Observing Log for Mike Durkin
7/29/2012 about 10:00PM-11:30AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 4/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 70 degrees
Equipment: 70mm Stellarvue refractor
I was hoping to do some variabe star observing, including some DSLR measurements, however
the clouds were too much. I did manage to make measurements of Z UMa and VY UMa.
7/28/2012 about 1:00AM-2:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 6/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 70 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT with zoom lens
It was cloudy all evening, but I noticed a bit of a clearing, so I used my camera to make
a quick measurement of P Cyg. I haven't taken as many measurements of this star as I would
like so far this summer.
7/21/2012 about 9:00PM-4:00AM
Shady Pines Campground, Savoy, MA
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 50-60 degrees
Equipment: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC, Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
I spent the better part of the early evening getting set up for astrophotography. First
there was polar alignment, which was hard because clouds keps covering Polaris. The finally
getting in focus and adding all the pieces to do off-axis guiding at prime focus.
My main target of the evening was M20, The Trifid Nebula. The image came out pretty well,
but wind was an issue during the evening and I could see it as the guiding program kept
trying to compensate. You can see that the stars are slightly oval rather than nice and
round:
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Location: Shady Pines Campground, Savoy, Massachusetts Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC Focal Length: 2000mm Exposure: 9x360 seconds (54 minutes) ISO: 1600 Calibrated with dark frames. Processed using MaxDSLR and Photoshop. |
After that I was trying to get set up for annother attempt to do another wide angle image of the Veil Nebula. However trying to break down my main telescope while at the same time trying to aim a zoom lens at the Veil wasn't working. So instead I decided to use my 50mm lens and image the constellation Cassiopeia. I like how this came out, but I just wish that the nebula portions stood out more:
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Location: Shady Pines Campground, Savoy, Massachusetts Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Lens: 50mm @ f/6.3 Exposure: 10x120 seconds (20 minutes) ISO: 1600 Processed using MaxDSLR and Photoshop. Tracking was done using an AstroTrac on a camera tripod. |
Around 3:30 AM, I saw what might have been an Iridium Flare.
Shady Pines Campground, Savoy, MA
Transparency: 6/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 50-60 degrees
Equipment: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC, Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
First day of AOS Starfest at the new location, Shady Pines Campground.
Early on in the evening, I saw a VERY bright meteor. It even had a bit of debris that seemed
to fall of. It almost looked like some kind of fireworks.
I showed some visitors Saturn, even though it was very low in the sky. They were very
happy to have seen it.
Visually observed M4, M57, and M8. Being able to see these in a dark sky was very nice.
After that I tried a DSLR measurement of P Cyg. When I processed, the results seemed to indicate
that there were still some clouds in the sky that were causing inconsistent results.
I visually got magnitude measurements of RS Aql and RT Aql.
Dew was a major issue during the evening. My SCT managed to stay dry because of the dew heater,
but eyepieces and the finderscope frequently needed to have the hairdryer to remove the dew.
7/1/2012 about 10:00PM-12:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 70-80 degrees
Equipment: Stellarvue 70mm refractor
Measured variable stars τ 4 Ser and TV UMa.
I also made a DSLR measuement of R Lyr.
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