Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, 0C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Exposure: 2x(64×0.001sec), saved as TIFF

Seeing: fair, 3/5

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Sharpcap Pro, Nebulosity, Registax, ICE, Photoshop

This is a 2-panel mosaic of the waxing gibbous moon taken while doing a bit of cloud-dodging last night.

Telescope: Celestron Comet Catcher 5.5” f/3.6 Schmidt Newtonian, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro, -10C; Gain: 200

Filter: 1.25” Hutech IDAS LPS2

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, Meade DSI Pro II, PHD

Exposure: 5x(16x60sec) saved as FITS

Darks: 32x60sec saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.01sec tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency, bright moonlight

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.1 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

In early March we had a rare series of consecutive clear evenings and I was able to grab a series of images of Vesta taken at about the same time (9 o’clock) on 5 consecutive evenings. Vesta is the 3^rd largest asteroid with a mean diameter of 326 miles and at the time these images were taken it was 127 million miles away and an easy binocular object shining at magnitude 6.0 as it swept past Chertan in Leo (Theta Leonis). Vesta is currently located off to the west of Chertan at a distance of 171 million miles shining at Mv 7.4 and is still and easy target for binoculars and small telescopes.

Vest is currently well placed in central Leo and is high in the south as the sky darkens.

Telescope: Astro-Tech RC8 @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Baader modified Nikon D610, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: Highpoint Scientific IR Filter

Exposure: 32×1/2000 sec, ISO 800, saved as RAW

Seeing: fair, 3/5

White Balance: Photoshop & Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, Nebulosity, Registax, Photoshop

This is a quick stack of this evening Full Moon, the Pink Moon. I had to take several sets of 32 frames each to get a fair number of subs where the haze wasn’t too bad. I ended up with 64 source frames of which I stacked 32. Of course the skies cleared as I was putting my gear away! This image was taken right around the time that the moon was passing just north of the Earth’s shadow. If you look closely you can see a tiny sliver of terminator sweeping around the moon’s south pole. Neat stuff!

Telescope: Astro-Tech RC8 @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Baader modified Nikon D610, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: Highpoint Scientific IR Filter

Exposure: 32×1/2000 sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Seeing: fair, 3/5

White Balance: Photoshop & Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, Nebulosity, Registax, Photoshop

This was the first-light image taken with my full-frame Nikon D610a on my RC8. The moon makes a great first-light target; easy to locate, easy to focus on, and gives you a nice sense of the image scale and field quality. Looking good!

Telescope: Meade 12” LX90GPS ACF @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Baader modified Nikon 610

Filter: High Point 2” IR Blocking Filter

Exposure: 30×1/250sec, ISO800saved as RAW

Software: Nebulosity, Registax, Photoshop

This was a quick peek of the moon taken this evening using just a remote switch and the mirror lock-up function on my Nikon D610a camera. I was curious to see how well a full-frame camera would work at such a long focal length and it performed quite well. I should be able to capture the entire moon in a single frame at least through gibbous phase. After that I’ll need to take two frames and assemble a mosaic. The flat field of the ACF optics group takes good advantage of the D610’s full frame sensor.

Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Baader modified Nikon 610; Gain: 200

Filter: High Point 2” IR Blocking Filter

Exposure: 30×1/500sec, saved as RAW

Software: Backyard Nikon, Nebulosity, Registax, Photoshop

This was a quick peek of the moon taken this morning as I was changing targets as part of a test of a full frame Nikon 610a on my 12” f/8 LX850. I was pleased to see that the moon just barely fit in the field of view and the image quality was excellent across the field.

Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Exposure: 2x(64×0.002sec), saved as FITS

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Registax, Nebulosity, ICE, Photoshop

This 2-panel mosaic of the moon image was taken last night (December 26^th) when the moon was just about as high as it was going to get.

Telescope: Orion AstroView 90 EQ @ f/10

Camera: Canon 450D (Rebel XSi, stock)

Filter: None

Exposure: 11×1/500sec, ISO 400 saved as RAW

Software: Registax, Nebulosity, Photoshop

This image was taken on the evening of December 22^nd, about 24 hours after first quarter. The source images were taken by first setting the focus on Vega using a Bahtinov mask and then swinging over to the moon take a few test shots to check the exposure, using the camera’s histogram function to make sure that the image was not over-exposed. I then framed the field so that the moon would drift across the center of the field as I took a series of pictures. Using a remote switch and the camera’s mirror lock-up function I paused about 5 seconds between each frame to allow vibrations to settle. I took two sets of images of about 5 frames each, resetting the field between each set. The source images were then converted to TIFFs, roughly aligned and cropped in Photoshop, and then stacked and sharpened in Registax. Using Photoshop I rotated and framed the moon and then separated the image into its separate red, green, and blue colors. Since the AV90 is a Fraunhofer doublet it is optimized for green with the red being slightly blurred and the blue being relatively soft. I took the green data as the luminance channel and layered the color data back on top of it to preserve both the sharpness and color of the original image. This was flattened and saved as the final image. It sounds like a lot of work, but quick’n easy once you get the hang of it; maybe 20 minutes from start to finish.

Telescope: Orion AstroView 90 EQ @ f/10

Camera: Canon 450D (Rebel XSi, stock)

Filter: None

Planets: 16×1/100sec, ISO 400 saved as RAW

Moons: 16×1/25sec, ISO 400 saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)

Software: Registax, Nebulosity, Photoshop

This image was taken on the evening of December 22^nd, about 24 hours after the closest approach of Jupiter and Saturn while they were about 1/5^th of a degree apart. The source images were taken by first setting the focus on Vega using a Bahtinov mask. Next, the images of the conjunction were taken using a remote switch and the camera’s mirror lock-up function, pausing about 5 seconds to allow vibrations to settle. Two sets of 8 images each were taken with the field being reset between each set. The source images with then converted to TIFFs, roughly aligned and cropped in Photoshop, and then aligned and sharpened in Registax. Photoshop was used to combine the images of the planets with the images of the moons. The final composite image was cropped, scaled, and color balanced in Nebulosity. It was worth the effort getting a picture, but nothing beats how beautiful the real thing was! Before the pair sank below my local trees I was sure to pull the camera off of the scope and to spend a few minutes just enjoying the view. Wonderful!

Camera: Canon 450D (Rebel XSi)

Lens: Canon EF 75-300 @ 135mm f/5.6

Filter: Sunpak UV/IR

Exposure: 1x2sec, ISO 400 saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)

Software: Nebulosity, Photoshop

Wellll, we got lucky! The clouds parted just long enough to sneak a peek at the Grand Conjunction! I grabbed my camera and ran over to a local park and managed to grab a couple of quick frames before the clouds rolled in. I just used my Canon 450D on a tripod and a 2-second delay to allow vibrations to settle before the shutter tripped. If you look closely you can see a couple of Jupiter’s moons.  Their separation at this time was 0.1 degrees! Closest approach! Over the next couple of nights the view will be very similar as Jupiter slowly slips off to the upper left. Wonderful!