Embedded Files
DATE : 28th/29th December 2011
START : 19:02 WEATHER : 5 DEG C - 67% Humidity
FINISH : 03:31 WEATHER : n DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Well after a very poor start to this evening I am finally imaging. For the first hour MaximDL would not talk to TheSky6, it would not connect and therefore would not take any commands from the guider. I am now imaging SH 171 in SII to gain another 6 hours of data so I can finally finish the data collection of this marvellous object. I have also now purchased PixInsight for my iMac to process this as my first colour image in narrowband and on the iMac.
As at 9:30pm I have 2 hours of data. It is suppose to be clear all night and I should finish imaging around 1pm.
Well after many hours, lots of chocolate, coffee and computer games I have gathered 6 hours of data, give or take the odd not so good frame. I lost the guide star several times and right now the final few frames are from behind a tree. Right off to bed!
TARGET :
SH 171 - 36 x 10min SII (WO) (6 hours tonight so 9 hours in Total for SII) (COMPLETE, needs processing)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 27th/28th November 2011
START : 18:32 WEATHER : 8 DEG C - 65% Humidity
FINISH : 01:02 WEATHER : -1 DEG C - 70% Humidity
UPDATE : A clear night tonight, beautifully still but very cold. I sorted the guiding out with the oldster, I calibrated it and have saved a copy of the settings within the Equipment section. I needed to select Telescope for the guiding action for the Lodstar. I was not using the darks tonight for the guide camera as I did not take them. I did however go on to take some 3 hours of SII data for SH 171. I now have 7 hours in Ha, 9 hours in OIII and 3 hours in SII. I will try to get 9 hours in total for SII. The first 3 images tonight were out of focus and the camera was again slipping in the focuser due to the extreme angle of the scope. I tightened the allen key again.
TARGET :
SH 171 - 18 x 10min SII (WO) (3 hours tonight so 3 hours in Total for SII)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 19th/20th November 2011
START : 20:01 WEATHER : 8 DEG C - 65% Humidity
FINISH : 22:32 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : After 6 weeks I have a clear night, no Moon, no work and I can finally catch up on imaging SH 171 in SII. However nothing seemed to work. Particularly guiding within MaximDL. I tried a number of different setting but it errored with Relays not responding through to star not found. I decided I needed to calibrate the camera and I was using the Lodstar to do this. Clearly I had been using the internal guide chip on the SBIG that was causing me a problem as that would have had a different setup. After 2 hours I gave up and came in.
TARGET :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 3rd October 2011
START : 19:28 WEATHER : 18 DEG C - 58% Humidity
FINISH : 22:nn WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Going to leave the scope taking images of SH 171 in OIII whilst I go to a BAS Committee meeting. However before I left the clouds rolled in so I turned the observatory off and went to Astronomy.
TARGET :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 2nd October 2011
START : 18:32 WEATHER : 19 DEG C - 50% Humidity
FINISH : 22:06 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Missed last night due to a headache. So out this evening for another 3 hours I hope. I have just opened the dome to let it cool down. Started to image around 7:40pm and took 2 hours more for OIII on the SH 171 Wolf nebula.
TARGET :
SH 171 - 12 x 10min OIII (WO) (2 hours tonight so 9 hours in Total for OIII)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 30th September 2011
START : 19:10 WEATHER : 20 DEG C - nn% Humidity
FINISH : 23:59 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Out again tonight. Grabbed some more OIII frames tonight. Amazing the weather is holding and that my equipment is behaving.
TARGET :
SH 171 - 21 x 10min OIII (WO) (3 hours tonight so 7 hours in Total for OIII)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 29th September 2011
START : 19:10 WEATHER : 20 DEG C - nn% Humidity
FINISH : 23:12 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Out again tonight. The run of fantastic weather (some 28deg during the day) is amazing so great for imaging too. Nice warm nights with darkness early on so it's dark enough at 7:30pm to start imaging. Going to grab some more OIII frames tonight. I need roughly 12-14 hours worth as I have 6-7 in Ha. So far I have 2 hours in total for OIII.
TARGET :
SH 171 - 12 x 10min OIII (WO) (2 hours tonight so 4 hours in Total for OIII)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 28th September 2011
START : 19:34 WEATHER : 22 DEG C - nn% Humidity
FINISH : 23:01 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Tried to get the built in guide chip on the SBIG working tonight and first time round it worked! Unbelievable. I checked with Ha then OIII and the guide stars were there. I finally landed up grabing some 2 hours in OIII not bad for a nights viewing.
TARGET :
SH 171 - 12 x 10min (600s) OIII (WO) (2 hours Total so far)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 27th September 2011
START : 19:32 WEATHER : 20 DEG C - 68% Humidity
FINISH : 22:25 WEATHER : 16 DEG C - 71% Humidity
UPDATE : Took 5 x 2min V Band images of M101 Supernova and then OII data for SH 171. I then ran into trouble. I could not see the guide stars I had the previous night. I am sure I could see them through OIII but now of course I am second guessing myself. I then tried through Ha , no guide stars, I then tried with L and they were there, the same guide stars in the same place. No idea why! So I then looked at the darks and bias that I was subtracting for the guider, re did them still no luck. Used the ones from the night before still no good. I had to also run at -15 rather than -20 tonight as the desiccant needs a good cook.
I then connected the off axis guider and after working out it was not working because I had not plugged it in (I was up the house at the time) I ran down to the dome and connected. I then tried to get the stars in focus (another 25 mins) and several grub screws later. I then struggled to get the guiding working, the usual thing of click on a guide star it reports no guide star found and thus does not track. Eventually I gave up and headed in for bed. I'll try again tomorrow night.
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - 5 x 2min Green (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 24th September 2011
START : 20:24 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 68% Humidity
FINISH : 22:33 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Took 5 x 2min V Band images of M101 Supernova and then OII data for SH 171. However, I left the setup imaging and went to watch some TV. When I returned after 1 hour I noticed to my horror that The Sky6 and Maxim had hung! I spent the next 25 mins trying to set back up when I noticed the clouds had rolled in! So I packed up and went to bed.
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - 5 x 2min Green (WO)
SH 171 - 4 x 10mins OII (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 17th-18th September 2011
START : 21:57 WEATHER : 10 DEG C - 70% Humidity
FINISH : 00:11 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Took 5 x 2min V Band images of M101 Supernova and then another 1.5 hours of Ha data for SH 171
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - 5 x 2min Green (WO)
SH 171 - 9 x 10mins Ha (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 14th-15th September 2011
START : 20:57 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 55% Humidity
FINISH : nn:nn WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Took 5 x 2min V Band images of M101 Supernova and another 1.5 hours of Ha data for SH 171
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - 3 x 2min Green (WO)
SH 171 - 9 x 10mins Ha (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 12th-13th September 2011
START : 20:38 WEATHER : 15 DEG C - 52% Humidity
FINISH : 21:47 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Took 14 x 2min V Band images of M101 Supernova
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - 3 x 2min Green (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 10th-11th September 2011
START : 21:15 WEATHER : 17 DEG C - 66% Humidity
FINISH : 21:47 WEATHER : 17 DEG C - 66% Humidity
UPDATE : Took 3 x 2min V Band images of M101 Supernova
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - 3 x 2min Green (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 1st-2nd September 2011
START : 21:39 WEATHER : 16 DEG C - 55% Humidity
FINISH : 02:51 WEATHER : 11 DEG C - 69% Humidity
UPDATE : Imaged SH 171 tonight and got 4 hours in Ha !!!! Everything worked including the guiding. I then used the
16" luminance sheet with the paper on to take 3s exposures for the flats. I need to place paper on the smaller sheet.
TARGET :
SH 171 - Ha - 5min x 48 (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 31st August 1st September 2011
START : 23:00 WEATHER : 11 DEG C - 64% Humidity
FINISH : 03:47 WEATHER : 09 DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Imaged M101 for the supernover tonight. I then moved on and took my first image of asteroid 24 Themis
for the BAA photometry programme this season. Next I took some images of SH 171 the so called Wolf named by
us several years back in Ha. The image over the period of an hour started to drift and some of the 5 min frames
had slightly elongated stars. I then setup guiding and changed the setting back to what they were before the 16" was
on the mount. I also stored the screen capture of the settings to the equipment page. By 3:30am the scope had got to
the meridian and I was too cold and tired to reset so I went to bed.
TARGET :
M101 Supernova - RGB - 4 x 5min subs for each filter (WO)
Asteroid 24 Themis V Filter - 3 x 2min subs (WO)
SH 171 - Ha - 5min, x 5-10ish (WO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 27th-28th August 2011
START : 21:20 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 60% Humidity
FINISH : 222:36 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 60% Humidity
UPDATE : I came out this evening to grab a frame for the supernova in M101 identiefied 2 days ago. Before
the clouds rolled in I managed to take a 30second exposure through the Green V band filter. It was enough
to get a magnitude reading of 12.21 through CCDSoft.
Below is the 30second exposure with the supernova identified at the intersection of the 2 small white lines.
Below is the photometry report from CCDSoft
TARGET :
M101 Supernova 30sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 21st-22nd August 2011
START : 21:27 WEATHER : 18 DEG C - 54% Humidity
FINISH : nn:33 WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Out tonight for an hour or so before bed as I have work tomorrow after my 2 weeks break. Typical that the
weather clears for a couple of nights when I am about to go back to work. Managed to sync on an incorrect star tonight
and because of the late hour I could not work out how to correct the problem so I went in frustrated.
TARGET :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 20th-21st August 2011
START : 22:07 WEATHER : 15 DEG C - 59% Humidity
FINISH : 00:33 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 64% Humidity
UPDATE : Out in dome trying to image. I took 1 frame of 5 mins for the Cocoon Nebula in L to see what it looked like
for another night as I was inspired by Tim's image. I then moved back to SH 171 and took around 20 images of which at
least half are cloud covered. Not a good session from a data collection point but good practice for this seasons imaging
none the less. I also think my focus was slightly out on the Ha filter. I need to correct this the next time I go out.
Totally clouded out now so going in.
TARGET :
IC 5146 Cocoon Nebula and Barnard 168 Dark Nebula (5min subs due to cloud) L
SH 171 - Ha - 5min, x 5-10ish
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 19th-20th August 2011
START : 21:07 WEATHER : 16 DEG C - 58% Humidity
FINISH : 22:19 WEATHER : n DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight I imaged 1 frame of SH 171 whilst waiting for NGC 281 The Pacman to come up behind the trees.
Unfortunately by the time I got the focus spot on and took 1 frame the clouds had rolled in! Typical.
TARGET :
SH - 171 (aka the Wolf) Ha 1 x 10min
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 14th-15th August 2011
START : 23:11 WEATHER : 12.5 DEG C - 64% Humidity
FINISH : 04:03 WEATHER : 9 DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : I have now sold the LX200 wedge and forks and taken the 16" off the mount ready for sale. I have remounted the Williams
on the ME and it does look rather funny such a small scope on a large mount. I also only need a 1Kg weight on the end of the extension
bar to counterbalance the WO and the filter wheel and SBIG.
This evening I have spent time getting the system working. It's amazing how quick you forget how to do things. 2 months have passed
since I have used the system and many more since I have used the Williams. I had to change the FOV in The Sky 6. I have changed the
camera setup in Maxim DL. I have managed to get Pinpoint working relatively easily. I have opended the .sky file without the TPoint map
and saved to a new Williams file. This allows Pinpoint to work. Also I noticed by chance this evening that when saving a Mosaic in The
Sky 6 that it was always offset by a few acrmins. Removing the TPoint model fxes this.
I decided this evening to test the setup on the Pacman nebula with the Ha filter. This was to prove more problematic than I first thought.
Firstly I could not get focus. I am out of practise manually focusing the Williams after using the lovely autofocus on the Moonlite on the
16". The adjustment within the focus range is very small. I slewed to the full Moon (I was pleased it was up for once!) and then focused
using 0.001s exposures using Ha. I then slewed to a star field and refocused slighlty.
I then gathered 3 test images of 10min subs through Ha. I then took some flats, this was a challenge as the wire coming out of the light
sheet caused a problem as it was shorting and in fact it took me som 30mins to find the power supply. Once it worked I needed to work
out the time for the exposure. I found that 2.9s gave a field value of 22,000 but 3s gave 41,000. No idea why. I took 19 frames at 2.9s
and 19 at 3s. I then tested on a frame and found it embossed it! After some time and lots of slow thought given the time in the morning,
I worked out the camera weight caused the draw tube to slip on the Williams!!!
After another hour or so I managed to find and download the Williams Optics Magrez 72mm manual and then locate the friction grub
screw on the drawtube. I then took another 20mins to find the right 2mm Allen key to adjust. Now the camera is held tight.....phew!
So the next clear night I will try my first real imaging run. Below is a 10min sub with no flat or dark applied. Promising. You can compare
it to the field of view and image on the Image Catalogue link.
TARGET :
NGC 281 - Pacman Nebula
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 1st-2nd April 2011
START : 18:41 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 53% Humidity
FINISH : 06:14 WEATHER : 11 DEG C - 71% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight we are attempting our first Observatory Messier Marathon. John, Bob and Tim are to image as many objects as possible using a 2min exposure. Due to my
long focal length I will be taking 3 images at 40seconds each and stacking. This is so I do not get trailing as I do not have time to setup autoguiding for each image. I have
setup a page to display each image shortly after I capture it HERE. This will be a rough align and stack of each 3 images.
The running order is in the Target list below and I will mark completed for each object successfully imaged.
And I bagged 75 !!!!! Now I'm tired. And so is John!
TARGET :
DATE : 6th-6th April 2011
START : 20:02 WEATHER : 15 DEG C - 44% Humidity
FINISH : 23:09 WEATHER : 12 DEG C - 48% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight I aim to image SH 274 in Ha. I did later manage to get a number of 5 and 10min frames however the first set were ruined by having the external LCD
switched on in the dome which caused a light gradient on the images. I will make sure i turn the monitor off from now on.
John came round and sat with me whilst I Skyped with Tim and spoke with Bob over Skype. Bob was having some trouble with his microphone which I hope he gets
fixed soon. John also helped me tune the X axis for the guiding that was +/- 2 and got it to +/- 0.8. The new setting is X 3.8 and Y 5.0
FOV Position Angle 57.32 deg
TARGET :
SH 274 - Medusa Nebula
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 7th-7th April 2011
START : 21:17 WEATHER : 15 DEG C - 56% Humidity
FINISH : nn:nn WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 62% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight I aim going to capture more images of SH 274 in Ha. I eventually captured some frames before a bank of cloud rolled in.
FOV Position Angle 57.32 deg
TARGET :
SH 274 - Medusa Nebula
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 8th-9th April 2011
START : 20:16 WEATHER : 16 DEG C - 48% Humidity
FINISH : nn:nn WEATHER : nn DEG C - nn% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight I aim to image SH 274 once again in Ha. I plan this evening to be my last for this object in Ha. I will then move on to SII and OII another night.
I have also realised that SH274 sets late evening for me so I can only take 1 hour or so of data before the seeing gets too bad due to the altitude.
I have decided to move onto another object for the rest of the evening until the next imaging night. I am now imaging with LRGB M101 which is pretty much
straight up for me. Below is a 10min L frame.
I now need 50min Green, 65min of Red and Blue. I was going to take them last night however I landed up having a major outage in the observatory.
FOV Position Angle 57.32 deg
TARGET :
SH 274 - Medusa Nebula 5 x 10mins and 6 x 5mins
M101 - Luminance 11 x 10mins and 10 x 5mins
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 12th-12th April 2011
START : 21:11 WEATHER : 10 DEG C - 52% Humidity
FINISH : 22:04 WEATHER : 10 DEG C - 54% Humidity
UPDATE : Tried to get a few hours data this evening however SII reveals nothing for SH 274, nor does OIII. I then tried Red for RGB and the Moon is too bright
caused partly by it's phased but also partly by it's position in relation to the object.
FOV Position Angle 57.32 deg
TARGET :
SH 274 - Medusa Nebula
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 24th-25th April 2011
START : 23:02 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 60% Humidity
FINISH : 00:03 WEATHER : 12 DEG C - 64% Humidity
UPDATE : I came out tonight to find the same problem as yesterday (I have not put a journal entry in for this as it was
disappointing) that is there is light cloud so the seeing is rubbish. Even an image in Luminance came out terrible of M101!
Below is the guide star reference for me.
Here are 3 images, 1 in Red from tonight, 1 in Luminance from tonight and 1 in Luminance from the other night. You can see the huge difference.
RED 10min
Luminance 10min
Luminance 10MIN from the other night!
FOV Position Angle 57.32 deg
TARGET :
M101
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 25th-25th April 2011
START : 21:172 WEATHER : 14 DEG C - 42% Humidity
FINISH : 23:32 WEATHER : 12 DEG C - 64% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight the cloud finally played ball and allowed me to capture Red frames. I took just over 1 hour. I will take
Blue and Green another night then maybe some more Ha.
I did try and get Pinpoint working tonight but no joy. If I can it means I can place the telescope exactly over the object
and then image the same field of view. I would need to apply the pinpoint (so tell the scope which direction to move to)
using a .sky file that did not include a TPoint model else it would try to correct it. I could them load up the usual Tpoint
model version of the sky file to carry on if needed.
Here is a sample Red frame.
TARGET :
M101 - Red 13 x 5mins
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 27th-28th April 2011
START : 21:04 WEATHER : 11 DEG C - 42% Humidity
FINISH : 00:14 WEATHER : 6 DEG C - 60% Humidity
UPDATE :A wonderfully clear night. I imaged M101 in Blue tonight with 65mins of images so 13 x 5mins. On the next
clear night I will gather the final 50mins in Green. Here is a sample Blue frame.
TARGET :
M101 - Blue 13 x 5mins
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 3rd-4th May 2011
START : 21:32 WEATHER : 9 DEG C - 38% Humidity
FINISH : 00:23 WEATHER : 4 DEG C - 54% Humidity
UPDATE : So clear tonight after a long weekend with the family. I am imaging M101 in Green this evening to finish off
the LRGB set for this wonderful galaxy. I may grab some more Luminance images at some point.
TARGET :
M101 - Green - 13 x 5mins although I only require 50mins worth of data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE : I have now had time to start processing M101. However it has been very challenging. I have continued to be plagued
by mirror flop. All but the luminance images have been affected. There is clearly a shift in the mirror between the first image I
have taken and the last image and subsequent Flat field the mirror shifts. The way in which it appears is an embossed set of
doughnuts in the image. This means I cannot produce an RGB image until I perform the major overhaul on the 16". I have
produced 2 rough and ready Luminance that can be seen below. I would also like to note that on taking the flats the luminance
sheet I use is not big enough and this causes me problems too with cut off doughnuts.
TARGET :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 1st June 2011
No. M# NGC# Con Type ra dec B dim d Completed? Time Uploaded
Image?
1. M77 1068 Cet 5 02 42.7 -00 01 8.9 7x6 60000 2. M74 628 Psc 5 01 36.7 +15 47 9.4 10.2x9.5 35000 3. M33 598 Tri 5 01 33.9 +30 39 5.7 73x45 3000 4. M31 224 And 5 00 42.7 +41 16 3.4 178x63 2900 5. M32 221 And 6 00 42.7 +40 52 8.1 8x6 2900 6. M110 205 And 6 00 40.4 +41 41 8.5 17x10 2900 7. M52 7654 Cas 1 23 24.2 +61 35 7.3 13.0 5.0 8. M103 581 Cas 1 01 33.2 +60 42 7.4 6.0 8.5 DONE 21:30 YES 9. M76 650 Per 3 01 42.4 +51 34 10.1 2.7x1.8 3.4 DONE 21:39 YES 10. M34 1039 Per 1 02 42.0 +42 47 5.5 35.0 1.4 DONE 21:24 YES 11. M45 - Tau 1 03 47.0 +24 07 1.6 110.0 0.38 DONE 20:48 NOT GOOD IMG 12. M79 1904 Lep 2 05 24.5 -24 33 7.7 8.7 42.1
13. M42 1976 Ori 4 05 35.4 -05 27 4.0 85x60 1.6 DONE 20:33 YES
14. M43 1982 Ori 4 05 35.6 -05 16 9.0 20x15 1.6 DONE 20:37 YES 15. M78 2068 Ori 4 05 46.7 +00 03 8.3 8x6 1.6 DONE 22:48 NOT GOOD IMG 16. M1 1952 Tau 9 05 34.5 +22 01 8.4 6x4 6.3 DONE 22:09 YES 17. M35 2168 Gem 1 06 08.9 +24 20 5.3 28.0 2.8 DONE 22:03 YES 18. M37 2099 Aur 1 05 52.4 +32 33 6.2 24.0 4.4 DONE 21:59 YES 19. M36 1960 Aur 1 05 36.1 +34 08 6.3 12.0 4.1 DONE 21:55 YES 20. M38 1912 Aur 1 05 28.4 +35 50 7.4 21.0 4.2 DONE 21:47 YES 21. M41 2287 CMa 1 06 46.0 -20 44 4.6 38.0 2.3 22. M93 2447 Pup 1 07 44.6 -23 52 6.0 22.0 3.6 23. M47 2422 Pup 1 07 36.6 -14 30 5.2 30.0 1.6 24. M46 2437 Pup 1 07 41.8 -14 49 6.0 27.0 5.4 25. M50 2323 Mon 1 07 03.2 -08 20 6.3 16.0 3 DONE 22:53 YES 26. M48 2548 Hya 1 08 13.8 -05 48 5.5 54.0 1.5 DONE 00:53 YES 27. M44 2632 Cnc 1 08 40.1 +19 59 3.7 95.0 0.577 DONE 23:02 YES 28. M67 2682 Cnc 1 08 50.4 +11 49 6.1 30.0 2.7 DONE 22:58 YES 29. M95 3351 Leo 5 10 44.0 +11 42 9.7 4.4x3.3 38000 DONE 23:40 YES 30. M96 3368 Leo 5 10 46.8 +11 49 9.2 6x4 38000 DONE 23:46 YES 31. M105 3379 Leo 6 10 47.8 +12 35 9.3 2.0 38000 DONE 23:51 YES 32. M65 3623 Leo 5 11 18.9 +13 05 9.3 8x1.5 35000 DONE 23:58 YES 33. M66 3627 Leo 5 11 20.2 +12 59 8.9 8x2.5 35000 DONE 00:06 YES 34. M81 3031 UMa 5 09 55.6 +69 04 6.9 21x10 12000 DONE 01:21 YES 35. M82 3034 UMa 7 09 55.8 +69 41 8.4 9x4 12000 DONE 01:13 YES 36. M97 3587 UMa 3 11 14.8 +55 01 9.9 3.4x3.3 2.6 DONE 01:34 YES 37. M108 3556 UMa 5 11 11.5 +55 40 10.0 8x1 45000 DONE 01:28 YES 38. M109 3992 UMa 5 11 57.6 +53 23 9.8 7x4 55000 DONE 01:42 YES 39. M40 Win4 UMa C 12 22.4 +58 05 8.4 0.8 0.51 DONE 01:48 YES 40. M106 4258 CVn 5 12 19.0 +47 18 8.4 19x8 25000 DONE 01:54 YES 41. M94 4736 CVn 5 12 50.9 +41 07 8.2 7x3 14500 DONE 01:59 YES 42. M63 5055 CVn 5 13 15.8 +42 02 8.6 10x6 37000 DONE 02:05 YES 43. M51 5194 CVn 5 13 29.9 +47 12 8.4 11x7 37000 DONE 02:14 YES 44. M101 5457 UMa 5 14 03.2 +54 21 7.9 22.0 27000 DONE 03:16 YES 45. M102? 5866 Dra 8 15 06.5 +55 46 9.9 5.2x2.3 40000 DONE 03:16 46. M53 5024 Com 2 13 12.9 +18 10 7.6 12.6 59.7 DONE 03:23 YES 47. M64 4826 Com 5 12 56.7 +21 41 8.5 9.3x5.4 19000 DONE 03:28 48. M3 5272 CVn 2 13 42.2 +28 23 6.2 16.2 33.9 DONE 03:33 YES 49. M98 4192 Com 5 12 13.8 +14 54 10.1 9.5x3.2 60000 DONE 03:38 50. M99 4254 Com 5 12 18.8 +14 25 9.9 5.4x4.8 60000 DONE 03:41 51. M100 4321 Com 5 12 22.9 +15 49 9.3 7x6 60000 DONE 03:45 52. M85 4382 Com 8 12 25.4 +18 11 9.1 7.1x5.2 60000 DONE 03:48 53. M84 4374 Vir 8 12 25.1 +12 53 9.1 5.0 60000 DONE 02:29 YES 54. M86 4406 Vir 8 12 26.2 +12 57 8.9 7.5x5.5 60000 DONE 02:33 55. M87 4486 Vir 6 12 30.8 +12 24 8.6 7.0 60000 DONE 02:43 56. M89 4552 Vir 6 12 35.7 +12 33 9.8 4.0 60000 DONE 02:46 57. M90 4569 Vir 5 12 36.8 +13 10 9.5 9.5x4.5 60000 DONE 02:51 58. M88 4501 Com 5 12 32.0 +14 25 9.6 7x4 60000 DONE 02:55 59. M91 4548 Com 5 12 35.4 +14 30 10.2 5.4x4.4 60000 DONE 02:59 YES 60. M58 4579 Vir 5 12 37.7 +11 49 9.7 5.5x4.5 60000 DONE 03:03 YES 61. M59 4621 Vir 6 12 42.0 +11 39 9.6 5x3.5 60000 DONE 03:06 62. M60 4649 Vir 6 12 43.7 +11 33 8.8 7x6 60000 DONE 03:11 63. M49 4472 Vir 6 12 29.8 +08 00 8.4 9x7.5 60000 DONE 02:24 YES 64. M61 4303 Vir 5 12 21.9 +04 28 9.7 6x5.5 60000 DONE 00:37 YES 65. M104 4594 Vir 5 12 40.0 -11 37 8.0 9x4 50000 DONE 00:31 YES 66. M68 4590 Hya 2 12 39.5 -26 45 7.8 12.0 33.3 DONE 00:27 YES 67. M83 5236 Hya 5 13 37.0 -29 52 7.6 11x10 15000 68. M5 5904 Ser 2 15 18.6 +02 05 5.6 17.4 24.5 DONE 05:09 69. M13 6205 Her 2 16 41.7 +36 28 5.8 16.6 25.1 70. M92 6341 Her 2 17 17.1 +43 08 6.4 11.2 26.7 71. M57 6720 Lyr 3 18 53.6 +33 02 8.8 1.4x1.0 2.3 DONE 05:35 72. M56 6779 Lyr 2 19 16.6 +30 11 8.3 7.1 32.9 DONE 05:29 73. M29 6913 Cyg 1 20 23.9 +38 32 7.1 7.0 4.0 DONE 05:25 74. M39 7092 Cyg 1 21 32.2 +48 26 4.6 32.0 0.825 DONE 05:19 75. M27 6853 Vul 3 19 59.6 +22 43 7.4 8.0x5.7 1.25 76. M71 6838 Sge 2 19 53.8 +18 47 8.2 7.2 12.7 77. M107 6171 Oph 2 16 32.5 -13 03 7.9 10.0 20.9 DONE 04:09 NOT GOOD IMG 78. M12 6218 Oph 2 16 47.2 -01 57 6.7 14.5 16.0 DONE 05:54 79. M10 6254 Oph 2 16 57.1 -04 06 6.6 15.1 14.4 DONE 05:52
M14 = 05:49 81. M9 6333 Oph 2 17 19.2 -18 31 7.7 9.3 26.7 DONE 04:15 NOT GOOD IMG 82. M4 6121 Sco 2 16 23.6 -26 32 5.6 26.3 7.2 DONE 03:54 NOT GOOD IMG 83. M80 6093 Sco 2 16 17.0 -22 59 7.3 8.9 32.6 DONE 04:06 NOT GOOD IMG 84. M19 6273 Oph 2 17 02.6 -26 16 6.8 13.5 28.4 DONE 04:02 NOT GOOD IMG 85. M62 6266 Oph 2 17 01.2 -30 07 6.5 14.1 22.5 DONE 03:58 NOT GOOD IMG 86. M6 6405 Sco 1 17 40.1 -32 13 5.3 25.0 2 87. M7 6475 Sco 1 17 53.9 -34 49 4.1 80.0 0.8 88. M11 6705 Sct 1 18 51.1 -06 16 6.3 14.0 6 DONE 05:44 89. M26 6694 Sct 1 18 45.2 -09 24 8.0 15.0 5 DONE 05:41 90. M16 6611 Ser 1 18 18.8 -13 47 6.4 7.0 7 DONE 04:57 91. M17 6618 Sgr 4 18 20.8 -16 11 7.0 11.0 5 DONE 04:53 YES 92. M18 6613 Sgr 1 18 19.9 -17 08 7.5 9.0 4.9 DONE 04:48 93. M24 >6603 Sgr B 18 16.9 -18 29 4.6 90 10 94. M25 I4725 Sgr 1 18 31.6 -19 15 6.5 40.0 2 DONE 04:45 95. M23 6494 Sgr 1 17 56.8 -19 01 6.9 27.0 2.15 DONE 04:17 NGI 96. M21 6531 Sgr 1 18 04.6 -22 30 6.5 13.0 4.25 DONE 04:21 NGI 97. M20 6514 Sgr 4 18 02.6 -23 02 9.0 28.0 5.2 DONE 04:19 YES 98. M8 6523 Sgr 4 18 03.8 -24 23 6.0 90x40 5.2 DONE 04:26 NGI 99. M28 6626 Sgr 2 18 24.5 -24 52 6.8 11.2 18.6 100. M22 6656 Sgr 2 18 36.4 -23 54 5.1 24.0 10.4 101. M69 6637 Sgr 2 18 31.4 -32 21 7.6 7.1 28.0 102. M70 6681 Sgr 2 18 43.2 -32 18 7.9 7.8 29.4 103. M54 6715 Sgr 2 18 55.1 -30 29 7.6 9.1 88.7 104. M55 6809 Sgr 2 19 40.0 -30 58 6.3 19.0 17.6 105. M75 6864 Sgr 2 20 06.1 -21 55 8.5 6.0 61.3 106. M15 7078 Peg 2 21 30.0 +12 10 6.2 12.3 33.6 107. M2 7089 Aqr 2 21 33.5 -00 49 6.5 12.9 37.9 108. M72 6981 Aqr 2 20 53.5 -12 32 9.3 5.9 55.4 109. M73 6994 Aqr A 20 58.9 -12 38 9.0 2.8 2.0 110. M30 7099 Cap 2 21 40.4 -23 11 7.2 11.0 26.1
Key:
Type:
1=Open Cluster, 2=Globular Cluster, 3=Planetary Nebula, 4=Diffuse Nebula, 5=Spiral Galaxy, 6=Elliptical Galaxy, 7=Irregular Galaxy, 8=Lenticular (S0) Galaxy, 9=Supernova Remnant, A=Group or Asterism of Four stars, B=Star Cloud, C=Double Star
ra:
right ascension in hours minutes.decimal seconds
dec:
declination in degrees minutes
B:
apparent visual brightness in magnitudes
dim:
apparent (angular) dimension in arc minutes
d:
distance in kilo-light-years
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 28th-28th March 2011
START : 20:16 WEATHER : 4 DEG C - 54% Humidity
FINISH : 21:52 WEATHER : 1 DEG C - 69% Humidity
UPDATE : Tried to take a photo of the Horse Head nebula tonight but high level cloud and the setting of Orion stopped me. Also I have had issues with getting my guiding
working with the Loadstar. When I click on the star it does not appear. To select it I must move around 10 pixel top left of the star so to 10 o'clock of the star. Not sure why
this happens even after I have updated the software.
TARGET :
Horse Head
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 19th-20th March 2011
START : 21:36 WEATHER : 4 DEG C - 54% Humidity
FINISH : 00:05 WEATHER : 1 DEG C - 69% Humidity
UPDATE : Trouble shooting the Guider error messages. Steps taken as follows.
1) Changed back to SBIG internal chip - No change error still IMAGE CALLIBRATION FAILED. THE BRIGHTEST PIXEL IS LESS THAN 64 PIXELS FROM EDGE
2) Changed TRACK BOX SIZE from 128 x 128 or 64 x64 to either 32 x 32 or 16x16. - THE BRIGHTEST PIXEL error goes away. Still have CALLIBRATION FAILED message
3) Changed Camera Binning on Guide Tab then Settings button from 2 to 3. The Image Callibration error has gone!
This means both errors can now be accounted for especially as I took the Guider Darks and Bias at 3 x Binning. I will now try the new camera.
New camera still has the Image callibration error.
1) Changed to Camera 2 for on the EXPOSE tab when taking the Guider Darks and Bias frames! This was the problem. Now the calibration error goes away.
Still had the problem when I did try to track that the star was not apparent and the error was FADED with a large error ion X and Y.
1) Changed the TRACK BOX SIZE back to 64 x64. It worked!!!!!!
Took 4 successful images of the Eskimo PLN before the clouds rolled in. Below is a very rough processed image of 20mins.
TARGET :
Eskimo - 4 x 5min in Ha
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 18th-19th March 2011
START : 20:32 WEATHER : 0 DEG C - 62% Humidity
FINISH : 00:26 WEATHER : 0 DEG C - 63% Humidity
UPDATE : I attempted to setup autoguiding with the new Lodestar camera tonight without much success.
TARGET :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 10th-11th March 2011
START : 21:26 WEATHER : 6 DEG C - 62% Humidity
FINISH : 00:03 WEATHER : 6 DEG C - 66% Humidity
UPDATE : I came out tonight to capture the last 4 asteroids on the list since I imaged the first 3 a few nights back. I imaged 830 then 632 before I took a 1 hour break. This was because
the next two were too low down to image at 10pm. At 11:20pm i cam back out and imaged 361. Although still relatively low it was observable. 528 was still too faint and I am not convinced
stacking will help. I tried to get a guide star however though the V filter the star I had disappeared.
Details for TheSky6 :-
Rotate Tool - 302.45 OR 122.47
TARGET :
(62) Erato -
(283) Emma -
(334) Chicago -
(361) Bononia - DONE
(518) Halawe -
(632) Pyrrha - DONE
(830) Petropolitana - DONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 7th-8th March 2011
START : 21:22 WEATHER : 2 DEG C - 52% Humidity
FINISH : 22:34 WEATHER : 0.5 DEG C - 56% Humidity
UPDATE : I only had 1 hour tonight so I captured the first 3 asteroids again. If I manage to come out tomorrow I will capture the last 4.
Details for TheSky6 :-
Rotate Tool - 302.45 OR 122.47
TARGET :
(62) Erato - DONE
(283) Emma - DONE
(334) Chicago - DONE
(361) Bononia -
(518) Halawe -
(632) Pyrrha -
(830) Petropolitana -
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 2nd-3rd March 2011
START : 21:19 WEATHER : 1 DEG C - 65% Humidity
FINISH : 00:12 WEATHER : -0.5 DEG C - 71% Humidity
UPDATE : Came out tonight and captured some more asteroids for the NeilBone2 project. It is amazing that all goes well if you come out on a regular basis. Maybe the whole telescope system
just misses me? Anyway, it's pretty cold (it is actually freezing my pants off as I type) and I have captured 5 of the 7 asteroids. The other 2 are too low (around altitude 16) to really make any
sensible measurements and especially given the seeing is fairly rubbish this evening.
Details for TheSky6 :-
Rotate Tool - 302.45 OR 122.47
TARGET :
(62) Erato - DONE
(283) Emma - DONE
(334) Chicago - DONE
(361) Bononia - TOO LOW
(518) Halawe - TOO LOW
(632) Pyrrha - DONE
(830) Petropolitana - DONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 26th-27th February 2011
START : 21:45 WEATHER : 4 DEG C - 65% Humidity
FINISH : 02:25 WEATHER : 3 DEG C - 67% Humidity
UPDATE : Well it had been a terrible month for observing. I was in Germany then the US for a total of 2 weeks and then when I arrived back it was cloudy! So after a full day of DIY I thought it would
be a refreshing change to go down the observatory and capture some more data points for Richard Miles. It went really well. John M came round after the first hour and stayed until just gone 1pm.
The skies were crystal clear and I managed to bag ALL of the asteroids.
It took an hour for me to setup as I tested out the StarlightXpress camera first. This worked ok, however it looked like it was interlaced at 1 x binning. Not sure why so I will need to look into it. Once my
birthday comes I will have the offaxis guider assembly that I purchased at Astrofest. I'm really looking forwards to that as I will be able to image in narrow band through the 16" for the first time!
Details for TheSky6 :-
Rotate Tool - 302.45 OR 122.47
TARGET :
(62) Erato - DONE
(283) Emma - DONE
(334) Chicago - DONE
(361) Bononia - DONE
(518) Halawe - DONE
(632) Pyrrha - DONE
(830) Petropolitana - DONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 20th-21st January 2011
START : 03:59 WEATHER : -1 DEG C - 70% Humidity
FINISH : 05:22 WEATHER : -1 DEG C - 75% Humidity
UPDATE : Tonight I managed to go out and image Minor Planet 361. I awoke with a headache and going down to the observatory helps due to the high humidity outside. Because of the lateness of my observing 361 Bononia was up and observable.
Details for TheSky6 :-
FOV Position Angle - 263.25
Rotate Tool - 96.75
TARGET :
(62) Erato - too low
(283) Emma - too low
(334) Chicago - too low
(361) Bononia - DONE @ 4:40am
(518) Halawe - too faint mag 16.5 no guide star
(632) Pyrrha - too faint mag 16.1 no guide star
(830) Petropolitana - not viewed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE : 18th-19h January 2011
START : 19:54 WEATHER : 2 DEG C - 65% Humidity
FINISH : 00:28 WEATHER : 0.5 DEG C - 70% Humidity
UPDATE : Went out again tonight to capture some more data for the BAA project NeilBone2/ Below is data relevant to TheSky6.
FOV Position Angle - 263.25
Rotate Tool - 96.75
TARGET :
(62) Erato - DONE @ 9:05pm
(283) Emma - DONE @ 9:10pm
(334) Chicago - DONE @ 9:15pm
(361) Bononia - not visible
(518) Halawe - not visible
(632) Pyrrha - not visible
(830) Petropolitana - DONE @ 11pm
Google Sites
Report abuse