Category: General
Not getting a lot of stars in before The Blessed Event
I am ashamed to admit that I’ve more or less given up on astrophotography this month. The spring galaxies are getting away from me again, and I hate to think about a […]
NASA finds a "lost" supernova
Just read the press release — they had calculated, based on supernova frequency in other galaxies, that about 3 SN per century should pop off in any given galaxy (like the Milky […]
Deep Sky / Gear / Long Exposure Photography / Optics
MPCC and coma correction
The MPCC is up there with the ST-4 as one of my Best. Astronomy. Purchases. Ever. My 8” f/5 Newt was almost worthless for DSLR photography before I added the MPCC. Now, […]
Camera at the Newtonian focus
My D70 is 5.5”x4.4”. That’s a coverage of 24.2in^2. A 13.1” mirror has an area of 134.78in^2. That’s a 17% obstruction. Even if I mounted the thing on a 5.5” disc, basically […]
Astro knowledge / Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography / Optics
Astrophotography in the slow lane
With most beginner astrophotography, a desire for fast optics (and the resulting short exposure lengths) is paramount. Unfortunately, fast optics necessarily mean wider FOV. This is not a problem when you have […]
Trixie's on the way
I bought a 13.1” f/4.5 mirror and matched 3.1” secondary today for $400. It used to be a Coulter red-tube Dob, but I’m just getting the mirrors. They will turn into the […]
Maintenance / Observatory / Technology
Re: Mac-as-Astro-machine
I just picked up a Mac mini to use as an astronomy machine out in the observatory. Essentially, I need something that can run headless, and provide USB ports to the various […]
holy cow
This is like astro porn. There should be a “please put your wallet away before you look at this page” http://www.robincasady.com/Astro/images/tri-bar11.jpg J
General / Solar System Photography
Re: K3 Tools
Art Morton wrote: > > On Apr 29, 2008, at 2:06 PM, Jimbo S. Harris wrote: >> I have had zero trouble getting either version to work in K3 v.1 on >> […]
New Technology
Weekends are a mad rush to get things done in the yard before The Blessed Event. The generation gap with technology is interesting. I wonder if I’m going to get to a […]
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.