I did some research a while back for best options for controlling dew on my Celestron C6 SCT scope, and also recently a friend asked for some advice.
These are sites I like generally, I buy from them and they often have good deals….
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/
http://www.scopesnskies.com/
and of course always worth checking Amazon/Ebay.
Some links to dew controller [...] Read more »
I don’t think I have mentioned before that I’ve got an astronomers jacket made in the USA by a firm called Dark Skies Apparel.
It is brilliant, and probably one of the most useful astronomy “accessories” I have purchased.
Made out of thick black cotton material (totally light-proof), it is deliberately oversized to go over your normal [...] Read more »
Ha ha ha ha ha! Take that you spammers!
I’m fed up with your stupid, meaningless, generic, foreign drivel posted as comments on my blog.
Goodbye, you can stop wasting my time now.
I’ve just installed the Math Comment Spam Protection Wordpress plugin for Wordpress version 2.6 and up, to prevent annoying spambots automatically submitting useless comments to [...] Read more »
The Great Orion Nebula (M42) is probably the most popular and brightest target nebula in the Northern hemisphere for astrophotographers.
Click the picture for a larger version, then hit Back when done.
This image taken with my LX-modded SPC900NC on my C6-SGT XLT scope on EQ5 mount is far superior than I have taken of M42 in [...] Read more »
Prompted by a comment a couple of weeks back (Philip A Cruden at AstroGab) I decided to expand on the Steve Chambers long exposure SC1 LX-mod I have done previously to my SPC900NC webcam, by making the necessary change to allow the Amp-off mod (known as the SC1.5 mod).
The webcam electronics normally use an “amplifier” [...] Read more »
Here is my first attempt at imaging M31 The Andromeda Galaxy. At first glimpse you might think its a good picture, but I’m not actually that happy with it.
Click the picture for a larger version, then hit Back when done.
Being a first try, I suppose it’s not too bad, but there are a couple of [...] Read more »
Last night a friend and her two daughters aged 10 and 12 came to stay with us for a few days with my wife for some girly shopping as they are on their half term break, and being as their dad wasn’t able to come this time, I was left to do my own thing [...] Read more »
Many times I have tried to view the Flame Nebula by eye with my Orion XT10i Dobsonian, but without success (I keep thinking “It must be there, surely I should be able to see it!?”).
In professional photographs The Flame looks reasonably bright when compared to very faint nebula like the Horsehead, and it doesn’t look [...] Read more »
The Crab Nebula (M1/NGC1952) is found in the constellation Taurus. It is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula observed by John Bevis in 1731 which corresponds to a bright supernova recorded by Chinese and Arab astronomers in 1054. The Crab is located at a distance of about 6,500 light-years from Earth, and the nebula [...] Read more »
Here is an image of NGC-869 that I took using my SC1 modded SPC900NC webcam using LX-mode.
The Double Cluster is comprised of a pair of open or galactic star clusters, a lovely starfield in the northern constellation of Perseus. They are an easy binocular target, and once you know their position they are also readily [...] Read more »
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