Category Archives: Writing

See and hear the mini-WASP in action

On YouTube. See the Paramount ME casually throw around over 90 pounds of kit as if it were weightless 🙂  

Posted in mini-WASP Array, Projects | Leave a comment

  Here is the Type I Curta calculator that was sent from the States last week (arrived today after a week’s delay in Customs).  This is an August 1956 version and is in near mint condition.  Done a few multiplications … Continue reading

Posted in News, Projects | Leave a comment

Some more on the Curta calculator

What’s really nice about the Curta calculator is that by thinking about the maths problem you want to solve in a logical manner you can minimise the number of handle rotations to calculate the answer.  So for example, finding the … Continue reading

Posted in News, Projects | 1 Comment

Vega region – 3.26 x 4.24 degrees, both M26C cameras – mini-WASP array

Took this test image of the Vega region using both Sky 90s and both M26C cameras on the mini-WASP array.  One camera is not as well set up (collimation, chip flatness) as the other, but I just wanted to see … Continue reading

Posted in mini-WASP Array | Leave a comment

Image of the Month – August 2012

This month’s Image of the Month is this incredible capture of M51 by American deep-sky imager Bud Guinn taken from his New Mexico remote observatory.  Beautiful image Bud 🙂  

Posted in IOM | Leave a comment

Kappa Cassiopeia with NGC 146 and NGC 133

Whilst working on the mini-WASP array last night I took a quick image of a reasonably bright star with the one good scope and camera.  The central star is Kappa Cassiopeia and the two open clusters above it are NGC … Continue reading

Posted in mini-WASP Array, Sky 90 and SXVF-M26C | Leave a comment

Further adventures with the mini-WASP array

Took a look outside around 11:00 p.m. to see that we had really nice clear skies – that was unexpected.  Can’t let a clear sky go to waste so I went out for an evening’s work tuning up the mini-WASP … Continue reading

Posted in mini-WASP Array | Leave a comment

A new camera for the Hyperstar III

Well I don’t think there is going to be much let up in the rain for a good few months now – I have just received a new camera for the Hyperstar III.  For quite a while now I have … Continue reading

Posted in Equipment, News | Leave a comment

IOM July 2012 – the whole of the constellation Leo

Rogelio Bernal Andreo is completely redefining amateur deep-sky imaging.  I have shown Rogelio’s work before in the NFO prequel “Image of the Week” and I continue to be completely blown away by the beauty and extreme high quality of his work.  Here … Continue reading

Posted in IOM | Leave a comment

Another 6-month Sun trail image using the Tea caddy pinhole camera

Today being the summer Solstice for 2012, and seeing as it has rained all day, I opened up the two Tea caddy pinhole cameras that I put up last winter Solstice.  So here we have 6-months worth of Sun trails … Continue reading

Posted in News, Projects | Leave a comment