Merope in the Pleiades

[bloodhound31]

It was clear all night tonight...was....

I went out to clear skies around 10:30pm, set up the scope, dragged all the computer gear out to the obs, aligned, focused and shot one x ten minute exposure on the Pleiades before the orange cloud moved in, blanketing Canberra in a uniform wash of soupy air.

I slept in the obs until 2am, whereupon I hopped in the ute and drove out to meet Octane at Lake George to catch the Leonid meteor shower. Alas, the blanket extended well over the area and we got a couple of peeks at a star and that was it.

The BOM radar doesn't pick up cloud unless it's raining....

So here's that single sub of ten minutes. I already had my flats, flat darks and 20 minute darks loaded into MaxIm from the last shoot, so I calibrated it with them to see what it would do. I couldn't get all of M45 in the ED120mm FOV, so I just picked one star with a bit of nebulosity around it. Turned out alright I suppose...

Baz.

[telemarker (Keith)]

That was rubbish! (the cloud not your piccie) I was considering setting up but as you said a thick bank of cloud sort of came out of nowhere. Well, maybe tonight with some luck.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Sorry to hear about your stuffe plans Baz. Interesting to read your stories.
The image looks OK for a single. Looks like you need a reducer for some wider field images such as this.
Thanks again for the story.

[bloodhound31]

Originally Posted by Hagar

Sorry to hear about your stuffe plans Baz. Interesting to read your stories.
The image looks OK for a single. Looks like you need a reducer for some wider field images such as this.
Thanks again for the story.

Aww gee thanks Doug I shall have to continue to improve my creative writing so as not to disappoint...

Baz.

[Ric]

Nice image Baz,

If I had of known that you and H were out my way I could have put a cuppa on for you.

Cheers

[bloodhound31]

We will definately take you up on that Ric! For now, I think it's a no go with the dust storm.

Baz.