Looking at Mars

Mars is just about at opposition and I finally have gotten out with my scope again. While viewing wasn’t ideal, I did get a photo:

M31-The Andromeda Galaxy on 9/6/13

M31-The Andromeda Galaxy on 9/6/13

Here’s the other thing I was imaging. Because of the low number of subs and lack of flat frames, there are quite a few dust donuts visible on this image. I may spring for an EL panel or something to do good flat frames… We’ll see.

Boy, it was nice to be out again. And the Cardinals won, so that was a bonus. 🙂

M8-The Lagoon Nebula on 9/6/13

M8-The Lagoon Nebula on 9/6/13

It has been nearly a year since I really did some astrophotography. That has been for a number of reasons, mostly weather-related, but also because I’ve taken up model building and have just been really busy. Tonight was beautiful – a bit humid, but clear. I just had to get out and do some imaging. And I did. I took some nice shots of M8 and M31. With M8, in particular (shown above) I did shots at 1, 5, 15, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 360 seconds to use as a demonstration in my Barnard Astronomical League presentation next week.

M13 – Great Globular Cluster in Hercules on 9/20/12

M13 – Great Globular Cluster in Hercules on 9/20/12

This is the other Messier Object I imaged this evening.

M27 – Dumbbell Nebula Widefield on 9/20/12

M27 – Dumbbell Nebula Widefield on 9/20/12

This is one of the widefield Messier Objects I imaged tonight.

The Moon on 9/20/12

The Moon on 9/20/12

I haven’t been blogging much – I’ve been busy and the weather hasn’t cooperated. Tonight is quite nice, however and I’m imaging a couple things – this is the Moon. 🙂

M20-The Trifid Nebula on 8/20/12

M20-The Trifid Nebula on 8/20/12

It was a nice night last night – I had a chance to share Saturn, Mars and M13 with some neighbors and afterward took this image of M20, the Trifid Nebula.

Perseid Meteor through Cygnus

Perseid Meteor through Cygnus

Last night at Cloudland Canyon, the Barnard Astronomical Society had a star party/meteor watch. I took 3 of my boys and we watched the meteor shower. Overall, we saw 20 or 30 meteors total – not a lot – but it was neat anyway. The shot above is the only one of a meteor that I got. It’s in the upper left corner.

Venus Transit

Venus Transit

At this point, Venus is completely in front of the Sun.

Venus Transit Teardrop

Venus Transit Teardrop

At a certain point, because of the atmosphere of Venus, there’s a kind of teardrop shape as it completely enters the Sun – this is at that moment.