Room for one more up top.

Small CGE mount problem.

I had a small problem on the CGE mount that I fixed with the help of the guys on Yahoo CGE forum.
When the mount was loaded and balanced, there was a very small rocking motion in declination. This was caused by backlash between the worm and worm wheel, because
worm was too far from the wheel.
I had to loosen the two bolts at the back of the DEC housing and nudge the worm closer to the wheel.
Works a treat now. Thanks Tom Krajci.

Seeing!

Here is an example of the seeing that we've been having recently!
Dunno about you, but I can't do too much with that.
SKYnyx and 2.5x TV Powermate.

Jupiter 17th & 19th August 2009

"Waving like a flag seeing".

SKYnyx first light.

This is the first time that I've used the SKYnyx for planetary imaging.
The seeing wasn't up to much, the camera software is easy to use but just different, so its going to take awhile to get my head around it!.
This image was taken with a 2.5x TV Powermate, the best 600 frames from 1800 ish. 55 seconds per channel including an IR ;-)

The Sun - 11th Aug 2009

Taken with Takahashi Sky-90, SKYnyx 2-0M, 2.5x TV Powermate and 5x Powermate.
Using Baader film, K-line filter and Ha filter.

New SKYnyx camera.

My new camera arrived today from the US. A SKYnyx 2-0M, which is a mono 640x480 type. It has a smaller pixel size than my DMK which cuts down the noise slightly. We shall see ;-)
It's a solid chunk of metal though, and seems very well built. All I need now is my license key to come through from Lucam Recorder.
I have the casual version, but it only allows you to save .jpg files rather than video. Still it's not a bad price, although the Pound against the Euro a present is almost on parity :-(
I bought from OPT.

That's a 'T' piece nosepiece.

Here's a couple of captures to compare the image size:-

DMK21AF04AS

SKYnyx

Meanwhile back on Mars.

Opportunity has spotted a possible meteorite on the surface. The rock is called "Block Island," and was discovered on July 18, 2009.
Here is a mosaic that I produced from the RAW image website.

And below is an RGB composition that I constructed from the RGB data at the Exploratorium RAW data website, (RGB process for correct colour balance).

Credit: Exploratorium
Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.


You may have noticed that I've changed the close-up colour picture a few times. I'm still trying to find a definitive guide for processing colour Mars images.
This is the closest that I can get, using the histogram readings from the image calibration target.

Jupiter impact.

This is amazing, the Jupiter impact as viewed from the Mt. Wilson Observatory 60" telescope... through the eyepiece!

I wanna hook up my DMK!

Every cloud...

Found it!