Eighth, Ninth Mars of the Year

First light through the DMK21AF04.US using the Orion LRGB filters. All I can say is, it ain't the same as the SPC900NC! Getting the color balance is trick-ee. I'm driving the camera and processing with Astro IIDC.

We're on the back side of a cold front right now--temperature's dropped 15 degrees since sunset so you can imagine what the seeing is like.


This second stack is a little better. It's noiser--I kept the shutter fast to try to "freeze" the poor seeing, and so had to boost the gain. It's a trade-off, I know, and I'm not sure which is the better way to go.

A Picture That's Just Begging To Be Altered

The Photoshop possibilities just boggle the mind. Especially if your mind is in the gutter.

The Central Texas Nebula

Shot this last night, but it could have been anytime during the last two weeks. This nebula is huge--no way can I fit in the field-of-view of any of my scopes.

Dartmoor Pony

Ian made the front page of the Dartmoor Pony Registry of America web site! I'm sure it didn't hurt that his Aunt Linda runs the site. =)

Aristarchus

One of my favorite lunar features, but I still haven't made a decent picture of it.

Seventh Mars of the Year

Or as Linda calls it, The Martian Chronicles.

First Saturn of the Year

Shot this while Saturn was just 33° above the horizon. I was freezing and the scope was frosty, so I didn't try to wait until it rose higher. Notice how much the rings have closed since last March.

An Astronomical Commercial

This ad has generated a lot of discussion over on CloudyNights.com, mostly positive:

Separated At Birth?

We'll get back to astronomy soon, I promise. Meanwhile, here's an interesting thought: