ARCHIVE January2016
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
NGC 2174, The Monkey Head Nebula
Some objects get all the press. When you are watching The Discovery Channel, and they put up a pretty nebula photo, it’s going to be Orion or sometimes The Eagle. There are […]
Deep Sky / Gear / Long Exposure Photography / Mount
Yet Another Test Shot of M42
This was from the final day of shooting before I figured out the configuration for the mount setup (first, connect as LX-200 and set the serial port with arrow keys, not the […]
Gear / Mount / Observatory / Technology
Lessons learned
Well, I had 2 clear nights over the weekend, and came up empty for a new photo — I got lots of data last night, but the object is big and dim, […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Epic run
Even when I was at top form, I rarely hit more than 2 objects per night. There is a certain amount of overhead associated with changing targets; picking up a new guide […]
General / Maintenance / Observatory / Technology
Bursts of insight
The rig is flying tonight. First target went behind the house, chasing the second across at a speedy clip — I have been learning how often, and how much, to adjust the […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Back in the saddle
Winter has brought a few clear nights, and I got a chance to get back under the stars. Orion is riding high and bright in the south all night, and here is […]
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.