Clear Skies!...So whats on sky?

hahahaha it was pleasure to swing by my friend. Always is pleasure seeing you and enjoying this hobby. Yes it was super cold last night but it was crystal clear which was very important. The mother and daughter duo were a wonderful surprise and yes becoming a teacher for that one night was fun.

Travelling to Blackheath turned out to be a nightmare not just for Tej but for me as well. Buses were 30 minutes late and then half way through got chucked off the bus because the driver decided to re-route it somewhere else. Tej had nightmares with his trains and then took a cab.

Tej was going to test his ADC which was very unfortunate that he couldn't but then i bought myself some new astro boots that i wanted to test in that cold weather. Turns out, snow boots are just the thing for this hobby when it gets freezing 🙂

All in all, great night, good fun, thanks for the biscuits Tej 🙂

Tomorrow (Wednesday) looks to be clear skies in the evening.

So I will be at Blackheath for one and a half hour of visual astronomy between 7:45pm and 9:15pm.  Then from 9:15pm will do planetary imaging on Jupiter and the Moon.   Others are welcome to join me for the visual and/or imaging sessions, would love your  company and for imaging, we can share tips on technique.

Reason for above timing is that the moon will rise about 9:15 and is at 81% illumination.  So before that we can enjoy looking at some other targets before then.

If weather forecast take a turn for the worst later, I will post on here a no/go call.  Please also text me if you are unsure.  If you dont have my number, please message me.

I havent done any planetary imaging for a year now, so will be pretty rusty!

Alas, I cannot make blackheath to take advantage of the clear skies tonight 🙁  But the rest of you, take advantage if you are free.

I might be able to still set up my scope at my living room window midnight tonight and do something, though but sorry I cannot make Blackheath in case any of you were keen to join me.  One member was going to join me but I have notified her already.

Oh no 🙁 Bummer!!! was really looking forward seeing your work.

I had a very eventful evening yesterday. Making the most of clear skies since i've got my mount back so had to test a lot of things. First up, get back in the habit of setting the kit up. Took me an hour, quite literally because i kept on making rookie mistakes. Once everything was setup, i fired up Polemaster, as always was a breeze to set up, then started MaximDL for the first time (have been practicing using simulator so was very familiar with the interface). Powered the cooling down on my ASI1600MM-C, and within 10 minutes i was on my target and guiding.

I was planning on doing only the tests with software but then i had 2hrs to spare so went for NGC 7635 (Bubble Nebula), 300s for the first image was a bit ambitious but i was feeling lucky so why not, guiding looked fantastic so away i went. First exposure, great success! second exposure, image started to blow out, third image, same. I realised i was binning 2x2 so stopped my capture and moved back to 1x1 binning. Exposures started to look better. So altogether took 10 x 300s exposures using Astronomik 6nm Ha filter coupled with 10 darks. No lights or bias frame. Quick and dirty processing and here is the result. Remember, this is my first ever image so please be gentle 🙂 Quality looks stupid because it's a facebook compressed version of course.

here is the result.

Cool! Care to send a copy to me for the video?

souls33k3r wrote:
here is the result.

Cool! Care to send a copy to me for the video?

Surely sir. Where should i send to? Mind you the image size will be a bit large if you're looking for a better quality than the facebook compressed version.

Just out of curiosity, what video?

The astrophotography video we show at the beginning of our lectures. You can send it to Flamsteed@rmg.co.uk - file size shouldn't be a problem. Thanks!

The astrophotography video we show at the beginning of our lectures. You can send it to Flamsteed@rmg.co.uk – file size shouldn’t be a problem. Thanks!

Image now emailed Andy 🙂

Ahmed, that's a member's gallery that Andy presents on a big screen before the monthly lecture starts...hint,hint 😉

Astounding first astro image.  You've made a bloody giant first step as a beginner!  Anyone looking at that image would think you are an experienced astrophotographer.

Although you got some great equipment, it takes a lot of patience and dedication to learn using what you've got.  I'm in awe.  Well done and especially given the year long woes you've had on waiting for a replacement mount.

Ahmed, that’s a member’s gallery that Andy presents on a big screen before the monthly lecture starts…hint,hint Astounding first astro image. You’ve made a bloody giant first step as a beginner! Anyone looking at that image would think you are an experienced astrophotographer. Although you got some great equipment, it takes a lot of patience and dedication to learn using what you’ve got. I’m in awe. Well done and especially given the year long woes you’ve had on waiting for a replacement mount.

Well i am one, sorta, aren't i? We've been through a lot, through thick an thin 😉

You're very humble my friend, of course i am no experienced astroimager but i had some good teachers a long the way, you being the first one. The day has come when the student becomes the master 😉 well not there yet but am getting there 🙂 This is of course first of many to come, i guess this is just a push in the right direction for me.

Yes, given the year long woes, i guess it's only fitting i did something about it with the given clear night we had yesterday. Two things which i do take away from this image, i need more exposures and i certainly need my flats. Unfortunately had to wake up for work otherwise would've happily given them a go too.

Will be making a good dark library tonight so that i don't waste any more time in doing them.

My cricket season almost over, I'm going to overlap my stargazing season and hopefully start this Sunday night which is currently showing a clear sky forecast after sunset.

So I plan to go to Blackheath with my 8" SCT and enjoy some visual astronomy.   I welcome any of your company,  whether you bring your own gear or if you dont have your own gear, I will gladly share views through my own telescope and give a tour.

Using my trusty Turn Left at Orion guide, I've made up a list of targets I hope to observe, and will be experimenting in using my focal reducer for the first time to observe some familiar deep space objects.

Just make sure you let me know if you will like to join me and make sure I have your contact in case I need to call it of if forecast changes for the worst

Although looks fairly clear tonight, I will be going tomorrow instead as it looks to be an even longer and clearer night.

What time are you getting there, Tej? I should be able to join you.

I'll be there for 8:30pm, Mike.   Usual spot we use for the official Flamsteed stargazing.

Looks certain to be a clear sky night tonight.

I’ll be there for 8:30pm, Mike.

Great stuff, Tej. See you there.