TAG Photo
Saturn, Feb. 26, 2010
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, […]
Bay of Rainbows, Feb. 26, 2010
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 […]
Plato, Feb. 26, 2010
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 […]
Grimaldi, Feb. 26, 2010
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 […]
Copernicus, Feb. 26, 2010
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 […]
Aristarchus, Feb 26, 2010
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 […]
Mars, Feb. 26, 2010
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 […]
Camera / Gear / Solar System Photography
Orion Starshoot Autoguider first light
it’s real cloudy tonight. But, the moon is bright enough that I can still see it, so I decided to come out and get the autoguider focused so I can try to […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
IC1848, The Soul Nebula in Casseiopeia
This is the first time that I’ve been able to catch this object. The autumn nebulae are elusive for some reason. But I figured I’d try it before it dips below the […]
Deep Sky / Gear / General / Long Exposure Photography / Observing Reports
NGC2244, The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros
With the newly-tuned mount, I decided to try Pumpkin on some more unguided imaging. After the “baseline” from the previous night, I now wanted to see what this MFWB could really do. […]
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.