LXD75 hypertune kit has been ordered

Hi everyone!.Yeah,I’m still here,I have just been busy lately.Am I the only one that gets buyers remorse for making a purchase no matter how large or small the expence?.I seem to get that quite often?!.My most recent remorse overload came last week when I bought a DVD.Well,I out did myself today but,it was something that needed to be done.I bought a hypertune kit and new encoder wheels for my scope.My scope has been working well but,not as well as I would like it too!.

With luck I will be able to increase my exposure times for awesome images…I hope!!.

 

Full moon madness

Finally,after months of shivering and snow I was able to get the scope out for some eye piece time.It was almost completely dark (or as dark as it can get on a full moon lit night) when I decided to set up.After not setting the scope up for night viewing in almost 5 months it was like having to relearn the scope again.The setup went well until I became ready for alignment and that is when all hell broke loose.To begin with,the power cord that I was using has a loose wire which caused sporadic power loss to the scope.I found the problem and replaced the cord with a better one and proceeded with the alignment.After performing a 2 star alignment I slewed the scope to a few different targets to check for pointing and tracking and all was good.My first target was Saturn and 3 visible moons.I connected the laptop and LPI for some imaging and for some unknown reason,my Autostar imaging program kept crashing my Pc.It took almost 2 hours of restore and reinstalling the software to get the camera to work properly.Heh,sounds easy huh?.Try doing it in the moon light and cooling temps.My temper level rose dramatically in a very short period of time!.Finally,when I got the problem fixed I only had a short period of time to get reacquainted with the imaging program and take some shots before Saturn set behind a building.The shots I took were less than desirable but,when full moon madness set in I didn’t really care.I then slewed my scope towards the moon and was almost blinded by how bright it was.Heh,been there done that!.

During the course of getting shots of the moon with the DSI,the noise level in town kept getting louder.Their were as many people on the streets at midnight as their normally would be at 2pm.Is this activity due to the full moon or it caused from cabin fever?.My personal opinion is that it is caused from cabin fever (which is real by the way) and not the full moon.Again,in my opinion,a full moon  has zero effect on people!.The only thing it effects is the amount of light reaching  Earth at night.I have heard about police officers saying “yup,full moon tonight.Going to be a busy night”.Heh,going to be a busy night because,everything is so well lit and they can see the crimes being committed.

The image below is a result of might efforts last night.It is a stack of 65 images and was proceeded with Photoshop.The orientation is off as east is up.Note Mare Smythii at the very edge of the eastern limb.

Crescent moon

Not much going on at the moment.I wanted to get some images of the creasent moon occulting the Pleiades on Tuesday but,as the usual luck would have it,the skies turned cloudy about a hour before the show and departed about  2 hours later.Oh well,I did manage to get a few images with my DSLR on Monday night.It isn’t a overly fantastic shot but,it will do in a pinch !.This image was taken via my cars roof.I tried to get the dark blue that is seen just after the sun has set but,since I drank one too many coffee’s,my hands kept shaking to the point of causing most of the shots to be ruined.NOTE TO SELF……Decaf!!!.Heh,well I know that isn’t going to happen!!!.

Sunspot #988 with the DSI

Isn’t Spring wonderful???!!!.After a long Winter of cold and snow,it is finally beginning to warm up.Today,it is forecasted to be in the mid 40s F with calm winds.This may seem chilly to some but,just having the sunshine without the wind makes it almost balmy !.I will even go  out on a limb and say Winter is officially over.Although I say that with a bit of hesitation as I have seen it snow in mid May,in which a rather thick coating of snow covered the already blossoming peas.Being just a little guy at the time,I remember how fun it was.Now….being four decades older I don’t believe I would find the excitement in a fresh snow so late in the Spring.I guess we will just have to wait and see!.

The new sunspots have since drifted and faded from view but,I will still post some images.I took these shots with the Meade DSI early last week.They came out ok but,I need to comeup with a way to reduce the glare on the laptop screen.I decided to use a black umbrella to block the sun but,it just wasn’t good enough as I was getting a lot of reflected coming from the melting snowbanks and everything else in the general area,which makes it almost impossible to get a sharp focus.If someone has any ideas please let me know!!!!.

I also want to make a correction on my last post.I stated that ( my opinion) these new sunspots were part of the new cycle or at least I was hinting at this.That information as it turns out is wrong.Well,not completely wrong but,close enough.While the sun HAS begun it’s new cycle according to SOHO,these sunpots are actually part of the last solar cycle (as I understand it).So,my apologies for the misinformation!!.

Images by:Andrew

Close up shots of Sunspots #987 and #988

Here are some close up images of sunspot 987 and 988.Like I said in the last post I had taken lots of images but,was so tired that I thought I would wait.These images were shot using A-focal projection with a 26mm eye piece and a Pentax ist “DS dslr.The last time I had my scope out was on February 20th for the lunar eclipse and even longer for any solar viewing.I couldn’t believe how much dust had collected on my lenses until I had downloaded the images to my Pc!!.I guess we all know what I will be doing this afternoon !.

The camera settings for the images seen below were a ISO of 200 and exposure(s) at 1/500thsec and were processed using PS elements.They were slightly cropped and sharpened.I also cheated and used the cloning tool to rid the shots of those unsightly dust blemishes.I also boosted the contrast to  the images to better show the sunspot structures.If you look closely,you will notice some of the filaments as they seem to have the look of spaghetti falling into a blackhole.Of course,you will also notice the result of sharpening the images as they look a bit grainy.I tried to reduce some of the grainy look by reducing  the noise.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Image credit: Andrew

Imaged with a 26mm eyepiece and 2X barlow

New sunspots have appeared

I was quite excited this morning when I woke up and checked the SOHO website only to find some new spots that had appeared.Like I said “I was excited” and couldn’t wait to get home from work and do some imaging….yay!.

I set the scope up , had it aligned by noon time and never stopped imaging until 3:30pm.In all,I believe I managed to snap off about 200 images.Why so many you ask?.Well I had so much fun when I made the Lunar eclipse clip that I decided to try it again.Unfortunately,after resizing ,cropping and rotating all 200 images I just didn’t like the look of them and feel I should try again.Luckily,I still have them on my DSLR which is like a do over?!.

Not only is it nice to see some long awaited activity on the sun but,the structure and sizes of the spots is impressive.With the largest being (by my calculations) larger than 3 Earths in size.The others are a bit smaller and spread out but,the newest one that really hasn’t made a full appearance yet,I feel has the potential of being quite large as well.I have read a couple post from different bloggers about how the suns new solar cycle was just a false start and that the new cycle hasn’t begun yet.I’m not sure but,after seeing how fast the spots appeared I am going to go out on a limb and say “it has begun….again”!.The sunspot numbers so far have been designated sunspot  987 and 988 .Sunspot #989 which is still making it’s way around the limb should be given it’s official number perhaps as soon as this evening?!.

Please forgive the writing of this post if it didn’t make any sense.I think my brain shutdown the moment I started typing !.

Image credit:Andrew

Betelgeuse,a star running on empty

As the Winter season slowly loosens it’s icy grip and the warmth of Spring approaches,we must prepare to say good night to our friends in the Orion constellation.It has been tough to enjoy Orions company this Winter season.As some of you have heard me say a few hundred times.We have had a record snowfall this season with almost 140 inches of the white stuff.Making this the snowiest winter in almost 100 years with more on the way.Have I mentioned “I hate snow”?!.Regardless,Spring is on it’s way and I can’t wait!.

Like me,if you haven’t had too many chances to see this amazing Winter constellation.I would suggest making some hot cocoa,dress warmly and get out there before it is too late.You won’t be disappointed…I promise!!!!.

One of the many features of this amazing constellation is “The Great Orion nebula”which is a amateur astronomer favorite.Heh,mine included!.However their ARE other objects in this constellation that are sometimes left sitting on the sidelines,just waiting for their day to shine.One of the objects that I am talking about is the red super giant Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse (sounds like beetle juice) is a star that is on it’s death bed and gasping for air.Although it is much cooler than the sun (why it is red in color) it is more than 1000 X larger.In fact,if Betelgeuse were placed at the center of our solar system,it’s atmosphere would extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter!!!.Yes….it is gigantic!!.It also varies in brightness over a course of years,which causes me to view it as a variable star?!.One other indication that it is nearing it’s death is because,it increases and decreases in size.Picture filling a balloon with air, letting some of the air out and then refilling with more air,except in Betelgeuse’s case the air is hydrogen.After a few hundred thousand years,Betelgeuse will have burned through all of it’s fuel causing it to explode as a super nova,making it the brightest star in the sky,second only to our sun!!.Which makes me wonder what the fate of our solar system will be?!.Space,beautiful to look at but,not very friendly!.

Image credit: Andrew

Lunar eclipse the movie???.

Here is a a lunar eclipse movie I put together using my Pentax DSLR.This is my first try at making a movie from multiple images.It isn’t Star wars quality but,I had a lot of fun trying .

Enjoy!!

Last nights Lunar eclipse

Hey,I finally gave my scope a breath of fresh air…woohoo!! .

It certainly felt good to have some decent skies for observing after 3 months of sitting idle and collecting dust.No,not me…my scope!!.I wasn’t sure if our skies here in central NewHampshire were going to cooperate for the lunar eclipse but,to my surprise they did.Well,sortof !.Since my schedule doesn’t allow me to stay awake very late into the evening for observing (3am comes early when it is cold outside!).I just couldn’t pass at the chance to get in some eye piece time and with the terrible skies that we have had this winter,this was almost like my second Christmas!.I tried to take a power nap before the start of the eclipse but,I was so giddy with excitement that I stayed awake and kept looking out my bedroom window.After a hour of tossing and turning I suddenly became the president of the “Why bother club”and got up for a night of observing.I set the scope up at around 8:30pm and immediately started watching for the start of the event.The skies at the time were clear and clean but,that didn’t last for very long as clouds began to invade my space.Seeing the cloud bank slowly making it’s way in,the first words out of my mouth were “Great…I have been hosed again!”.It seems that Mother nature has a rather cruel sense of humor because, just as I was about to call it a evening and pack up,the skies cleared.It was looking good for a start to finish eclipse but,just as the moon was approaching full eclipse the clouds rolled in again and this time not only did the sky become mostly cloudy but,it started to lightly snow….*insert naughty word here!!!!*.Once again,I started the beginning stages of packing up when suddenly I could see the full eclipse through broken clouds.In a rush I reconnected my camera to the scope and fired off a few quick shots,one of which can be seen below.It isn’t the best quality but,considering I was shooting through what looked to be a high altitude fish bowl,I think it came out pretty good.

I tweaked the image a bit in a effort to bring out more detail using Photoshop Elements.Note the darker region to the south…those are clouds.Clouds=Bad!!.

 

M8 (Lagoon nebula)

Here is yet another archive image that I took a year ago.So far, this winter has been a bust but,I am optimistic that this nasty weather will soon break giving all of us a chance to bring our scopes out.Here in NewHampshire,we are currently under a winter storm warning with sleet/freezing rain with temps in the low 20’s F.I don’t know about the rest of you but,I think I am in the beginning stages of cabin fever?!.

Sorry this archive image post is a little late (or early)depending on how you look at it but,since I haven’t had a chance to aquire anything new in a long time.I thought I would fall back on some older images and share them with everyone.

M8 is a very bright emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius and is obviously best viewed in the late summer months……when it is warm!!!.Glowing at a +6.0mag it can easily be seen with the naked eye under dark clean skies.

The Lagoon Nebula  is one of the brightest star-forming regions in the sky. It is a giant cloud of interstellar matter which is currently undergoing vivid star formation, and has already formed a considerable cluster of young stars.

Oh and before I forget; Good luck to the NewEngland Patriots on their quest for a 4th Superbowl win!!!.

Information credit:SEDS

Image credit: ME!!