The Sun in Baader K-Line Filter 24th May 2010

... and that sunspot. Using a 5x TV Powermate and Baader H-alpha Pass Filter (656nm) that should really be used for deepsky imaging.

2.5x TV Powermate.

And the nice plage region from the top left.

The Sun 24th May 2010 - White light

Baader Astrosolar filter, Takahashi Sky-90 @ prime focus, Canon EOS 50D.

Mare Crisium 22nd May 2010

High sun angle Mare Crisium.

And a "flying over the Moon" version below:-

Albategnius 22nd May 2010

Albategnius; four image mosaic, 3x TV Barlow, C9.25, IR filter.

Venus & Saturn 22nd May 2010

A few B&W's from this afternoon/night.
The IR is a bit blown out, but it shows the cloud detail better, I'll work on it.

Posidonius 22nd May 2010

The 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope.

My favourite telescope, from Palomar skies.

OT: Joke time... Conan O’Brien Visits Google

I don't normally put stuff like this on my blog, but this is really funny.

Here's the web address for the big picture.

M92 with 1 hour of data.

I also had a quick look at M92 before turning in a 3:00am.
M92 is a lovely globular cluster in the same area as M13, Hercules constellation.

Links credit Wikipedia.

M13 - 2 hours 15 mins

Nice and clear last night, so I managed to get some more data for M13. 3 Minute subs at 800ISO.

Softer version below.

Joke.

Credit; The Register

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.

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.

Copernicus from 26th April 2010.

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

Saturn 25th April 2010

3 x TV barlow, IR and RGB filters.

Below; 5 x TV Powermate RGB.

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.

Isn't it great to have the planes back? :-(

The Moon in a blue sky 20th April 2010

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

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

Earthshine 17th April 2010.

The Moon, Venus and the Pleiades... & Mercury.

and the Moon, Venus & Mercury below.

and a quick M13 with 42 Minutes of data.

M51 - 15th & 16th April 2010 data.

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.

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 :-/

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.

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.

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!

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%

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.