With just a little time left in the night, I decided to try the globular cluster M56. Not bad for only barely two hours of data! Continue Reading... "M56, a hell of a star field"
The Whale and Crowbar galaxies
Finally, a clear night after over two weeks of clouds! Continuing with galaxy season, I was able to fit two neighbors into one frame, the Whale and the Crowbar galaxies. Guiding was kind of having a fit since there weren’t any good, bright stars in view, but it all averaged… Continue Reading... "The Whale and Crowbar galaxies"
The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
With a name like that, I couldn’t pass up capturing M13. It was a little low in the sky at first, but since it’s so bright, the background wasn’t a problem. I took almost 5 hours of 130 second exposures on it. Continue Reading... "The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules"
M94, Croc’s Eye Galaxy
Over two nights, I was able to get over eight and a half hours of data on the Croc’s Eye Galaxy. The data turned out great, even with a bright moon out. I tried using my studio softbox to take flats, and it worked a little better this time, but… Continue Reading... "M94, Croc’s Eye Galaxy"
M63, the Sunflower
I decided to try the Sunflower galaxy again, since it was one of the first deep sky objects I imaged with my Dobsonian and homemade tracking platform. Clouds held out a lot longer than were forecast, and the equipment kept giving me frustrations. The moon was also out most of… Continue Reading... "M63, the Sunflower"
April Fool’s Moon
Well, the joke was on me. What was forecast to be clear skies didn’t really clear until midnight. It was also one of those nights were nothing was going to work smoothly. So while waiting for clear skies, I took 40 frames of the 60% moon. Continue Reading... "April Fool’s Moon"
Field of Diamonds in the Sky
My new ZWO guide camera came with a fish eye lens. Of course, I had to try it. Tonight was clear at first, but then it got clouded out about 1:30 AM. Wasn’t worth setting up the complete telescope, but enough to try the new camera on a tripod with… Continue Reading... "Field of Diamonds in the Sky"
EQ8-R Pro Gear Backlash Adjustment
My mount was having some problems with calibration and guiding occasionally. I finally decided to just test the backlash on the declination axis by slightly pushing on the telescope while it was mounted. I immediately noted a ton of play in the declination worm gear. This mount is pretty well… Continue Reading... "EQ8-R Pro Gear Backlash Adjustment"
M106
I got a ZWO ASI 178MM to use as a new guide camera. My old Touptek camera loved to disconnect in the middle of the night, so I just couldn’t trust it anymore. The ZWO camera has much higher resolution and also a larger field of view, in addition to… Continue Reading... "M106"
A double whammy, the Surfboard galaxy and the Owl nebula
Nothing went right for me this time. My dew heater pad on the primary cell apparently doesn’t work very well. After just a few hours, the secondary was coated in frost, and the primary was getting there. Also, my guide scope decided to stop working during the meridian flip, so… Continue Reading... "A double whammy, the Surfboard galaxy and the Owl nebula"
