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 »
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 »
At the Kelling Heath Star Party there were many hundreds of telescopes, from little Meade ETX90’s through to giant 24inch Dobsonians, and gorgeous high tech Refractors setup for astro-photography with some very expensive looking cooled CCD cameras and guide scopes.
One of the big Dobs that really caught my eye was Fossil Light, constructed entirely by [...] Read more »
Two nights this week I have participated in the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s Star Count Survey for 2011.
You can take part by counting as many stars as possible in the constellation Orion, in an area bounded by the four main corner stars, go here for instructions and to take part (you must do it [...] Read more »
This is the first observing session with my Celestron C6-SGT Go-To scope for a very long time. I brought my scope along on our short camping break at Marsh Farm caravan site, Saxmundham in Suffolk, and tonight the damp weather has abated, and the forecast predicted a very cold spell coming in from the North.
Quite [...] Read more »
Nothing, not a sausage. As I feared, it was rainy with just the odd passing gap in the clouds to peer through, but even then saw nothing, but with a Zenithal Hourly Rate predicted of 80-120, i.e. in theory a meteor every 30 to 60 seconds, we would hope to have seen something.
Saturday night [...] Read more »
Looks like it could be a bit of a damp squib tonight/tomorrow (12th/13th August) here in the UK!
However Tuesday night was gorgeous, clear, bright, no moonlight, and comfortably cool.
One of those nights I could NOT miss.
Took the XT10 out, and using its Intelliscope I saw all manner of things (aligned with my new illuminated crosshair [...] Read more »
For the first May bank holiday weekend my wife, the dog and myself took ourselves away to the Lake District for a 4-day break. Before going I had checked the weather forecast which predicted a pretty poor weekend for the whole duration.
As we packed everything ready to go away, I looked at my giant binos [...] Read more »
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