Back in Operation with Pics to Prove It!

 AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Apogee U16, Astronomical, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Observatory  2 Responses »
Jan 282018
 

I recently replaced the dome control electronics after the Foster Systems controller bit the dust and I replaced with a MaxDome II controller for rotation and shutter operation.  It’s working flawlessly so far and I couldn’t be happier.  I threw the 5″ refractor back in the observatory with the 16803 chipped camera for a widefield rig at 2.2 arcsec/pixel resolution.  Drizzle processing yields better star shapes/sampling than the low resolution would suggest.  Both images are cropped from the same image with 20.5 hours of total exposure time in the traditional Hubble Pallet.

 

Look Rock Star Party 7/29/2017

 AP130GTX, AP900GTO, Apogee U16, Astronomical, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Open Cluster, Star Parties  1 Response »
Jul 302017
 

I was the first one to arrive for the star party on Saturday night at Look Rock South.  It’s a beautiful view to the south looking into the Smokies.

 

We definitely had some clouds for the beginning of the night with some sucker holes now and then.  I was never able to get off a 20 minute shot without the clouds rushing in within 10 minutes…

But things finally started to clear up and the Milky Way really started to pop out.

Emission Nebula NGC 6820 or Sharpless SH 2-86. AP130GTX with Field Flattener Custom 4″ OAG Apogee U16 CCD w/Baader Ha 7nm filter AP900GTO Mount 9x20min Exposures Image Scale 2.16 arcsec/pixel; reduced to 4.32 arcsec/pixel

Once it was cleared up I was off to take some test shots and validate the portable rig was ready for more serious projects.  NGC 6820 AKA Sharpless SH 2-86 and all the surrounding emission and dark nebula has always been a favorite of mine.  It’s located in Vulpecula not that far from M27, the Dumbbell Nebula.  It reminds me of a less popular M16 with it’s gas and dust pillars and dark globules.  Open cluster NGC 6823 resides in the midst of the nebula and is about 6,000 light years away.

 

7/6/2017 – Lightning Strikes

 Observatory  No Responses »
Jul 152017
 

I’ve got multiple items across our home, garage, and the observatory which suffered from a local discharge on 7/6.  The observatory was the worst hit with the computer, mount, 2 ethernet switches, powerline ethernet adapters, weather monitor, and possibly other items damaged.

Work continues to repair, replace, and rebuild.  Unfortunately, I think I’ll be down for a little while as I continue to evaluate the extent of the damage.  Hope to be back up in time for some summer nebula imaging but not holding my breath.

 

Star Cloud NGC 206 in the Arms of the Andromeda Galaxy

 Apogee A694, Astronomical, Cluster, Galaxy, Open Cluster, Orion Atlas EQ-G, SVQ100  1 Response »
Apr 022017
 

 

NGC 206 is the brightest star cloud in the arms of the Andromeda Galaxy visible to us here on Earth.  You often see M31 imaged wide field but there is a wealth of detail to be found in the star clouds and dust lanes that start to pop out with a little more focal length.  Taken late last year from my back yard.

NGC 206 in Andromeda
SVQ100, Atlas EQ-G, Apogee A694 CCD

M81 & M82 – Bodes Nebula and the Cigar

 AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Apogee A694, Astronomical, Galaxy  No Responses »
Mar 262017
 

We’re in Galaxy Season and without the 10″ RC I’ve instead focused on the 5″ refractor with a small pixel size camera to squeeze out some detail.  Imaged from the backyard observatory in ~20.5 mag/arcsec^2 skies.

M81 – Bodes Nebula ~8 hours of exposure time. LRGB with AP130GTX, AP1200GTO, Apogee Ascent A694, Baader LRGB Filters, SX-OAG, Lodestar Guider.

 

M82 – The Cigar Approximately 7.5 Hours of exposure time. AP130GTX, AP1200GTO, Apogee Ascent A694, Baader LRGB, SX-OAG, Lodestar Audoguider

BFSP 2016 – Cherry Springs State Park Sept 1 – Sept 5

 Apogee A694, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Orion Atlas EQ-G, Reflection Nebula, Star Parties, StarSync Tracker, SVQ100, Widefield  No Responses »
Nov 292016
 

Just getting around to publishing some pictures from the 2016 Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania.  What a great stretch of weather for PA!  The nights weren’t the darkest or most transparent (SQM 21.4-21.5) nights I’ve had at CSSP but clear and a little murky was way better than the alternative after driving up from Knoxville TN.  Had a great time with some old friends and good to see some old club members too.

 

 

Had a few imaging problems related to dithering and settle time / settle criteria that made me lose a fair number of shots but I got two images which, I have to be honest, I’m not real pleased with.  They are however, more challenging objects, but would have come out better had the sky conditions been closer to the SQM 21.8 that I’ve seen before at CSSP.  But, we take whatever quality of clear sky we can get during a pre-planned star party!

ngc-7129

Reflection Nebula NGC 7129 Stellarvue SVQ100, Apogee A694 CCD, Atlas EQ-G Mount, Baader LRGB Filters Lum 9x10min: 1.5 hours RGB each 8x10min: 4 hours Total Time 5.5 hours

 

sh2-115v7

SH2-115 Atlas Eq-G Mount, Stellarvue SVQ100, Apogee Ascent A694 CCD, Baader narrowband filters Ha: 8x20min, O[III]: 10x20min, S[II]: 13x20min Total Exposure: 10.3 hours

Observatory Pier Installation

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Nov 062016
 

20161106_131341_resized

Moved the 68″ tall pier to the observatory deck this afternoon.  Progress!

20161106_134937_resized

I didn’t get the pier into place until after dark so no pictures.  It was a chore moving the thing since it’s quite heavy and I didn’t have any help but with the tractor I was able to drag it around and lower it onto the bolts after an hour….

 Older Entries  Newer Entries