Observing Log for Mike Durkin
8/31/2008 about 8:00PM- 9/1/2008:00AM
Robert Moses State Park, NY
about 60-70 degrees
trans: 9/10, seeing: 4/5
Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC
Started with Jupiter. I could easly see the moon Io, and the shadow of the moon on the disk of the planet.
After that I started working on some astrophotography
 Milky Way region with the Swan and Eagle nebulae Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Lens: Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm III USM Focal Length: 170mm. F-number: f/5 ISO: 800 Location: Robert Moses State Park Exposure: 3x120 seconds.
This picture is combination of 3 images I took with my camera piggybacked on to my Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC. The pictures were stacked in MaxDSLR and then processed in Photoshop. Each light frame was a JPG rather than RAW. |
 Wide Angle Milky Way around the Sagittarius star cloud Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Lens: Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm III USM Focal Length: 75. F-number: f/5 ISO: 800 Location: Robert Moses State Park Exposure: 137 seconds.
I took this image with my camera piggybacked on to my Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC. It was then processed with Photoshop. |
 Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Lens: Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm III USM Focal Length: 170. F-number: f/5 ISO: 800 Location: Robert Moses State Park Exposure: 123 seconds.
I took this image with my camera piggybacked on to my Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC. It was then processed with Photoshop. |
A very fuzzy picture of M33 Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Lens: Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm III USM Focal Length: 130. F-number: f/5 ISO: 800 Location: Robert Moses State Park Exposure: 119 seconds.
I took this image with my camera piggybacked on to my Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC. It was then processed with Photoshop. |
Andromeda Galaxy - M31, M32, and M110 Camera: Hutech Modified Canon Rebel XT Lens: Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm III USM Focal Length: 130mm. F-number: f/5 ISO: 800 Location: Robert Moses State Park Exposure: 2x120 seconds.
This picture is combination of 2 images I took with my camera piggybacked on to my Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC. The pictures were stacked in MaxDSLR and then processed in Photoshop. The image was then cropped. |
After that, my scope battery ran out so I tried to do some visual observing before I packed it in
for the night.
I tried to find NGC 7293, or the Helix Nebula. I wasn't ab;e to make it out in my scope.
Msybe it is too sparse to see?
M30 - A tiny globular, maybe 10 arcminutes or less. Kind of irregular shaped, oblong
on one axis. Able to resolve a few stars at 17mm.
M73 - Also tiny, looks like 3 stars close together in a triangle. I am a little surprised
this is a Messier object.
M72 - A small, dim, globular. Maybe about 10 arcmites in size. Unable to resolve
any stars with 17mm eyepiece.
8/26/2008 about 8-10PM
Locust Valley, NY
about 60-70 degrees
trans: 7/10, seeing: 2/5
Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC
Lou had the couple from the other house on his patio, so I showed them a few things.
We looked at Jupiter, the Ring Nebula, M13, and the Coathanger Cluster (Brocchi's Cluster).
I had to stop after that because of dew.
8/26/2008 about 4-6PM
Locust Valley, NY
about 70 degrees
trans: 9/10, seeing: 4/5
Coronado PST Hydrogen Alpha
A clear day, so took the chance to observe to sun a bit.
Using a white light filter on my Ultima 8 with PEC, I didn't see any significant details.
Looking through the PST, I noticed 2 significant prominences, which I showed off to a couple of workers.
After that I hooked up a webcam to the PST and took some movies for processing:
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| Telescope: Coronado Hydrogen Alpha PST with 2x barlow. Camera: Toucam 840K webcam 300-500 frames, each 1/100 of a second. Processed using Registax and Photoshop. |
Telescope: Coronado Hydrogen Alpha PST with 2x barlow. Camera: Toucam 840K webcam 300-500 frames, each 1/100 of a second. Processed using Registax and Photoshop. |
Telescope: Coronado Hydrogen Alpha PST with 2x barlow. Camera: Toucam 840K webcam 300-500 frames, each 1/100 of a second. Processed using Registax and Photoshop. |
8/24/2008 about 8-11PM
Locust Valley, NY
about 60-70 degrees
trans: 8/10, seeing: 4/5
Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
Actually went out to the field this time. Lou was hanging out and I showed him a few things.
Jupiter: Mostly observed with the 17mm eyepiece. Could easily see three bands and the polar regions. A little later on I thought I saw the Great Red Spot, which really looked lighter than the equitorial belt that it is in. I confirmed the next day the the GRS didi transit during my session.
M57, Ring Nebula: I explained to Lou that this is likely what will happen to the Sun. Dimmer than what I was expecting.
M13: Also explainted what a globular cluster is. Very impressive from out here and near the zenith.
I also used Sue French's book Celestial Sampler to try to track down a few objects. I decided to focus on Ophiuchus, a part of the sky I don't know that well.
IC 4665: Sue's book describes this as a cluster about 40 arcminutes in size, but in my scope it seemed to be a couple dozen stars well over a degree across. Maybe I had the wrong size eyepiece?
NGC 6572: A planetary nebula. Even at high power I had a had time differentiating this from a star. It apeared as a bright, light blue star. Using averted vision it did seem to "flare" a little.
Without using Starry Night, or a star chart with faint stars, I would have had a very hard time tracking some of these items.
8/16/2008 about 8-10PM
Locust Valley, NY
about 70 degrees
trans: 6/10, seeing: 3/5
Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
Took the telescope out, again the sky wasn't looking great, so I just decided
to find a good spot and take some webcam pictures of Jupiter.
The seeing was not great, however I was able to grab the following image:
Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 with PEC
Camera: Toucam 840K
2x Barlow lens used.
509 images stacked and processed using Registax.
Each image 1/50 of a second.
8/9/2008 9:30-10:00
Locust Valley, NY
about 70 degrees
trans: 6/10, seeing: ??
10x50 binoculars
First look at the place in Locust Valley. The sky didn't look particularly good, so I only used binoculars.
There was one very bright light that I need to find out if I can have turned off. Despite the light, after
some limited dark adaption, I think I was able to make out starts down to about magnitude 4.0-4.5.
I might have also began to see a hint of the Milky Way.
I looked a little at Jupiter, and a couple of its moons. I also scanned Cassiopeia, Lyra, and Cygnus.
I wasn't able to pick out any specific clusters or Messier objects, but I was only just getting a feel
for the place.
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