Journal 2016

IMAGES ACQUIRED

NIGHTLY JOURNAL

DATE : 26th-27th December 2016

START : 19:13 WEATHER : Out 2.0 DEG C - In 2.8 DEG C - xx % Rel/Humidity - Moon - xx% Waining Alt xx deg

FINISH : 02:51 WEATHER : Out 0 DEG C x In 0 DEG C -88 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Boxing Day today and it's clear! So I'm out imaging NGC 7331 the galaxy I have Luminance for already. I'll grab some RGB frames hopefully before it sets. It transpires that the best image opportunity is just off the frame. So I may come back to this and create a mosaic.

I once again for this galaxy slewed to GSC 2743:2421 and then jogged the scope up one or twice.

So not having much luck this evening. I have struggled to get good focus. The autofocus on TheSkyX does not produce a nice U or V shape graph. I have tried Red and Clear and changed the range over which the autofocus uses. I have also tried different stars. Eventually I have given up on NGC 7331 as it was by this time too low and I have moved to the Flame nebula in Orion. I am now taking RGB frames for this.

I then moved on to M81 to take some RGB frames as after performing a meridian flip, I could not get plate solved on the Flame.

Slew to target - Y

Focus run on clear - N

Confirm guide star - N

Take 60s confirmation image - N

Start image run - N

Flats - Clear - N

Darks - N

Bias - N

Focus - Red

- 37,203 @ 19:30 & MEII Ambient Temp

- 35,146 @ 20:21 & MEII Ambient Temp 5.6

Focus - Clear

- 35,865 @ 22:46 & MEII Ambient Temp 4.7

TARGET :

NGC 7331 Galaxy - 12 x 300s R

NGC 7331 Galaxy - 2 x 300s G

Flame Nebula - 12 x 300s R

M81 Galaxy - 10 G

M81 Galaxy - 10 R

NEXT SESSION:

NGC 7331 before 11pm

Flame Nebula after 11pm

M81 Galaxy - Anytime

then

NGC 2903 - After 1am

M43 - After Midnight

-------------------------

DATE : 3rd-4th December 2016

START : 23:07 WEATHER : Out 0.7 DEG C - In 4.2 DEG C - xx % Rel/Humidity - Moon - xx% Waining Alt xx deg

FINISH : 01:34 WEATHER : Out 0 DEG C x In 0 DEG C - 77 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Tonight was the BAS Christmas dinner and I arrived back to find lovely clear skies. I have therefore decided to go out and take a couple of hours data of the Flame Nebula.

Slew to target - Y

Focus run on clear - Y

Confirm guide star - Y

Take 60s confirmation image - Y

Start image run - Y

Flats - Clear - Y

Darks - Y

Bias - N

Focus - Clear

- 37,135 @ 23:06 & MEII Ambient Temp 6.7

TARGET :

Flame Nebula - 11 x 600s L

NEXT SESSION:

NGC 7331 before 11pm

Flame Nebula after 11pm

NGC 2903 - After 1am

M43 - After Midnight

-------------------------

DATE : 29th- 30th November 2016

START : 19:23 WEATHER : Out xx DEG C - In xx DEG C - xx % Rel/Humidity - Moon - xx% Waining Alt xx deg

FINISH : 00:58 WEATHER : Out -3 DEG C x In -2 DEG C - 77 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Crescent nebula tongiht. I have not imaged since collimating the scope. I have some old pre collimated data in Ha, Red and Green from December 2014 that I will supplement. I'll take 6 x 10mins of Blue and then I can get on and process. I noted I have enough data to process the Fireworks galaxy now too so I no longer need any data.

So it's now 9pm and I have finished on the Crescent and moved to a new target. I was going to look at NGC 2903, however this does not rise nor is it visible above the tree line until about 1am. As for M42 it is not high enough in the sky at my above 30deg altitude until midnight. I have therefore decide to take a look at NGC 7331 which was imaged by someone I follow on Flickr and looks like a nice galaxy in Pegasus. I will be able to image for about 3.5 hours this evening in Clear. This puts the galaxy at just above 30deg altitude. I'll then call it a night.

I moved the scope around a bit to try and frame the galaxy so to capture the other smaller group of galaxies in the vicinity. I settled on centring the star GSC 2743:2421 and then jogged the scope down once at x16 speed to get a guide star just off the bottom. The galaxy is also commonly known as Caldwell 30 and Herschel 53-1

I also took a quick snap of the flame nebula to see what it looked like.

Slew to target - Y

Focus run on clear - Y

Confirm guide star - Y

Take 60s confirmation image - Y

Start image run - Y

Flats - B & Clear - Y

Darks - Y

Bias -

Focus - Blue

- 39,298 @ 19:21 & MEII Ambient Temp 3.3

Focus - Clear

- 38,256 @ 21:00 & MEII Ambient Temp 1.4

TARGET :

Crescent Nebula B - 6 x 10 mins

NGC 7331 Galaxy - L - 10 x 10 mins

Flame Nebula - test

NEXT SESSION:

NGC 7331

NGC 2903 - After 1am

M43 - After Midnight

-------------------------

DATE : 28th November 2016

START : 21:50 WEATHER : Out 0.2 DEG C - In 0.7 DEG C - 55 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - xx% Waining Alt xx deg

FINISH : 23:53 WEATHER : Out -1 DEG C x In -0.7 DEG C - 77 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Although a work night it is very clear and I thought I would take a chance of getting the remaining Blue data for M33 before the Moon is in the way and the weather changes.

Slew to target - Y

Focus run on clear - Y

Confirm guide star - Y

Take 60s confirmation image - Y

Start image run - Y

Flats - B - Y

Darks - Y

Bias - N

Focus - Blue

- 39,165 @ 20:49 & MEII Ambient Temp 4.2

TARGET :

M33 B - 8 x 10 mins ( and 4 from the last time I was out that are of good quality)

NEXT SESSION:

NGC 2903

Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946

M43

-------------------------

DATE : 25th-26th November 2016

START : 17:18 WEATHER : Out 6.1 DEG C - In 7.1 DEG C - 77 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 12% Waining Alt -17 deg

FINISH : 03:38 WEATHER : Out 2.6 DEG C x In 3.2 DEG C - 95 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Attempting to image M33 tonight asa I have very little data so far and it was of poor quality. I have struggled with a guide star so have now found one if I slew to UCAC4 604:4115. That did not work either as then I had M33 in the corner and it's a large galaxy in my scope. So recentred and then jogged the scope left <---- twice at 16x speed to find a guid star to the bottom right come into view.

Ok, so after taking 3 images in clear I realised that I had taken the luminance data already last December! So I have decide to take RGB data for M33 which I noted in this very journal in February.......

Also to note is that if I let M33 go to the other side of the meridian then I get a guide star. This mean I have to wait until 10pm.

The good news was that John Murphy, Mil Dave and Paul Cabrelli were out imaging too so we all joined in on Skype throughout the night. It made for a very enjoyable evening indeed. It was Mil Dave that once again found a new object to image in NGC 2903 that I will go for whilst I want to also revisit and collect further data on the Fireworks galaxy.

Slew to target - Y

Focus run on clear - Y

Confirm guide star - Y

Take 60s confirmation image - Y

Start image run - Y

Flats - RGB -Y

Darks - Y

Bias - N

Focus - Clear

- 29,997 @ 18:55 & MEII Ambient Temp 9.7

- 37,423 @ 20:49 & MEII Ambient Temp 7.8

TARGET :

M33 R&G - 12 x 10mins

M33 B - 6 x 12 mins but need to check quality as M33 was getting low.

NEXT SESSION:

NGC 2903

Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946

-------------------------

DATE : 5th-6th November 2016

START : 17:30 WEATHER : Out 3.1 DEG C - In 3.3 DEG C - 66 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - xx% Waxing Alt -30 deg

FINISH : 03:15 WEATHER : Out 0.7 DEG C x In 1.3 DEG C - 86 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

M31 again tonight centred on (GSC 2805:2135) to try and grab the rest of the luminance frames and RGB.

It's now 8:45pm and I have captured 14 really good quality sharp luminance frames at 10mins each. I found imaging for 40-50mins at a time and then checking the dome is fine. Also I am now using CCDInspector live to review the FWHM which is below 3.

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear - DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image - DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats - DONE

Darks - NO

Bias - NO

Focus - Clear

- 38,525 @ 17:30

Focus - Red

- 38,045 @ 21:45

TARGET :

M31 L - 18 x 10mins - RGB 8 x 10min eachchannel

QSI

M31

Flats -

Darks -

NEXT SESSION:

New object

-------------------------

DATE : 4th-5th November 2016

START : 23:23 WEATHER : Out 4.3 DEG C - In 7.9 DEG C - 66 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 23% Waxing Alt -30 deg

FINISH : 04:18 WEATHER : Out 3.3 DEG C x In 3.7 DEG C - 90 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

M31 tonight targeting on UCAC3 263:5827 for a test then moved to GSC 2805:2135 and took the image set for tonight. Problem was that I should have refocused after the first hour as the images became progressively worse. Not sure if this was focus or seeing though I suspect focus. Here is the CCD Inspector report (and I should have this running all night) anything over 4.0 on the FWHM is no good

Image File FWHM Aspect (%) Background (adu) Contrast Ratio Altitude Date & Time

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010487.fit 5.90" 17 1270 73.69 +34º 33' 47" 11/05/16 03:23:34

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010486.fit 5.98" 15 1185 74.11 +36º 01' 20" 11/05/16 03:13:19

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010485.fit 5.66" 12 1179 73.83 +37º 30' 02" 11/05/16 03:03:04

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010484.fit 5.38" 17 1172 74.50 +38º 59' 43" 11/05/16 02:52:49

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010483.fit 5.57" 20 1171 73.66 +40º 30' 19" 11/05/16 02:42:34

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010482.fit 5.68" 14 1179 74.06 +42º 01' 58" 11/05/16 02:32:18

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010481.fit 4.80" 18 1171 72.96 +43º 34' 19" 11/05/16 02:22:03

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010480.fit 4.71" 27 1153 72.26 +45º 07' 31" 11/05/16 02:11:47

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010479.fit 4.46" 28 1120 72.90 +46º 41' 38" 11/05/16 02:01:30

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010478.fit 4.47" 21 1111 73.19 +48º 16' 06" 11/05/16 01:51:15

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010477.fit 4.66" 21 1121 73.03 +49º 51' 07" 11/05/16 01:41:00

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010476.fit 4.86" 18 1130 72.91 +51º 26' 31" 11/05/16 01:30:44

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010475.fit 4.91" 16 1143 72.98 +53º 02' 17" 11/05/16 01:20:29

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010474.fit 5.13" 18 1139 73.21 +54º 38' 27" 11/05/16 01:10:14

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010473.fit 4.77" 20 1131 72.88 +56º 14' 44" 11/05/16 00:59:59

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010472.fit 3.65" 16 1119 73.81 +57º 51' 14" 11/05/16 00:49:43

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010471.fit 3.24" 12 1100 74.63 +59º 27' 46" 11/05/16 00:39:28

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010470.fit 3.14" 11 1097 75.10 +61º 04' 11" 11/05/16 00:29:13

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010469.fit 3.09" 12 1095 75.09 +62º 40' 21" 11/05/16 00:18:58

GSC 2805_2135Clear600.000secs00010468.fit 3.04" 10 1089 75.55 +64º 16' 06" 11/05/16 00:08:43

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear -

Confirm guide star -

Take 60s confirmation image -

Start image run -

Flats - YES

Darks - YES

Bias - YES

Focus - Clear

- 42,476 @ 12am

TARGET :

M31 L - Took 20 x 10min but only 5 are any good

QSI

M31

Flats -

Darks -

NEXT SESSION:

M31 L

-------------------------

DATE : 2nd-3rd September 2016

START : 23:36 WEATHER : Out 14.4 DEG C - In 15.6 DEG C - 86 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 1% Waxing Alt -xx deg

FINISH : 00:48 WEATHER : Out 13.7 DEG C x In 14.9 DEG C - 84 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Came out because it looked clear tonight after gonig to the pub with Bob and John, however the after taking 2 x 10min subs in clear, it was apparent the seeing/transparency was rubbish so I have packed up for tonight.

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear -DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image - DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats -

Darks -

Bias -

Focus - Clear

- 35,529 @ 12am

Focus - Clear

- 34,465

TARGET :

Fireworks Galaxy

QSI

NGC 6946 - L - 12 x 10mins (2 hours)

NGC 6946 - RGB - 6 x 5mins (each channel is 30mins)

Flats - 10 x each channel LRGB

Darks - 6 x 5min and 12 x 10min

600D

NGC 6964 200mm lens - 30 x 3min (1.5 hours)

Flats - DONE

Bias - 30 x 1/4000s

Darks - 20 x 3min

NEXT SESSION:

-------------------------

DATE : 6th-6th August 2016

START : 22:15 WEATHER : Out 14.7DEG C - In 17.9 DEG C - 62 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 9% Waxing Alt -xx deg

FINISH : 03:22 WEATHER : Out 13.0 DEG C x In 14.0 DEG C - 92 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

So first time out since April 29th and since I have returned from a successful trip to Tenerife with Bob, Ian, Alan and Paul. I'll image the only galaxy I can find that is interesting this evening. It's about the horizon and around for the few hours I have until it starts to get light around 2:45am.

At 1pm I performed a merridian flip and after now gathering 2 hours of luminance data I decided to get 30min of RGB data. I performed a focus run on Red and then proceeded to take 6 images of 5mins each for colour.

I also took 30 or so 3min images on the Canon 600D witht he 200mm lens in the same direction. I will see how they turn out. Depending on the quality of this image from both the Canon and the QSI I may use the next night out to take some more data.

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear - DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image - DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats - DONE

Darks - DONE

Bias - DONE

Focus - Clear

- 32,667

Focus - Clear

- 34,465

TARGET :

Fireworks Galaxy

QSI

NGC 6946 - L - 12 x 10mins (2 hours)

NGC 6946 - RGB - 6 x 5mins (each channel is 30mins)

Flats - 10 x each channel LRGB

Darks - 6 x 5min and 12 x 10min

600D

NGC 6964 200mm lens - 30 x 3min (1.5 hours)

Flats - DONE

Bias - 30 x 1/4000s

Darks - 20 x 3min

NEXT SESSION:

-------------------------

2nd July through to 7th July TENERIFE HOLIDAY

Night 1

2nd - 3rd July

Prawn included 20 x 30s @ 3200 ISO - DONE

Darks -30 ISO 3200 - DONE

Bias - 50 ISO 3200 - DONE

Darks -30 ISO 1600 -

Bias - 50 ISO 1600 - DONE

Notes - So it takes about 1 hour to get to the observing site. We pitched up in a block paved area near the observatories on the main road. We met a nice chap who was a Doctor called Shane and viewed loads of objects through his Teeter 11” compact Dob which was superb. He took us on a tour of Saturn, Mars, Dumbbell, Veil, M51, M101, Swan, Lagoon and much more. Just Alan, myself and Paul Cabelli tonight. We packed up and left around 4:15am as we were very tired. We arrived at 21:13 hours to start the session. We noted that the road was fairly busy with cars all night which was not ideal.

Night 2

3rd - 4th July

Darks - 20 ISO 1600 - 3am

Notes - Tonight we observed from the Mirador next to the observatories just off the main road on the road leading to the observatories. Started with Blue Horsehead IC 4592 last night. I could not see it in a single 30s frame but assured myself it would be visible when stacked. A bunch of Spanish locals were up the mountain. They crowded round behind my laptop looking at my background. I decided to show them Jupiter live through the camera and then some of my images from previous visits. They were very impressed and stayed for a long while talking to me. Later I imaged IC 1396 Elephants Trunk and this was visible in a single image, just! I took a few shots if the observatories on the ridge above us and one of star trails over Teide. Lastly I took an image of M31.

Night 3

4th - 5th July

Jupiter for Juno (Straight away) - 200mm - DONE

Sag Star Cloud - 200mm x 3 frames - 1hr each - DONE

Pluto - 200mm - 3200 ISO - DONE

Eagle Nebula & Swan Nebula - 200mm - 1hr - DONE

M33 - 200mm - 1hr - DONE

Notes - So a really good night and fairly warm at 14-15 deg C call night. Little bit of wind over a few points of the night but ok for imaging. We pitched up at the same mirador as yesterday by the observatories. I tried to start processing a few images and quickly ran out of space. The problem is for 2 hours of an image thats around 240 images at 30 seconds which causes a problem. I need to buy a new memory card. We all had a good time and I got through a lot of images but went back to 1 hour to fit more in. I can always come back again! The Sagittarius Star Cloud images of which I now have 3 frames, only need 1 hour as they are so bright. We were at the same place as the night before with nobody up there now, so next to the LAB. SOLAR telescope.

Night 4

5th - 6th July

Sunset - DONE

1.4 day old moon - DONE

Virgo Galaxy Cluster around M81 - 200mm (before 1pm) - DONE

Pluto - 200mm - 3200 ISO - (same as yesterday) - DONE

M51 - 200mm - DONE

M101 - 200mm - DONE

Heart and Soul - 200mm (After 3am) - 30min DONE

NGC 7862 7822? & NGC 7762 - 200mm (after 3am) - 30 min DONE

Notes - back to the Mirador at the observatories again tonight. I decided to image galaxies tonight, firstly in the Virgo constellation then on to M51 and M101. Imaging the Heart and Soul nebula I was surprised it filled my frame if the DSLR. I took my obligatory Pluto image, 30s single frame. Finally I finished the evening with imaging NGC 7762 and 7822 which when processed should prove to be interesting objects.

Night 5

6th - 7th July

Rock Milky Way shots - 18mm and 40mm lens - DONE

Microscopium - 40mm - 30min - DONE

Capricorn (M30) - 40mm - 30 min - DONE

Scutum - 40mm - 30mm - DONE

Notes - tonight we went up to the rocks enroute to Teide and just past the restaurants. We spent time, four of us without Bob who went back to the Mirador we used the night before, imaging single shot of the Milky Way and rocks in the foreground with the 18-55mm kit lens. We then practised and experimented with sign writing. After that we went back to imaging ourselves and I spent time on single images up the Milky Way as far as I could with the mount. I did this with the 40mm fixed Pancake lens I borrowed from Paul. Paul meanwhile took a quick 2.5min exposure if Pluto for Alan and I. Next I took some images of Saturn to the left and Mars to the right over Antares. Once this was finished I moved to imaging the 3 constellations in. 30min bursts for Capricon, Microscopium and Scutum. I notes that overall this trip, apart from the first cold night down at 8deg c, most nights were down to 12-14 deg c and some starting at 19deg c. There was some wind Wright gusts up to 26km/s periodically over the night. We (Alan and I ) were up the mountain by 8:45 most nights and packed up at 5am heading down the mountain at 5:30am. We arrived back at the car park some 55min latter at 6:30ish in time for 7am breakfast.

-------------------------

DATE : 29th April 2016

START : 23:27 WEATHER : Out 12.7DEG C - In 5.9 DEG C - 62 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 52% Waining Alt -27 deg

FINISH : 03:41 WEATHER : Out 1.1 DEG C x In 2.8 DEG C - 72 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Trying again due to cloud the last time I was out

Starting on M109 tonight and then when M101 clears the meridian I'll take some Blue and Luminance for M109 and just Luminance for M101

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear - DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image - DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats - DONE

Darks - In Progress

Focus - Clear

- 41,525

TARGET :

M101 - L - 15 x 5mins

M109 - L - 12 x 5mins & Blue - 12 x 5mins

Flats - 10? x L & B

Darks - 12? x 5min

NEXT SESSION:

M101 - L,RGB

M33 RGB

-------------------------

DATE : 9th April 2016

START : 23:00 WEATHER : Out 1.9 DEG C - In 3.4 DEG C - 73 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 9% Waxing Alt -03 deg

FINISH : 04:26 WEATHER : Out -2.1 DEG C x In . DEG C - 82 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Starting on M101 tonight and then when M109 clears the meridian I'll take some Blue and Luminance

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear - DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image - DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats - DONE

Darks - DONE

Focus - Clear

- 41,833

TARGET :

M101 - L - 12 x 5mins (light cloud)

M109 - L - 12 x 5mns & Blue - 12 x 5mins (light cloud)

Flats - 10 x L & B

Darks - 12 x 5min

NEXT SESSION:

M109 - Lum

M101 - L,RGB

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 13th March 2016

START : 19:41 WEATHER : Out x DEG C - In x DEG C - x % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 29% Waxing Alt - 36- deg

FINISH : 23:10 WEATHER : Out 1.3 DEG C 3.6 In . DEG C - 75 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Decided to image M109 tonight. I have not imaged for many years and the last time was with the SBIG on the 16" and Bob edited and processed it for me.

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear - DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image - DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats -DONE

Darks - DONE

Focus - Red

- 35,426

TARGET :

M109 - Red & Green - 12 x 5mins each channel

Flats - 10 x R & G

Darks - 12 x 5min

NEXT SESSION:

M109 B,Lum

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 7th March 2016

START : 19:07 WEATHER : Out -1.1 DEG C - In -4.7 DEG C - 47 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 2% Waining Alt - - deg

FINISH : xx:47 WEATHER : Out -0.5 DEG C - 2.5 In . DEG C - 54 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

M81 tonight and back to Blue. Just changed camera from 600D to QSI.

Old Focuser Position Canon 600D before removal - 96,765

Slew to target - DONE

Focus run on clear - DONE

Confirm guide star - DONE

Take 60s confirmation image -DONE

Start image run - DONE

Flats - DONE

Darks -

Focus - Blue

- 42,053

TARGET :

M81 Blue - 10 x 5min

Flats - 10 x Blue 0.7s

Darks - 10 x 5min

NEXT SESSION:

M81 B

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 4th March 2016

START : 22:34 WEATHER : Out -1.2 DEG C - In -0.5 DEG C - 62 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 27% Waining Alt - - deg

FINISH : 23:47 WEATHER : Out -2.0 DEG C - 1.1 In . DEG C - 70 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Still trailing BackyardEOS this time on Jupiter with the 600D on the RiDK. Took 3 x 1min videos of 1000 frames. Although that's at 10-12fps. Not so quick on the planets. It will be interesting to see the results before I convince myself to by a ZWO camera.

TARGET :

Jupiter

NEXT SESSION:

M81 B

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 18th / 19th February 2016

START : 18:55 WEATHER : Out 1.2 DEG C - In -4.6 DEG C - 65 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 84% Waxing Alt - -46 deg

FINISH : 00:51 WEATHER : Out 1.1 DEG C - 2.2 In . DEG C - 82 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Starting the Lunar 100 as Moon is too bright for galaxies. Testing BackyardEOS software on trial before I buy to take AVI's using Liveview on the Canon 600D using full frame. I'll then stack tomorrow using Autostak and then Registax.

TARGET :

MOON - LUNAR 100

L6 - Tycho (Map Ref 64)

L9 - Clavius (Map Ref 72)

L54 - Hippalus Rilles (Map Ref 52 & 53)

L5 - Copernicus - (Map ref 31)

L69 & L78 - Copernicus Secondary crater Pytheas Rays (Map Ref 20)

L98 - Mare Imbrium (Map Ref 10)

L14 - Sinus Iridium (Map Ref 10)

L83 & L23 - Plato Craterlets & Pico (Map Ref 3 & 4)

L26 & L76 & L19 - Various (Map Ref 4)

NEXT SESSION:

M81 B

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 16th / 17th February 2016

START : 03:12 WEATHER : Out -2.1 DEG C - In -1.1 DEG C - ?? % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 59% Waxing Alt - -16 deg

FINISH : 06:10 WEATHER : Out -2.1 DEG C - 1.1 In . DEG C - 70 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Half term this week so I can image all night if it stays clear. Foundthat M33 is high enough if I start at sundown else by 9pm it's in the weeds. I'll try to grab the RGB data next time I get out early.

I had setup around 6pm yesterday evening, but upon starting my first image run the clouds rolled in. I shut the dome up and watched House with Helen instead. It was only the fortuitous nature of waking at 3am that I took the opportunity to reopen the dome since the skies were extremely clear. I will image M81 RGB until it gets light.

Slew to target - Done

Focus run on Red - Done

Confirm guide star - Done

Take 60s confirmation image - Done

Start image run - Done

Focus - Red

- 40,790

TARGET :

M81 - QSI 12" - Red - 13 x 5min

M81 - QSI 12" - Green - 13 x 5min

M81 - QSI 12" - Blue - 3 x 5min

NEXT SESSION:

M81 B

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 14th / 15th February 2016

START : 21:37 WEATHER : Out 1.1 DEG C - In 2.7 DEG C - 70 % Rel/Humidity - Moon - 45% Waxing Alt - 28deg

FINISH : 00:17 WEATHER : Out 1.1 DEG C - 1.9 In . DEG C - 81 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Imaging M81 spiral galaxy starting with Luminance through 12" with the QSI as M33 is now too low so I'll need to wait until the Autumn to get the RGB data.

Slew to target - Done

Focus run on clear - Done

Confirm guide star - Done

Take 60s confirmation image - Done

Start image run - Done

Focus - Clear

- 41,463

TARGET :

M81 - QSI 12" - Luminance - 22 x 5min

NEXT SESSION:

M81 RGB

M33 RGB

M42 50mm - redo 5 frames and flats

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 10th February 2016

START : 19:58 WEATHER : Out 0 DEG C - In DEG C - Rel/Humidity - Moon - % Waining Alt - deg

FINISH : 22:33 WEATHER : Out 0 DEG C - In . DEG C - Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Imaging M42 with the 50mm lens on the top of the 12". 1min exposures using the camera remote after focusing using live view on EOS Utility2. Fitted the dew heater and then refocused. Took a number of shots to try and resolve Barnard's Loop. Took darks. Let's see what the result looks like. I also changed back to RAW and JPG and stopped down to f/5.6

TARGET :

M42 - DSLR 50mm 30 x 60sec

NEXT SESSION:

M33 RGB

M42 200mm

-------------------------

DATE : 15th January 2016

START : 21:00 WEATHER : Out 0 DEG C - In DEG C - Rel/Humidity - Moon - % Waining Alt - deg

FINISH : 23:21 WEATHER : Out 0 DEG C - In . DEG C - Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

As the Moon is the way I now cannot image M33 in RGB, which I wanted to redo as the camera was rotated by some 90+ degrees after I took it off to clean it. This meant when I stacked and aligned with the luminance data I already had, I landed up with a very small area of colour. I have now replaced the camera on the back of the scope using The Sky X's ability to plate solve and give me the rotation angle of 98 deg and 18mins.

So instead this evening I decided to image M42 with the DSLR and the 200mm lens. I have mounted on the back of the 12" and focused using the Imageprocessing laptop in the dome and the USB cable with EOS Utility2. I then disconnected and using the remote cable setup the imaging run. Unfortunately I was hit by the following 3 major issues.

#1 - Cloud

#2 - Setting the image capture to JPG

#3 - Too long an exposure

What a nightmare! This means the images are not RAW format so linear and the centre of the trapezium is burnt out.

IMAGE SETUP:

Slew to target -

Focus run on clear -

Confirm guide star -

Take 60s confirmation image -

Start image run -

Focus - Clear

- 38,247

TARGET :

M42 - DSLR 300 x 45sec

NEXT SESSION:

Make sure I change to RAW, take short 15-30sec exposures with a mix of 2min exposures.

-------------------------

DATE : 7th January 2016

START : 19:32 WEATHER : Out 3.2 DEG C - In 6.5 DEG C -64 Rel/Humidity - Moon - 5% Waining Alt -45 deg

FINISH : 22:10 WEATHER : Out 1.9 DEG C - In .4.3 DEG C - 71 Rel/Humidity

UPDATE :

Decided to choose another galaxy this evening as I really need narrow band filters for planetary nebulas.

Slew to target - Done

Focus run on clear - Done

Confirm guide star - done

Take 60s confirmation image -done

Start image run -

Focus - Clear

- 38,247

TARGET :

NGC 6946 Fireworks Galaxy- Clear - ? x 5mins

Flats - 12

Darks - 12

-------------------------