Keith's Astro Page

M42 and Rosette

2012-01-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

Both of these taken using a Baader UHC-S filter instead of th Astronomik CLS clip filter.

M42 16 Jan 2012

2012-01-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

Hi All, what a difference shooting in RAW and taking darks can make!

M42

2012-01-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

Sadly due to meridian flip I got this one misaligned. Taken same night as the Horsehead below, also only jpegs.

12x 3.5 mins at ISO 800

Still some nice detail there though.

Horsehead and Flame

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest attempt at these. Unfortunately my camera somehow got turned on to jpeg only mode so no raws taken and my battery failed before I could do any dark frames.

30x 3.5 mins at ISO 800

Goodbye to one of my scopes

2011-12-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

Sadly the time has come for me and my Celestron C9.25 to part company.
I needed to sell it to raise a bit of capital to replace my ancient and very nearly dead central heating system.
I had hoped it would last out until the spring, but remembering how cold it got last winter, I just can't take that chance. I have only had it 18 months and have obtained some really good photos of Jupiter and Saturn, but I also want to concentrate with my APO refractors and my newly acquired Atik mono 16 IC-S ccd and what with the limited seeing we've had lately the planets offer a too easy target over DSOs.

So it's goodbye C9.25!

Jupiter again again

2011-11-26T05:18:00.000-08:00

Finally managed to image Jupiter with the GRS in full view. There seems to be 3 white spots or storms following behind the GRS in the SEB.

Jupiter again

2011-11-26T05:16:00.000-08:00

This time from 18 Nov 2011 seems to be some disturbance in Jupiters atmosphere bfollowing behind the GRS

Jupiter 25/10/2011

2011-10-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi All. Had another go at Jupiter last night. Have reset up my conservatory as a warm room now I have a longer cable for the motor focuser. Air was pretty steady but transparency was not so great.

Also I focused on a bright near by star using a Bahtinov mask first. The attached photo is a stack of 172 frames out of 1700. I decided that I was setting the quality levels too low before. There is some nice detail here. Taken using the C925 Optic Star PL-131C webcam (at 1280x1024 pixels) and x2 Barlow. I was so happy with what I was seeing I thought I would try pushing the magnification. When you start to use more powerful Barlow like x3 and x4 (what I was hoping to use last night) you need to refocus but finding Jupiter again and getting it centred on the chip wasn't easy so I came up with a little trick. It may sound complicated and long winded but believe me it is taking far longer typing it out than it does to do.

Right with your x2 Barlow still in place slew scope back to nearby bright star and centre. Take out x2 and put in x3. Focus and recenter. Take out x3 and put in x4 focus and recenter. You webcam is now in focus with a x4 Barlow. Take out x4 put in x2 and slew to Jupiter. You will have a very large bright ring (turn up the brightness first in your webcam control software) and recenter. DO NOT touch the focus. Take out x2 and put in x3 and recenter, Jupiter will still be a large bright ring. Take out x3 and put in x4 and recenter. You will now have a centred and focused Jupiter just adjust your webcams exposure settings and start imaging.

Like I said it is far quicker to do than it was to type this.

Anyway, that's what I did last because I was impressed with the quality I could see while webcam imaging with the x2 Barlow. Only problem is after about 100 frames of Jupiter with the x4 Barlow in place Jupiter went out like a light bulb being switched off! Oh Nooooo! What's gone wrong??? Has my dew shield slipped and is covering the front of the scope? No!!! Has a cable been pulled out or has the mount slipped? No!!!

BLOODY CLOUDS!!!! The rotten SODS!!! Just when I had everything perfect for a good high mag imaging run!!!!

Anyway hope you all like it.

Jupiter, 25/10/2011

Celestron C925, NEQ6, Optic Star PL-131C with Tele Vue x2 Barlow

172 frames of 1700 SharpCap, Registax and tweaking in CS4

Jupiter

2011-10-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

Jupiter taken on a very windy night. Happy that I am at last starting to capture some detail instead of just coloured bands.

Bubble

2011-09-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

The Bubble Nebula a wide field shot and a close up

WO ED102

Canon 450D modded

EQ6 non guided

Bubble 15 x 180 seconds ISO800 8 darks

Double Cluster

2011-09-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

The Double Cluster in Perseus. I don't normally go for open clusters but this one is special.

WO ED102

Canon 450D modded

EQ6 non guided

Double cluster 12 x 75 seconds ISO 800 8 darks

M45

2011-09-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I am rather pleased with this one, come out nicely including a little bit of a meteor at the bottom

Canon EOS 450D astro modded

William Optics Megrez 102 with field flattener

30x 180 seconds @ ISO 800

M101 and SN2011fe

2011-09-05T03:09:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Well last night was clear so I had another go at M101. I have managed to capture the supernova brilliantly. OMG! It is huge and very bright! I didn't even need to compare an earlier photo (I did to be certain) it is so obvious where it is!

Hope you all like it.

Details

William Optics Megrez 102
Type IV Field Flattener
Canon 450D astro modified
EQ6 Pro unguided
42 x 180 seconds at ISO 800 (actually shot 50 but cloud ruined the last 8)
12 Darks

Keith

M101

2011-08-23T02:02:00.000-07:00

Here is M101 taken in early August

William Optics Megrez @f5.6
Canon EOS 450D Astro Modded
30 x 180 seconds @ ISO800
EQ6 Pro unguided

Veil Nebula (West)

2011-07-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hi All. I thought I would share with you my efforts from last night. It hasn't come out as well as I had hoped. If it's clear again tonight I'll have another go but I think this time I may try it without the Field Flattener, it seems to be causing some vignetting which I wasn't expecting it to.

WO ED102
EQ6 Pro (unguided)
Canon 450D astro modded
30 x 120 seconds @ ISO 800
8 Dark frames
No light pollution filter was used.

It is my first ever attempt at this so not surprising I may need to take more and slightly longer subs.
Keith

2011-06-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Gang

Here's my got at M27 from Sunday night

WO Megrez 102

Canon 450D (Astro modded)

EQ6 Pro mount

60 x 60 seconds at ISO 800 (needed to be a bit longer methinks)

Darks

Unguided (still not got the hang of the Synguider appears to be guiding too fast)

Keith

New Supernova in M51

2011-06-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hi all, took this on on 3 June 2011, have managed to capture it very nicely, I am very happy with this one.

EQ6 Pro unguided
William Optics ED102
Type IV Flattener
Canon EOS 450D Astro Modded
40x 180 seconds Lights
8x 180 seconds Darks
0x Flats
ISO 800
No light pollution reduction filter used

Super Nova

2011-05-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well we finally had a clearish night and a subject I have been wanting to do for a few weeks now before it disappears was the Super Nova (SN2011BY) in Galaxy NGC3972.

W/O ED102
Type IV Field Flattener
EQ6 Pro mount
Canon EOS 450D (astro modded)
30x 180 seconds exposure (total time of 90 minutes)
8x dark frames
ISO 800
Baader UHC-S filter
Unguided

M82

2011-05-07T11:25:00.001-07:00

M82 The Cigar Galaxy in Ursa Major

Taken with the modded 450D on the C925 with f6.3 focal reducer. I was using one of the extension tubes hence the vignetting.

M81

2011-05-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

M81 Bodes Galaxy in Ursa Major
Taken with the modded 450D on the C925 with f6.3 focal reducer. I was using one of the extension tubes hence the vignetting.

M51 Wide Field

2011-05-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

10 x 120 seconds
ISO800
4 dark frames
0 Flats
Sky Watcher ED80 @f7.5
Meade LXD75 GOTO mount (the society's mount)
Canon EOS 450D astro modded
No light pollution filter used as it was not needed.

Saturn 20 April 2011

2011-04-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

Had a go at Saturn last night. Nice colour, Cassini division nice and crisp. What's that in the southern hemisphere?
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
NO! It's SUPER STORM!

Theophilus

2011-03-20T09:26:00.001-07:00

This is one I took a little over a year ago, just forgot to put it up here.

2011-03-10T08:53:00.001-08:00

My first serious attepmt at the Flame Nebula in Orion.
William Optics Megrez 102
Canon EOS 450D
Type IV Field Flattener
30x180 second exposures at ISO 800

Jupiter again

2011-01-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

Probably my last go at Jupiter until the Autumn.
The GRS is there but not great and the SEB is starting to reappear.

2011-01-06T05:42:00.000-08:00

Here is NGC7000 or the North American Nebula. Not particularly a good shot but it was my first serious attempt at it. Unfortunately my Megrez 102 even with the Type IV field flattener couldn't capture all of the nebula because it is so big.

Jupiter

2010-10-28T04:45:00.000-07:00

A nice view of our largest planet. Taken at the end of September the southern equatorial belt is still absent.

2010-08-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

Perseid meteor from night of 12 Aug morning of 13 Aug

2010-08-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of Perseid meteor shots. Not brilliant, not had much luck so far this year but will keep trying.

2010-08-05T02:41:00.000-07:00

Sunspots on 5 August 2010 2 days after the big Coronal Mass Ejection that lead to the spectacular Aurora display on Tuesday night, which I couldn't see because of cloud cover, typical!

M27 rework

2010-08-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

M27 again. Same lights and darks as the earlier one just been reworked in CS2 to bring out more detail.

2010-08-01T02:04:00.000-07:00

M27 taken using my new IV Field Flattener. Not a brilliant shot only 12 light frames of 120 seconds (clouds ruined play) taken using W/O Megrez 102 and a Canon EOS450D camera.
The field flattener has certainly done its job, no coma on the stars at the edge of the frame. This is a full frame photo there has been no cropping whatsoever done to this.

2010-07-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

Sunspots taken on Thursday 22 July 2010
Canon EOS450D
ED80 with RG4 Solar film filter

2010-07-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

One of the Little Owls that has been visiting with us at Breckland Astronomical Society dome over the last few months.

2010-07-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

NLC taken 9 July 2010

M13 The Hercules Globular Cluster

2010-06-27T03:46:00.000-07:00

Discovery and visibility

M13 was discovered by Sir Edmond Halley (the discoverer of Halley's Comet) in 1714, and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764.

It is located at right ascension 16^h 41.7^m and declination +36° 28'. With an apparent magnitude of 5.8, it is barely visible with the naked eye on a very clear night. Its diameter is about 23 arc minutes and it is readily viewable in small telescopes. Nearby is NGC 6207, a 12th magnitude edge-on galaxy that lies 28 arc minutes directly north east. A small galaxy, IC 4617, lies halfway between NGC 6207 and M13, north-northeast of the large globular's center.

Characteristics

M13 is about 145 light-years in diameter, and it is composed of several hundred thousand stars, the brightest of which is the variable star V11 with an apparent magnitude of 11.95. M13 is 25,100 light-years away from Earth.

Arecibo message

The Arecibo message of 1974, designed to communicate the existence of human life to hypothetical extraterrestrials, was transmitted toward M13. The reason was that with a higher star density, the chances of a life harboring planet with intelligent life forms, were higher. Even though the message was transmitted, M13 will no longer be in that location when it arrives. The sending of the message was more of a technological demonstration, rather than an actual attempt to contact life.

2010-06-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Just a photo of my latest setup now that I am the proud owner of a Celestron C925.
Celestron C925 Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
William Optics ED102 Megrez
side by side mounted on a Skywatcher EQ6 Pro

2010-05-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the moon taken with the new camera, enjoy!

2010-05-25T04:33:00.001-07:00

Here it is in a wider field of view.

Venus

2010-05-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

Here is Venus captured with my new Opticstar PL-131C lunar/planetary imaging camera. Definitely my best Venus to date!

2010-04-13T10:40:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo of Saturn taken using a Megrez ED102, Toucam Pro and an Imagemate x4.

2010-03-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

More news from the astro shed. I acquired a pier the other day at a very good price. Spent most of Saturday installing it, leveling it and fitting the EQ6 Pro mount along with my ED102 and ED80. The roof will not clear the scopes now as I slide it back and forth. I need to lift the front of the roof over the scopes as I slide it back and forth. Still small price to pay so I don't have to break my back to look through the scopes and cameras when attached. The pier stands at 45 inches tall whereas the original tripod stood at a mere 30 inches. It may be only 15 inches difference but by the time you add the EQ mount the lower scopes eyepiece is now at face height instead of naval height that it was. No more getting down on my knees to look through the scope.

Mars again!

2010-03-06T12:03:00.001-08:00

My latest go at Mars.

2010-02-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a composite both were taken using my Megrez ED102 and a Toucam Pro.
The first one using an Astro Engineering x4 Imagemate
The second one using a Tele Vue x5 Powermate which is actually closer to x7 than x5

2010-02-14T02:32:00.000-08:00

Well the new roll off roof observatory is now finished. Unfortunately I made a mistake in my calculations with regards to my 10" SN scope or light bucket as I call it.
When the mount and scope were assembled they wasn't enough room for me to get behind the scope to use the finder scope to check alignments when doing a 2 or 3 star setup. Bugger. So I had to revert to just using my William Optics Megrez ED102 and my Skywatcher ED80 scopes instead.
Its a real pity because I have looked through many different scopes and nothing I have viewed through can touch my 10" Schmidt-Cassegrain scope for deep sky fuzzies.
As you can see from the photos the 10" scope nearly fills the doorway so when the scope points south there is about 7" of room between the scope and the back wall of the shed.
As for rails I used Dex-ion. I didn't bother with wheels as the point of contact between the roof and the Dex-ion is just the thickness of the Dex-ion (approx 2mm) there is very little friction and the roof slides back and forward very easily.

2010-01-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Not been doing too much astrophotography lately the weather not been good enough. So I have been keeping busy building my new roll off roof observatory. I used to use a roll shed where the whole shed moved, but due to a one man crime spree around here I was not happy with the old setup. It was not secure enough for my new EQ6 Pro and William Optics Megrez 102, so I decided to build a new one. The only thing left to do now is make the rails for the roof to slide along and install an alarm system. I will post photos when it is finished.

Moon Jupiter & Neptune?

2010-01-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Took this Sunday 17 Jan, Canon EOS 350D and 70-210mm zoom lens set at about 80mm

Bahtinov Masks For Sale

2010-01-11T13:01:00.001-08:00

Get in touch with me and I will give you a quote for a Bahtinov Mask for your scope. You can see them on ebay as well. Mine are the ones with a square corner with reflective tape so you can see them in the dark.

2009-12-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

Here is first light with my new William Optics Megrez 102. I also used a canon 350d camera.
I know the moon is an easy target and a DSLR not the best camera to use for lunar photography, but is was very cold that night.

2009-12-26T05:53:00.000-08:00

Here are the Pleiades or M45 shot using a Meade LXD75 10" SNT and a canon 350d camera. A Bahtinov mask (which I make and sell on ebay under the name Star Sharp Focus Masks) was in place to produce the pretty difraction spikes. I think it looks pretty cool!

2009-11-28T02:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot of the moon taken using a Canon 350 DSLR (DSLR's are not the best cameras to use for the moon and planets) along with a 4" Achromat scope fitted with one of the new Semi-Apo minus violet filters. As you can see no colour fringe around the bright limb of the moon at all.

2009-11-10T02:25:00.000-08:00

Here is another view (a much better one) of M27 The Dumbbell Nebula

2009-10-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Here is Jupiter through a Bhantinov Mask

Here is a nice wide field view of M27 The Dumbbell Nebula

2009-10-04T10:22:00.001-07:00

Well people I have had a few goes over the last few weeks here are my efforts.

Jupiter

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

2009-07-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

To all my loyal followers, sorry I have been away and not posted any news photos. I have been really busy with working 2 jobs as well as having had a relapse of my long time illness. Plus the light skies haven't been of much help to me. Well I have decided to follow my doctors advice and have packed up my part time job, I officially finish on 9 Aug. So be prepared for new images to appear within a few days of that. I have set up my f4 light bucket scope and hope to capture some of the nebulae and galaxies before they disappear until next year.

You have been warned!

I intend to be very prolific in the near future!

Keith

M42 Orion Reprocessed

2009-02-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here is another version of the M42 photo from the post below. This one is wider field and lightened to show NGC1977 The Running Man nebula.

M42 Orion

2009-02-13T06:33:00.001-08:00

M42 The Orion Nebula. This is by far the best photo I have taken of this subject and so have deleted my earlier attempts.
15 subs of 25 seconds at ISO800 stacked in DSS with 6 darks subtracted. I will take some more of this over the next couple of weeks (weather permitting) to add to the stack to bring out more detail.
On the whole I am very happy with this one.