Observing Log for Mike Durkin


10/21/2012 about 8:00PM-11:00PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 55-65 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT

DSLR photometry of R Lyr, XY Lyr, and P Cyg.


10/20/2012 about 10:00PM-4:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 6-10/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 50-60 degrees
Equipment: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC, Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT

I tried using my DSLR for photometry on SS Ari, an eclipsing binary. It started out well, but around 12:30AM, a band of clouds came in and blocked things a bit. I'm not sure how much it will affect the results.


10/14/2012 about 8:00PM-11:00PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 5/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 50-60 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT

DSLR photometry of R Lyr, P Cyg, and XT Lyr. There was a lot of wispy clouds, wich mnay have affect XY Lyr in particular. I may not have good results from this evening.


10/12/2012 about 11:00PM-4:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 35-50 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT, Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC

I decided to image comet 168P/Hergenrother:

Comet Hergenrother added to background
Location: Long Island, NY
Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC
Camera: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 61x1 minute, ISO 1600. f/6.3 Focal Reducer used
Flat and Dark frames used

For this image, I stacked based on the background stars and then inserted a stacked image of the comet on top.
Comet Hergenrother with star trails
Location: Long Island, NY
Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC
Camera: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 61x1 minute, ISO 1600. f/6.3 Focal Reducer used
Flat and Dark frames used

For this image, I stacked keeping the comet fixed, which is why there are star trails.


10/6/2012 about 10:00PM-2:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 55-65 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel XT

DSLR Photometry of R Lyr, XY Lyr, P Cyg, CH Cyg and X Per.


10/5/2012 about 10:00PM-1:30AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 60-70 degrees
Equipment: 70mm Stellarvue short tube refractor

So I started the evening hoping to do some DSLR photometry, but after a few test exposures, it was obvious that there was a lot of wispy clouds that would interfere.
So I did do some visual measurements of W Cyg, V1339 Cyg, X Cyg, SU Cyg, R Cas and V465 Cas.




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