So far very impressed!
Sky-Watcher 254N with EQ5 pro
Meade DSI-IIc camera
M13 Hercules Cluster Sky-Watcher 10" reflector with Meade DSI-IIc camera 5-15 sec images
Visit TheSkySearchers.com forum. A friendly bunch of amateur astronomers.TheSkySearchers.com 
www.webewebbiers.com/Astronomy.htm
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Sky-Watcher 1st light
Well I caught first light last night (Aug 8th, 2009). Set up went okay however I have a few modifications that I need to work on. I'm finding the alignment is a little difficult with this scope as I'm used to my Meade ETX. However once it is set up everything seems to work very well. Started off looking at the moon. Much more detail with the larger aperture scope (10" vs approx 4"). Played with the new lenses that came with the Sky-Watcher scope, but reverted back to my Celestron zoom lens as it appears to work very well with this scope. The moon filter works great to allow you to see without going blind from the bright glow from the moon. Moved over to Jupiter and was able to see the bands very clearly with 4 moons. Then just for the heck of it I pointed the scope to M13. Verryyy impressive (see photo). The photo doesn't do justice. It was like looking a a million points of light especially when zoomed into 9mm! Going to work on getting the finder scope aligned as it seems to be quite a ways off. Also going to add some quick release bolts to the tube clamps, I installed "Wilcox rings" yesterday. (will add photos when done).
So far very impressed!
Sky-Watcher 254N with EQ5 pro
Meade DSI-IIc camera
M13 Hercules Cluster Sky-Watcher 10" reflector with Meade DSI-IIc camera 5-15 sec images
So far very impressed!
Sky-Watcher 254N with EQ5 pro
Meade DSI-IIc camera
M13 Hercules Cluster Sky-Watcher 10" reflector with Meade DSI-IIc camera 5-15 sec images
Sunday, July 26, 2009
New Telescope on the way!
I sprung for a new telescope last week. It is shipping from the factory so would assume it should be here next week. A 10 inch Newtonian with a "go to" equatorial mount made by Sky-Watcher. I couldn't beat the price so went ahead and bought it. Hoping to catch "first light" next week. Will keep you posted.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Comet Lulin
ETX70AT, DSI IIC
Here's the latest photo taken of the comet Lulin. Lulin will only be by the planet earth once so this is a special photo! Read below for more details!
Comet Lulin or Lulin's Comet (official designation C/2007 N3 (Lulin)) is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory.[1][2][6] It peaked in brightness and arrived at perigee for observers on Earth on February 24, 2009, at magnitude +5,[7][2][8] and at 0.411 AU from Earth.[3] The comet also appeared to pass near Saturn on February 23, and is predicted to pass near Regulus in Leo on February 26 and 27, 2009.[2][6] It is expected to appear to pass near Comet Cardinal on May 12, 2009.[9] It currently lies 0.412 AU from Earth, appearing at magnitude +5.2 in the constellation Leo.[4][8] The comet became visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites around February 7.[10] It passed between Earth and the double star Zubenelgenubi on February 6, between Earth and Spica on February 15 and 16, between earth and Gamma Virginis on February 19 and is predicted to pass between Earth and the star cluster M44 around March 4 and 5.
Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2007_N3 for more info.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Saturn
I noticed I didn't have a photo of Saturn. So I added one that I took back in June of 2008. It's a little out of focus and I was using my LPI imager to take the photo. I will try for a better one when Saturn is at a better angle to see the rings (probably in 2010.)
ETX70AT, Meade LPI
ETX70AT, Meade LPI
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Latest Moon Photo
Latest Moon Photo taken with ETX70AT, DSI IIC and 3xbarlow.
On Friday 2-6-09 The Children's Imagination Workshop in Temecula is having a Astronomy night. This event is all about Galileo and will feature information about the moon. So I have been taking some new photos to present that night in case of rain. (right now it looks like it might!)
On Friday 2-6-09 The Children's Imagination Workshop in Temecula is having a Astronomy night. This event is all about Galileo and will feature information about the moon. So I have been taking some new photos to present that night in case of rain. (right now it looks like it might!)
Double Cluster
Double Cluster
(EXT70AT, DSI IIC)
The Double Cluster is the common name for the naked-eye open clusters NGC 884 and NGC 869, which are close together in the constellation Perseus. NGC 884 and NGC 869 are at distances of 7600 and 6800 light-years away, respectively, so they are close to one another in space as well.
They are relatively young clusters, with NGC 869 5.6 million years and NGC 884 at 3.2 million years according to the 2000 Sky Catalogue. In comparison, the Pleiades have an estimated age ranging from 75 million years to 150 million years.
They are also blueshifted, with NGC 869 approaching Earth at a speed of 22 km/s and NGC 884 approaching at a similar speed of 21 km/s. Their hottest main sequence stars are of spectral type B0.
For more information visit wikipedia.org
(EXT70AT, DSI IIC)
The Double Cluster is the common name for the naked-eye open clusters NGC 884 and NGC 869, which are close together in the constellation Perseus. NGC 884 and NGC 869 are at distances of 7600 and 6800 light-years away, respectively, so they are close to one another in space as well.
They are relatively young clusters, with NGC 869 5.6 million years and NGC 884 at 3.2 million years according to the 2000 Sky Catalogue. In comparison, the Pleiades have an estimated age ranging from 75 million years to 150 million years.
They are also blueshifted, with NGC 869 approaching Earth at a speed of 22 km/s and NGC 884 approaching at a similar speed of 21 km/s. Their hottest main sequence stars are of spectral type B0.
For more information visit wikipedia.org
Crescent Venus
This photo of Venus shows the "crescent" shape because of it's location in relationship to the sun.
(ETX70AT, DSI IIC)
Venus (pronounced en-us-Venus.ogg /ˈviːnəs/ (help·info)) is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love. It is the brightest natural object in the night sky, except for the Moon, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6. Because Venus is an inferior planet from Earth, it never appears to venture far from the Sun: its elongation reaches a maximum of 47.8°. Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star.
For more information visit Wikipedia.org
(ETX70AT, DSI IIC)
Venus (pronounced en-us-Venus.ogg /ˈviːnəs/ (help·info)) is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love. It is the brightest natural object in the night sky, except for the Moon, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6. Because Venus is an inferior planet from Earth, it never appears to venture far from the Sun: its elongation reaches a maximum of 47.8°. Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star.
For more information visit Wikipedia.org
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