• New images

    From Chickenhead@VERT to All on Wed Jun 17 19:29:55 2020
    Phew...been busy now that it's haying season. Haven't had much time to sign on here but...I have managed to get the scope and CCD out. Had some actual bugs creep into my setup...the declination motor stopped working and the cause was actually a small bug that gunked up the cable. Finally made not a Hartmann mask but a Bahtinov mask (two solid days of cutting a pattern into a big circle of cardboard). I do think the thing actually helps focusing. Discovered my rig actually has a polar alignment feature that makes my life a lot easier.

    ANYWAY..managed to grab some nice shots of the Dumbbell Nebula. For your enjoyment:
    http://maplecroft.ca/astro/m27-06-16-2020-3.jpg

    Decided to go for the Ring Nebula but it was 4:30am and the sky glow was creeping in...not quite as nice but still, you can make out that star in the middle that created the nebula:
    http://maplecroft.ca/astro/m57-06-16-2020-cropped2.jpg

    All were about 15 minute exposures. Next time I get tracking that good I'm going to do a full hour long one.

    It might be a while before I try again...gotta get the haying done, we're neck deep in mosquitos and the hospitals are moving again...my "reversal" surgery could be anytime. Not looking forward to surgery but I am looking forward to being put back together again.

    The AHK Gang! Live on Riot.im. When we feel like it.

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  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to Chickenhead on Wed Jun 17 23:21:00 2020
    Hello Chickenhead!

    ** On Wednesday 17.06.20 - 18:29, chickenhead wrote to All:

    Phew...been busy now that it's haying season. Haven't had much time to sign on here but...I have managed to get the scope and CCD out. Had some actual bugs creep into my setup...the declination motor stopped working and the cause was actually a small bug that gunked up the cable.

    Dang bugs, eh?

    The bugs wouldn't like anything with gaseous fumes. Try soaking a rag
    around the tripod or whatever you use for the camera rig with some bug
    spray or similar.


    ANYWAY..managed to grab some nice shots of the Dumbbell Nebula. For your enjoyment: http://maplecroft.ca/astro/m27-06-16-2020-3.jpg

    Looks like a glass-like sphere in space.


    It might be a while before I try again...gotta get the haying done,..

    Where is Maplecroft Farm located, exactly?


    ../|ug

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  • From Chickenhead@VERT to Ogg on Thu Jun 18 19:43:02 2020
    Re: Re: New images
    By: Ogg to Chickenhead on Wed Jun 17 2020 07:21 pm

    Dang bugs, eh?

    The bugs wouldn't like anything with gaseous fumes. Try soaking a rag
    around the tripod or whatever you use for the camera rig with some bug
    spray or similar.

    Well I've been told that Thermacell does a great job repelling mosquitos, but they say it is toxic to cats...well I've got a few wandering around and I'm not going to chance that.

    The bug in question was probably just a gnat. The cables that hook up to the RA and DEC on the scope, it turns out, are just shielded ethernet. And Celestron cheated there, they use the ground as a 9th pin. The little gnat got smushed on one of the pins on the cable making everything go haywire.


    Looks like a glass-like sphere in space.


    They call them "planetary nebula" because they look rather planet-like. There is one called "The Ghost of Jupiter" that looks a bit like the planet.


    Where is Maplecroft Farm located, exactly?


    Oh down in the heart of mennonite country in south of Ontario. We have a couple horses, the wife has her little flock of alpaca (so on top of everything else it is shearing time too).
    [Your blood pressure just went up.]

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  • From Nelgin@VERT/EOTLBBS to Chickenhead on Mon Jun 22 15:27:50 2020
    Chickenhead wrote:
    Phew...been busy now that it's haying season. Haven't had much time to sign on here but...I have managed to get the scope and CCD out. Had some actual bugs creep into my setup...the declination motor stopped working and the cause was actually a small bug that gunked up the cable. Finally made not a Hartmann mask but a Bahtinov mask (two solid days of cutting a pattern into a big circle of cardboard). I do think the thing actually helps focusing. Discovered my rig actually has a polar alignment feature that makes my life a lot easier.

    ANYWAY..managed to grab some nice shots of the Dumbbell Nebula. For your enjoyment:
    http://maplecroft.ca/astro/m27-06-16-2020-3.jpg

    Decided to go for the Ring Nebula but it was 4:30am and the sky glow was creeping in...not quite as nice but still, you can make out that star in the middle that created the nebula:
    http://maplecroft.ca/astro/m57-06-16-2020-cropped2.jpg

    All were about 15 minute exposures. Next time I get tracking that good I'm going to do a full hour long one.

    It might be a while before I try again...gotta get the haying done, we're neck deep in mosquitos and the hospitals are moving again...my "reversal" surgery could be anytime. Not looking forward to surgery but I am looking forward to being put back together again.

    The AHK Gang! Live on Riot.im. When we feel like it.

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    Nice images. What equipment are you using?

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  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to Chickenhead on Wed Jun 24 03:03:00 2020
    Hello Chickenhead!

    ** On Thursday 18.06.20 - 18:43, chickenhead wrote to Ogg:

    Where is Maplecroft Farm located, exactly?


    Oh down in the heart of mennonite country in south of Ontario. We have
    a couple horses, the wife has her little flock of alpaca (so on top of everything else it is shearing time too). [Your blood pressure just went
    up.]

    Are the alpaca docile when they are being sheered?

    I've only been in the Guelph/Waterloo area only a few times. Once or
    twice to Stratford for a school trip to the Shakespear theatre, and to an Oktoberfest or two!

    There are a handful of mennonite families represented in my area just
    south of Algonquin. All have some kind of thriving business.



    ../|ug

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  • From Chickenhead@VERT to Nelgin on Fri Jun 26 21:52:37 2020
    Re: Re: New images
    By: Nelgin to Chickenhead on Mon Jun 22 2020 11:27 am


    Nice images. What equipment are you using?


    An 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain on a german equatorial mount...computerized. My camera is an SBIG ST-2000XCM, which is a single-shot color CCD (no color wheels). Once upon a time I would have thought the "go-to" feature to be lazy but nowadays I appreciate it. If I ever get the urge for a star hunt I still have an old 8" dobsonian kicking around.

    I used to have an 8" on an equatorial wedge but I figured the Germans had a good reason for their counter-weight system. Really helps when a heavy CCD camera is attached to the other end.


    [Your blood pressure just went up.]

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