Category Archives: Astronomy

Solar Imaging with the 127 Mak

Posted on September 11, 2012 by james

Someone was asking about the set-up of a solar imaging system, so I took these photos of mine “in action”. There’s really nothing special here other than the motor focuser that I cobbled onto the back of the Mak. The … Continue reading →

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Stacking Canon RAW CR2 Files For Solar and Lunar Imaging

Posted on September 11, 2012 by james

I use Deep Sky Stacker for stacking images from my 450D for wide field shots of the night sky, but I’ve struggled getting anything to work for solar and lunar images. Some people I’ve discussed it with have found no … Continue reading →

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10″ Dob First Light

Posted on September 5, 2012 by james

Unbelievably it’s actually six weeks since I managed this, but I got around to writing it up in the end… Very unexpectedly, having finished my dob build the day before, around midnight there was a break in the cloud and … Continue reading →

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Filtering Light Pollution for Wide Field Star Images

Posted on September 5, 2012 by james

I’ve been taking some wide field images of the night sky with my Canon 450D recently and whilst we have very little light pollution here compared with most places in the UK, even a small amount bleeds into longer exposure … Continue reading →

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My 10″ Dobsonian ‘build’

Posted on August 20, 2012 by james

I’ve quoted the word ‘build’ because in some respects this turned out not to be. However, there’s a fair bit of woodwork involved, so I reckon it still counts… Some months back I wrote that I had obtained a 10″ … Continue reading →

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Another Attempt at a Cygnus Widefield Image

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

The evening after my previous attempt the sky looked better so I set up again mostly with the same kit (EQ3-2, 450D, 18-55mm lens at 18mm & f/4.5, but this time I used APT to control the camera from the … Continue reading →

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My First Widefield Shot

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

Quite a few “firsts” this week. Makes such a change to have so many nights of clear sky. This night the sky clarity wasn’t great, but I wanted to try a widefield shot and wasn’t too worried about the outcome … Continue reading →

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My First SPC900 DSO Images

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

We’ve just had a full eight days of clear skies and I finally managed to get around to testing my LX-modded SPC900. For the test I used my ST120 on the motorised EQ3-2. This is my first ever attempt at … Continue reading →

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Paper Planet Models

Posted on August 1, 2012 by james

I found a set of “nets” for icosahedron models of planets and moons recently and made one each of Jupiter with my daughter. They’re quite tricky to make the final joins on — you really need delicate slim fingers, not … Continue reading →

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Observation Report, 22 July 2012

Posted on July 23, 2012 by james

Having had an excellent night two nights ago I had six Messier objects left to find and set myself the goal of finding M7 this week on the basis that whatever happens in August, between the Moon and the turning … Continue reading →

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