A surprising case of a new shiny thing being step-function better
 

I have acquired a full-frame DSLR (Nikon D750; had been contemplating the purchase for ages, and the day of the big plummet in the pound I thought I should go ahead before Nikon updated their UK pricing)

It is possible to see reasonable numbers of stars in the live-view when you point it at the sky.

Suddenly astrophotography gets an awful lot less frustrating.

[QUOTE=fivemack;445741]I have acquired a full-frame DSLR (Nikon D750; had been contemplating the purchase for ages, and the day of the big plummet in the pound I thought I should go ahead before Nikon updated their UK pricing)

It is possible to see reasonable numbers of stars in the live-view when you point it at the sky.

Suddenly astrophotography gets an awful lot less frustrating.[/QUOTE]Impressive!

Might be interesting to plug it into the back of a 25cm Schmidt-Newtonian I happen to have lying around ...

[QUOTE=xilman;445751]Might be interesting to plug it into the back of a 25cm Schmidt-Newtonian I happen to have lying around ...[/QUOTE]

Little downside; potential upside.

[QUOTE=xilman;445751]Impressive!

Might be interesting to plug it into the back of a 25cm Schmidt-Newtonian I happen to have lying around ...[/QUOTE]

Yes, that would be very interesting - I had been looking for that sort of combination of aperture and focal length (f/4 or so, if this is the Meade one) and hadn't really found it. 1000mm gets roughly one arc-second per pixel, f/4 is nicely bright, glorious success seems a distinct possibility :)

Of course, organising a meet-up for astronomy in Northern Europe in the winter requires a degree of patience, but I'm very happy to give it a go. I've ordered a T-mount adaptor for the DSLR, so will need to wait for that to arrive; do you have the other necessary bits and pieces?

[QUOTE=fivemack;445802]Of course, organising a meet-up for astronomy in Northern Europe in the winter requires a degree of patience, but I'm very happy to give it a go. I've ordered a T-mount adaptor for the DSLR, so will need to wait for that to arrive; do you have the other necessary bits and pieces?[/QUOTE]I don't know, so it would perhaps be best for you to pop over here to check, probably best in daylight.

TBH, I've hardly used the scope in years. Somehow lost interest for various reasons.

[QUOTE=xilman;445809]TBH, I've hardly used the scope in years. Somehow lost interest for various reasons.[/QUOTE]

Work that problem.

[QUOTE=chalsall;445823]Work that problem.[/QUOTE]

So, right now, I find myself with three young chicks on my lap.

I could make dinner. I instead pet. They are quite sweet....

[QUOTE=chalsall;445826]So, right now, I find myself with three young chicks on my lap.[/QUOTE]

Just to make sure I didn't come across like DJT, I was talking about three young chickens who had been abandoned by their mother.

I gave them food, water, warmth, comfort and safety.

I didn't grab them by their pussy. That's reserved for my cats.... 9-)

This evening (Saturday-Sunday) is the "nacht van de nacht" in the Netherlands, when a coordinated effort is made to reduce light pollution across the country.
That makes it a particularly good night for astronomy here.

[QUOTE=Nick;445956]This evening (Saturday-Sunday) is the "nacht van de nacht" in the Netherlands, when a coordinated effort is made to reduce light pollution across the country.[/QUOTE]

By what means is this achieved? A Google translation of Wikipedia says by just having everyone turn off the lights?

[QUOTE=Dubslow;445987]By what means is this achieved? A Google translation of Wikipedia says by just having everyone turn off the lights?[/QUOTE]
For this one night, the lights are turned off by big companies, civic authorities, churches, etc. We could see the difference in the sky from our window.

But it is also an impulse to adjust the design of lighting outside to reduce it to a minimum. Street lights should illuminate the road, for example, but not shine backwards into people's homes or up into the sky.

Today, the events continue with an open day at the Old Observatory of Leiden University:
[URL]http://www.oudesterrewacht.nl/[/URL]
[URL]http://www.oudesterrewacht.nl/english/[/URL]