Cherry Springs – July 2022

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Cherry Springs, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, Equipment, FSQ-106ED, Location, Nebula, Orion Atlas EQ-G, QHY268C, Reflection Nebula, Rokinon 135mm f/2, Star Parties, Widefield, ZWO ASI533MC  No Responses »
Jul 122022
 

We had four relatively clear nights in a row. Some didn’t start great but all four produced usable imaging time even if the nights aren’t much more than 4 hours of astronomical darkness this time of year.

A couple shots with the Canon 6D DSLR and a Rokinon 135mm wide open at f/2.

  • M16 & M17
  • M16 & M17 Annotated
  • M8 Lagoon & M20 Triffid
  • M8 Lagoon & M20 Triffid Annotated
  • vdB 123
  • vdB Annotated

vdB 123 – Taken with FSQ-106ED and QHY268C OSC CMOS Camera on an AP900GTO Mount, 58 x 5min exposures totaling 4.8 Hours Exposure across two nights.

  • Sh2-136
  • Sh2-136 Annotated

Sh2-136 Taken with FSQ-106ED and QHY268C OSC CMOS Camera on AP900GTO Mount, 79 x 5 minute exposures totaling ~6.6 Hours Exposure time across two nights.

  • M20 – The Trifid Nebula
  • M20 – The Trifid Nebula Annotated

M20 – The Trifid Nebula: ZWO 533C OSC CMOS Camera with AP92 Refractor on Atlas EQ-G Mount. 57 x 5min exposures for a total of 4.75 hours captured across two nights.

Calhoun County Park August 2021

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Calhoun County Park, Canon 6D, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Open Cluster, Orion Atlas EQ-G, QHY268C, Star Parties, Uncategorized, Widefield, ZWO ASI533MC  No Responses »
Sep 262021
 
Hoping for Clear Skies
Frank caught red handed covering up evidence of proprietary Rubbermaid Astro-technology theft 🙂
The Bubble Nebula (AKA NGC 7635, Sharpless 162, Caldwell 11) is seen here next to Open Cluster Messier 52
The Bubble Nebula region Annotated
Circumpolar Star Trails

Cherry Springs Sept 2020

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Cherry Springs, Dark Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Star Parties, SX-46, Widefield  No Responses »
Nov 062020
 

This trip to Cherry Springs State Park promised an amazing clear stretch but was marred by dense smoke obscuring much of the sky from the wildfires raging in CA and other parts of the US.

The sun looked like a planet hanging in an overcast sky due to all the smoke.
If there had been any sun spots they may have been naked eye visible without a sun filter!
The sky was clear yet the blue wasn’t quite able to break through the hazy smoke.
Frank in the Astro Tent
This is what dealing with the public usually looks like 🙂
LDN 1235 – The Dark Shark
FSQ-106ED with SX-46 CCD on AP900GTO Mount
Only salvaged image during the few smoke free nights
Cherry Springs Time Lapse

Cherry Springs June 2020

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Nebula, Rokinon 85mm Lens, Star Parties, SVQ100, SX-46, Widefield, ZWO ASI533MC  No Responses »
Nov 052020
 
Two rigs imaging with the MW rising.
Cherry Springs Sunset
Jupiter & Saturn Rising with the Milky Way
Mosaic of Cygnus with Canon 6D and Rokinon 85mm
Cluster NGC 6604 and surrounding nebulosity. This is an often overlooked region just above the famous Eagle Nebula M16 which is just peaking in on the left.

Pickett State Park Dark Sky Celebration Weekend (8/30/2019)

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Open Cluster, Star Parties, SX-46, Widefield  Comments Off on Pickett State Park Dark Sky Celebration Weekend (8/30/2019)
Sep 302019
 

We had some great weather for the annual star party at Pickett State Park, TN last new moon. This star party is still young and looking to grow. The park rangers are doing a great job, it’s a great venue for presentations and a great field for observing / photography. I’m not sure why it still remains a hidden gem of sorts.

Overall sky quality, other than some early clouds, was excellent. With SQM measurements around 21.77 mag/arcsec^2 this was the darkest I’ve seen Pickett. I would note too that of the other dark sky sites I routinely visit, this quality of night is nothing to complain about.

Presentation Space
Setup on the field
Dusk; waiting for the thin stuff to clear
Last few clouds clearing with the MW shinning through!
The rig is facing N,NE towards the Constellation Cepheus imaging Sharpless Object SH2-154
SH2-154: AP900GTO, FSQ-106ED with SX-46 CCD. Image scale of 2.33 arcsec/pixel. Exposure time ~13.5 hours. Also plainly visible on the right edge of the frame is SH2-155 The Cave Nebula. Sometimes the faint objects like 154 don’t get a lot of love because they’re not much to look at. At least it’s got a nice tight open cluster NGC 7419 nearby to draw some attention.
Annotated

North American Nebula / Gulf of Mexico / Pelican

 AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Apogee U16, Astronomical, Dark Nebula, Daysprings Observatory, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Observatory, Widefield  No Responses »
Jul 282019
 

We had a great clear spell 7/23 through 7/27 with only moderate lunar interference in the early hours of the morning. This is 14 hours of exposure divided equally across Hydrogen-alpha, Oxygen [III], and Sulfur[II] emission lines. Scope was an AP130GTX with Apogee U16 CCD on an AP1200GTO mount. Located outside Clinton, TN. The following are crops from the main image.

Finally, here is the nearly full frame image encompassing the whole area.

Calhoun County Park – 5/30/2019 through 6/4/2019

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Galaxy, Nebula, Orion Atlas EQ-G, Rokinon 85mm Lens, Star Parties, SX-46, Widefield  No Responses »
Jul 072019
 

With weather looking wet and wild for the 2019 Cherry Springs Star Party and things looking slightly less soggy at Calhoun we decided to cancel on Cherry Springs and gamble on Calhoun. Good thing we were setup on the top of a ridge so we never had to deal with muddy conditions considering all the rain we didn’t know was coming.

The first couple days were all clouded out.
Night time conditions were very soupy
Couple nights later things were improving but still very humid and hazy. The Milky Way was at least starting to pull out of the haze.
Cloudy rainy days
Equipment setup and hoping for clearing
Frank and the Astro Tent
Finally some stars poking through the clouds. Look at that new bright light in the East / NE; it’s really projecting up!
M101 – LRGB with FSQ-106ED and SX-46 CCD on AP900GTO Mount. 6 hours total exposure in hazy conditions. Best SQM 21.8 mag/arcsec^2.
M101 Annotated – Check out all those background galaxies!
Widefield of Scutum, Serpens, Sagittarius, and Ophiucus. Canon 6D with Rokinon 85mm f/4 tracking on an Atlas EQ-G. 14x3min shots stacked, no calibration.
Widefield of Scutum, Serpens, Sagittarius, and Ophiucus annotated. You can see this very busy area is really a crossroads of constellations.
Some VERY ominous clouds started moving in…
Hail Storm
M17 LRGB – FSQ-106ED with SX-46 CCD on AP900GTO Mount. Total Exposure almost 2 hours of hazy low to the horizon 5 minute subs.
From Jupiter to the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. Canon 6D with Rokinon 85mm @f4. 6x3min frames stacked, no calibration.

Pickett State Park Dark Sky Celebration Weekend 2018 (Sept 7-9)

 Astronomical, Canon 24-70 f/2.8L, Canon 6D, Star Parties, Widefield  1 Response »
Sep 092018
 

Unfortunately we were mostly clouded out for the star party.  From the sounds of it some of the other big star parties going on concurrently were also clouded out.  It just wasn’t a good weather weekend for a large portion of the eastern US.  Regardless of the clouds, the rangers at Pickett put together some good food and speakers for the event to keep it entertaining.  I stayed for only one night and snapped a few pics of the hazy skies with the Milky Way trying to peak through.

 

 

Cherry Springs Star Party 2018

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Reflection Nebula, Star Parties, SX-46, Uncategorized, Widefield  1 Response »
Jul 012018
 

I made the 13 hour trip up to Cherry Springs State Park for the Annual CSSP Star Party hosted by the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg PA, Inc. I went up a few days before the star party since it’s always helpful to get a good spot.  Those of us that were there early on Monday night were treated to a fabulous night with SQM measurements >21.9!  Overall it was an amazing streak of clear weather for PA with a total of 4 imaging nights.  I was hoping for one or two so as not to set my expectations too high so I was very pleased with four nights!

I even did a little visual at low power with a 4″ refractor.  LDN 1795 (large 50’x50’dark nebula in Scorpius) looked absolutely amazing to me at 19X.  First time I had a WOW moment visually.

Waiting for Darkness

Just Some Slightly Concerning Weather Passing Through
Everything is buttoned up and locked down. Luckily it skirted us to the North.

Rho Region
Canon 6D @ ISO 3200
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 5.6

B312 on the Edge of Sagittarius and Scutum
Canon 6D @ ISO 3200
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 @f/4
8x240sec Exposure

M8 & M20 Nestled Among the Stars
Canon 6D @ ISO 3200
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 @ f/4
10x240sec total exposure

CSSP 2018 Milky Way
Canon 6D @ ISO 3200
Canon 17-40mm f/4 @ f/6.7 and 37mm
1 x 240 seconds

The North American Nebula And The Pelican
Canon 6D @ ISO 3200
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 @ f/4.5
10x240sec exposure

The Cave Nebula
Tak FSQ-106ED
SX-46 w/ Maxi Wheel and Lodestar OAG
AP900GTO Mount
6.5 Hours Exposure Time over two nights

The Cocoon Nebula
FSQ-106ED
SX-46 w/ Maxi Wheel and Lodestar OAG
AP900GTO
3 hours total Exposure

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