I had a ball last night.
I was shooting through sucker hole half the night, then it cleared completely.
What a joy to see the Milky Way stretching across the sky.
If my pics turn out ok, i'll be posting them later today.
I actually saw some stars last night not enough holes to get the scope out as the clouds were moving quick I barely had time for these 30sec exposure's that I took to convince myself in the morning that yes I did see stars last night
Last edited by supernova1965; 10-12-2010 at 09:42 AM.
I missed the clear night last night to see U2. The tickets were a birthday present for my wife and I wasn't a big fan so would have missed it if not for that. Am I disappointed? Not in the slightest. That was the biggest rock show Brisbane is likely to see for many years to come and I urge anyone having half thoughts of going to Sydney shows to get there. I'd trade several clear nights a year to see a show so spectacular.
Tarantula is a good indicator for me, I can see it really well when the seeing is about 7 - almost to the point of it having colour in it.
So I like to look at it
It was the second thing I looked at when I gave my scope first light last year.
Tuc47 was first which is why I photoe'd it first last night -
I was noticing that some stars had different colours last night which was nice, but I definitely couldn't see any colour in Tarantula. I'm gonna have to go looking for this Tuc47 too.
If you've noticed that the sky has gone cloudy about now, it's because my RDF arrived
I'd love to do AP but I only have a Sony Cybershot (5 yr old, 5mp camera). Somehow I dont think that will cut it.
These weren't timed exposures - they were literally taken through the eyepiece as a snap (which is a projection picture) - all I did was make up a little piece of wood with a hole in it that fitted over the lenses to hold them lined up and an elastic band to hold it in place - cost - ten minutes of my time to make with a hole saw in a drill.
Set the camera to infinity and snap away, adjusting whatever you can adjust to give you a better shot. The exposures were about 1/30 sec
to 2 seconds (for Saturn which I haven't posted because they're not that good) Increasing the zoom will eliminate vignetting and also diffuse light which may result in over exposure - so if it is too bright and there are no other adjustments, increase the zoom onthe camera !! or fit a filter
These weren't timed exposures - they were literally taken through the eyepiece as a snap (which is a projection picture) - all I did was make up a little piece of wood with a hole in it that fitted over the lenses to hold them lined up and an elastic band to hold it in place - cost - ten minutes of my time to make with a hole saw in a drill.
Set the camera to infinity and snap away, adjusting whatever you can adjust to give you a better shot. The exposures were about 1/30 sec
to 2 seconds (for Saturn which I haven't posted because they're not that good) Increasing the zoom will eliminate vignetting and also diffuse light which may result in over exposure - so if it is too bright and there are no other adjustments, increase the zoom onthe camera !! or fit a filter
Right that's called Afocal held up to the lens. Could you post a pic of your little piece of wood and elastic band rig so I can duplicate it. Sounds ingenius well done.
Very nicely done I will work on one straight away does the camera and eyepiece fit snuggly or do they require some sort of securing to the vacuum hose.
