MOST RECENT
ATM / Electronics / General / Maintenance
Dome control v2.0 design
The motor control circuit that I constructed for the dome has been working flawlessly for a year and a half, but it’s always been a bit of a proof-of-concept, rather than a […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
M45, The Pleiades in Taurus
Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve been out in the observatory. I pulled the camera in favor of an eyepiece at one point, and just never really got back to putting the […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
NGC 7000, The North America Nebula
Last night, I mistakenly ran without a light-pollution filter, and that really threw off the white balance. With a quick run back through focusing &c, the trusty (and only somewhat dusty) IDAS-LPS […]
Deep Sky / Gear / General / Long Exposure Photography / Maintenance / Telescope
Trixie out, Pumpkin in
I had decided that I would leave Trixie on the mount, and focus on visual astronomy for awhile. I think that the Jr. Astronomer would appreciate learning to use the big scope, […]
Trixie 2011 – mods
As part of the work party, I put Trixie back on the mount. I got everything set up, and tried some guided exposures, and there’s definitely still flexure in the rig, even […]
Tuning up the mount
Now that the moon’s big again, it’s time for a little maintenance. I had two main things on the to-do list. First, the new drive system has been making a constant high-pitched […]
Achievement Unlocked!
The Junior Astronomer has now earned the title Junior Astrophotographer. First, let me say that this photo took a long time to process, because somehow my lunar processing mojo went out the […]
Camera / Gear / General / Maintenance / Techniques
Starting to get used to the gear
There are a lot of variables in astronomy in general, and in astrophotography in particular. This must be aligned to that must be set like this… so that the rig will just […]
Long Exposure Photography / Techniques
Star Trails over Ad Astra Observatory
It’s been awhile since I did any star trails photography. It’s pretty simple — camera, tripod, point it at your target, and let it rip. I figured this would make a handsome […]
Observatory / Observing Reports / Technology
Dome automation 1.0 – Second light
Since I overexposed my shot of M13 last time (I hope that I can pull in some dim, edge detail…), I had to wait for a few days to appease the astronomy […]
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.