Hark! I hear the sound of photons splatting on detectors

[RobF]

All over the country tonight, I expect there must be happy astronomers viewing and imaging. Brissy enjoying our 4th? night of clear skies - number 2 for me anyhow.

Hope everyone is having fun? :)

[RickS]

Yep, having fun over here! I have 6 x 10 mins luminance on the Antennae galaxies so far.

Cheers,
Rick.

[[1ponders]]

I don't know about splattering Rob, my camera sounds like its slurping them up. I'm trying out the 60D matched to the VC200L draining Eta Car atm. I've had the camera since xmas but this is the first real chance I've had to try it out over consecutive nights. I'd almost forgotten how much fun it is to do DSLR imaging, once I got the sulking guidecamera to work. :prey: WinXP

[technofetishism]

Clouds came back just as i started polar alignment, they may be clearing again, but I packed up to go warm back up as I had no faith that It'd clear in the next hour.

[DavidU]

Here in Melbourne the only thing that would splat onto my detector would be rain.
Enjoy it up there.

[jjjnettie]

I'm starting to feel the effects of all these long nights.
But am soldiering on. Getting in practice for Astrofest.
I'm collecting more data on NGC 4945 right now. The run is nearly finished. I'll have close on to 4 hrs total. :)
Next target is the Prawn. I already have 3.5hrs on it from last night. So should tack another 3.5 onto that.
Gear is all working smoothly.
What a beautiful night. :D

[peter_4059]

Gear problems :mad2: Spat the dummy and going to bed early.

[DavidTrap]

Hmmmmmmm,

First clear weekend in ages and I'm working!!!

Congrats to all who are gathering photons.

DT

[RobF]

Sorry to hear weather and gear problems in places guys. Not good :sadeyes:

Rick, I just realised I've been shooting NB again to complete my first multi-hr NB image, and there's no moon yet! Hope the antennae galaxies work out.

JJJ - you never seem to have any trouble at AF - find it hard practice is required :P

Peter - gear troubles not good - beauty sleep may help sort out what it was in the morning perhaps......

[alocky]

Bloody Perth weather. Got some lovely footage of the sun today, and no sooner had I eaten, chased the carpet rats off to bed, set up the FSQ with new D800 up on the mount to try it out: clouds moved in. Looks like its time to uncork a bottle and watch some sci-fi. :(
bum.
Andrew.

[h0ughy]

high cloud here

[Nico13]

Vewy vewy cwappy here in good old Bannockburn.:mad2:
Will probably clear up when I go back on afternoon shift

[jjjnettie]

10C here. It feels a lot colder.
The weather man says it's going to be a lot cooler next week. We may even get the first frost of the season. :)
I think it may be a cold clear Winter ahead of us. :)

Rob, you know my setup. It's as basic as you can get. But I have had my share of dramas with it. When it's good, it's very very good, but when it's bad it's horrid. LOL

[pgc hunter]

Nothing but a multi-week vomit-o-thon here in Antarctica. Forecast says we can expect more vomit in the near and distant future. Anything but fun here :mad2:

Make the most of the clear skies you lucky buggers!

[Adelastro1]

I managed to collect a few photons on my new D800E tonight (only about 45 mins worth) until the clouds rolled in. I'm in the country for Mother's day tomorrow and will try to get a few more shots tomorrow night before heading back to Adelaide.
Hopefully post a few shots soon. In camera they look great, due both to the new camera and new fast lenses. :D

[jjjnettie]

sigh....I lost the last 40 minutes of data on the Prawn. I forgot to turn the power on to the Kendrick. :(

[stardust steve]

Been cloudy on and off, so i have had to grab most opportunities as they arise. Both scopes are 1 meter from the back door, nail polished marked on pavers for polar align. All set to do 1-2 sec exposure images:lol:
....manual eq3 and eq5:screwy:
good fun though:)

[whzzz28]

Yes i have decided to wait to do any further imaging until my kendrick set arrives.

Got a tad annoying having to run outside every 30-45mins with a hair dryer.

Apparently 6x10min subs @ 1600, and 4x5min @ 3200 were not enough for NGC4038 :(
Must get more data.

[jjjnettie]

:) Sounds like my place. I renewed teh nail polish marks a couple of weeks ago as the old ones had faded.
I even have the tripod legs marked so I know how far to let them down so as to be level.
I can do 5 minute unguided wide fields without doing a drift align this way. :D
I just have to roll down the ramp from the laundry and I'm there. LOL

[RobF]

Yes, I'm similar to JJJ - marks on the rear tiles and marks on each leg for level at that spot. Roll the power and usb leads out from the dining room and I'm off (except for occasional minor problem with weather ;))

Hmmm, nail polish - last longer than Nikko pen? What colour?

[stardust steve]

I use hot pink, very bright against the cream coloured pavers. I did leave the nail polish out overnight to find my 7 yo daughter trying to do her nails in the morning hahaha:lol:

[jjjnettie]

I use a rich red with sparkly stuff in it. I use Nikko pen on the legs though. That needs redoing frequently as I spray the legs with rp7 from time to time to protect them from the weather.
I also mark the draw tube of the focuser with the focus points of my various cameras, eg 550d with flattener, 550d with power mate, spc900 with focal reducer etc etc
It sure saves a lot of frustration and time. :)

[RobF]

Thanks guys - will have to see what colours wife and daughter have in stock. I've bought all sorts of unexpected things for my astro needs, but I draw the line at going out to buy bright red nail polish for the scopes :) :P

[RickS]

The wind is giving my AO a workout tonight!

[swannies1983]

Looks like you guys have flicked the cloud down south. Do you want it back? :P

[jjjnettie]

It's windy here too, but my house is blocking the worst of it. All my leads and cables are securely velcroed to the mount. The PHD graph is steady as. :)

[RobF]

Yeah, I'm up early and shouldn't me mucking around again tonight, BUT.....a bit of breeze isn't enough to make me call it quits.

[RickS]

We just lent it to you until the new moon :lol:



A wind break has to be a better solution than an extra piece of hardware, but AO seemed like a good idea at the time ;) I'm keeping my RMS wander down to 0.3" during the biggest gusts, so it's doing it's job!

[pvelez]

Trying to get a spectrum of a mag 15.2 quasar - a tough ask. Have pushed the subs out to 15 minutes binned x2. No joy yet. Can get something at 10 minutes binned x3 but the resolution then goes.

Oh well - at least its clear in Sydney

Pete

[bmitchell82]

well tonight in perth its clear now :D only had to wait a few hours after dark :D but its very tasty. :)

Now im biding my time till nebulae ville rolls out of the soup so i can work on my new image "Ghostly Twins"

[jjjnettie]

ha.....just wasted 2.5hrs.
I forgot to hit the go button on the remote timer. LOLOL I had guests this evening so was a bit distracted.
Still will get in nearly 2hrs before the target hits meridian. I'll have to make up for it tomorrow night won't I. :)

[RickS]

Don't you hate that! I spent a couple of hours chasing a gremlin that just went away when I power cycled everything.

[RobF]

It's good to get some practice. Last time I was out managed to "collect" data for 3hrs without actually saving any of it :doh:

[RickS]

I have an early start tomorrow so I'm processing tonight...

[jjjnettie]

Man o man, it's 9.18pm and it's down to 6C already. They predicted 3C minimum, but I reckon we're in for a cold and frosty morning. brrrr
My fingers....I can't feel my fingers!!!!
Looking forward to my USB powered fingerless wool gloves to arrive this week.

[RickS]

In the meantime you could improvise with a couple of dew heater straps, Jeanette :lol:

[RobF]

Ok, I'll bite - is this for real JJJ !?? :lol:
Will they also allow you to do image processing in mid-air ala "Minority Report"?!

[RickS]

USB only provides 500mW of power, so if they are real they won't be terribly warm.

[jjjnettie]

I'm thinking of buying a couple more pair to use as back up dew control, :)
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-heated-warm-gloves-for-men-color-assorted-pair-30366

Even if they only warm up to 20C, it's enough to keep the fingers thawed. :)

[RobF]

I'm still not sure I'll believe it until I see you tethered to a laptop at AF.
If I hear a ruckus at 3am I'll know you've tried to work away half asleep without unplugging :rofl::lol: