Any star gazers and amateur astronomers ?

Those little scopes are nice. I have a Vaonis Vespera and Vespera Pro. Check out my AstroBin page to see what they can do...

https://app.astrobin.com/u/rayman54#gallery

 

Upgraded my visual setup a bit. The 7" was recently acquired. Such a great performer!

 

A few nights ago when the skies were clear for the entire evening I went to the Breachway in Charlestown, RI. Primarily to add to my deep sky image of the Loch Ness Monster nebula. I was able to get around 2.5 hours of data. While there I multi-tasked and did some milky way imaging with my iPhone... Here are some of those images:

 

Very Nice !

 

Thanks!

 

So last week I’m on fleabay and I find the Nextstar 6se used for $600. I get it and when it shows up and I open the box, holy crap. It’s new! Score!
I was able to pick up a couple used Delites and a 7mm pentax. Hopefully I'm gtg.
Now the wait begins for clear skies…

 

I bought one a few years ago for when I retired. I retired a year ago. I need to get to it.

 

BACKYARD ASTRONOMY ALERT: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Mars and Regulus are in conjunction less then 1 degree apart. Their red and blue colors are visible to the unaided eye and look great through binoculars and small telescopes. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.


Wishing y’all clear skies

 

I have wanted a solar scope for a while. It came on Saturday!



It's a Skywatcher 76Ha. I'm going to use it with a monochrome camera. I spent some time today doing visual observing and it's everything I thought it would be. Couple of minor nits, like the eyepiece is kinda shite--but I don't necessarily need it. I'd post a picture from my phone but too much of a pita. More when I'm able to get everything working.

 

FYI - Grand Canyon Star Party just ended for both North Rim and South Rim.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/grand-canyon-star-party.htm June 21-28 of 2025.

Next year its June 6 - 13/ 2-26. Mark your calendars Prepare you Tacomas !!

 

They're fun events to go to but if you set up, you're expected to let people look through the eyepiece. Some events discourage imaging for this reason although you can still show folks what you're imaging on an ipad.

Mt Rainier has also had astronomy events in the past. But the place to go is Great Basin--they have an observatory with a nice Planewave.

I've noticed many parks are installing small, dedicated observatories. Especially those in dark sky locations.

 

Very nice warm and calm Sunday night. Headed out to Ninigret Park in Charlestown, RI at sunset. The Whippoorwills and Fireflies were out in force! Off in the distance I could hear flocks of geese honking through the night. The bright orange crescent moon set early allowing me to get many shots.
Primarily there to get more data on M24, the Small Sagittarius star cloud. With my Vespera Classic, no filter, CovalENS, and Bortle 4 skies I was able to get 512 10 second subs. Tiff stretched and processed in Pixinsight.
While out, I did some other non Vespera imaging as well. Beneath the Milky Way, the old WW2 Ninigret airstrip seems to breathe again, not with the roar of planes, but with the silent majesty of the Milky Way. It's as if the galaxy itself is unfurling from the cracks in the pavement, connecting our past to the present. This image was with my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Also was able to get a shot of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. My 1st attempt with a mirrorless camera...

 

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Titan's shadow will be transiting Saturn early 02 JUL 2025. A somewhat rare event.

I was able to see it 16 JUN 2025.

Will try again each occurrence.


https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/titan-shadow-transit-season-underway/






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Great tip - looks like it'll be a late night tomorrow.

 

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An early morning, for me.



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This morning I observed Titan's shadow transit of Saturn at the midpoint, 0330hrs PDT. Sky clear and seeing varied from fair to good, though certainly not excellent. The shadow was positioned near halfway between the ring-plane and the pole.

GEM supported 100mm f/12.8 refractor & 3.5mm eyepiece.

Next transit: 18 JUL 20025.




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Bummer, had clouds roll in late last night... peeked through a few sucker holes with the bins, but turned in defeated.

 

We've had a heavy marine layer lately.

 

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The first two transits during this event were unseen by me due to Saturn's extremely low position nearing sunrise; I didn't even try.

On 31 May the seeing was poor, shadow not seen.

These last two were successful, and will keep trying (may not be here for the next Titan shadow season).



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