Any star gazers and amateur astronomers ?

FYI,

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/03...scopes-astronomy-shut-down-on-mount-hamilton/

 

And now it’s supposed to rain…. I hope they got what they wanted cleared before it comes.

Thanks for the link.

 

It’s been raining steadily all night. Maybe an inch or so on the valley floor.

 

M1, the Crab Nebula taken last night:

 

My 1st attempt at solar imaging....

 

Plan now & wish for clear skies next week
https://www.audacy.com/krld/news/national/5-planets-will-align-in-a-planetary-parade-next-week

 

This was last month on a evening hike with friends. Jupiter and Venus I believe. Not bad for a cell phone pic

 

I think these are the "best" astro photos. Oh, the galaxy/nebula/planetary shots are great but these are the ones that create amazing memories.

 

I didn't think we'd be able to see anything because there was cloud cover and lightly snowing. Halfway up the clouds broke up, we got to the top, looked west and our jaws dropped. Super cool..

 

Not a stargazer nor astronomer but taught celestial navigation to the Coast Guard and the Navy. I still find my position on a regular basis by using a ww2 navy sextant and an artificial horizon.

People often see me with the sextant while camping and ask questions. After explaining it to them then watching me get a latitude and longitude they are shocked. They look at their handheld GPS look at the sextant and shake their heads.

All things aside anything related to “off earth” is awesome.

 

Oh and in case anyone is in the market for one I have an extra Navy sextant last certified in 1943 at Pearl Harbor complete with date and signature sheet I’m probably going to sell before moving to Wyoming. I have enough shit as it is. Pm me if interested. Also have an extra complete set of Pub 229 that I can throw in as well.

 

Aurora predicted for tonight across the country. Scroll down for the current auroral oval!
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

 

I learned Celestial Navigation as I began longer voyages on sailboats. I'm sure if I wanted to, I could figure it out again

I have an inexpensive Celestaire AstroIIIB.

 

The Heart and Fishhead Nebulae. The Fish head nebula (IC1795)( bottom right) features glowing gas and dust in a star forming area in Cassiopeia. It s part of the Heart nebula (IC1805) complex that is located at about 6000 light years away. This is a 5 pane mosaic in order to get the complete nebula in the frame. The total time integration was 98 minutes (or 593 10 sec. subs). The Vaonis Dual Band filter was used to good effect.

 

M3 Globular cluster. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars! Messier 3 is one of the 250 or so known globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. 51 minutes total exposure (310 10 sec. subs)

 

https://twitter.com/exploreplanets/status/1644039538073845760?s=46&t=sEUkAlvr8IGZTD6WO4ibOA

 

A couple of decent images from last night. The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), and the Needle Galaxy NGC 4565.

The Whirlpool Galaxy Galaxy (M51), is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is estimated to be 23 million light-years away. This image represents a total integration time of 45 minutes with 10 sec. subs. The Whirlpool Galaxy is estimated to be about 400-million years old. It was observed and cataloged by famous astronomer Charles Messier in 1773 as Messier 51 (M51). The Whirlpool has a supermassive black hole at its heart, thanks to the merging of M51 with its neighboring galaxy, NGC 5195. The Whirlpool Galaxy Galaxy (M51), is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is estimated to be 23 million light-years away. This image represents a total integration time of 45 minutes with 10 sec. subs. The Whirlpool Galaxy is estimated to be about 400-million years old. The Whirlpool has a supermassive black hole at its heart, thanks to the merging of M51 with its neighboring galaxy, NGC 5195. I needed more integration time to better capture the interaction between M51 and NGC 5195 (you can start to see that).

If you look closely, you can see Saturn to the right of the Needle galaxy. I did a zoom (2nd picture). I was not expecting that as I was focused on the Needle Galaxy imaging.

 

Those are such cool pictures! Can you explain the 'total integration time' and 'subs'?

 

Just saw this thread. We have a Meade LX-90 that I bought at Christmas 2001. For about the past 15 years we haven't used it at all, but a couple weeks ago I decided to resurrect it. When I did I found that the controller no longer worked, and then internet investigation found that that's a common problem. I bought a new controller that came early last week, so now the telescope moves with the controller but we haven't actually dragged it outside yet. I never did really use it a lot, so I'm not an expert at using it, and don't really know a lot about astronomy either. Now that I know this thread is here I may be back when we actually take It outside and try to use it.