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[katodog]

Last night beagn cloudy, but after leaving my cousin's house around 10:30, I saw that it cleared up pretty good. So, I got home and pushed the scopes outside for some M42 and Mars observing. I started shooting some pics of M42, and then moved on to some video of Mars, and the clouds started coming back. Which wouldn't have been all that bad, except for the fact that the clouds were only moving over the objects I wanted to view. The clouds looked like they were coming from a single point, and then stretching out like fingers, and exactly over M42 and Mars.


But, when you're out at 11pm with the hopes of getting some observing done, a little cloud cover doesn't bother you. But, the cold temperatures do. So, the cold and the clouds sent me in around quarter to 12. Here are a few shots from the night's observing.


The first is a wide-field shot with the camera piggybacked on my new mount, which was cobbled together from what else, Bowling Alley parts. Nice view of Orion through those lovely clouds.





And some shots of M42. The first was a stack of 14 jpg frames. The second was a single frame.







And three shots of Mars. These were a stack from the same video, with different processing done to each one. I like number 3 the best. Not too shabby for my very first Mars pics. Of course, it helps to have a monster scope.










All pics were with the following: 12" LX200R, 20mm Owl 80° eyepiece, Fuji S6000fd DSLR. The M42 shots were 30 second exposures, both the stacked image and the single shot. The stacked image was from shots using a few of the different light settings on the camera. The single frame pic was with the Flourescent #3 setting. The Mars shots were with the same equipment, and were shot with the 640x480 video mode on the DSLR.


Of course, the whole thing started out as me going to my cousin's house to let him take a look at my new Owl 20mm, 80° eyepiece. But, when I got to his house, the thin cloud cover became thicker, with very little to no opportunity to view anything. Long story short, I like the Owl so much that I sold my 30mm Paragon.

Last night was also the opportunity to use my newest invention, my piggyback camera mount. But, the clouds didn't allow any shots, except for the one I took of the clouds. Plus, when I started to use the mount, the batteries died on the camera, so that was the final kick to go in for the night.






Simple plastic mount, with a cannibalized camera tripod mount bolted on. Works really great, but I didn't make an up.down axis point, so I think I'm either going to have to relocate the tripod mount to the side, or cannibalize another tripod for parts.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Kdog,

Those are some nice shots.

I like the single frame of the nebula and the Mars shots. You can see Sytris very well in them.

The camera mount set up is cool. I have a camera mount head that has both axis controlled with slo-mo control knobs. Perhaps that would be something to consider for your camera adapter bracket.

Despite the clouds, a very good night of astrophotography for you.

Thanks for sharing.

[katodog]

The goal of my astronomy endeavors at this point is to get as much done as I can as cheaply as I can. Luckily, most of the things that I come up with can be built with parts from work. The camera mount was the result of work parts, and a cheap camera tripod. The only problem I noticed last night was the loss of an up/down axis control.

I have another tripod around somewhere, and I can cannibalize that one if necessary. But, I think I can just move the mount I have to the side of the grey plastic, and it will work great.


I've noticed that sometimes, the single shots are just as good or better than the results of stacking multiple images. I like the sinlge jpg shot of M42 better than the stacks I made.

[Maddad]

I don't have much of a scope. Think the thing's a two incher, and hasn't made it out of the basement in several years. It's threads like this that make me marvel. katodog, you are one serious observer.

[katodog]

Well, thank you. I typically am a visual guy, but I do enjoy taking pictures of stuff, so I can have a visual aid to my failing memories. It's also nice to share some of the better ones with people who enjoy seeing them. I was taking a look at some of my older shots yesterday that I took with my cheapo eBay 6" reflector, and was actually pretty surprised that some of the shots looked really good. Even in that scope, which everyone says stay away from, I got some great shots of stuff.


You should get your scope out. No matter what size it is, you'll still be able to see some pretty cool things. Heck, I get wowed just by the Moon! There's been nights where I go out with a big game plan, and once I get out, I spend so much time staring at the Moon that my plans go out the window. The next thing I know, an hour has gone by, and I'm still looking at the Moon. The same thing with Saturn and Jupiter. No matter what, I just can never get enough. I've gotten plenty of really great nights with just the Meade 114 reflector.


They say, "In astronomy, Size Matters.". But, even smaller scopes can still entertain very well. Get that thing out, clean it up, and start using it. Just looking at the Moon over the course of a few nights will make you jump. The differences in the shadows and craters over each night, and the ever changing views, will keep you going until you get the desire for a bigger scope. I've gone out plenty of times with nothing more than my 20x80 binos, and have come away just as happy as if I took the big scope out.