Getting Ready for C/2007 N3 (Lulin) February 24, 2009
Posted by kevin in : At the Eyepiece, Quick Bits , add a commentI moved the scope outside today and rough aligned it in hopes of getting a peak and maybe some pictures of comet Lulin tonight. After setting up I did a couple of test slews to see if I was close on alignment. The slew to Venus had it in the finder scope and with a few tweaks I had it centered. Viewing planets during the daytime is always fun for me. Not that it should be that amazing but I find it interesting.
The wind has now picked up and the clouds are rolling inbut hopefully they will move on later in the night and I’ll have a comet report to share. For now you can take a look at the quick picture I grabbed of Venus at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Clear Skies!
Weather and Astronomy February 23, 2009
Posted by kevin in : Quick Bits , add a commentIn the last couple of days I have received links and comments from two differant friends with something of astronomical interest. Both of them got me thinking that I should get my telescope back on the mount and out under the stars. I really enjoy the winter skies and they are almost over at this point so the small nudges were just what I needed. The weather here as been beautiful lately and I’ve gazed at the southern skies several times thinking I better get a shot of the Great Orion Nebula (M42) before its gone again. I headed to the astronomy closet to gather up all the cables, batteries, attachments, etc. and began remembering where everything goes and getting prepped for a night of viewing and maybe a little astrophotography. I got all the softeware updated, installed the newest drivers, consulted The Sky to determine where I would start and then, you guessed it. The clouds rolled in and I haven’t seen a single star for two days.
I know it’s just a myth and that the weather gods don’t really plot against astronomers but despite my knowing it, it always seems to happen. I think I’ll keep everything set up and maybe just hide it all under a blanket for a few days and see if I can fool the weather into believing I gave up.
Clear Skies……
The Pleades (M45) November 11, 2007
Posted by kevin in : Astrophotography, Clusters, Nebulae , 1 comment so farWhile waiting for IC434 to come up I spent a few minutes taking a LRGB of M45, the Pleades. This one is a total of 8 minutes and came out OK. Basic calibration was performed but no flats have been applied.
L: 2 minutes R: 2 minutes G: 2 minutes B: 2 minutes
Click the image to view the binned 2×2 image at 2004 x 1336 resolution.
UPDATE: As a reasonably intelligent amateur astronomer I actually can spell Pleiades but I get a fair amount of hits from Google for my misspelling and thought I would leave this for all of you who can’t spell it 
(I’m sure everyone believes me… right?)
Still Chasing the Horsehead (IC434) November 11, 2007
Posted by admin in : Astrophotography, Nebulae , 1 comment so farMy favorite season for astrophotography is back. As those of you who have followed my astroimaging pursuits know I have been chasing the elusive Horsehead Nebulae for almost 10 yers now. I have finally have my dream system of the Takahashi FSQ-106ED, Losmandy G-11, and the SBIG STL-11000M and am starting to get a few decent frames. This image is a total of 45 minutes in Ha combined from nine five minute subframes. I still haven’t mastered flats so none were applied to the image. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I did taking it.
Click the image to view the 3×3 binned version with a resolution of 1336×890.
Site Update September 9, 2007
Posted by admin in : Quick Bits , add a commentI finally got around to rebuilding my servers and deploying the “Small Moves” blog. I had been hosting it over at Wordpress.com for a bit so it was a simple matter of just importing the XML to get things back in plce. I still need to relink the pictures so it may be a few more days before I get everything back up to 100%
FSQ-106ED Still Not Shipped June 11, 2007
Posted by kevin in : Astronomy Equipment , add a commentI called Brian over at TNR this morning to confirm one of the items on the order and checking on shipping and got the bad news that the new FSQ-106ED still hasn’t shipped. They have the order from Oceanside Photo & Telescope but TNR (takahashiamerica.com) won’t ship it until they get a check from OPT. I think the folks at Oceanside Photo & Telescope are great and am really aggravated with Texas Nautical for not trusting their dealers.
The bottom line is that I have to wait at least another day before the scope will even ship… and of course the weather is great now. I guess it will arrive just in time for me to go out of town for the weekend.
Arrrrrgh!
UPDATE: I called Craig at Oceanside and he called Art at TNR and got everything squared away so that the order shipped today. I’ve made several purchases recently from the fine folks at OPT and I can’t say enbough good about them. If your considering an astronomy purchase I suggest you give them a try.
FSQ-106ED Update June 8, 2007
Posted by kevin in : Astronomy Equipment , add a commentSo I went ahead and bit the bullet and ordered the new Reducer and the Extender Q for the new scope. I’m not sure how much I’ll use the reducer but I’m pretty excipted about the Extender Q for visual use. I had planned to wait but then I saw Art’s post on the Yahoo UncensoredTak group stating they had both in stock so I figured why not go all in. Along with the SBIG STL-11000M I now have the dream imaging setup. I’ll be using the Losmandy G11 w/Gemini for the mount for now and then may upgrade to a Takahashi mount sometime in the future.
I’ll post pics of everything when it all shows up. I hoping to see it Monday but I think Tuesday is going to be more likely.
Clear Skies,
-Kevin
New Takahashi FSQ-106ED is Shipping June 7, 2007
Posted by kevin in : Astronomy Equipment , add a commentI just got the call from Chris over at Oceanside Photo & Telescope that my FSQ-106ED (aka The New “Q”) is being shipped today. I hope to have it on Monday and will post some pics just as soon as it arrives. I still need to figure out which adaptors I need so that I can use it with the SBIG STL11000M.
I’m waiting to hear back from Chris and see if the new reducer and extender are also available.
More to come…. Clear Skies!
The New Mount is Here January 4, 2007
Posted by kevin in : Astronomy Equipment , add a commentAfter a L-O-N-G delay and a few hiccups the new Losmandy G-11 Gemini mount is finally here and working. If you read the previous entries you know that UPS was holding my mount hostage for nearly two weeks in a cold dark trailer in Commerce City, CO. It was finally set free and arrived on Tuesday 01-02-2007. It was a great start to the new year, or was it? of course not. it arrived OK but was missing the counter weight shaft so was basically useless. The fine folks at OPT came thru again and after a quick call that was answered personally by Craig (the owner) everythig was arranged for them to overnight me a replacement shaft no questions asked. I really can’t overstate how great the whole team out there is .
Now that its all here, assembled, and ready to go the snow is once again headed to Colorado. The skies are cloudy and the stars are hidden. If I ever get a chance to point it at something other than a wall, ceiling, or window I post a review. Hopefully that night is coming soon.
Clear Skies,
-Kevin
Happy New Year! January 1, 2007
Posted by kevin in : Uncategorized , add a commentWishing all of you the very Happiest of New Years and Clear Skies!
