ATM / Gear / Telescope

Trixie takes a test drive

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It was a gorgeous sunny day today in Seattle (very strange for mid February), and the clear skies held up until nearly 11pm. Kismet or dumb luck, I knew that this was […]

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Camera / Gear / General / Maintenance

USB 2.0 FTW!

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Since I’m sure that someday my random musings will help someone out in Google-land fix their problem, I’m posting a reminder to myself and others about the snag I ran into while […]

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Solar System Photography

Saturn, Feb. 26, 2010

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I haven’t done any solar system photography in several years. In particular, Saturn has been a no-go for several years straight. This is a combination of my focus being on DSO photography, […]

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Solar System Photography

Bay of Rainbows, Feb. 26, 2010

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The Sinus Iridium, or Bay of Rainbows, is a pretty feature that I found by checking it out in the finder. I had fun trying to ID all the lunar features that […]

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Solar System Photography

Plato, Feb. 26, 2010

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Plato is another favorite crater. It’s such a contrast to the surrounding area, and very round and flat. Apparently, being able to pick up multiple craterlets inside Plato is a test of […]

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Solar System Photography

Grimaldi, Feb. 26, 2010

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After shooting the few large craters that I can identify, I started looking for other interesting craters, assuming I could look them up and ID them online. This is Grimaldi, which was […]

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Solar System Photography

Copernicus, Feb. 26, 2010

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Copernicus and Kepler are my two favorite craters on the moon. They actually work a little better when you can see some context, but there you go. Here is Copernicus, a very […]

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Solar System Photography

Aristarchus, Feb 26, 2010

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I tried out some high-resolution lunar photography. With the C9.25 and the NexImage (including the ever-present 2x Barlow), I have a FOV of about 2′, so it’s strictly for “craters”, rather than […]

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Solar System Photography

Mars, Feb. 26, 2010

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I finally have a photo of Mars. I started doing astronomy right after The Big Mars Opposition of 2003. By the time I had my astrophoto mojo working, Mars was a dim […]

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Techniques

Polar Alignment Calculations

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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 […]

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Gear / Observatory / Telescope

Special Guest Star takes the mount at Hilltop O

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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 […]

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General / Maintenance / Observatory

Dome shutter is motorized again!

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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 […]

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ATM

Trixie 2017 – tube mods

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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 […]

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