Category: General
Long Exposure Photography / Observing Reports
Re: These are some more from over the weekend.
Art Morton wrote: > M76 You and your damned postage-stamp objects. Try the *big* Dumbbell Nebula instead of the Little one. It’s nearly overhead right now. > M33 Wow. That is a […]
Trixie testing
I got some photons on the mirror over the weekend. Still test shots. I think the new shrouds are working OK. It now complains that the pointing is off again (I shouldn’t […]
Astro mystery
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Re: Trixie Integration Testing, phase 1
Took the scope out for another spin last night. I even fired up the Gemini and watched it swing that big scope around. Very cool. The results of my testing: there’s definitely […]
Astro knowledge / ATM / Optics
big, fast, light
16” f/5 honeycomb mirror for $1500 According to the website, these optics are ~20% lighter than solid mirrors of comparable thickness. So this one might weigh only 20# instead of 26#. That […]
Gear / Maintenance / Optics
Pumpkin's field flattener — needs work
I bought a WO FF/FR for Pumpking, but I still need to figure out how to tune it. It’s still not quite right. Can’t use it as a widefield lens if the […]
ATM / Maintenance / Observing Reports
Leaving myself in a "broken" state is not good
It’s supposed to be 90° tomorrow. Given past years, I’m expecting about 2 or 2.5 more months of clear before the rainy season. I’m just in “no working telescopes” mode at the […]
Re: causality, light cones, and speed limits
OK, two votes for “We are all officially living in The Matrix”. When Arnold was elected governator, that was Jon Stewart’s comment. J Anthony James wrote: > You may need to lay […]
causality, light cones, and speed limits
I have a problem with causality being hampered by the speed of light. Just because I didn’t see something happen before its effect takes place doesn’t mean that it’s not possible. Why […]
Harvest moon from WA
The moon in WA was pretty dang low – probably 20 or so deg. The Moon is in Sagittarius, at its lowest point on the Ecliptic. 20deg is a good guess — […]
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.