Think it's hot today ?

[Glenn]

Good job you don't live here then
This is Venus transiting the Sun.
Taken from my garden this morning. Projected image from telescope.
Reproduction poor due to having to shrink the pic + some cloud about.
Glenn

 

[oatman]

That's a dodgy egg yolk. You can't fool me :cheesy:





Two Irishmen,
Paddy, is that the sun or the moon?
I wouldn't know, I don't live around here.

 

[BBB]

Glenn - you've got a spot of dirt on your lens mate - bottom middle.

 

[Glenn]

Good to see other scientists on the board
Glenn

 

[pkfryer]

Thats excellent pic! You got any others taken from your telescope?

 

[IndexTycoon]

Ive got one of uranus i took through mine ! :cheesy:

 

[Glenn]

Thats excellent pic! You got any others taken from your telescope?

Thanks PK, glad you like it
Probably got one of the last eclipse of the sun. I'll hunt around.
I'm not properly tooled up for night photo's yet. Digital cameras don't have attachements for fixing them to the eyepiece holder. Need to make a Heath-Robinson lash-up to try it.

Cheers
Glenn

 

[BBB]

Index -

I dont believe you.

Why not prove me wrong and post a photo of uranus?

 

[IndexTycoon]

 

[ivorm]

Nice pic, Glenn. What 'scope have you got ?

Regards,

 

[Glenn]

Hi Ivor
It's a Dobsonian F6.4 with 10inch mirror. I built it a few years ago
Mostly made from 3/4" plywood and gas pipe.
Very stable and smooth.
From Richard Berry's book "Build your own telescope". Excellent.

Took it to a local Primary school on the day of the transit and had all the children and teachers looking at Venus in small groups. Good fun- lots' of oooh's and aaah's.
Sadly no sunspots around to see on the day.
Also showed them the rotation of the earth. Lady headteacher said I made the earth move for her - lol.

Glenn

 

[RogerM]

A 10" instrument - I'm impressed. No wonder the headmistress swooned. Did you grind the mirror yourself or was that a commercially available one?

 

[Glenn]

10" - I'm impressed. Did you grind the mirror yourself or was that a commercially available one?

Hi Roger
Didn't grind the mirror although the book tells you how to do it to a millionth of an inch in your garage !
I'd like to have a go one day, maybe a 6" to start with.
It's a David Hinds mirror, cost about £250.
Pic attached.

How are your options going ?
Just looking into Ftse diag cal spreads and hope to start soon.
Sold some June 4025 puts a while back and just bought them back. Only 11.5p profit but happy enough.
Cheers
Glenn

 

[RogerM]

That's a really smart looking piece of kit Glenn. In 1965 when I was 12yrs old I wanted to grind my own 6" mirror but my parents talked me out of it. I tried using a shaving mirror instead and one of my Mum's old make -up mirrors as a flat. I mounted them in a plywood frame and it worked surprisingly well, but with one major drawback - there was a quadruple image because there was a reflection off the front of the glass and the silvered back of the primary mirror, and the same again from the surface and silvered back of the flat. All the overlapping images were more or less in focus tho' , although of no use for serious observations. So I bought a 2.5" refractor secondhand for £6-10shillings (£6.50 for those who can't remember!), which was nearly £80 in today's terms

http://eh.net/hmit/ppowerbp/?action=before70&pounds=6&shillings=10&pence=0&year=1965

I still have it and used it to observe the transit using a projection much like you did - but I would still like to build my own reflector. There is no doubt in my mind that had I dug my heels in and ground my own mirror I would have been successful.

Currently short the June 4625/4175 strangle, with long puts underneath at 4125 for a net +32 per strangle. Not anticipating any drama here, but never spend it until it's nailed down!

 

[Glenn]

No cover on the calls ? 140 pts away today.
Flippin 'eck, you are bearish just a tad then ?
Good luck.

Not sure where you can get the blanks etc for a mirror nowadays. Perhaps Beacon Hill Telescopes up North.

1965 - doing 'A' levels and going to ballroom dancing classes with local girls high school - all those sweaty blue blouses
Also hitchhiked to Germany that year for a fortnight with £20 in my pocket and a tent on my back. Came back with 2d.
The Beatles and the Stones etc......Those were the days

Glenn

 

[RogerM]

No cover on the calls ? 140 pts away today.
Flippin 'eck, you are bearish just a tad then ?

I tend not to cover the calls 'cos I can always either hedge them with futures, or more likely, roll them out into July if they look like going into the money and staying there. I always like to have cover for the puts tho' cos not only can markets collapse a long way overnight, the implied volatility would surge enormously as well so it would be a double hit. It would be nice to cover the calls, but ultimately we are being paid to carry a risk, and if the risk is removed then so is all the potential profit!

 

[ivorm]

Hi Ivor
It's a Dobsonian F6.4 with 10inch mirror. I built it a few years ago
Mostly made from 3/4" plywood and gas pipe.
Very stable and smooth.
From Richard Berry's book "Build your own telescope". Excellent.

Took it to a local Primary school on the day of the transit and had all the children and teachers looking at Venus in small groups. Good fun- lots' of oooh's and aaah's.
Sadly no sunspots around to see on the day.
Also showed them the rotation of the earth. Lady headteacher said I made the earth move for her - lol.

Glenn

That's a very nice looking 'scope. And very impressed that you made it yourself !

I've got a Meade LX200 'GoTo' scope. Had some great views of Jupiter and Saturn a few weeks ago. Even my wife was impressed.

Regards,

 

[Glenn]

That's a very nice looking 'scope. And very impressed that you made it yourself !

I've got a Meade LX200 'GoTo' scope. Had some great views of Jupiter and Saturn a few weeks ago. Even my wife was impressed.

Regards,

Glad you like it, thx. A labour of love. Lots of Cuprinol and Hammerite.

J and S are pretty impressive aren't they. Must be nice to let the scope do the finding
Have you put a CCD camera on it and connected it to your PC in the house ? Oh the luxury of staying indoors
I made a home-made Poncet platform to sit mine on. Pretty unwieldy but works ok. Problem is how long it takes to set it all up, inevitably/necessarily on a cold night - brrrrrr

Glenn

 

[Glenn]

Thats excellent pic! You got any others taken from your telescope?

Just took this through the eyepiece with a digital cam - lucky shot.
Low magnification Moon.
Jupiter up tonight but too much heat haze.

Glenn

 

[pkfryer]

Excellent scope glenn! You have rekindled my long standing interest in telescopes and star gazing! I think I might invest in a nice big telescope in the not too distant future. I'm impressed you made the scope yourself, it looks very well made!

That picture of the moon looks very impressive very sharp and focused.

How did you demonstrate the earth moving during the day?