Category: Deep Sky
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
NGC 2174, The Monkey Head Nebula
Some objects get all the press. When you are watching The Discovery Channel, and they put up a pretty nebula photo, it’s going to be Orion or sometimes The Eagle. There are […]
Deep Sky / Gear / Long Exposure Photography / Mount
Yet Another Test Shot of M42
This was from the final day of shooting before I figured out the configuration for the mount setup (first, connect as LX-200 and set the serial port with arrow keys, not the […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Epic run
Even when I was at top form, I rarely hit more than 2 objects per night. There is a certain amount of overhead associated with changing targets; picking up a new guide […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Back in the saddle
Winter has brought a few clear nights, and I got a chance to get back under the stars. Orion is riding high and bright in the south all night, and here is […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Mojo Risin’…but I didn’t Do anything!?
I would like to announce that, somehow, out of the blue (so to speak), my astrophotography mojo has returned. Let me ‘splain. When shooting dim astronomical objects, the more photons you collect, […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Another beautiful night.
I stayed up way too late on First Light night, but the sky was clear again the next night, so out I went. I did a little testing to start the evening, […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Final First Light photo
I finally got through processing all the images from the first few nights of shooting. The workflow is very slow, and I am using unfamiliar tools, but it’s starting to come back. […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography / Observatory / Solar System Photography
Hilltop Observatory – First Light
We did it! It’s been a long hard journey, with lessons learned, and ducks carefully put into rows. Four years of design and development all came together tonight. The sky was even clearer tonight […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Trixie the Astrograph – at last!
Well, the result looks a lot like a first light image — just a couple of short subframes of a well-worn deep-sky object. But these feeble pixels took a bit of work […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Last minute scramble
I’m in the process of changing houses. Among all the other concerns, this means that Ad Astra Observatory at Newark, CA is nearing the end of its run. I’ve had a lot […]
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.