ARCHIVE February2009
Whence C9.25?
I decided to upgrade the C-8 to a C9.25. As a photographer, I need different lenses to do different work. The 8” is awesome down to ~10′, but below that, it’s pretty […]
He hasn't marked it "Pending" yet, but
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=605811 is my new scope. I got the go-ahead for an IOU from SWMBO, selling the C-8 and the DSI and the broken 300D should cover most of it. I have been […]
Uncategorized
image processing mojo
http://www.starshadows.com/documentation/index.cfm?DocID=3 http://www.dl-digital.com/photoshop_basics.htm http://starizona.com/acb/ccd/software/soft_total_ngc253pm.aspx http://www.dl-digital.com/astrophoto/P2-Astro/Astro-Workflow.htm
Starfield memorization: M51
In an image of M51 taken near Feb 5, 2009 (todo: find this image), there is a really pretty blue star that’s very nearby the galaxy. I’d like to use that star […]
Re: success! M51 full calibration
Art Morton wrote: > The silly little galaxies are quite visible too. (: I hardly ever see shots of M51 with the little guys showing. Also, I *never* see shots with that […]
Uncategorized
Re: calibration stuff
Art Morton wrote: > I have not seen an answer yet. Go read again. Doug himself answered. If they’d write a better manual (or scrape the user group for stuff that should […]
Uncategorized
calibration stuff
Now that I have a lightbox, I am trying to get a “fully calibrated” image put together. But MaxIM is being persnickety about something and won’t apply the flats. I don’t know […]
Uncategorized
nyah — you and your fancy "software"
Awesome meridian flipping is usually the result of extra software (like CCDCommander) which does a plate solve to put the mount in the correct spot.
Uncategorized
blue flats
A, Remember when I tried to do some flats and it caused the image to go monochrome? straight out of the manual: “It should also be noted that flat-fielding one-shot color images […]
Uncategorized
flats and their color
A, My understanding is that Max doesn’t care if the flats are blue — it takes each pixel and averages it against the overall average value, which means that you end up […]
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.