All's not as it appears, this tale has many twists -
but if I wasn't here documenting the story
would that mean that the plot did not exist?

— Peter Hammill

Planet

Pluto Revealed!

Pluto July 13

 

Here is the best image of Pluto before its historic flyby of Pluto. This image was taken on July 13 and released on the morning of July 14.

 

Saturn

Saturn

What we have here is a combined 1x1 1,131 images taken thru the AstroTech 111edt with 0.09 hundreds exposure each. I was going for 3,000 images but Saturn ran into a tree. Ever see a tree after Saturn hit it? Tree is ok, Saturn disappeared! I used an Orion 2x lens to magnify the planet. Next show will be Saturn using a TeleVue 5x lens. Maybe I should just use a larger scope? Click on the Original to see enlarged image. 4-19-12

Saturn thru 8"

Saturn thru 8"

Took this image last night (6-3-11) thru 8" Celestron Cass. 345 x 0.20 exposures combined in MaxIm DL/CCD and processed in Photoshop CS4. It can be compared with the previous image using my 10" LX200 and AT111EDT. I also used a TeleVue 5x lens to magnify the planet which also makes it harder to focus. It was a very clear night, no clouds, no wind. The image was cropped.

Jupiter+moons

Jupiter+moons

I'm always trying something new.  Tuesday evening was no different.  This image was taken using my new G8 mount, Starlight Xpress ccd SVX-H9, filter wheel, Ha filter, required diagonal to focus, 5x Televue lens.  I used the Ha filter to cut the light and allow imaging the planet and moons at the same time.  Taken between 11 and 11:45 pm in Whiting, NJ.   261 combined images 0.6 exposures, processed in Adobe and Registax5.  The three moons are Io, Europa and Ganymede upper right hand corner.  Whew!