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1st Tibbs1972 blog before new site.

Entries in this blog

Too much time on my hands.

Thought I'd have a go at making a video from DSLR images, rather than a webcam. I took some shots of Orion early this morning, so I'm using these, only 24 shots for a first attempt, which I shrunk down to 25% of the origional size to reduce the file size. A stacked image can be seen below. Next I found a Freeware tool called ImageToAVI 1.0.0.5, which I used to stitch the images into an AVI file at 4 frames per second. I then used a program to convert these to MPEG II format. I've uploaded the
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Observing Pleiades

Had a look at Pleiades, managed to get 25 shots directly from my 18-55mm Camera lens on full zoom at F5.6, ISO 400. Not sure yet how I'm going to take similiar shots with the telescope as it zooms in too close using the prime focus method.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

October 16th DSLR camera shots.

I Started out well tonight, the third night in a row, a great weekend for observing, and then The Moon started to rise. Gradually, most of the stars faded out. I managed to stack 16 x 60sec exposures at ISO 400, F4.5. I was going to try for 100, better luck next time. At least there's a better chance of observing, now the nights are longer.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

3

The Moon chasing Jupiter

I popped my head out the back door tonight to see if it was clear. To my surprise, it was clear and the moon was rising over the village. I had an amazing view of The Moon chasing Jupiter. I thought to take a quick shot. It's a shame the moon has so much glare, the shot below doesn't justify the true view.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Andromeda & Capella in Auriga

It's a clear night tonight over Rutland. I've had another crack at Andromeda. Now I know roughly where to aim the scope, its much easier. I managed about 15 x 25sec shots with my 130mm scope. I managed to stack the image below. It's my best image of a deep sky object so far. Amazing to think its 2.5 million light years away and still visible. It certainly puts a different light on my life, when I imagine the scope of such things. It's a shame I won't be around when it gets close to the Milky Way
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

3

1st October Observations

I've been out this morning observing Orion and mars. I'm really pleased I made the effort as It's the first time I've seen Mars. It was also an added bonus to have Mars, Orion and Jupiter visible together in one session. The background shots were taken with my DSLR using the 18-55mm lens. The closeups were taken with the camera connected to my telescope. I found the nebula much more difficult to focus than the planets, as it's not visible with the live view function, so a lot of guess work is re
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

5

1st October tomorrow and we have a clear sky.

I thought I would get a few exposures tonight, and take advantage of the high pressure system over the UK. I might have a crack at Orion in the morning, as it's been rising over the front of the house about 4am chasing Jupiter.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Andromeda Finally Observed.

Something I've been trying to do for a while now. Thanks to two really clear nights this weekend, I finally managed to find Andromeda in the scope. Just a smudge, but it still feels like an achievement, as its the first Galaxy I've spotted through my scope. I realise I also need to be quick off the mark adjusting the focus for my camera, once i've spotted something with my 20mm lens. I've now marked the focuser with felt pen, which speeds up camera focusing immensly. Neil
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Widefield Shot

I took about 20 shots of Andromeda last night and used deep sky stacker again. This is the best shot I've had so far with Andromeda in it. I havn't had much luck with Andromeda and my Telescope so far, but I'm sure I'll get there in the end.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Arcturus

I took some more shots of Arcturus last night. So far, last night was the clearest I've ever seen the night sky, not a cloud in sight. Setting up is getting a bit easier, the worst problem is getting the speed correct on the single axis drive, once I'm polar aligned. In April, I took a shot, but wasn't sure about stacking, so there was a lot of light pollution. I stacked and cleaned up last nights shot using deep sky stacker and some darks and flats I took at the same time. I'm pretty pleased wi
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

Last nights deep sky image stacked.

Hi, I've now stacked 20 and 45 images using deep sky stacker, which was really simple to use. I also used gimp to adjust the curves, I think. Luckily I had 5 darks on file, so I managed to remove some pollution as well. Seem to be a much clearer, crisper image now. I think I still need a lot of experience stacking and adjusting curves, but its a start.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Late night tonight / early morning

Pretty chuffed tonight. I saw Jupoter in the east this morning, and also saw Andromeda for the first time with my Camera on a 20sec exposure, which you can see in the bottom RH corner of the second image. I'm pretty pleased about finding Andromeda, as it's the firsy galaxy I've ever spotted.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

Amazing view of ISS

WOW ! Just caught the ISS going over the UK. Wasn't expecting it tonight, but saw it as I was just now watering the garden. I ran upstairs and leaned out of the window with my Minocular. As it's been such a beautiful clear day, I could see a bright shiny centre, and I believe I could make out the solar panels. Another amazing sighting for me. It lasted about 3 minutes. :) No clouds tonight, looking forward to the best couple of hours observing this month, I hope.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Collimating

I've had a natural fear of collimating and thus far upto now have not tried. Tonight I watched a few videos on youtube and took a crack at it, one of which I've linked below. It's quite tricky holding the secondary mirror trying to align it with the focuser. The other problem on the secondary mirror, is that celestron have somehow cross-threaded one of the adjustment screws. This caused me no end of trouble. I pricked a hole in a black lens cap, which I then used to collimate. The main mirror
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Problems with Saturn.

Saturn is giving me some problems. For the last week, I've tried imaging with my DSLR camera to no avail. All I get is a white blob on the image. I know the telescope is ok, as through the 20mm and 15mm lenses I get a crystal clear image. I've tried every exposure time and ISO setting I can think off, but the prime focus direct mount method just doesn't work with planets. I decided to grab my old £30 webcam and tape it to the Cannon T-ring adapter. After finding some free webcam software, to my
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Satellite "DAICHI" (ALOS)

Hi I was taking a widefiled shot tonight by laying my DSLR camera flat on its back for a 60sec exposure at ISO400, F3.5. To my surprise, I caught the Advanced Land Observing Satellite "DAICHI" (ALOS), which apparantly is a satellite developed to contribute to the fields of mapping, precise regional land coverage observation, disaster monitoring, and resource surveying. See attached photo and flightpath from stellarium below. I also noticed a second satellite low down in the photo, but I am not
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

Ursa Major Widefield exposure with DSLR

I had a go at just using the DSLR tonight with a 30 sec exposure, ISO of 200, and set to F3.5. Had a lot of trouble trying to get rid of the light pollution, but I'm pretty happy with the result. I managed to get through the clouds. The best result was from laying the camera flat on its back on a 10sec timer.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

5

Located M44: The Beehive Cluster

Extemly clear night tonight. I haven't seen so may stars shining since January. If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd be out later. I've Located M44, the Beehive cluster in cancer with my Monocular. One of the few clusters almost visible with the naked eye, as a sort of smudge. Another Messier notched up. :)
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

0

Located M31 : Andromeda Galaxy

Just a smudge through the Monocular, but really pleased to finally locate it. I located Andromeda by following the line of stars out from Mirach. I can't get a better view, as the line of sight is above a 24hr Cement factory, which obliviously means lots of light polution. Pleased I finally located it, as it's the one galaxy I wanted to spot. Ok, a sense of achievement tonight, off for some sleep.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

5

Located M39: Open Cluster in Cygnus

I located the M39 open cluster tonight with my 10x50 Monocular. I have to admit, I'm having more luck locating objects with the Monocular than with my telescope. I looked first between Deneb (Cygnus) and Alderamin (Cepheus) for p1 Cyg and p2 Cyg and then looked to the right of p2 Cyg. Hey presto, there was the M39 open cluster, just visible with my Monocular. I also used Stellarium for the first time tonight instead of the Celestron Sky X software that came with the scope. Stellarium is much eas
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

0

ISS Flyby 2159 30th April 2011

Caught another flyby tonight by the ISS. The space station was in view for about 2 minutes tonight. Still an amazing sight. I took some 0.5 sec exposures. I think I could just make out some sort of outline when I used my Minocular. Amazing ! Regards Neil
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

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