Observing Log for Mike Durkin
7/29/16 about 11:00PM-2:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 1-7/10, Seeing: 3/5
Temperature: 75-85 degrees.
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel T3i
I tried to take a picture of the Veil Nebula in Cygnus with my zoom lens. Even though it started out mostly clear,
Once I start taking my images, it got partially cloudy, and then finally almost totally overcast by the time
I shut down.
I did manage to get maybe about 30 minutes worth of images, but maybe I should have just done visual measurements
of variable stars.
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Camera: Hutech modified Canon Rebel T3i Mount: camera tripod with Astrotrac TT320X-AG Lens: 75-300mm zoom lens (set to 136mm), f/4.5 Exposure: 21x120 seconds(42 mnutes). Calibrated with dark and flat frames. ISO: 1600 Filter: Astronomik CLS filter. Processed with MaximDL, Photoshop including the "Astronomy Tools" and "GradientXterminator" addons |
7/23/16 about 10:00PM-1:30AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 8/10, Seeing: 3/5
Temperature: 80-90 degrees.
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel T3i
Quick DSLR photometry of P Cyg and CH Cyg.
I briefly thought about trying to do the Veil Nebula, but the moon was coming up and it was getting a little late.
7/17/16 about 10:00PM-12:00 midnight
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing: 3/5
Temperature: 70-75 degrees.
Equipment: 70mm Stellarvue refractor.
Visually measured variable stars V Oph, RR CrB, SW CrB and RX Boo.
Also took a quick look at the moon, which was near full. Prominent features were Grimaldi,
Hevelius, and Baily near the south polar region.
Humidity was also a little bit of an issue again since it caused my glasses to fog up a
couple of times.
7/15-16/16 about 11:30PM-1:00AM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 9/10, Seeing: 4/5
Temperature: 75-85 degrees.
Equipment: 10x50 binoculars
Visually measured variable stars Z UMa, τ4 Ser and S Sct.
Humidity was a little bit of an issue, my eyeglasses would fog up very easily.
While star hopping to S Sct, came across the Wild Duck cluster (M11). I don't recall resolving any
individual stars, just a small hazy patch.
I was also able to make S Sct "flare" a bit when looking directly at it. I assume that is related to
the Purkinje effect.
A waxing gibbous moon was also out, which made it a little more difficult.
7/10/16 about 9:00PM-12:00 midnight
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 9/10, Seeing: 3/5
Temperature: 65-75 degrees.
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon Rebel T3i
DSLR photometry of g Her, δ Sco, κ Oph, and P Cyg.
Once again I had that weird exposure behavior when alternating shots would be about 1/2 as bright.
I got around it by changing the f-ratio and opening it up a little more.
7/2/16 about 8:00-11:00PM
Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center, Jones Beach, NY
Transparency: 3/10, Seeing: 2/10
Temperature: 65-75 degrees
Equipment: 16 inch Meade Lightbridge
Went down to the beach for an AOS members session.
The cloud conditions were awful, although not a total waste. I did get to split Polaris double, relatively easy. I
was a little surprised to find out that it was as bright as magnitude 8-9. If I remember right it looked a little
blue, although it shuold really be white.
Also saw the Ring Nebula, M57, as well. I tried using a broadband eyepice filter to help bring it out, but the clouds made
that a bit tough to determine. The oval shape was easy to see and could also make out a little bit of the ring.
I also saw Mars, but could not make out any surface features.
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