Posts Made By: Ivan Ong

April 6, 2005 01:58 AM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

What is paradise?

Posted By Ivan Ong

Paradise is
(a) The Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
(b) Clear skies, no breeze
(c) 68F day, 50F evening, 45F overnight
(d) One scope for imaging, one other beauty for observing.

What more could one ask for (oh well, I'll take an AP 160mm)?

Cheers, Ivan

April 18, 2005 05:07 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Jupiter 17 April 05

Posted By Ivan Ong

Hi all, have not done any webcaming for a long time but finally my new EM-200 mount is here and is proving to be a nice platform for my C9.25". I'm happy at last. Here is the Io transit tonight. The GRS is almost gone on the other side. The air was deceptively calm and sky very clear. However through the scope the air was clearly turbulent 70% or more of the time. I used a 3x Televue barlow for this.

Thanks for looking!
Ivan

May 10, 2005 02:45 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Lagoon and Trifid widefield with Tak Sky 90

Posted By Ivan Ong

Here is a widefield shot with the Tak Sky 90 taken Saturday morning. 54x5min, averaged and dark subtracted in MaxIm DL. I used a Canon 20D at ISO 1600. Autoguided with an STV attached to a Televue 60mm. Mount was a Tak EM-200.

Thanks for looking!
Ivan

May 10, 2005 07:32 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

New plugin idea: satellite & aircraft removal?

Posted By Ivan Ong

Does this exist?
A plug-in for Photoshop or MaxIm to automatically remove satellite and aircraft trails. You define the start point and the end point, and the algorithm does the rest. That would be great.

Ivan

May 11, 2005 12:29 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

The Eagle with Tak Sky 90

Posted By Ivan Ong

Hi All, well image scale is teeny tiny with the Sky 90 w reducer but here is the Eagle Nebula, cropped in. 5x 5min, Canon 20D, STV-auto guided. Dark Frame subtracted in MaxIm, No flats applied. Finished in Photoshop CS, I aimed for a "nautral" and not heavily processed approach.

When I got my scope it was actually out of colimation but Fred at TNR did wonders to it!

Thanks very much for looking.
Ivan

May 31, 2005 08:58 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Help with Painting Aluminium

Posted By Ivan Ong

My Astrosky tripod, although solid as a wall, is mighty banged up and is in need of a new paint job. It is Aluminium, currently painted with black.
Anyone with hints about repainting on aluminium? Seems like whatever one sprays on will scratch off easily- is that true? -and if so, is there some top coat one can spray on to further protect it?

Thanks very much,
Ivan

June 3, 2005 01:20 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

All dressed up but nowhere to go...

Posted By Ivan Ong

Man, do the clouds suck or what?
Here is my urban quickie night sky observing setup and also my ultimate birding setup as the larger scope can handle my DSLR and the Televue can be used for spotting. I just received the Discmount this week and I can't wait to have a drive. The Discmount is extremely solid, no vibrations. I had my C9.25" on it the other day and stuck in a 5mm Radian and the view was steady of a tree a mile away. It is nice because you can change heavy eyepieces without worrying about the OTA swinging away. I hope to add some DSC soon.

Best wishes for clear skies,
Ivan

June 6, 2005 03:05 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

North American Nebula

Posted By Ivan Ong

Hi all, here is the North American Nebula taken last night with a Canon 20D on an Astro-Physics Traveler with the focal reducer. This is framed a little unconventionally, it was late and I was getting sloppy and mist was everywhere. What a busy part of the sky! 5x5min, ISO 1600. I still have not perfected manual dark noise reduction so bottom right is kind of murky.
Thanks for looking,
Ivan

June 28, 2005 01:20 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Tufted Titmouse

Posted By Ivan Ong

Cute little guy...! -Ivan

AP Traveler with Canon 20D on a MicroStar mount.

July 8, 2005 02:14 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Funny diagonal

Posted By Ivan Ong

Can one of you experts tell me what the problem is:

I have a diagonal. Under high powers, the out of focus image shows concentric rings but they are distorted into an oval with a slight kidney bean shape.

The in focus star image is more a little line instead of a point. Is the mirror suffering from astigmatism, if so, how can a mirror have astigmatism?

Thanks,
Ivan