Got out on 16th March 2020 with a clear Moonless sky to grab M101 with the 200mm lenses and the Trius M26C OSC CCDs. Managed to get 7 x 15-minute subs giving the above result. Not too bad considering how long it’s been since I’ve been able to get out and fire up the kit.
Clear AND Moonless last night, so I managed to get out and image the Pi Geminorum region for an American lady who wanted a piccie of that area. Very surprised to find the equipment still worked after all that time off.
Here’s a reminder that I used to take deep-sky images at the New Forest Observatory. This is a single-framer of the Sadr region in Cygnus taken with the 2 x Canon 200mm prime lenses and the 2 x Trius M26C OSC CCDs. You can just make out NGC6914 towards the upper left.
I have had just one outing over this Winter season so far and maybe 4 or 5 outings at the beginning of 2019. This is by far the worst year of imaging I’ve had since starting in Autumn 2004. And what has the New Year brought? Nothing but non-stop rain here in the New Forest and it is the wettest I’ve ever known it over the forest which makes the dog walking a right pain. Climate Change? Who knows? However this is also the first Winter I have known here where I have fed the fish every day – which means the water temperature has not been less than 6C. Crazy times!!!
On November 11th 2019 there was a Transit of Mercury where Mercury crosses the face of the Sun. I downloaded data from NASAs SDO satellite (a solar observatory) for the duration of the transit. The first data point was taken at 12:45 p.m. and the last data point at 18:00. Images between these endpoints were taken every 15-minutes.
Got today’s EPOD with an image of the “37” cluster called “The Answer is an Emirp”.
Thank you Jim for continuing to publish my work.
As we still do not have any hours of darkness this is another month where there are no images from the New Forest Observatory. I really wonder why I bother with this hobby sometimes.
Today I gave the last photography course from the New Forest Observatory. I have decided to “properly” retire this year. May I take this opportunity to thank all of you that have attended the photography courses at the New Forest Observatory and I hope they have helped you to excel in your hobby.
It appears that people do not go to the Image Agency/Gallery page before requesting images (usually free of charge). Please note – no images are available “free of charge” irrespective of the use to be made of them, so please do not ask me for any freebies. I am not flattered to be noted as the imager in any book or publication you are writing as I am already noted as the imager on this website, on APOD or EPOD, and in my own book/magazine publications, I hope you understand.
As there are virtually no hours of darkness over the next couple of months – this is the time of year to clean up the observatory. Clean the fibreglass dome, repaint the decking, Hoover out the observatory, make sure the computers are all up to date with updates, check the mount is well-greased and generally give all the kit a once-over.
