Observing Log for Mike Durkin


4/26/2026 about 8:30PM-10:30PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 9-10/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: 40-50 degrees
Equipment: Seestar S50

Before I was able to start imaging, I was playing a bit of fetch with the neighbor's dog.
The moon was a little more than 1/2 full, so not the most ideal conditions, but I decided to do a little imaging with the Seestar S50.
Started with a couple of images of the moon and a video that I'll try to process later.
After that I imaged M81 and M82 for 36 minutes. There was a significant gradient, perhaps due to a light from a building, although the AI processing did seem to do a good job removing that. I also downloaded a copy of the FITS file on the Seestar, so I can try to process that myself.

Comments after processing: I have mixed feelings with M81 and M82. There was a light source that I think was causing a significant gradient and I especially was not impressed with how the AI denoise handles the spirals arms in M81. I think it added some artifacts that were not real. Although this is still probably the best image I have of M81 and M82 so far. I need to try a better image at some point.

M81 and M82
Location: Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 9-10/10, Seeing 3/5
Temperature: 40-50 degrees
Equipment: Seestar S50
Exposure: 216x10s (36 minutes)
Processed in Siril and GIMP

Although I was able to get the spiral arms, a gradient from a nearby light source might have caused some problems, especially with the AI denoising from the Seestar, I think there are some AI processing artifacts in the spiral arms.


4/19/2026 about 9:00PM-9:30PM
Locust Valley, NY
Transparency: 3/10, Seeing ??/5
Temperature: 40-45 degrees
Equipment: Seestar S50

Before the weekend ended, I wanted to do something quick with the Seestar and maybe try out the dew shield I got from NEAF this year. However right after I finished setting up the Seestar and was ready to polar align, a layer of clouds came in a blacked amlost everything. It will probably clear up a bit later, but too late to do anything on a Sunday evening.




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