First Day, Second Grade

At least he's wearing different shoes this year.

More here.

IC 5070, The Pelican Nebula

The Pelican Nebula is a large area of emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan), close to Deneb, and divided from its brighter, larger neighbor, the North America Nebula, by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust.

X-Bar Ranch, Eldorado, TX
Exposure: 43 x 5 minutes (3:35)
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: AT80EDT
Mount: Meade LXD650
Guider: ST80, Meade DSI
Filter: None
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 7000, The North American Nebula

Wikipedia entry.

Photographed at X-Bar Ranch, between Eldorado and Sonora, Texas.

First time I've dealt with a "meridian flip." With a German Equatorial Mount, when an object passes from the eastern sky to the western sky, you have to turn the mount so that the scope switches sides. Getting the camera realigned close to where it was was a bit tricky, but not terribly hard.

X-Bar Ranch, Eldorado, TX
Exposure: 30 x 2 minutes + 30 x 5 minutes (3.5 hours)
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: AT80EDT
Mount: Meade LXD650
Guider: ST80, Meade DSI
Filter: None
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop

Jupiter, 2 August 2010

First time around for this appearance of Jupiter, and I'm setting the bar high this year. We've had a high-pressure dome settle in on top of us the last couple of days, and the seeing has been, well, astronomical. I set up the gear before going to bed, then rolled out at 0500 this morning to shoot this. CSC said 4/5 seeing, and it may have been better.

10" LX200, Best 500 of 1000 frames LRGB, DMK21AF04, Televue 2.5x Powermate

M17, The Omega Nebula

Here's a third version (1) (2) of M17, aka the Swan Nebula.



Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 90 x 90 seconds (2:15)
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Meade LX200 @ f/6.3
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: ST80, Meade DSI
Filter: None
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 6888, The Crescent Nebula

Here's another look at NGC6888, the Crescent Nebula.



Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 90 x 90 seconds (2:15)
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Meade LX200 @ f/6.3
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: ST80, Meade DSI
Filter: None
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop