Thursday, April 29, 2010

OT: Tree trunk.

A tree was chopped down near where I live today. Nice Mandelbrot type rings.

M13 from 27th April 2010

50 Minutes of M13 with an almost full Moon present :-0

Full size version here.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8

I have this DVD. Here is a snippet commented by Mark Gray. 500 frames per second!

Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 from Mark Gray on Vimeo.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Copernicus from 26th April 2010.

2.5 x TV Powermate, IR filter, SKYnyx 2-0M, C9.25. Seeing was average with very light clouds.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Saturn 25th April 2010

3 x TV barlow, IR and RGB filters.

Below; 5 x TV Powermate RGB.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Rima Hyginus & Ariadaeus Rille 22nd April 2010

The Apennine mountains - 22nd April 2010

10 image mosaic, 2.5 TV Powermate, red filter, SKYnyx 2-0M, C9.25.
Larger version here.

Another blue sky Moon - 22nd April 2010

Shot at 16:25 BST.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Moon in a blue sky 20th April 2010

C9.25 and f/6.3 FR. Processed in DPP.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

M101 re-worked.

Here's a couple of re-worked version with darks.
The subs were 5 minutes.

Cropped central region below. There's a lot going on in this galaxy!

M101 17th April 2010.

Thought I'd try something different tonight.
Here is 2 Hours 40 Minutes of M101.
It's really big! fills the whole image frame. But It's really dim, mag 7.5 compared to M51 which is mag 8.4, doesn't sound a lot but it is when you're imaging.
This is a very quick process minus darks... because I'm still creating them!
5 Minute subs, prime focus C9.25, PHD guiding, works a treat :-) even when the guide scope is crashing into the side of the shed!!! :-0

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Friday, April 16, 2010

M51 - 11th & 15th April 2010 data.

1 Hour 3 minutes of data. 3 Minutes subs, darks, bias and flats applied.
Current scope setup at the bottom.

Below is 3 Hours 27 Minutes; 8th, 11th and 15th April data combined.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

M51 - 11th April 2010

I went out the other night to collect some more data for M51. The only problem was that it clouded over after only six frames worth. Although I did use longer exposures than earlier and increased the time from 2 to 3 minutes.
I thought I'd process the six frames anyway... and here it is. 18 minutes worth, looks promising. (I also realised that one of the custom settings was turned on by mistake the other day).
As I had everything setup it wasn't a total waste because I did produce 30 dark frames, whilst it was cloudy.
Good seeing as well :-/

Friday, April 09, 2010

M51 - 8th April 2010

Last night was nice and clear, so here is 2hours 24min of M51 from last night.
C9.25 at prime focus, using the Tak for PHD guiding.
Two versions and a starless one at the bottom.


Thursday, April 08, 2010

Saturn 7th April 2010

Thought I'd use the DMK last night to capture as well as the SKYnyx.
3 x TV Barlow and filter wheel extension.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Venus 5th April 2010

First Venus of the season. 3x TV Barlow and K-Line UV filter.
Very low on the horizon, with trees in the way.

Apollo Saturn V F1 engine paper model.

I must be getting the modelling bug!
Thanks to The Lower Hudson Valley E-Gift Shop.
All I need to do is make another 4... and then we have this!

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Saturn 4th April 2010

3 x TV Barlow and RRGB filters. Best 1000 frames from 2000, SKYnynx at max gain about 10FPS.
Size increased by 20%

Friday, April 02, 2010

Hand-Held Hubble: Paper Model

To go with the Hubble pics, you too can build this exciting Hubble Telescope Model (I've got too much time on my hands! I didn't help the kids build this... they helped me!)
HST Model.