Thanks Peter & Ken - haven't really done much since October with a killer work-holiday-work combo curtailing astronomy (er, except for the eclipse)! Gotta get ASAS working - can access the search page but can't bring up search results.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Merlin66
Rob,
Unfortunately too many amateurs just take " pretty pictures" and never have the discipline to check their images for any new discoveries....what a waste of collected photons......
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And you don't really need much gear to contribute. Don't think that you need expensive CCD cameras, top quality mounts & scopes, sophisticated software etc, as well as a massive learning curve.
It can be as simple as you want it to be. My own philosophy has always been that I have certain gear, so what can I do with it? Rather than saying, I'd like to do such-and-such so what hardware/software do I need to buy to do it?
I just have a battered 400D, cheap zoom lens and an unmotorised EQ1 mount that is badly worn out & sloppy. To blink I just layer one image over another in Photoshop or PS Elements and flip the layer transparency from 0 to 100%, backwards & forwards. No special software. Piggybacked shots at 55mm are quite sufficient for a nova search and even if you don't discover one (I've been oh so close a couple of times over the last few years but no cigar... yet!), you can provide confirmation (or otherwise) for new possible novae, or heads-ups for unusual novae or vs behaviour, or maybe even discover a variable star or two! Especially for southern stars which tend to be under-observed.
This is apart from the fascination of seeing the galaxy in action (stars dim, others brighten) and the learning experience as you chase down the story behind little changing dots in your images.
Cheers -
Great work anyways! There is much skill and effort in what you have done.
