I’m back observing after more than a month. I’ve been so busy I just haven’t been able to get out. Tonight is beautiful, though.
Happy New Year!
December 31, 2011
October 5, 2011
C13, ET Cluster on 10/5/11
I’m working my way through the Caldwell Objects in widefield and this is my latest. I was going to do some more, but my filter fogged over.
The Moon on 10/5/11
Tonight is not quite as chilly as the other night, but it’s just as clear. Unfortunately for deep sky stuff, the Moon is getting brighter. Of course, that means it makes a nice target for the camera. There’s a lot of detail if you click to the image and view it at full size. Of course, the amazing thing to me is that no matter how good the images I take of the Moon, they don’t do justice to the detail you can see with your eyes. Just the opposite of deep sky objects, which are so much clearer, brighter and colorful in long exposure images.
October 4, 2011
Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd
I was able to tease out the image of the comet and here’s the result. I accidentally recorded this as JPG images instead of RAW, so I had to use a few more processing tricks to get it to look decent. I may try again soon, if it stays clear. Next time, I’m planning on making sure I’m set to RAW images on the camera first.
C23 on 10/4/11
I spent a bit of time imaging several different things tonight. While the Moon shot came out great. This was probably the best of the rest of the shots. This edge-on galaxy, known as NGC891 is also known as Caldwell 23, which means I’m at least 4 or 5 along toward completing the Caldwell list. 
October 3, 2011
The Moon on 10/3/11
I’m finally out imaging for the first time in a month – I’ve either been too busy working or the weather hasn’t cooperated. It’s a bit chilly, but very clear out.
September 7, 2011
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Me
Neil Tyson was the featured speaker today at the NASA Tweetup and among our crowd – he’s a rock star. He was great, as always, and was kind enough to stay afterward. He mentioned to me that he may be speaking in Chattanooga sometime soon. It looks like he’ll be at Chattanooga State on October 25th. I’ll definitely be there!
September 1, 2011
My Piggyback Setup
A commenter asked about my piggyback imaging setup, so I took a photo (with my phone) tonight that shows how I hook everything up. If you click to the flickr page (just click on the image) I have labels on most of the parts.
The Moon on 9/1/11
I’ve finally gotten out with the scope again. It’s been either too windy or too cloudy (no rain, though, all month) or I’ve been too busy to get out since early August. It’s pretty warm out here (high 80′s), but it’s a nice clear night. I’ll probably do some widefield shots.
July 30, 2011
M16, M17 and More on 7/30/11
Here’s another widefield shot I took this evening. In this case, I was able to also use flat field images to really create a much nicer picture. With the 200mm lens, I can just point it at my laptop (with the screen white) and it gives a nice flat field. With my 10″ telescope, I don’t have as good of a target. Perhaps I need to make a light box…
