My first deep sky image using the scopes on the iTelescope remote network. The images were taken over two days on the T14 and T20 scopes in New Mexico. Both scopes use the same Takahashi 106mm refractor and SBIG camera. The great thing about the remote iTelescope network – apart from the obvious dark and clear skies in places like New Mexico and Siding Spring, is that the raw FITS files you receive are…
I’m Back….I think!
It’s been a while since I last posted. The weather here has just been terrible and to be honest I have given up on trying to do Astronomy here in Cornwall. Since my last post I have given variable star observing a go using the remote telescope network in the US. Yes, it’s expensive at about one US dollar a minute, but if added up what I have spent on my observatory over the…
Winchester Weekend 2017
The Winchester Weekend is the astronomical equivalent of Ascot to horse racing or Le Mans to endurance car racing and Wimbledon to Tennis…You get the picture. Held once a year around Easter, it’s a three day event where we all camp out in the student accommodation at the Agricultural college at Sparsholt in Hampshire. The weekend starts on a Friday morning, where a number Kernow Astronomers all bundle into cars and head East. Well…
Observing Session 16, January
It’s been a while since I got up at ‘Stupid O’Clock’ to do a bit of observing. But waking at 3am and feeling reasonably alert, a peek through the window confirmed perfect observing conditions and too good an opportunity to miss. Of the three Collinder Clusters I observed this morning, fate chose ones ones with huge 2 to 3 degree diameters, so for once all these had to be observed using the TMB. In…
Observing Session 7, January
The first clear night of the year – although for only a couple of hours before the slow moving cloud started to roll in. Despite not having used the scope for two months, mount pointing was pretty accurate – with the first slew-to object only just outside the FOV of the 40mm. However, I wasted most of the session trying to keep the network up long enough to be allow the observing notes for Skytools 3…
Welcome to 2016
To put it quite frankly, the weather recently has been crap. Apart from one clear night on the 31st, December, where it looked pretty good until the point we got back from a New Year’s party, I’ve not had one clear observing night since the end of October 🙁 2015 felt like a disappointing year for observations. The awful weather during the Spring and a rather lack lustre Summer wasn’t looking too promising on…