MOST RECENT
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
NGC 6888, The Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, from Coyote Lake, CA
In retrospect, I probably should have shot RGB from the dark sky site and left Ha for the backyard. In addition, it was very windy, so I probably should have dumped Cassie […]
The Rig goes native
I am spending the weekend camping at Coyote Lake, near Gilroy, CA. This is the second time I’ve been camping here, but the rig has changed significantly since last time. In fact, […]
Astro knowledge / Gear / General / Maintenance
Preparing to go unplugged
As a test run before the Golden State Star Party this year, the family and I are going camping for the weekend at Coyote Lake. I haven’t been camping in quite some […]
350D arrives
I have been struggling with MaxIM DL for over 2 years now, trying to get things working right. Among the problems, MaxIM really likes to do everything in RAW out of DSLRs, […]
NGC 7023, The Iris Nebula in Cepheus
I had a clear night on my hands and was thrashing about looking for something to shoot. I decided to shoot this target more or less on a whim. I have to […]
Astro knowledge / Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
M57, The Ring Nebula in Lyra
The C9.25 finally brings some pixels to this tiny object. Shooting with a DSLR brings a different perspective on “useful astronomy targets” compared with most dedicated astrocams. In the beginning, there was […]
Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount
RA drift
The NJP is displaying some RA drift. It’s easy enough to guide out, but it’s definitely strange. I need to gather more data. But I think that what I’m seeing is that […]
Lost in the stars
While sitting on a flight from Tokyo to Singapore, I experienced something that I’ve not had since those early days sitting on the patio at The Camden; I looked out the plane […]
General / Maintenance / Observing Reports
Bahtinov Mask, Business trip, and clouds
I have a trip coming up tomorrow, so I was thinking about resting up before it. But then I got a crazy idea, and decided to follow through on it. I want […]
Ennui
New moon is either tonight or last night. I’m never entirely sure. But essentially, it’s, like, moonless out there. I think it’s been clear the last 2 or 3 nights. I haven’t […]
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.