Category: General
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Saturn and Porrima
While in California for the weekend, I had a chance to glance skyward and see the stars in their oh-so-familiar positions. I quickly identified Leo and The Dipper, then Arcturus. I was […]
Losing track of a satellite
It’s been really cloudy in Washington. That’s normal for spring. Well, really, it’s normal for whatever time of year. It’s a cloudy place. The clouds, coupled with my total lack of astronomy […]
General / Observatory / Observing Reports
A ray of hope
An aside on “hope” for a second… bear with me. I read Greek Myths a lot as a kid, and so of course I read the story of Pandora dozens of times. […]
Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount / Observatory
NJP maintenance – getting my shed together
The NJP’s state when it got back from “repair” was pretty sad. I mean, even a poorly working NJP is better than I’d ever really gotten with the G-11, but it needed […]
Getting the observatory back together
It was sort of clear last night, so I decided to go out and continue getting the mount back together. It took me awhile to get the cable harness re-installed. It’s always […]
Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount / Observatory / Observing Reports
NJP 04026 – Triumphant return
Finally. Ad Astra Observatory at Newark, CA is back in business. The UPS guy dropped the very heavy box containing the mount around 3pm. I’m not entirely happy with the state of […]
Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount
NJP repair – report card
The mount came home under a cloud of controversy. The folks at Texas Nautical were not exactly pleased with me, but they made good on the charges for the repair, so I […]
Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount
NJP repair – mount is on the way home
NJP 04026 is on the way back to Ad Astra Observatory! The repair bill was paid, and it was shipped out UPS Ground from Takahashi America today. I expect I’ll receive it […]
ATM / Gear / General / Observing Reports / Telescope
Trixie the Dob – suddenly, everything is like clockwork
Epiphany is a wonderful thing. You thrash around for a long time, trying to figure out the solution to a wooly problem, and then all of a sudden, it comes to you. […]
ATM / Gear / General / Observing Reports / Telescope
Trixie the Dob – first light!
Well, nobody can say I didn’t pay my dues on this one. Between weeks of rain and countless trips to the hardware store, I think I earned myself a little starlight. After […]
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 […]
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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.