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CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

three nights of good weather!? new

#5633628 - 01/20/13 05:35 PM Attachment (15 downloads)

After the cloud-afflicted winter we've been having so far, this weekend has been awesome for this new hobby of mine! I'm all set up outside again, just waiting for sunset. Anyone else doing the same?

-- Chris

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newtoskies
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/12

Loc: SE Ma.

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: CJK]
#5633653 - 01/20/13 05:52 PM

Actually my scope is packed away in the car for hopefully some viewing at a dark site in a few hours. I was just outside and the clouds have cleared. Grabbed the binos from the car for some quick views. Spotted NGC 884/869, M45 and M31.
Have fun tonight and hoping for clear skies for you all night. Great set up btw.

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John Kuraoka
sage

Reged: 12/12/12

Loc: Sunny San Diego, CA

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: CJK]
#5633654 - 01/20/13 05:52 PM

Absolutely! The kids are pretty much over their viruses, so I'm looking forward to showing them the double cluster and Andromeda tonight!

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newtoskies
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/12

Loc: SE Ma.

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: John Kuraoka]
#5633657 - 01/20/13 05:52 PM

John have fun with the kids and the scope.

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CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5633668 - 01/20/13 05:55 PM

Rob & John -- great!!! Hope the skies stay clear for you guys too!

-- Chris

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brianc99
member

Reged: 11/27/12

Loc: Southern NH

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5633670 - 01/20/13 05:56 PM

Weather prediction is strong winds tonight, and single digit temps for the next several nights. I'll be reading about astronomy, but I doubt I'll get much observing in.

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Turf1
member

Reged: 12/02/12

Loc: SW Michigan USA

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: brianc99]
#5633751 - 01/20/13 06:39 PM

Lake effect snow here Chris, have a great time. (insert sincere sarcasm here)But really enjoy that great setup!

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CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: Turf1]
#5633845 - 01/20/13 07:49 PM

Sorry to hear that the weather isn't good all over. I'm trying to make up for the last few weeks of rain, rain, clouds, and rain, I guess!

-- Chris

P.S. So far so good -- small hiccup in the electronic end of things: the autoguider camera does not like my USB hub and took down the whole bus briefly. :/ Back online now, hoping to get some more time on tonight's target before it goes behind a tree!

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lamplight
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/18/12

Loc: west central MA, U.S.

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: CJK]
#5633960 - 01/20/13 09:38 PM

I got about 3 hours in.. It was freezing with biting winds... Brrrr.. Inbetween clouds it was like hunting.. Still fun, until the numbness

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Mike4242
professor emeritus

Reged: 11/02/11

Loc: Memphis, TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: lamplight]
#5633975 - 01/20/13 09:46 PM

Yep, I've been out the last 3 nights.

Tonight was pretty much a moon and Jupiter night since the moon is washing out all of the DSOs. I hadn't originally planned on going out tonight, but clear skies have become somewhat of a rarity around here.

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lamplight
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/18/12

Loc: west central MA, U.S.

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: Mike4242]
#5633984 - 01/20/13 09:51 PM

Yep.. I missed last night though as it clouded over around 10 when I was able to get out.. Tonight was some doubles.. Not seeing the dsos I was looking for either . A least my neighbor didn't put on their stadium lights.. Not that it would have mattered with that moon. Surely I'm not the only amateur astronomer completely uninterested in the moon? Sure it makes a nice picture.. But after that.. It's all the same.

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Mike4242
professor emeritus

Reged: 11/02/11

Loc: Memphis, TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: lamplight]
#5634010 - 01/20/13 10:02 PM

I'm not all that interested in the moon either, but I will give it a quick look as long as it's not past 3/4 full.

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lamplight
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/18/12

Loc: west central MA, U.S.

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: Mike4242]
#5634017 - 01/20/13 10:08 PM

Sure.. I guess I shouldn't say that's entirely always true.. I do grab a scan now and again.., it is something we can really zoom in on.. Across hundreds of thousands of miles in space.. (300k i think?) That's something.. Even if it is all the same.

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CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? [Re: lamplight]
#5634077 - 01/20/13 10:41 PM Attachment (7 downloads)

Quote:

Yep, I've been out the last 3 nights.

Tonight was pretty much a moon and Jupiter night since the moon is washing out all of the DSOs. I hadn't originally planned on going out tonight, but clear skies have become somewhat of a rarity around here.

Glad you got out too -- clear skies have been a real rarity lately in Tennessee!

Quote:

Yep.. I missed last night though as it clouded over around 10 when I was able to get out.. Tonight was some doubles.. Not seeing the dsos I was looking for either . A least my neighbor didn't put on their stadium lights.. Not that it would have mattered with that moon. Surely I'm not the only amateur astronomer completely uninterested in the moon? Sure it makes a nice picture.. But after that.. It's all the same.

After my little fight with my USB bus, things have been pretty smooth tonight. I'm getting the hang of this imaging thing, and I have to say, it's a lot of fun. It's pretty amazing to look at a completely bare patch of sky, open the shutter for 5 minutes, and then see some faint DSO appear on the laptop.

(Processing the data, however, is another story -- yikes, talk about complicated.)

-- Chris

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BoriSpider
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 08/10/04

Loc: S.W.FLA

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: CJK]
#5634421 - 01/21/13 07:13 AM

CJK: Here are some YouTube tut. videos I saw in the 'Amateur Astronomers' G+ community.
This guy takes some really nice pics and did some tutorials
that might help out.

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CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: BoriSpider]
#5634464 - 01/21/13 08:13 AM

Thank you -- I will definitely check those out. I need all the help with processing I can get!

-- Chris

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John Kuraoka
sage

Reged: 12/12/12

Loc: Sunny San Diego, CA

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: Mike4242]
#5634673 - 01/21/13 10:35 AM

Yeah, last night was a moon and Jupiter night. Between the moon and the neighbor's porch lights, that was about all I could see. I directed the kids to star-hop to Andromeda, so they saw that through binoculars for the first time. Even though it was just a faint blur, they were excited to see another galaxy. They found the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula on their own through the binoculars, and the older one put the scope on the Orion Nebula.

But the moon was the star of the night. With the ES 11 82° it was just massive, and the detail along the terminator was endlessly fascinating. Plus, it was warm enough to be out with just a light jacket.

I went back out after the kids went to bed and did a little more looking around, trying to find that object below Sirius with no luck. I think it was just too close to the city lights to make out, plus my night vision was pretty blown out by then.

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REC
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/20/10

Loc: NC

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: John Kuraoka]
#5634704 - 01/21/13 10:55 AM

Yep, last couple of nights have been nice, but cold after a week od clouds and rain. Jupiter is really looking nice now, high in the sky. Terminator on the Moon was really full of nice features early on. Used the binoviewer on them.

Looking forward to the Moon-Jupiter conjuntion tonight. Should be able to fit both of them in the eyepiece!

Clear skies to all:)

Bob

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CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: REC]
#5635008 - 01/21/13 01:44 PM Attachment (5 downloads)

So here's what I ended up with after about 6 hours of effort last night and a couple hours today processing the data. I've always loved images of the Horsehead, and it's nothing short of amazing to me that it's possible for a beginner like me to get something like this with a very modest telescope.

In case it's not obvious, I've officially fallen down the AP rabbit hole ...

-- Chris

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lamplight
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/18/12

Loc: west central MA, U.S.

Re: three nights of good weather!? new

[Re: CJK]
#5635020 - 01/21/13 01:53 PM

thats *BLEEP* awesome!

i thought thats what i saw on your screen of the laptop. it amazes me to no end not only can this be done with (relatively) modest equip, but also that these hidden mysteries are visible with just a few minutes of exposure. oh so tempting

i have scanned that area so so carefully but its just not visible to me with naked eye.

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