Category: General
General / Observing Reports / Solar System Photography
Comet 17P/Holmes animation
Hi all, After my last email, I decided to do a quick check, and yes, the comet is definitely moving relative to the background stars over the course of the 30-minute shoot. […]
Observing Reports / Solar System Photography
Comet 17P/Holmes
<http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/10775326.html> Hi all, Comet 17P/Holmes is a very obvious “new star” in Perseus, about 3 or 4 degrees southeast of Algol in Perseus. With 10×50 binoculars, it was definitely (!) non-stellar. In […]
Deep Sky / Gear / Long Exposure Photography / Optics
M42, The Great Orion Nebula
A ho-hum version of M42. The FOV on Pumpkin is really too side for this target (I had the whole Sword of Orion in the FOV. vertically.) but I was having fun […]
Observing Reports / Solar System Photography
Re: The answer is "yes"
I too was up that night, with Diane this time. Anyway, it was hard to stay awake while staring at the moon, but was tres cool. Can’t wait to see your shots. […]
Astro knowledge / Deep Sky / Gear / Long Exposure Photography
NGC 7293, The Helix Nebula in Aquarius
I’ve been having trouble with my setting circles lately. But once I got them dialed in, this object was pretty easy to find and photograph. For some reason, the image appears slightly […]
General / Observing Reports / Techniques
Fremont Clear Sky Clock
http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/FrmntCAkey.html?1
Re: Astronomy gods are fickle
> OK, sounds better than 2 inches of rain and cloudy day and night. Cliff OK, whoever told the astronomy gods that it was funny to be 90� and sunny > all […]
Astro knowledge / Deep Sky / Focuser / Gear / Long Exposure Photography
M20, The Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius
First attempt at the Trifid with Veronica. The G11 and the motor focuser are really helping. It’s so low that I had to wait for it to rise above the doorway of […]
Deep Sky / Gear / Long Exposure Photography / Maintenance
NGC 6960, The Witch’s Broom, part of the Veil Nebula in Cygnus
Another attempt at “The Witch’s Broom” portion of the Veil. Despite this being almost 3 hours of integration time, This still came out pretty dim and noisy. Maybe 3-minute subframes would be […]
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.