MOST RECENT
Trixie first light
Trixie had First Light tonight. I finally got the tubes cut today (thanks, John!), and I decided to press forward and get the mounting plate attached, too. That was the last required […]
ATM / Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Trixie first light
First light! I decided to press ahead and put on the mounting plate tonight (same day as the tubes got cut). Just in time for night to fall, I finished up and […]
Trixie Construction photos
And with the aluminum tubes finally cut, here it is! Trixie weighs in at 26 pounds as she sits. If you look closely, you’ll notice that there are no mounting plates and […]
Trixie, a 13.1" f/4.5 Astrograph
May 2008 to July 2008 First light: August 1, 2008 I had been avoiding “large” telescopes, because weight is critical to an astrophotographer, and I was worried about overtaxing my mount. Also, […]
Trixie "first light" photos
I decided to use some non-point-source light for my first light. Helps when I had to chop the “tubes” twice to get the camera to focus. Running a saw in the dark […]
Telescope "first light" photos
I put in some temporary “tubes” so I could check the focal length of the telescope. The varnished pieces look really cool. I was not really prepared for how big the scope […]
Trixie Construction photos
To check the focal length, I set the scope up on a pair of sawhorses, and pointed it at a radio tower several miles away atop one of the local hills. These […]
Trixie Construction photos
The tubes are going to be aluminum, but because of my design, they have to be cut to exactly the correct length. So I decided to use some spare 2×2s I had […]
Harvest moon from WA
The moon in WA was pretty dang low – probably 20 or so deg. The Moon is in Sagittarius, at its lowest point on the Ecliptic. 20deg is a good guess — […]
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.