I've tried several things in search of a good artificial star and several
worked fairly well. I only tried to use the setup during the warm months
and to get enough separation between the scope and the light source I
had to place it outside. The problem I encountered was the heat rising off
of the sidewalk, road, and things in general caused a great deal of
distortion in the image. At work there is a building with a hallway several
hundred feet long that I might try on the weekends. This may solve the
heat problem.

Cliff



Richmann, Michael wrote:

> Time to beat the drum for Suiter's Christmas
> ornament alternative.



> <snip>



> By constrast, if you use the sun
> as an illuminating source, a reflective Christmas
> tree ornament of 1.5" diameter will yield a
> reflection of the same size as the light source
> given by the 0.13 mm pinhole. A little shopping
> at Target and you're in business...
>

I've used this method for years to also align the optics. Works well...

View index by [date] [author] [subject]
Previous message: Re: [M]: 127ED APO, M. Gartland
Next message: Re: [M]: Electric focuser recommendation, Jim Vail
Next message in thread: RE: [M]: Artificial Stars -Reply, Richmann, Michael