Slowly getting through processing the gobs of images from Duckadang, this is the first off the line, a two part-mosaic taken on the Friday. The rest will have to wait until the new computer arrives capable of the task.
This resulted from a truly collaborative effort in the spirit that only Astrofest can bring, so let me take this opportunity to thank all involved in turning what could have been a personal astrophotographical tragedy into a very productive week.
Not the least of which were Tony and Anne-Louise for the loan of their three-crutch-special tripod, Houghy for his mount-stabilisation straps (zip-ties), Bob Grimes (Grindy) for his tireless pursuit of the perfect socket to tighten up the EQ1, eventually grinding one down to fit in the camp workshop. And everyone else that came to the party to help me get the system in shape!
While I was typing this, I received the very sad news about Nick Williams, a great guy I met at astrofest many years ago and that I only ever saw there over the years. But I liked Nick a great deal and will miss him nonetheless. I'd like to dedicate this picture to him.
Equipment was a 35mm Zeiss f2 lens, QHY8 6MP colour CCD imager with an Orion Min-EQ mount on Tony & Anne-Louises's tri-crutch 2000 patented tripod.
Exposures for this one was 15-minutes. Due to the mount or bad polar alignment, I was limited to 60 second exposures. I was impressed with the low noise levels of the camera. This allowed some pretty dim stuff to be brought out of the short exposures...
A beautiful image and a very apt, touching dedication to one of astronomy's finest gentlemen.
Our condolences go out to all his family, loved ones, friends and colleagues.
Cheers
Dennis
Hi Dennis. It was great to catch up with you again this year. I forgot to mention your contribution to this image by allowing me to use the patented Simmons 2000 altitude finder ! Thanks again for that...
