MOST RECENT
Sirius and Rigel, high in the south
… were the only two stars I could see tonight. It’s been a blustery day punctuated with strong showers, and the wind has opened just a tiny seam in the cloud cover, […]
Aww, you missed me.
I was downtown, having a fancy date with my wife, when we got a text from W_, who was watching the house for the evening. It had been quite windy all day, […]
Spring cleaning
I spent some time in the observatory, tidying up after a pretty nice set of imaging runs this winter. I had mounted up Cassie a while ago, but wanted to see if […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Nice short session
After several days of clouds, and with a freak hailstorm this afternoon, the storm blew itself out for a bit, and we got clear skies for an hour or so right after […]
Astro knowledge / Blog / General
A night of thrashing
One reason that I like to leave my equipment all set up and ready to go is because it seems like it takes a couple of nights for the gear to all […]
The Gemini Triplets.
We have another new constellation here at Hilltop Observatory. It was not our first, but it was The Junior Astronomer’s first that she named by herself. She is a Gemini. The Sun is […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observatory / Observing Reports
Star party at Hilltop O
We hosted guests this evening at The ad Astra Observatory at Hilltop, Woodinville, Wa. B_, R_ & M_ stopped by for a really pretty and clear, but brr cold night at mid-winter. […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
M106, Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major
I got Cassie back on the mount, and now my target selection has totally changed. All the tolerances need to be a little tighter with the longer focal length, so I decided […]
Pretty conjunction tonight
Venus and Mars have been putting on a show for the past month or so, and once a month, the Moon drops by for a visit. I missed it last month, don’t […]
General / Maintenance / Observing Reports / Techniques
Sometimes, not everything goes right.
One for the blooper reel. This is just a single subframe. On a good night, I take 6-10 of these. On a poor night, I get more like 3. Sometimes, I get […]
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.