More Astrophotos

The nice thing about seeing these on the blog, is that unlike vacation pictures or baby pictures, you can just skip right over these, and you don't have to say things that you don't mean like, "Oh, how adorable she is," instead of what you are really thinking, "Is this the same species as we are?"

I still need to figure out how to get these a bit sharper. I'm not sure if the problem is that I am not precisely focused, or if the atmosphere is quivering too much.

This was shot at ASA 100, 1/90th second, prime focus:


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This was shot at ASA 800, 1/15th second, with an 18mm eyepiece:


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ASA 800, 1/20th second, 18mm eyepiece:


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ASA 1600, 1/2 second, 9mm eyepiece:


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ASA 1600, 1/2 second, 18mm eyepiece:


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At least you can tell it is Saturn!

ASA 1600, 1 second, 7mm eyepiece:


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This is the longest exposure that I am going to show you, 30 seconds, ASA 1600, prime focus, of the Orion Nebula (M42):


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As you can see, there is still a little bit of a tracking problem. I have figured out how to make vernier adjustments to the polar alignment without the suffering involved in using the polar alignment scope. (Suffering, because you have to get down on your knees, then scrunch down even more, trying to look up the scope in th polar axis of the mount, towards Polaris.) I just need a bit more patience, and I will be able to share much longer exposures.