I also took some data on Saturn with my new equipment, as I did with Jupiter. Saturn was a little closer to transit that night, and the seeing was maybe the slightest bit better. Continue Reading... "First Saturn of 2021"
First Jupiter of 2021
The gas giants are around opposition now. I finally ordered some equipment to do planetary imaging, including a Televue 3x barlow, ZWO ADC, and ZWO ASI183MC. Last night was the first clear night I got to try the new equipment. The ADC was a little tricky to guess at, so… Continue Reading... "First Jupiter of 2021"
North America nebula
While imaging the Iris Nebula this week, I also had my new widefield rig imaging Caldwell 20, the North America nebula. It mostly worked out well, and I got two nights of images totaling about 13 hours of exposure. There seems to be a bit of a bug in the… Continue Reading... "North America nebula"
Iris Nebula
It’s been a very cloudy summer so far. I haven’t been able to image since June! I was also having a lot of problems with the stock focuser on my SkyWatcher imaging Newtonian, and I wanted to wait until my new Starlight 2″ focuser arrived before I started another big… Continue Reading... "Iris Nebula"
Full Sun
I received my new Starlight focuser in the mail and was desperate to try it. Nights are still forecast cloudy, so I had a quick go at Sol using my Baader UHC filter to try to increase contrast just a bit. I stacked 500 images in Siril, though something seemed… Continue Reading... "Full Sun"
Hercules Galaxy Cluster
Abell 2151 is a cluster of over 200 galaxies. I’ve spent the last three weeks collecting over 32 hours of data on this cluster. There were some problems with neighborhood light pollution, so I had a nasty background to contend with. Luckily, I was able to mostly fix it up.… Continue Reading... "Hercules Galaxy Cluster"
Eagle Nebula
I just got in a new widefield setup that I was able to try last night. I’ll write more about it in another post, but this is the first light for it. It has over three times the field of view of my Newtonian, so it is much better for… Continue Reading... "Eagle Nebula"
The Hercules Glob
It was supposed to be cloudy and rainy all week, but the sky detector test determined that was a lie. Last night was quite beautiful. The moon is starting to rear its bright head, so I needed something quick and easy. M13 is starting to rise behind my big tree,… Continue Reading... "The Hercules Glob"
M51
You know it couldn’t be spring without revisiting my favorite galaxy, Messier 51. As I’ve learned, I was patient with this project, taking three weeks to collect 25 hours throughout the cloudy nights and storms. The patience paid off by revealing the dim halo around these colliding galaxies. I’d think… Continue Reading... "M51"
