Observing Log for Mike Durkin
11/27/2011 about 1:00AM-3:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 40 degrees
Equipment: Stellarvue 70mm refractor
Observed variable stars AA Cas, U Per, X Mon, and Z UMa.
11/25/2011 about 8:00PM-9:30PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 40 degrees
Equipment: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC and Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
I spent a lot of time trying to use the software to polar align, but I
had problems withe the software seeing stars in the guide camera and
adjusting the scope, even with the azimuth knob, didn't work like I wanted
it to. Eventually I just aligned using the finderscope.
After wasting so much time, I missed trying to image the galaxy I wanted.
Instead I imaged the Crab Nebula.
After that, it looked like it was getting a little cloudy, so I thought I
would try NGC 2419, a globular cluster nicknamed the "Intergalactic
Wanderer". It isn't a particularly pretty object, but it is interesting
because it is one of the furthest globular clusters in the Milky Way.
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Camera: Hutch Modified Canon Rebel XT Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC Exposure: 21x4 minutes(84 total), calibrated with dark frames and flat frames. ISO: 1600 Location: Long Island, NY Processed with MaxDSLR and Photoshop |
Camera: Hutech modfied Canon Rebel XT Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC Exposure: 5x4 minutes, dark and flat frames applied ISO: 1600 Processed with MaxDSLR and Photoshop Location: Long Island, NY A globular cluster about 300,000 light years away, which makes it one of the most distant globulars that belong to the Milky Way. |
11/24/2011 about 9:00-9:30PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 40 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
DSLR photometry measurement of P Cyg.
11/19/2011 about 8:00PM-9:30 PM
cruise ship near off coast of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware.
Transparency: 10/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 50-60 degrees
Equipment: 10x50 binoculars
Observed variable stars ρ Cas, XY Lyr, X Cyg, V1339 Cyg, and R And.
Also looked at M31. It looked surprisingly laege in my binoculars,
probably due to the very dark skies.
Also looked at M42, which didn't look too different than I was expecting.
Also observed a couple of star clusters around Cygnus, Auriga, and
Gemeini. When trying to find M1 in Taurus, I stubmled on M35 in Gemini.
Also the Milky Way looked really "knotty" with star clusters
when scanning the area in Cygnus and Cassiopeia.
11/17/2011 about 10:00PM-12:00AM
cruise ship in Bahamas near Nassau, Hope Town, Great Abaco.
Transparency: 2/10, Seeing 2/5
Temperature: about 70 degrees
Equipment: 10x50 binoculars
Tried to observe some variable stars, but clouds came in.
Another person on deck mentioned the Leonid meteor show should have been
happening, but again, the clouds were too thick.
11/17/2011 about 6:00PM-7:30 PM
cruise ship in Bahamas near Nassau
Transparency: 9/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 70 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
DSLR photometry of P Cyg.
About 1/2 of the images were no good due to movement of the ship.
11/16/2011 about 8:00PM-9:00 PM
cruise ship in Bahamas near Grand Stirrup Cay
Transparency: 9/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 70 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
Took some DSLR images around P Cyg for photometry, however I used the wrong
file format.
I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to make out so many stars
from the front of the ship. They've seemed to intentionally use dimmer
bulbs to help with night vision.
11/6/2011 about 8:00PM-11:00 PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 40 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
Tried some DSLR photometry of P Cyg, Mira, and γ Cas.
11/6/2011 about 1:30AM-3:00AM EDT
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 30 degrees
Equipment: Stellarvue 70mm
Observed variable stars X And, R And, V Tau, α Ori, and γ Cas.
Also showed off the Orion Nebula to Sean.
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