March 11, 2015
I went down to my favorite observing location on Dredge Road. There is a snowplow turn-around about a half mile on the right. They it plowed and I can back my car in and work out of the Hatchback. Very good spot: Dark area with no obstructions for a nice 360 view.
I need to go out 4-5am to take my best shot. Saturn (magnitude +0.4 at the head of
Scorpius) is highest in the south at dawn. Saturn’s rings are inclined about 25 degrees
now.
I went down to my favorite observing location on Dredge Road. There is a snowplow turn-around about a half mile on the right. They it plowed and I can back my car in and work out of the Hatchback. Very good spot: Dark area with no obstructions for a nice 360 view.
I searched and found the Comet- Lovejoy near Cassiopeia. Too bad I waited so long
to check it out. It was pretty dim and appeared as a blotch of light in my 80mm refrac-
tor.
I didn’t take any pictures tonight. Finally was pretty cold and came home 11PM.
March 17, 2015
Now and then, I have been watching the International Space Station ISS as it passes over. My next project is to see if I can get a picture of it. My plan is to use my 18mm or a barlow lens and Prime Focus set-up. I will try to use the finder scope to center it and follow it as i snap my remote shutter release.
This will work best when the ISS is tracking high in the sky. There are no good nights in March to try this. Perhaps April will be better.
Suggested ISO is 6400. Exposure= 1/1600sec.
Test the remote shutter release on a star about the same as the ISS. (Magnitude -2 or -3)
Make sure star is centered in finder scope and in camera picture.
March 19, 2015
Yesterday, I came up with the idea of connecting my doubler to the 80mm telescope for more magnification for Prime Photography. Instead of a lens, I attached an extention adapter and then screwed a T-ring onto that to connect to the camera. I tried it out during daytime and it worked. I had just enough distance on my focuser to bring the image into focus. When I tried it on Jupiter last night, I did not have enough length on the focuser to bring Jupiter into focus. This is also a lot of weight on the telescope when the focuser is all the way out. Gotta rethink this one.
Next target will be Saturn. Right now, Saturn rises in the SE shortly after 1:00am,
I didn’t take any pictures tonight. Finally was pretty cold and came home 11PM.
March 17, 2015
Now and then, I have been watching the International Space Station ISS as it passes over. My next project is to see if I can get a picture of it. My plan is to use my 18mm or a barlow lens and Prime Focus set-up. I will try to use the finder scope to center it and follow it as i snap my remote shutter release.
This will work best when the ISS is tracking high in the sky. There are no good nights in March to try this. Perhaps April will be better.
Suggested ISO is 6400. Exposure= 1/1600sec.
Test the remote shutter release on a star about the same as the ISS. (Magnitude -2 or -3)
Make sure star is centered in finder scope and in camera picture.
March 19, 2015
Yesterday, I came up with the idea of connecting my doubler to the 80mm telescope for more magnification for Prime Photography. Instead of a lens, I attached an extention adapter and then screwed a T-ring onto that to connect to the camera. I tried it out during daytime and it worked. I had just enough distance on my focuser to bring the image into focus. When I tried it on Jupiter last night, I did not have enough length on the focuser to bring Jupiter into focus. This is also a lot of weight on the telescope when the focuser is all the way out. Gotta rethink this one.
Next target will be Saturn. Right now, Saturn rises in the SE shortly after 1:00am,
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