Observing Log for Mike Durkin
10/13/2024 about 10:00PM-12:00AM
Location: Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 9/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: about 45-55 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon T3i
DSLR photometry of P Cyg and CH Cyg.
I did take a bit of a break to watch the Yankees lose game 2 of the World Series...Booo!
10/13/2024 about 6:00-7:30PM
Location: Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park Beach, Oyster Bay, NY
Transparency: 7/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: about 60-70 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon T3i
Went to the beach in Oyster Bay to try to see comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS. So many people have seen it already
and I missed all the aurora sightings, so I really wanted to try to see this.
I was not able to definitely see the comet with my naked eye, although I might have just
detected it once or twice. I had to use the Sky Safari app to get a hint of where the comet
was by comparing with Venus and Arcturus.
The comet was visible in the individual light frames with some of the tail visible. After processing,
the tail was much longer than I expected, I believe at least 6 degrees long.
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Image of Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS Camera: Canon T3i Lens: 136mm @ f/4.5 No tracking 33x1s images stacked with dark frames. Stacked and processed with PixInsight and GIMP |
10/5/2024 about 7:30PM-11:30PM
Location: Robert Moses State Park, NY
Transparency: 9/10, Seeing 4/5
Temperature: 50-65 degrees
Equipment: Hutech modified Canon T3i
There was a report of high solar activity which might cause somr aurora and some AOS members said they
were going to RMSP, so I decided to try yo go as well.
I ended up spending most of the time watching Dan as he was giving a demo using NINA with his gear to
image the Veil Nebula.
At some point I did set up my camera with the wide angle lens just in case I saw any aurora. As it
seemed that we were reaching the end, I just decided to take some wide angle images of the area og
the Milky Way arounf Cassiopeia and Cepheus. I am a little worried how the images will stack since
the field may be slightly curved with a focal length of about 25mm.
I did see one very bright meteor maybe around 9-10PM in Auriga or Perseus.
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Location: Robert Moses State Park, NY Equipment: Hutech modified Canon T3i Exposure: 435s plus dark frames. No flats Image of Cepheus and Cassiopeia from Robert Moses State Park with a lot of light pollution. Some of the nebulae can be faintly seen in each constellation. |
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