Author Archives: james

Perseus wide field

Posted on November 15, 2012 by james

Taken the on the same night as my earlier image of Cassiopeia, here’s Perseus. In the top right corner it’s just possible to see the California Nebula starting to emerge.

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Cassiopeia wide field

Posted on November 15, 2012 by james

I spent an evening playing with my new Canon 50mm f/1.8 “nifty fifty” lens and taking some long exposures of constellations near the zenith. This is Cassiopeia. The keen-eyed will spot the double cluster at the centre of the right … Continue reading →

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Another Sunspot Image

Posted on October 10, 2012 by james

This is a full-size crop of my solar image for 4th October. Very pleased with the detail I’m getting here. The image was a “white light” full solar disk taken using a Canon 450D and 127 Mak using Baader solar … Continue reading →

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Sunspot Imaging with the Lifecam Cinema

Posted on October 3, 2012 by james

I was out doing some solar imaging recently and tried to get my son a bit more interested in the world that exists outside various electronic games devices by getting him to get some sunspot images using my modded Lifecam … Continue reading →

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August 2012 FIT payment

Posted on October 3, 2012 by james

At the end of August our latest FIT payment arrived covering the late Spring/early Summer period. Obviously given the weather this wasn’t as high a figure as we’d been hoping for, but means that 8.6% of the installation cost is … Continue reading →

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Solar PV Generation Update October 2012

Posted on October 3, 2012 by james

And so the abnormal weather continues… Generation for September this year totalled 333kWh, up 7.5% from the previous September and a somewhat astounding 32% more than would normally be expected for September. That increase completely covers the failure to meet … Continue reading →

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Observation Report 8 September 2012

Posted on October 3, 2012 by james

Another moonlit night washing the less bright objects out, but clear enough to step out with the 10″ dob again… First up was M39 in Cygnus. I found this one tricky to locate, but eventually got to it starting from … Continue reading →

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Observation Report 6 September 2012

Posted on October 3, 2012 by james

Very poor seeing on this particular night. I couldn’t even be sure I could make out the four stars in the “body” of Usra Minor, so the conditions were clearly not at all good. Nonetheless I got out for a … Continue reading →

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EQ3-2 motor gearbox reduction ratio

Posted on October 2, 2012 by james

I’ve decided there’s nothing more I can do with my EQ3-2 mechanics to improve the backlash that’s painfully obvious in the DEC axis. What backlash there is left (about twelve seconds at the 8x speed when changing direction) appears to … Continue reading →

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Observation Report 21 August 2012

Posted on September 28, 2012 by james

This was my first decent length session with the 10″ dob and a good night for it. Checking Ursa Minor suggested a NELM of at least 5.70, so I shan’t be complaining in that respect, although there was a small … Continue reading →

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