Observation/Imaging Log – 08/14/2010
Date: 8/14/2010
Time: 9:45 PM – 01:30 AM EDT
Scope: Astro-Tech AT66ED
Guide Scope: Celestron C6-SGT
Mount: Celestron Advance CG5 GOTO
Location: Backyard, Suffolk, VA
Weather: Warm, clear, light breeze. A few thin clouds after midnight.
Transparency: 7
Moon: Waxing Crescent that set early
Cameras: Orion Starshoot DSI II, Orion Starshoot Autoguider
Software: Maxim DL Essentials, PHD Guiding
Alignment stars: Arcturus, Antares
Calibration stars: Deneb, Albireo
Very nice clear night. Still a bit warm, even late, but better than it has been. After the two star align I did the polar align routine using Antares. The mount GOTO was right on and tracking well. PHD guiding was doing a great job making minor adjustments. I probably could have gone for longer exposure times but I think the shots below turned out pretty well. I still need a bit more practice and information on processing the shots after stacking them. (Anyone know of a good book or resource?)
Messier 17 (M17) – The Swan Nebula or the Omega Nebula
This was my first target. It was very easy to find in the dark sky. The image is a stack of 20 1 minute exposures. The mount guided great for over 30 minutes. I also got a small set of 120 second exposures but I have not stacked/processed them yet.
Messier 27 (M27) – The Dumbbell Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula was almost directly overhead and I had a hard time keeping the mount guided. I think my balance may have been off a bit with the way the scope was pointing almost straight up. I had to refocus since I forgot to set the lock screw and the weight of the camera caused the focuser to slip when the scope was pointing straight up. The image below is a stack of 7 1 minute exposures.
Messier 8 (M8) – The Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula was also very easy to find. It is in the same area of the sky as M17 – this area was nice and dark. Again the mount guided well for this set of images. The image below is a stack of 20 1 minute exposures.
I forgot to take the dark frames for the night. I was going to, I even set the camera and scope up for it, but then I started looking at Jupiter and forgot all about them.
All of these images have also been posted to my Flickr page here.
