Category: Observing Reports
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”) […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Holiday stars
It rained in Clearwater for the first couple of days we were there, and was cloudy for another day before it got real clear and cold. The moon went from nice 4d […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Milky Way naked-eye from SotoGrande, Spain
Went out to dinner with coworkers last night. Went to a restaurant that is in a village on the outskirts of Algeciras. Not many people live around here anyway, and even fewer […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Pearls before swine
The waning moon has been looking pretty nice from Algeciras, Spain the past few days. Nice and high and bright in the early morning when heading off to work. I pointed out […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Not quite in the Southern Hemisphere
I’m in Chennai, India for 2 weeks. As the plane pulled up to the airport terminal, I saw a sign showing the lat/lon of the city; it’s at 12°N latitude, pretty close […]
Astro knowledge / General / Maintenance / Observing Reports
Taking what I could get
I drove back to Newark today to get the pier for the G-11. That ate a lot of time — I was on the road by 10a, got back at 4p or […]
General / Maintenance / Observatory / Observing Reports
A Comedy of Errors
I was invited to spend the weekend in dark sky near Clear Lake, CA. My ex-boss owns some land up there and wanted to see the sky. A rare chance to see […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Happy "Leap" Day
July 20, 1969 One small step for man, One Giant Leap for Mankind I understand all the reasons we went. I understand all the reasons we stopped going. I understand all the […]
Deep Sky / General / Long Exposure Photography / Observing Reports
Pushing the limit — Pumpkin in a windstorm
The seeing was pretty bad last night, as in “wind blowing so hard that I thought the leaves rattling were raindrops and ran outside to check”. This wreaked havoc on Veronica’s guiding. […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography / Observing Reports
The Astrophotography Moon is back — Veronica gets a chance at Ha
Now that the Gemini mount is back in service, I decided to try out higher-magnification photography with the new Ha filter. I had a little maintenance to do first; focusing both cameras […]
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.