I went to
a potluck at this observatory that's hidden back in the trees at the state park, my first event with local astronomy club, which I’ve recently joined. What a great group of people! The yard out front of the observatory is
surrounded by trees, but they’re not *too* high. The main advantage is being able to hang out
in the “warm room” and eat snacks and talk to people while imaging is
going. I just went out every 20 minutes
to check on the drift and adjust accordingly.
I had a blast. I decided to go
for Andromeda again. It still didn’t
turn out very well. I got 91 good frames
for a total of 30m (I let DSS choose the best 90%), but only at ISO-3200
(should have done 6400). [Note: Don't do ISO-6400, it adds too much noise!] Andromeda #6:
M31 Andromeda Galaxy, Nikon D3100 on my C8.
91x20s, ISO-3200
While there, I got a Facebook
message from my Uncle Chris. [I'll spare you] the full details and ecstatic emotion, but basically he said he was going to give me his current telescope, which
replacing with the $10,000 Meade LX850!
It’s the Celestron CGE1100, which is a computerized German equatorial
mount (CGEM) and 11” Schmidt-Cassegrain f/10 telescope! I smile a lot, but haven’t smiled quite that
big in a while. Anyways, my astrophotos
are about to step into the big leagues!
Get ready, world!
[This is where things start to get awesome.]
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