December 22 imaging

M45 Pleiades

M33 Trapezium Galaxy

Hi all

As we has clear skys forcast for tonight I dug out the Skypod.Then remebered that about -12c

is the lowest my C8 will work without damage I decided use the indoor /outdoor imaging setup..

Just as well as it was -20 c before I finished at 10 pm.

Imaged Vesta though not to interesting to look at..just a starlike spot.

Also Venus Very bright

M33 M45 were the best results for the night..Did the Orion Nebula but it came out really over exposed..

All taken with The Nexstar 80mm scope and Sac8-2 camera

Moon Venus Jupiter conjunction DEC 1st 2008

Hi all

There was a sucker hole in the clouds at 4.45pm local time Dec 1st 2008

The conjunction was visable for about 12 minuites.

Took some images with the Canon A60 .

Exposures were .5 to 2 seconds

Observing Nov 5th 2008

Not a bad night though fog came in eventually and by 9.pm conditions went pretty bad.

Eyeballed the Moon Jupiter Venus setup for a while..

Imaged M57 M31 M45 Jupiter also M27

The Moon made imaging hard as the fog moved in.

Not a bad night

May 25 ISS again

My last attempt at ISS...I think thats a solar panel...Still overexposed

Terry

International Space Station Pictures

Hi all

My first attempts at ISS imaging..Over exposed and shaky but a little detail showing..

Lots of room for improvment..

Here are some of the images.

May 11th Session

Hi all
Tried earlier in the week to image the asteroid IRIS passing M104..took some images but didnt confirm the asteroid..Imaged the Globulars comming up for the summer tonight.. M10 M12 M5...did some small galaxies also. M64 Black eye above.

M10 Globular Cluster

M98 Galaxy

M5 Globular Cluster

All were imaged with the Nexstar 5 inch at F3 with the Sac8 -11 ccd camera May 5 th to 11th

Smaller photos from last post

These are at 640 by 480

Hope they are better

March 19th Southern Skys

Hi all
This will be a log of my observing in the Falkland Islands.
My first reaction when it got dark on the 25th Feb was how clear and transparent the skys were.Not quite normal for this time of year (fall)..clouds and heavy winds are the norm.
From the 25th Feb for two weeks the weather was amazing..Clear skys every night.
The Milky Way like a starry stripe overhead.The Southern Cross in the south sky and an Inverted Orion in the North sky.Was a little disapointed with the Southern Cross..
It was easy to find by eye but not that bright.
Alpha Centauri that is close by is very bright(Proxima Centauri is also this location
but very dim Mag 10)
This is the closest star to Earth at about 4.2 light years.
Next night observing with Celestron 8x50mm binos was great..





Located some very big and bright globular clusters.
One in the constalation of Tucana #47 and one in Centauri

Omega Centauri globular is very big ...even with binos.

Also observed first by eye The Large Megelantic and Small Megelantic Clouds.
The Large is bigger than the field of view of the Binos..The Small fits in nice.
They are both easy to spot,,,even with a few street lights around.

Had a great pass from the Space Station...right overhead...brought all the family out to see it and ALL were impressed.

Towards the end of the clear sky two weeks managed to get hold of a Meade ETX 70 mm

with autostar..Had two good nights browsing the Milky Way..Stars are VERY DENSE overhead...No Moon at all for all these sessions..Couldnt be better.

The weather did change in the last week of my stay in the Falklands (Due to the Meade telescope being available I presume )..Back to cooler temps and wind plus clouds..

Did mange one more night on the night of March 13th ..Clear but cool.
Set up the ETX 70 and had a closer look at 47 Tucany and Omega Centauri Globs..

Also went to Inverted Orion to take a last look ay The Orion Nebula and others to the North.

This was the end of observing as the weather closed in for thre balance of my stay..

It was amazing to see all these Southern Objects

February Mars Images from 2007

Hi all
What I think is my best images of Mars from the 2007 opposition.

M46 Image 28th January

Heres the Image of M46 star cluster..somehow it didnt load with the other images.

Imaging Session 28th January

Hi all
As it was fairly clear I set up for an imaging session.Was going to attempt the Rosette Nebula but the tranparency was not good enough..I did image the Orion Nebula and made a not to bad composite image with exposures at 12 seconds ...2 seconds and One second and added the images,,,..
Also imaged M46 star cluster with a small planitary nebula at the upper center..
Also imaged again the Horsehead Nebula ...Flame Nebula and the star Alnitak.

Images taken with the Nexstar 80 mm with .5 focal reducer...Ha filter and Sac8-11
ccd camera.

Clear sky clock gave the transparency as medium which it was..
Started session at 7 pm and imaged till 9.30 pm

Wednesday 16th January

Hi all

Clear skys and a half Moon gave me the idea to use my 80 mm short tube Antaries Sentinal

for some high power imaging.. Used the scope plus 2 barlows stacked for a focal length of about 1800 mm.Imaged the Moon and Mars with some medium reults..Moon was ok but Mars not the best at an angular size of 14 seconds..Just a little detail...No where near as good as the 5 inch sct

The larger image of Mars was taken with the 5 Inch

Images are of Plato , The Alpine Valley and a crator North of Plato(or south not sure)

Images

12 Jan 2008

At last clear sky for imaging...Imaged The horses head...M1 Crab Nebula Orion Nebula and M45 Pliedies..Tried to get the nebula around some of the stars.

M42 imaged with a 125 mm lense and the Sac8-11 camera.

Rest imaged with the 80 mm Antaries Sentinal

Sac8-11 mounted on the Nextar I mount