ARCHIVE January2010
RAW frame
Here is a RAW frame from last night. Since it’s an Ha image, there is not much useful data in the blue and green channels, but there you go. The original .FIT […]
Deep Sky / General / Long Exposure Photography / Observing Reports
Welcome back, Veronica — and welcome back, awful guiding problems
Well, it was clear tonight. That’s about the best thing that happened tonight. The scope booted up and is working eh, ok. The polar alignment is off, and I never did check […]
Readying myself for sunset
I had a bunch of stuff on my TODO list after last night. So I took care of some of it while the sun was up today. I recharged the deep-cycle battery. […]
ATM / Electronics / Focuser / Gear / General / Maintenance / Observing Reports / Optics / Techniques / Technology
Murphy was an optimist.
Clear Sky Clock said it would be cloudy all night, so of course it stayed 90% clear until about midnight, when it socked in. But I’m getting ahead of myself… I decided […]
General / Maintenance / Observing Reports
Cloudy.
There were high, thin clouds all night. Only the brightest stars were shining through. So I decided to spend the evening preparing for better nights. I mounted the DAs on Veronica, so […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography / Maintenance / Optics
RCC first light
The camera is out there capturing an unguided shot of M42 for the RCC’s first light image. …and here it is. As usual, it’s another M42. This is 30 frames, 2 minutes […]
The way forward – mount tuning
Given my strange “bell-curve” style tracking errors that I was getting last spring/summer, I am unconvinced that my mount is the source of the problem. I need to find and kill the […]
Focuser / Maintenance / Optics
At long last, progress
Well, it only took 5 months, but I finally got Veronica to focus using the new RCC and the off-axis guider! It’s for real this time. The problem has been stated and […]
General / Maintenance / Observing Reports
I have to get back to the observatory
I realize as I write that my last several “astro” blog entries have been, well, non-telescope astronomy related. The observatory is in a sad state. I have several half-working (meaning “not working”) […]
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.