable Observatory Tent (discontinued)

Orion 105mm Rings for CT80

Hercules 3 Turret Eyepiece Revolver

Lights

Red Light Headband

Nitecore TUBE v2 LED Key Chain Flashlight (Black)

Lens
Fisheye Lens
iPhone Lens Set, Fisheye, Macro, Wide Angle
All Sky Camera Lens for Zwo Camera
Asst. Set of Large Magnifying Glasses

Software

Celestron SkyPortal WiFi iPad App