Archive for the 'Pics' Category

Observing Report 2nd April 2013 Part 2 (Bigger Sunspots)

Posted by on April 5th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics
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As promised, sunspots with added bigness.

AR1711 is huge (run your mouse over the pic to see a pasted-in Earth for comparison), in the full-size version you can even see some vague detail down inside the dark region (the umbra):

Active Region 1714 (02/04/2013).
DMK mono camera with 2.25x Barlow on C80ED-R, Baader Solar Film filter.

Active Region 1704 (02/04/2013).
DMK mono camera with 2.25x Barlow on C80ED-R, Baader Solar Film filter.

Active Region 1711 (02/04/2013).
DMK mono camera with 2.25x Barlow on C80ED-R, Baader Solar Film filter.

Observing Report 1st-2nd April 2013 (Another pop at Pan-STARRS)

Posted by on April 4th 2013 in Astrostuff, My vids, Observing Reports, Pics
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Same Comet, same conditions, same tree, same faff, different night:

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4).
Subs: 25 light @ 30s, darks, bias frames, ISO1600.
1000D on the 6" R-C, unguided.

The main difference is that this time there's a time-lapse movie. I created it from 100 frames, each representing 30 seconds of exposure and 5 seconds of "gap", so that's nigh on an hour crammed into this 10-second clip:

Observing Report 2nd April 2013 Part 1 (Sunspots)

Posted by on April 3rd 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics
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See? This is what happens when you decide to keep your winter beard - three consecutive days of almost uninterrupted dawn-to-dusk sunshine.

🙄

Here's a stitched pic from yesterday morning, mouseover for labels, click it to see the bigger version:

Active Regions 1704, 1707, 1708, 1710, 1711, 1713 & 1714 (02/04/2013).
DMK mono camera @ prime focus on C80ED-R, Baader Solar Film filter.

I grabbed some more shots of the main sunspot groups at a higher magnification, it'll take me a while to process the stuff so I'll put the results in a "Part 2" post as and when.

Ah… no problem, monkey-socks

Posted by on March 27th 2013 in Bargains, In the garden, Pics, Testing for review

As this is the 1000th post, I thought a few random recent pics would be appropriate.

I like random. Specific can be a tad boring.

 

 

After nearly 40 years of not making pies, it seems that I still have the knack.

 

This critter often visits but rarely stops. I think it's a Sparrowhawk, what say you?

 

Icicles on the observatory.

 

Soft-shell jacket in for review, courtesy of Berghaus.

 

Nearly-new used bargain: EQ3-2 mount complete with polar-scope and dual-axis tracking motor kit.
New price ~£300, acquired for a shade over £50.

Observing Report 13th January 2013 (Big sunspot group)

Posted by on January 13th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics
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This was the first observing session of the year, primarily because it's been the first time we've had clear skies. Prominent in the image is Active Region 1654. This is a huge group of sunspots, currently about 180,000 km from end to end - that's about 14 Earth-diameters, or, in proper units, about 657 x the length of Wales.

Mouseover the image to see how tiny the Earth would look next to these things, and click the image to see it thrice bigger:

 

Active Region 1654 (13/01/2013)

3000 stacked frames, DMK mono CCD camera at prime focus on the C80ED-R, Baader Planetarium AstroSolar™ Safety Film (ND 3.8) with #58 Green and IR-cut filters

Observing Report 26th July 2012 (Sunspots)

Posted by on July 27th 2012 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics
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Managed to get a few sunspot shots during a short break from trimming the hedges yesterday.

I used a less-dense solar filter (ND 3.8 as opposed to the ND 5.0 that I've used before) which lets through more light allowing much shorter exposures in order to "freeze" the seeing. I also had a play with various magnifications - 1x (prime focus), 2x (Powermate) and 4x (Powermate + Barlow).

All 50/4000 stacked frames, DMK mono CCD camera on the C80ED-R, Baader Planetarium AstroSolar™ Safety Film (ND 3.8) with #58 Green and IR-cut filters.

There's a reference image at the end in case you're wondering what's where:

Active Regions 1528, 1529, 1530 & 1532 (26/07/2012).
1x (prime focus).

Active Regions 1529, 1530 & 1532 (26/07/2012).
2x (Powermate).

Active Region 1532 (26/07/2012).
4x (Powermate + Barlow).

Active Region 1530 (26/07/2012).
4x (Powermate + Barlow).

Active Region 1529 (26/07/2012).
4x (Powermate + Barlow).

Active Region 1528 (26/07/2012).
4x (Powermate + Barlow).

Active Region 1531 (26/07/2012).
4x (Powermate + Barlow).

Active Region 1526 (26/07/2012).
4x (Powermate + Barlow).

Reference image from SOHO.
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