Snow AngelPosted By Joe Bergeron |
Roland, did you happen to notice a snow angel in front of your plant recently?
Posts Made By: Joe Bergeron
January 6, 2008 07:29 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
April 1, 2008 05:08 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
8.5" MakPosted By Joe Bergeron |
I've been on the A-P Mak notification list for some time, and today it paid off when I was the first to be notified of A-P's new 215mm f/12 Photo-Visual Mak. The central obstruction is a bit bigger at 25% than I would have liked, but that won't be a huge drawback. It has integrated anti-dew heating elements, which I thought was a good idea long before Meade tried to implement it. The scope should ride beautifully on my G-11 mount. Needless to say, I sent in my $4,000 deposit. Roland plans to introduce the scope formally at NEAF later this month.
September 2, 2008 04:55 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
Beginner DSLR ShotsPosted By Joe Bergeron |
http://gallery.me.com/joebergeron#100034
My friend Dick Bower and I shot these last night with his Canon Eos Rebel XTi DSLR and my AP Stowaway refractor (92mm f/6.6) on my Losmandy G11 equatorial mount.
I did a careful polar alignment using the G11's polar scope which was so good I got away with unguided exposures up to 10 minutes long. Most of the full-size images do exhibit some trailing, but it's less apparent at these small image sizes.
Exposures ranged from 2 to 10 minutes. The Pleiades shot is a stack of 5 images. In all cases I messed around in Photoshop to reduce noise, adjust colors and contrast, and so forth, seeking only to produce a nice-looking picture.
The whole experience was fun and pretty easy.
My friend Dick Bower and I shot these last night with his Canon Eos Rebel XTi DSLR and my AP Stowaway refractor (92mm f/6.6) on my Losmandy G11 equatorial mount.
I did a careful polar alignment using the G11's polar scope which was so good I got away with unguided exposures up to 10 minutes long. Most of the full-size images do exhibit some trailing, but it's less apparent at these small image sizes.
Exposures ranged from 2 to 10 minutes. The Pleiades shot is a stack of 5 images. In all cases I messed around in Photoshop to reduce noise, adjust colors and contrast, and so forth, seeking only to produce a nice-looking picture.
The whole experience was fun and pretty easy.
March 12, 2009 11:51 AM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
Stick-On LettersPosted By Joe Bergeron |
Roland, I examined Sue's "Gran Turismo" at WSP, and noted the custom stick-on letters and logo. Do you maintain a lettering department in which gnomes wearing bifocals carefully apply each letter and element by hand? Or is it some sort of pre-made sheet which can be pressed into place all at once?
June 22, 2009 07:04 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
BIG CANYON, little telescopePosted By Joe Bergeron |
Just got back from the annual Grand Canyon Star Party, where my little Stowaway again held its own against much larger but often somewhat shabby competitors. I don't know how many times I heard "This is the clearest view of Saturn I've seen!" or "This is the best view here!" or the like. Sometimes I would be asked for an explanation. I'd say there are two ways to improve telescope performance: to make it bigger, and to make it better, and this one goes for better.
When viewing the Milky Way, the Stowaway revealed vast expanses of extremely delicate stars which simply weren't there in many of the cheapo scopes with their puffy star images. Ha!
When viewing the Milky Way, the Stowaway revealed vast expanses of extremely delicate stars which simply weren't there in many of the cheapo scopes with their puffy star images. Ha!
February 17, 2010 06:25 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
Primitive AstrophotographyPosted By Joe Bergeron |
These are the best results of my crude prime focus astrophotography attempts at the 2010 Winter Star Party in Florida. My setup was a 92mm Stowaway telescope with a 600mm focal length on a Losmandy G11 mount...unguided because I lack the hardware to guide automatically and I lack the ambition to do it by hand.
Exposures were up to 10 minutes in length. Most of the shots are very noisy because they consist of only one or two exposures. The Canon DSLR is unmodified, and so struggles to detect red nebulosity.
http://gallery.me.com/joebergeron#100091
Exposures were up to 10 minutes in length. Most of the shots are very noisy because they consist of only one or two exposures. The Canon DSLR is unmodified, and so struggles to detect red nebulosity.
http://gallery.me.com/joebergeron#100091
June 7, 2010 12:57 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
Grand Canyon Star PartyPosted By Joe Bergeron |
My Stowaway is the only AP scope at this venerable event. It looks inconspicuous compared to some of the looming behemoths around it, but it's still capable of impressing park visitors. It shows Saturn better than a lot of the bigger scopes. The low-power views of the Milky Way are mesmerizing. Having a good time.
August 29, 2011 09:02 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
Stowaway ShotsPosted By Joe Bergeron |
Equalling Roland's recent achievement with Krohnberger61, I present these images of such rare, elusive targets as M8 and M31, recorded with an f/6.6 Stowaway riding unguided on a G11. My image recorder is an exotic device known as a Canon XS. Yes, I realize all this technical jargon is hard to follow.
http://gallery.me.com/joebergeron#100166
http://gallery.me.com/joebergeron#100166
May 12, 2012 08:30 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
Lunt WedgePosted By Joe Bergeron |
I was reading about the Lunt Herschel wedges, and at least one dealer claims they should only be used with air-spaced refractors of 150mm or less. I find this peculiar. I note that AP makes no such claim about their ultradeluxe Baader wedge. It doesn't seem likely to me that an oiled objective would get any hotter than an air-spaced one. What issues are involved here?
June 7, 2012 10:20 PM
Forum:
Astro-Physics
(yawn)Posted By Joe Bergeron |
At this point, what could be more tiresome than yet another batch of transit pics? Not much, I say. I shot these with my Stowaway.
http://joebergeron.com/transit.htm
http://joebergeron.com/transit.htm
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