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

Jan 102015
 
Comet-LovejoyIMG_9899_r

Animation of Comet Lovejoy over a span of about 60 minutes. Canon 6D, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 30sec exposures.

 

Luminance Animation of Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

Luminance Animation of Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

 

Comet Lovejoy 2014 Q2 – January 10th 2015, Atlas EQ-G Mount, Stellavue SVQ100 (100mm f/5.8 APO), Apogee U8300 CCD, 5x3min each L,R,G,B filters. (Clinton, TN)

 

 

Jan 032015
 
Double-Cluster_25P

The Double Cluster – Caldwell 14 Open Clusters NGC 869 & 884 Canon 6D, ISO 1600, 60 seconds Canon 70-200 f/2.8 @ f/2.8 Tracking on Atlas EQ-G Cherry Springs Dark Sky Park, PA

 

A widefield shot of the famous Double Cluster from Sept 17th 2014 at Cherry Springs State Park.  The Double Cluster is in Perseus but is in close proximity to Cassiopeia.

 

Double_Cluster_25P_Annotated

Annotated Double Cluster