bkm2304
19-01-2008, 09:35 PM
I have assembled the secret weapon to beat the light pollution in Mayfield!!! Well maybe a little bit.
The 16" Lightbridge now has a GSTAR - EX attached with monitor. I have the Argo Navis and GSTAR at a nice comfy height for looking at their output. Everything sits on a lightweight bench attached to the dob base and rotates with the scope.
A laptop with wireless internet access at the ready to source images at the DSS or better still, to get that email about the new discovery away quickly!
At 128 sense up - that's one integrated image every 2.5 seconds or so - the view is stunning even from lightpoll central. At declinations of 75 or greater the images are excellent - little drift at full intergation mode. Simply reduce the integration time as you get closer to the equator.
The live images are not for the artistically inclined and will never grace the image of the week on the home page at IIS - more for the raw data enthusiasts who want the faintest object possible regardless of how it looks.
My viewing is mainly to the south around the polar regions - an image shot straight off the monitor (displaying in negative mode) of NGC 3195 shows the detailed structure obtainable. (For the immunologists/pathologists out there, don't you think this looks like a stained basophil - albeit a BIG one ???). Stars of 14th magnitude are viewable and I imagine better results will be obtained in darker settings.
Richard
The 16" Lightbridge now has a GSTAR - EX attached with monitor. I have the Argo Navis and GSTAR at a nice comfy height for looking at their output. Everything sits on a lightweight bench attached to the dob base and rotates with the scope.
A laptop with wireless internet access at the ready to source images at the DSS or better still, to get that email about the new discovery away quickly!
At 128 sense up - that's one integrated image every 2.5 seconds or so - the view is stunning even from lightpoll central. At declinations of 75 or greater the images are excellent - little drift at full intergation mode. Simply reduce the integration time as you get closer to the equator.
The live images are not for the artistically inclined and will never grace the image of the week on the home page at IIS - more for the raw data enthusiasts who want the faintest object possible regardless of how it looks.
My viewing is mainly to the south around the polar regions - an image shot straight off the monitor (displaying in negative mode) of NGC 3195 shows the detailed structure obtainable. (For the immunologists/pathologists out there, don't you think this looks like a stained basophil - albeit a BIG one ???). Stars of 14th magnitude are viewable and I imagine better results will be obtained in darker settings.
Richard