Get a load of this

ASTRONOMER:

When you rearrange the letters:

MOON STARER

Does anyone know any more that are astro related??

See if this works

Well this week saw rain rain rain here in Norfolk. So time to try something. A complete dismantle ,clean and rebuild of my LXD 75 mount. I cannot seem to get PHD to guide with my setup. The mount is Balanced the scopes are tight , but I did notice the Dec mount seemed a little stiffer than the RA. Maybe here lies the problem. Everything seemed to go ok it is definatly smoother than it was so I will wait till the stars shine to test. Its now Sat 5th Sept and we still have rain so polar aligning and testing will have to wait. Watch This Space

Double Cluster In perseus

Object: NGC884 & 889

Type: Open Clusters

Distance: 7300Light Years

Constellation: Perseus

Date: 30th August 08

Equipment: William Optics Megrez 90 Canon EOS 40DSubframes: 19 x 30 second exposures unguided at ISO1600Processed: No darks or flats were captured. Processed in Images Plus 2.0 with a Moderate non linear stretch or DDP.Notes: Well for a few hours last night it was clear. Transparency good So I rolled back the roof and took a few images.
Having problems with PHD it just wanders off after about 20 seconds

Persied Meteor Through Andromeda

After a couple of hours at our Great Ellingham observatory. We saw 4 or 5 meteors.

Came home and set up the Canon EOS40d on a tripod and connected the remote shooting software. I cought this fine meteor at 00.43 13/8/08. You will notice it perfectly disects the Andromeda galaxy.

30 second image ISO1000 Delicatly processed by Barnfield Bob (thanks Bob)

M27 The Dumbell Nebula

This is the first image from my new Canon EOS40d DSLR
A 30 second exposure ISO 1600 through a Celestron 9.25" Schmidt-Cassegrain with XLT coatings.
STUNNING STUNNING STUNNING what more can I say.
This image is unprocessed. I cant wait to stack a couple of dozen images.

M81 & M82

I took this image at approx 1.20 am Tues 20th May 2008 with a near full moon in the sky.

This is a small stack of 8 x 30 second exposures combined and processed using Images Plus 2.0

Taken through William Optics 90mm Megrez refractor and Canon EOS300d

M13 The Great Hercules Cluster

Monday 5th May.

An historic day. My finished observatory has seen first light and to celebrate the event I pulled an all nighter ( well Very nearly).

The first target was M13 in the constelation in Hercules. I was initially happy to spend the evening just being able to achieve focus and get everything working. Having achieved this reasonably quickly I set about some imaging.

28 x 30 second unguided exposures using

Canon EOS300D / William Optics Megrez 90mm refractor / Processed Using Images Plus 2.0

I am very pleased with this first attempt.

Your comments are appreciated.

Rebuild Of Roof Structure

Its been a long wait. A measurement error made by me on the internal measurements of the observatory meant that the scope when facing south hit the door of the observatory.

Two options available to me were rebuild the structure or the more favourable raise the scope.

Option two was the preferred choice,

I needed to raise the scope by 14" to allow the counterweight arm to miss the door frame.

I did not have any more of the tubing so I upended a bucket and added some concrete to raise by the appropriate amount. cut some more M12 bar to accept the mounting plate.

The more difficult task was to raise the roof. Again I could completely rebuild a new roof or raise the existing. Due to many factors such as work commitments, WEATHER, I opted for the raise.

I had booked a week off work for this week to do the job.

I had asked 3 members of Breckland AS to lend a hand . Very kindly Barrie Sherrington, Mike Butcher and Gerald North, said yes and to them I am grateful for their help and advice on the the day.

In preparation I had build a framework for the roof to rest upon and eagerly awaited their arrival. Luck prevailed and the weather was fine. So we lifted the roof off and removed the wheels lifted and tested the new framework in place (all OK it fitted perfectly) Reattached the wheels and lifted the roof onto its new home.

The next couple of days were dodging rain and cladding and doing.

As the photo's show the roof is taller than originally wanted but it does mean the scopes do not have to be removed after an imaging session.

Mercury Transit

Mercury Transit 7th May 2003

The transit or passage of a planet across the face of the Sun is a relatively rare occurrence. As seen from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible. On the average, there are 13 transits of Mercury each century.

On Wednesday, 2003 May 07, We were indeed treated to another transit of a lifetime when Mercury's transit of the Sun was seen for the first time since 1999. The entire event was widely visible from the Europe, Africa and Asia,. Japan Australia, and New Zealand and witnessed the beginning of the transit but the Sun had set before the event ended. Similarly, observers in western Africa, eastern North America and eastern South America saw the end of the event since the transit will already be in progress at sunrise from those regions. But luckily here in the UK we were treated to a cloud free entire transit.

Lightning

Lightning at Saham Toney

Me and my 5 year old daughter love to watch a good thunder storm we sit under the porch and watch the lightning steak across the sky.

Saham Sunset

Saham Toney Sunset.

This is again a favourite image of mine A wonderful sunset Using a canon 300mm zoom Lens on the EOS300d. A 1 second exposure was enough to capture an amazing sky colour.