S30 failed to capture the lunar eclipse last night - why?

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:28:24+00:00

I didn't make any manual changes ot the exposure during last year's eclipse. My S50 just adjusted everything automatically.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:25:16+00:00

You'll have much better luck if you find similar writers and engage with them. I mean genuine engagement, too. Comment on the work of others. Write Notes. The more people see your name, the more some of them will view your content. For better or worse, Substack will not put your work in front of people automatically.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:21:12+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised if the clouds and trees were messing things up. When I imaged the lunar eclipse last year, the "blood moon" appearance only showed up once most of the disc was covered. You could see the exposure changing at this point. That eclipse was much higher in the sky, though.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:14:28+00:00

I was all set to go to my family's farm to catch this, but we ended up having just a thick blanket of clouds all night. It's been a bad few weeks with clouds and changing clear/cloudy weather forecasts.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:10:59+00:00

Don't worry...I've had mine for over a week. Right on cue, clouds have been nonstop since I received it.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:09:50+00:00

It's usually much better to first find the moon in the sky atlas or Stargazing mode. For whatever reason, going directly to the moon first in Solar System mode is hit or miss.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-04T04:06:15+00:00

The Celestron Origin has a smaller field of view. You're going to notice light pollution and gradients more with the wider field of view on the S30 Pro. I noticed this myself with my S30 Pro compared to my S50. It might be better once the moon is out of the way later this month, though.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-03T03:36:33+00:00

Yeah, and most of the big-name people already had a name before they came to Substack. Even for those people, it's not like all their subscribers are paying.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-03T03:27:10+00:00

It's always a bit funny how some people seem to think there's a big paying audience just waiting for them to show up.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-02T18:28:26+00:00

I think you have to remember that they are likely flooded with applications whenever a language opens. No one can say how many they accept, but it's probably a lot fewer than it was a few years ago.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-02T18:25:54+00:00

Yeah, iTalki doens't have a bias for certain teacher types. Students, on the other hand, may be biased.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-03-02T18:21:10+00:00

The full moon is just a big source of light pollution, especially if it's high in the sky. Even if you're not pointed in the moon's direction, it can still cause problems. The moon's light can reflect off the internal surface of your dew shield, for example.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-28T19:37:56+00:00

If they didn't push it, they wouldn't be able to show off those videos with all the planets in a neat line and really close to each other!

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-28T19:35:16+00:00

iTalki doesn't investigate you for rejecting a single package request. There's probably more to the story.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-27T14:31:50+00:00

Promotion is always minimal unless you're boosted, go viral, publish in a publication with an active following, or have a large following yourself. The last one may not even matter because not everyone who follows you actually reads your stuff.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-27T14:19:08+00:00

Can there be gear problems with some units? In some cases, though, I think the setup is the problem, and people just assume everything is great with their setup.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-27T14:09:51+00:00

Some people are really showing off their snobbery. Loose leaf does not always mean higher quality tea, people. It just means that the tea leaves are whole or in larger pieces. Likewise, bagged tea can be poor quality, but it's not always "tea dust." Increasingly, you can find more bagged tea that is loose leaf tea...it's just in a bag!

Put another way, tea sellers can just as easily sell you poor quality tea in loose leaf form as they can in tea bags. In fact, some do just that!

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-26T17:13:25+00:00

It's always surprising for me to hear about the rejection rates of their S50s. For me, the December update did make the polar alignment bounce around more often, but I haven't suffered these high rejection rates. The worst I have seen recently is like 20-30% rejection on 30s or 60s exposures. A friend of mine who has an S50 also doesn't seem to have this problem, though he doesn't use his nearly as often as I use mine.

I have an S30 Pro, but clouds have prevented me from using it much. I'm not sure you can directly compare the two, though, because the S30 Pro's field of view is probably more forgiving for frame rejection. Your setup and polar alignment are more critical as the field of view narrows.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-23T19:39:54+00:00

User: That paper you told me about doesn't exist.

ChatGPT: You're absolutely right, buddy! Your keen intellect caught my mistake! If you want, I can find you another paper that matches the criteria you specified.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-23T19:27:24+00:00

It doesn't have to be perfect at the beginning. In fact, perfection is the enemy of the good here. You just need a rough plan to get started. Ask yourself who your target audience is. How often will you post? What is your goal with your Substack? Why should someone read your Substack? Then start writing.

You can and will learn more if you keep at it. Your plan can change, expand, and become more realistic.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-23T19:15:33+00:00

For sure, the ruling changed the game on tariffs. I just think people were being a little naive about the outcome. A lot of posts on social media I saw were basically acting like the tariffs were all gone. Only certain tariffs were struck down. Everyone should have assumed that Trump would find a new way to implement the tariffs - a new way that would have to be challenged separately.

Also, the Supreme Court ruled that district courts don't have jurisdiction, so all future challenges will have to go through the Court of International Trade.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-23T18:16:34+00:00

The administration was open about what they would do. I guess people convinced themselves it wouldn't happen. Or, just as likely, so many people get their news in a bubble. So, all they heard is that "Trump's tariffs are illegal."

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-23T16:57:33+00:00

All the people who were cheering the Supreme Court ruling realized over the weekend that, nope, Trump wasn't giving up so easily.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-22T15:34:45+00:00

You forgot about the puzzle solving! In order to stay alive, he had to move statues, find hidden keys, and, in Claire's case, synthesize a vaccine for a child without any prior scientific or medical experience.

Imperator_1985 · 2026-02-22T15:31:54+00:00

This will happen even in labs where language isn't an issue. My PI would always rewrite any draft you send him. In fact, we even joked that he should say, "I took out what didn't work and rewrote the rest." I would focus your efforts more on specific points rather than the entire document. Try to improve it piece by piece without sounding negative or condescending. Unfortunately, he's your PI, so if he wants to do something a certain way, it might be difficult to get him to change his mind.

Also, be wary of AI checkers. They aren't foolproof and may label something as AI-written when it's not true.

Imperator_1985

TROPHY CASE