Posts Made By: henry palan

Hi folks,
I've been lurking here for awhile and everyone seems to be on vacation from taking pictures so I'm going to post our first shot. My wife and photo partner Mary Lu got this Acorn Woodpecker this last weekend on our "dark skies weekend" in the local mountains before setting up the telescope. Minolta 5d with Tamron 200-400LD zoom. Let us know what you think.
Taking a little time to figure out the photo size limits-where are they? Trying again...
Thanks, Henry

Hello folks,
I took this kestrel about 1985 with either an olympus om2 or a maxxum 7000 using a Century 650mm lens. I believe that was the closest thing to an APO in those days. I set up a homemade blind near the freeway in Cerritos, CA where I had seen him every morning and when he actually show up I sprung the trap!Remember K64 slide fim? Scanned by Kodak onto a Kodak PhotoCD about 1998. The scan was high res but dark so I Photoshopped it to death. I still have that lens but it doesn't seem to work as well on my Digital Sony Alpha. Gotta build another blind though. Sorry about the long war story. Thanks
Henry

For all you guys out there looking for the best way to start astroimaging I have an answer.
This should stir up a hornets nest but I think this system is the best bang for your buck for astroimaging. Note I'm not saying it's the cheapest, and it's certainly not the absolute best but very capable (of long, guided exposures, mainly I guess) and within most people's budget.
For me I never felt like I was going anywhere with my imaging until I got my SBIG St2000xcm and started autoguiding.
Used sbig $2000 (bigger better chip than the $600-$1500 cams and a great self guider.)
LXD75 mount $400 (or similar Celestron)
Celestron ed80 $350 (same as Orion 80ed or Skywatcher 80ed)
Meade APM to connect SBIG to LXD75 to guide $50.
Who doesn't have some kind of computer these days to hook it up to? $0
Total $2800
M33 3x15 minute exposures but I can do 20-30 minute exposures with that cheapo setup. No drift alignment either. Polar scope only, but you gotta center that thing first EVERY time.
Hey guys, don't take me too seriously cause I'm still pretty much a lurking newby and I don't know squat, but it's almost friday and I'm in a playful mood. So let me have it!
Thanks
Henry Palan (now banned for life)

While we're doing Acorn Woodpeckers, anyone want to come up with a (funny?)caption for this one?
Henry

Hi guys,
I got out to Joshua Tree to try to image the flyby of Comet Tuttle by M33 Dec 30 2007.
5x5 minutes with a Celestron ed80 at about f6 and Sbig st2000xcm on a LXD75.
Thanks for looking
Henry

I never liked the undersampled look of widefield shots with my SBIG st2000xcm so I thought I'd try the DSLR route for those wide shots. 2 kid's college expenses rule out big chip CCD cameras right now! Hutech modded 350D with a nikon 180ed wide open f2.8. 10 x 5 minutes out at Anza Borrego 2-9-08. On the right side above the Cone nebula/Christmas tree cluster is OC Trumpler 5, and Reflection nebula IC 2169.
Thank you for looking
Henry

Don't see the other side of the Horsehead and Flame nebulas very often. That is M78 in the middle and open cluster NGC2112 at the mid bottom floating in Barnard's Loop. Anyone know the very dark nebula more to the left at the bottom? 4 of the 12 x 5 minute subs were wrecked by the super wind out the Anza Borrego Feb 9, 2008. Nikon 180ed at f2.8 on a modded Canon 350D. Thank you, Henry

On a quick bike ride 2-17-08 with my wife Mary Lu we saw this Allen's hummingbird. After 20 mediocre shots by me Mary Lu took a stab at it and got this one. She has a way with those hummers. Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach, CA. Sony Alpha with a Tamron 70-300LD lens. Thanks Henry

Hi guys,
Am I correct in calling this a Marsh Hawk? He has a ring around the base of his tailfeathers that you can't see in this shot. Sony Alpha100 with a Tamron 70-300LD at Huntington Beach, CA. Thank you,
Henry

I've never been happy with my previous attempts at The Pleiades. Here is my latest attempt at M45 shot Sept. 27 2008 in the San Diego Mountains. 13 x 4 minutes using my Bader modified Canon 350d on an Astrotech 66mm with a WO .8x focal reducer II. I really like this Atech/WO/Canon Xt combination. Thanks, Henry