Total Solar Eclipse – San Saba, Texas – 8 April 2024
The Great American Eclipse, visible in totality from Texas to Maine, was an event not to be missed! We, like many others, put our bets on Texas weather being clearer in early April than anywhere else in the country. But…in a weird twist of fate, those in Ohio and Maine had clearer weather. From our vantage point in San Saba, Texas we had clear skies right up until a big cloud rolled through about 15 minutes prior to totality! But it wasn’t completely dense, so we were able to see and photograph all the major phases of totality, get some interesting “eclipse in the clouds” images, and have another fun-filled and amazing adventure!
The most AMAZING astrophotography trip to the Atacama Desert!
Over two years in the making – planning, re-planning, provisioning, testing, packing – the most amazing and perfect astrophotography trip came to fruition in the gloriously dark and clear skies of Chile’s Atacama Desert in early March 2024. I couldn’t have dared to dream that the skies would be so dark and so clear – but they were – six nights of imaging, capturing the beauty of the Southern Hemisphere skies. …and days filled with touring adventures!
SHO Hubble Palette Rosette Nebula
Yesterday, as I processed the Rosette Nebula image I wondered what an SHO version might look like…
Clear skies during the full moon – Front patio equipment check
True to Mother Nature’s latest form, we had a string of clear nights – during and immediately following the full moon! Thank goodness for the LeXtreme light pollution filter! I decided to take advantage of the clear nights to run a couple of experiments ahead of the (rapidly) upcoming trip to Chile. First, I wanted to assemble the Southern Cross to make sure that I had everything I need for the trip packed. Second, I wanted to run everything (laptop, camera, mount) from the DC battery for a full night of imaging to make sure I didn’t run into the same problem I ran into during the Mills Rim trip with the RST-300 mount.
Stacking experiment with IC443 Jellyfish Nebula
In keeping with the trend I started in 2023 of creating images by stacking multiple session’s data. I created the image below from five sessions’ data collected over an almost two-year period. I also decided to experiment with different APP stacking techniques. I stacked data from five sessions using two different methods.
FINALLY – A Night in the Beast in Dark Skies
Mother Nature was doing her best at detering us from a January 2024 dark skies trip. BUT, when she opened a one night window assuming, like we have in the past, we wouldn’t take advantage of it, she didn’t understand just how desperate I’d become…
After “sleeping” on it…here’s NGC2174 Monkey Head Nebula SHO v2
If you saw last night’s SHO v1, you probably realized it needed work. After “sleeping” on it overnight and thinking about how I had deviated from Ann Chavtur’s instructions and suggestions, I decided to create a v2…
Processing experimentation with the NGC2147 Monkey Head Nebula
I spent a clear Veterans’ Day night on the front patio capturing more data on the Jellyfish Nebula. Unfortunately, the framing of the capture produced an image not as I had intended, so instead of sharing that night’s data I’m sharing yet another multi-session image of IC443 Jellyfish Nebula. The good news is I spent the night collecting not ideal data from the front patio, NOT during precious dark skies time!
Belated Christmas Greeting – Happy New Year!
Happy New Year 2024 and a belated Christmas greeting with a multi-session image of the NGC2264 Christmas Tree Cluster and Cone Nebula
The Miracle of 3D Printing!
ZWO EAF Autofocuser Needed a Ritchey-Chretien Friendly Bracket… After listening to Nico Carver talk about his autofocuser during a recent Patreon Sunday Chat, I decided I needed one! The (actually two – one for Big Bertha/Big Zeus and one for the Southern Cross) ZWO EAF Autofocuser(s) arrived about a month ago. Paul and I began […]