ARCHIVE July2008
ATM: varnish – lessons learned
The spot/notch in the wood shown in the image is a reference index precision marker….. isn’t it? I can live with it. I had to run the router in 3 passes per […]
ATM / General / Maintenance
Maintenance woes
I didn’t have a good month of photography due to the fires, and I’m a little bummed about that. I’m starting to realize that I have zero fully functional telescopes right now, […]
Pointing model building
I have noticed that I have to run multiple iterations of Polar Axis Correction to get it right. Last time out, I had to run it about 3 or 4 times, plus […]
wayback machine albert highe's website
http://web.archive.org/web/20070407064005/pw2.netcom.com/~ahighe/astroequ.html
CCD Polar Alignment using autoguider tracking
Polar Alignment using a CCD Camera Return to home <http://highenergyastro.homestead.com/index.html> One of the key things that must be done prior to a session of astrophotography is a good polar alignment. I have […]
PAC: from the horse's mouth
A, The guy who wrote Gemini (Rene Goerlich) had this to say about Polar Axis Correction, etc. 4 things of interest to note: 1) before 1st PAC, do a minimal pointing model […]
news from the front
The wind rolled in for a few days around the new moon and gave me a chance to do some astronomy. Also, my lungs cleared up some. Now the weather has stagnated […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
pointing model building
When I build a pointing model using PAC on the Gemini, I get this strange behavior, where the error numbers are very large and then get smaller and smaller to some fairly […]
Polar Alignment : the latest chapter
A, It’s 12:20. I just got in from a polar alignment session that lasted almost 3 hours. The mac helpfully sang out the time at the top of the hour to make […]
AAVSO polar charts
http://www.aavso.org/observing/charts/vsp/index.html Not exactly sure which RA/Dec to use to get the NCP. +90 doesn’t work right. A, Attached is a chart (by the DSS, via AAVSO at http://www.aavso.org/observing/charts/vsp/index.html) of the NCP (the […]
RECENT UPDATE
Polar Alignment Calculations
Here’s a page that derives Polar Alignment Calculations. (update 5/2020: the original site is gone, so I found the text on Wayback and am inserting it below. This is by the original […]
Gear / Observatory / Telescope
Special Guest Star takes the mount at Hilltop O
The Astro Jedi needed somewhere to store his light sab—- I mean, bucket, and I was only too happy to accommodate him. I have decided that I need to come to a […]
General / Maintenance / Observatory
Dome shutter is motorized again!
I finally decided to bite the bullet and fix the shutter motor. Things went sideways last winter, and I’ve been opening the shutter manually (and tying it shut with rope, so we […]
Trixie 2017 – tube mods
I finally got around to cutting the MTA-UTA tubes to length; the only eyepiece that would come to focus with the focuser spacer in place is the Televue 55mm Plossl. If I […]
MOST COMMENTED
Observatory
Observatory 2.0 – Time has come today!
General / Maintenance
First Light, a deeper look
Mount / Observatory / Telescope
Observatory 2.0 – Result!
Observatory
Observatory 2.0 – The Pier goes in
Gear / General / Maintenance
Martin Farmer Wormblock installation notes
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
NGC2244, The Rosette Nebula
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Another beautiful night.