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A Sky Watcher's Journal
12/13/2008 12:30-1:50 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-12-15 04:32:50
My backyard observatory. Cool and clear - moon.about 1 day past full

Observed Chi Tauri with my C8" Schmidt-Cass @ 81x. This sketch has been digitally worked and colored to represent the actual view seen at the eyepiece.
Chi Tauri

The primary star appears pale blue with a hint of green while its companion appears grayish, then indistinct, then yellowish-orange like a tiny amber in the ashes. I estimate its orientation at 20° while the Astronomical League lists it at 24°.

The Washington Double Star Catalog lists Chi Tauri specs as of 2007:
  * Orientation 24°
  * Separation 19.1"
  * Magnitudes 5.37 8.54
  * Spectral Types B9 F8
  
9/22/2008 2:00-3:30 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-09-22 07:36:39
My backyard observatory. Cool and a few misty clouds - waning moon.just past last quarter
Psi Piscium
Observed Psi(1) Piscium with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass using Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO II CCD. North is up.

I processed the image above with the GIMP - a tweaked version of the original image to represent more closely the experience of seeing this system in the eyepiece without the pronounced size of the brighter, somewhat over-exposed binary stars. Notice the much fainter star to the right of the pair which is not a member of this system.

The colors to me are striking with the northern star just a bit greenish tinted compared to its southern companion.
9/22/2008 1:00-1:30 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-09-22 03:53:25
My backyard observatory. Cool and a few misty clouds - waning moon.just past last quarter

Observing with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass @ 81x, 120x, and 240x

Observed Zeta Aquarii
  - White/white; mag 4.3, 4.5; 1.8" separation!
  - Astro League's angle: 266° / estimated: 345°

NOTES: I have to call into question the Astronomical League's angle posted at http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/dblstar/dblstar2.html based on what I saw as nearly north/south and not nearly east/west. Also, I was unable to separate the stars at 81x and it was questionable at 120x, but at 240x both stars were apparent. (Orion 17mm Plossl + barlow)
9/20/2008 12:00-3:00 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-09-21 01:48:20
My backyard observatory. Cool and clear - waning gibbous moon.

Observing with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass @ 81x

Further notes on some double stars:
  61 Cygnus
    - Light gold/light orange-gold; mag 5.2, 6.0; 28" separation
    - Astro League's angle: 146° / estimated: SE (135°)
  Enif (Epsilon Pegasi)
    - Light yellow/gray-violet; mag 2.4, 8.4 ; 142" separation
    - Astro League's angle: 320° / estimated: NW (315°)
    * My daughter, Myra, sees the companion as green-blue
  Psi(1) Piscium I'm calling this the turquoise binary!
    - greenish turquoise/turquoise; mag 5.6, 5.8; 30" separation
    - Astro League's angle: 159° / estimated: SE to SSE (135-157.5°)

* Working on sharpening up angle estimates
9/16/2008 3:10-3:40 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-09-21 01:28:24
My backyard observatory. Cool and clear - moon one night past full.

Observing with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass @ 81x

Notes on some double stars:
  Almach (Gamma Andromedae)
    - Yellow/blue; mag 2.3, 5.5; 10" separation
    - Astro League's angle: 63° / estimated: 40-45°
  Gamma Arietis
    - White/white; mag 4.8, 4.8; 8" separation
    - Astro League's angle: 0° / estimated: 5-10°
  Lambda Arietis
    - White/blue; mag 4.9, 7.7; 38" separation
    - Astro League's angle: 46° / estimated: 25-30°

* Need to sharpen up angle estimates - can be 5-20° off!
8/31/2008 1:00-2:00 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-08-31 17:48:38

Enif
My backyard observatory. Cool with patchy very thin clouds... no moon.

I observed double star Epsilon Pegasi, or Enif with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO CCD. The brighter primary star at magnitude 2.4 appeared light yellow while the much dimmer companion at magnitude 8.4 appeared gray-violet. These stars are visually 142" apart and north is up with east/west inversion corrected to represent actual sky orientation.

It should be noted that even when using the SkyAtlas 2000.0, the very symbol used to represent the primary star Enif encompasses nearly the entire FOV of the scope at 81x!

The open source planetarium software KStars with the latest Tycho-2 star catalog loaded and custom FOV (Field Of View) symbols added was used to assist in a positive identification of the dimmer companion. The GIMP was used for final color processing using photos taken through red, green, and blue filters.
8/28/2008 2:00-3:00 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-08-28 05:34:32
My backyard observatory. Cool and clear... no moon.

I observed double star Epsilon Pegasi, or Enif with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass and a Celestron E-lux 25mm eyepiece yielding about 81x. The brighter primary star at magnitude 2.4 appeared light yellow while the much dimmer companion at magnitude 8.4 appeared gray-violet. These stars are visually 142" apart and the direction of the dimmer companion from the primary is 315° - 320°.

Noting the direction and separation of the companion in this eyepiece's approximately 30' FOV helped to identify it!
8/12/2008 1:00-1:30 am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-08-24 22:12:36

61 Cygni
My backyard observatory. Cool and clearing... waxing gibbous moon setting.

I observed 61 Cygni once again with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass and a Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO CCD.

I captured each grey-scale image through RGB filters with these settings in the CCD software.
  * Exposure: 0.0156 seconds
  * Combine checked
  * Histogram sliders set to 5935 and 8453
  * Total image time 30 seconds

Using GIMP:
  Red Image:
  * Brightness -30
  * Levels bottom slider 8
  * Color-balance midtones/highlights Red 100
  * JPG quality 100%

  Green Image:
   * Levels bottom slider 8
   * Color-balance midtones/highlights Green 100
   * JPG quality 100%

  Blue Image:
   * Contrast +10
   * Levels middle slider 1.10
   * Color-balance midtones Blue 100

  OPEN AS LAYERS:
   * Red
      - Normal mode

   * Green
      - Levels bottom slider 6
      - Overlay mode

   * Blue
      - Brightness +30
      - Overlay mode

  COMBINE LAYERS:
   * Color-balance midtones/highlights Yellow -100
   * Color-balance midtones/highlights Yellow -100
8/5/2008 2:15-3:00am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-08-11 03:42:01
My backyard observatory. Cool and clearing after a partly-cloudy night earlier... no moon.

I observed 61 Cygni with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass and a Celestron E-lux 25mm eyepiece yielding about 81x. This binary system looks like polished gold with the slightly dimmer B member looking just a little more red-ish tinted than its companion star. The two component stars are separated by 24" and shine at magnitudes 5.21 and 6.03. Classified K5 and K7, these stars are orange main-sequence stars smaller than the sun, so their visual color seemed to well-represent actual color.

What makes this system so interesting is that it is the first system whose distance from the earth was measured other than our sun itself. A rapid proper motion suggests that these stars are not native to the Milky Way galaxy.
6/30/2008 2:15-4:00am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-07-02 05:59:46
My backyard observatory. Cool and clear with a little haze and a waning crescent moon just rising around 3am.

Jupiter and Ganymede's Shadow
Observed Jupiter while Ganymede's shadow was crossing the face of the planet. The dark spot to upper left is the shadow and the fainter spot to its right and near center is Ganymede itself!

Using my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass with a Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO CCD, I captured this image with the following settings.

CCD Software:
  -Exposure 0.0020-0.0116 seconds
  -Total time 30-120 seconds
  -Histogram upper limit 18,000-28,000
  -"Auto Contrast" UN-checked
  -"Darks" UN-checked

* The best results seemed to be when leaving upper limit at 28,000 and adjusting the exposure for each RGB filter, then combining exposures for 120 seconds.

The GIMP
  -Increased midtones of proper channel for each RGB filtered image to 100%
  -Green and blue layers were set over red with their modes set to "Overlay"
  -Unsharp masking was applied to the color image
    *Radius 0.2
    *Amount 0.91
    *Threshold 0
  -Brightness and contrast were both set to -4
  -Last, rotation and cropping

See this image for a notated Black & White tweaked to reveal other moons!
Jupiter and Ganymede's Shadow
6/7/2008 3:30-4:15am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-06-08 22:45:58
Cool and clear, no moon - my back yard observatory.

Observed M57, The Ring Nebula, with my C8 8" Schmidt-Cass first at 160x visually. Differences of brightness within the ring structure were apparent. With averted vision, strands within the nebula and the central star are just discernible.

Using my Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD, the following settings yielded the image below.
  - "Dark Sub" checked to eliminate device white noise and artifacts.
  - Exposure 1.4 seconds
  - "Combine" checked
  - "Auto Contrast" UN-checked
  - Adjusted limit sliders on histogram
    * Upper = 7102
    * Lower = 5900
  - Exposure total time 150 seconds

The GIMP's "Levels" tool was used to refine brightness and contrast over all channels. Unsharp masking was applied with:
  Radius: 25.0
  Amount: 0.70
  Threshold: 1
M57
5/24/2008 2:30-4:00am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-24 06:37:29
Cool and clear, waning gibbous moon - my back yard.

Observed the binary Graffias (Beta Scorpii) with my C8 8" Schmidt-Cass at 160x this time with no filter (see second entry below). The brighter star in this system looked bluish-white and the dimmer companion was a grayish-violet which at times had a greenish tint.

These stars are 530 light years distant and visually separated by 14". Both are hot B-type stars and have magnitude values of 2.56 and 4.90. Visual separation was very clear.

With a Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD, I used the following settings combining exposures through RED, GREEN, and BLUE filters creating the image
  - Exposure 0.0078 seconds
  - "Combine" checked
  - "Auto Contrast" UN-checked
  - Adjusted upper limit slider on histogram
    * Upper = 7583
    * Leaving the lower limit at 5942
  - Exposure total time 40 seconds

The GIMP was used to process color as described in the 5/3/2008 entry.
Graffias
5/18/2008 3:00-3:45am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-21 02:15:52
Cool and clear with some haze, near full moon - my back yard.

Observed Jupiter with my C8 8" Schmidt-Cass at 160x using a single polarized filter experimentally discovering that detail was more distinct with this filter. Ganymede's Shadow was a very sharp dark spot on the planet's disk. By 3:45 local time, the shadow was nearly ready to leave the edge of the disk. Noted the following:

  * Io about 4 disk diameters to the east
  * Ganymede about 1 disk diameter west a little north of center
  * Ganymede's shadow close to the eastern edge of the disk a little north of center
  * Europa about 2 1/2 disk diameters west a little north of center
  
  - Darker northern polar region - dusky color
  - Northern equatorial belt with some faint swirling detail - light rusty color
  - Southern equatorial belt with some faint swirling detail - light rusty color

Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons Tool
5/18/2008 1:00-3:30am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-21 01:28:55
Cool and clear with some haze, near full moon - my back yard.

Observed Graffias (Beta Scorpii) with my C8 8" Schmidt-Cass at 160x with a double polarized filter I had forgotten to remove after looking at the Moon. I'll take notes here for the sake of comparison with no-moon and non-filtered observations. The brighter star in this system looked white with a faint bit of bluish tint. The dimmer companion seemed grayish and even faintly purplish.

These stars are separated by 14", both hot B-type stars, and have magnitude values of 2.56 and 4.90. Visual separation was very clear.
5/18/2008 1:00-3:30am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-18 06:40:53
Cool and clear with some haze, near full moon - my back yard.

Observed the Moon with my C8 8" Schmidt-Cass at 160x using a double polarized filter to reduce glare. Scanned the terminator noting the beautiful stark landscape with its mountains and craters. A favorite Lunar geographic feature of mine is craters containing central peaks.

The filter which is made of two polarized filters that can be rotated to adjust degree of brightness makes for nice viewing preventing the overwhelming brightness of the Moon's light at the eyepiece.
5/11/2008 3am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-11 07:22:48
Cool and clear with some haze, no moon - my back yard.

Observed Xi Boötis, a binary system separated by approx. 7". Xi Boötis A is a G-type yellow dwarf with a magnitude varying from about 4.5-4.7 over 10 days. Xi Boötis B is a K-type orange dwarf magnitude 7. This system is 22 light years away with an orbital period of 150 years.

With my C8 Schmidt-Cass at 160x, the A star looked white and the B star looked yellowish with perhaps a hint of green.
5/3/2008 10-11:30pm Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-06 03:44:03
Cool and clear, no moon - my back yard.

Observed Algieba (Gamma Leonis) noting that this binary pair is separated by only approx. 4.5" and is composed of a brighter K giant star and dimmer G giant star.

  *NOTE: Looking at the previous entry, there are significant differences in hue perception by various observers, but the dimmer star seems to be always perceived as further from the red end of the spectrum than its companion!
Algieba

With my C8 Schmidt-Cass using the Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD, I used the following settings combining exposures through RED, GREEN, and BLUE filters to create this image:
  - Exposure 0.0078 seconds
  - "Combine" checked
  - "Auto Contrast" UN-checked
  - Adjusted upper limit slider on histogram
    * Upper = 17332
    * Leaving the lower limit at 5947
  - Exposure total time 60? seconds

Used the GIMP's Color Balance Tool on each RGB filtered image: Midtones AND Highlights - appropriate channel (Red, Green, or Blue) set to 100%

Lastly, an Infra-Red-filtered image rendered this sharp clear separation.
Algieba
4/27/2008 10:30pm-midmight Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-06 03:13:53
Cool and clear with no moon - my back yard.

Observed Algieba (Gamma Leonis) and Saturn with my daughter Myra. Using the C8 Schmidt-Cass at 160x, the Cassini Division, south equatorial belt, south polar region, Titan, Rhea, and Tethys were visible when viewing Saturn.
  Titan approx. 2 ring diameters to the east and a little north
  Tethys very close to the eastern edge of the ring and a little north
  Rhea very close to the eastern edge of the ring a little south

When viewing Algieba, my impression of color was white for the brighter star and silver-gray for the dimmer companion. Myra reported silver-bluish for the dimmer star and pinkish/light orangish for the brighter star. Separation @ 160x was close but crisp noting only about 4.5" of separation! Magnitude differences were easily discerned.
4/20/2008 9-11pm Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-06 01:38:28
Cool and clear, near full moon - my back yard.

Observed Saturn noting:
  * Titan and Rhea
  * Visually, an Orion #15 deep yellow filter seemed most helpful - not greatly
Saturn

With my C8 Schmidt-Cass using the Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD, I used the following settings combining exposures through RED, GREEN, and BLUE filters to create this image:
  - Exposure 0.0055 seconds
  - "Combine" checked
  - "Auto Contrast" UN-checked
  - Adjusted upper limit slider on histogram
    * Upper = 14082
    * Leaving the lower limit at 5938
  - Exposure total time 90 seconds

Used the GIMP's Color Balance Tool on each RGB filtered image: Midtones only - appropriate channel (Red, Green, or Blue) set to 100%

Used the GIMP's Unsharp Masking tool set to: - Radius = 0.5, Amount = 2.0, Threshold = 0

Finally, using the above unsharp masking only, a Red-filtered image rendered this detail.
Saturn Red Filtered
4/14/2008 10:30pm-1am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-06 01:11:28
Cool and clear with waxing gibbous moon even closer to Saturn than last night - my back yard.

Observed Saturn with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass at 160x noting (with a little averted vision help):
  * Cassini Division
  * Shadow of right on planet - inner edge
  * Shadow or planet on ring - eastern side opposite Titan
  * South Equatorial Belt
  * South Polar Region (grayish)
  * Very pale yellowish planet
  * Four moons (west-to-east)
    - Titan and Tethys on the west side of the planet
    - Rhea a little south and Dione a little north on the east side
  * A and B rings - near part of ring crossing in front of the planet about 1/3 distance from the north pole to the south

Note that moonlight added a challenge to night vision, but with averted vision, Tethys, Rhea, and Dione were apparent - and - some detail may have had slight contrast in the areas of the South Tropical Zone and South Temperate Belt.
4/12/2008 11pm-1am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2008-05-06 00:52:57
Cool and clear with a waxing gibbous moon - my back yard.

Observed the double star Algieba, Gamma Leonis, with 8" Celestron Schmidt-Cass at 160x. Easily separated and the magnitude difference was striking although color differences were not apparent to me - seemed whitish or very light gray.

Observed Saturn roughly 7 degrees south of Algieba in Leo and noted:
  * Cassini Division
  * Shadow of right on planet - inner edge
  * Shadow of planet on ring - eastern side opposite Titan
  * South equatorial belt
  * Titan
  * Very pale yellowish color of planet
11/18/2007 5-5:15am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-18 07:40:44
Observed Comet Holmes from my urban back yard - partly cloudy, no moon, 42 degrees, and visibility is hazy between the clouds.

With Bushnell 10x50 binoculars and using averted vision, the coma's outer edges are just brushing Mirfak. The comet's motion over the last 2 weeks is obvious as it is no longer the "elbow" of a right triangle formed with Mirfak and Delta Persei. There is a flat-ish side toward Mirfak turned slightly in the direction of Delta Persei. The coma's diameter spans around 1/6 the binocular's field of view and the inner 1/3 to 1/2 diameter is still definitely brighter.
11/11/2007 3-4am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-12 03:33:12
Observed M 42 - the Orion Nebula from my back yard - cool, no moon, partially hazy sky. The nebula itself appeared to be in a clear part of the sky.
Orion Nebula Thumbnail

With my C8 Schmidt-Cass, M 42 had obvious delicately detailed dark swirls using averted vision at 80x. There was a sense of more and more detail just beyond the threshold of vision.

Using the Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD, I used the following settings to create this image:
  - Generated current "Darks" with "Auto Contrast" checked
  - Applied darks
  - Exposure 2.8 seconds
  - "Combine" checked
  - "Auto Contrast" UN-checked
  - Adjusted upper limit slider on histogram to
    * Bring out nebula detail
    * Just distinguish trapezium stars in overexposed area

Then I set the upper limit slider down just a bit more to create this image bringing out more detail in the cloud and overexposing the trapezium area.

Used the GIMP's Unsharp Masking tool set to: - Radius = 5.0, Amount = 0.50, Threshold = 0
11/9/2007  1-3:30am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-12 03:00:42
Observed Comet Holmes again from my back yard. Cold - 40 degrees - clear with no moon.
Comet Holmes Thumbnail

With the C8 Schmidt-Cass at 80x, Comet Holmes looked visually much the same as 2 nights ago (11/7). Using the Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD, I was careful to take new "Darks" for the current exposure/temperature for 60+ seconds. Then with exposure set to 2.8 seconds, "Combine" checked and "Darks" checked, I captured images for 60+ seconds. The result reveals very slightly brighter streaks in the inner coma in the direction of the tail. The CCD reveals background stars shining through the coma very distinctly. The nucleus is bright and off-center in the inner coma away from the tail. It's very apparent that this device can "see" much more than my eyes.
11/7/2007  1-3am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-08 02:57:59
Observed Comet Holmes from my urban back yard. Cold - 40 degrees - clear with no moon.
Comet Holmes Thumbnail

With my C8 Schmidt-Cass at 80x, the comet is stunning. Stars can just be seen through the coma. The outer coma has a slightly brighter border. The brighter inner coma is elongated away from the nucleus in the direction of the scant tail.   The entire object is shaped like a "Pac Man Ghost" with the flatter side in the direction the tail is forming. The comet is still high overhead near Mirfak.

A Meade DSI Pro 2 CCD image revealed the nucleus clearly along with stars showing through the coma at 2.8 sec. exposure with "Darks" applied. I couldn't eliminate some artifacts that looked like water drops and were associated with the device and not filters or telescope optics. When layering 2 images using the GIMP to set layer mode to Multiplied, the comet's motion against the stars appears as in this image.

* In the future I will make detailed notes of all CCD settings and relace the device if necessary.
11/4/2007 - 11/5/2007 11:30pm - 3am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-08 02:21:42
Observed Mars, M42, and Comet Holmes from my urban back yard - cold, clear, and no moon until 2:29 according to the U.S. Naval Observatory ephemeris.

With my C8 Schmidt-Cass, Mars was a pink-gold "BB" at 80x and 160x. At 120x, an Orion #80A medium blue filter may have helped just resolve large dark features.

The Orion Nebula - M42 was laced with dark delicate swirls and expanded beyond the field of view at 80x. Two stars close to the trapezium but much fainter were distinct and sharp.

Comet Holmes appeared slightly greenish with 10x50 Bushnell binoculars and still round with a brightish center 1/3 the diameter of the entire coma. Through the C8 at 80x the comet's nucleus could be seen! The telescope revealed an asymmetrical shape with a flatish, less distinct side of the outer edge and the nucleus slightly off-center in the inner brighter region of the coma. Holmes is high overhead at the elbow of a right triangle whose legs are formed by Mirfak and  Delta Persei. I may see a slight greenish cast.
11/3/2007-11/4/2007 9pm, 12, 3, and 5am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-08 01:59:44
Observed Comet Holmes from my urban back yard. No moon, cool and clear at 9. Some hazy clouds at 12. Clear with a rising waning crescent moon at 3 and 5.

Holmes is easily seen as an "out of focus" star with the naked eye even from my Denver suburb. Through 10x50 Bushnell binoculars, the comet's diameter was about 1/10 the field of view and appeared round with a brighter center 1/3 - 1/2 the diameter of the fainter outer coma.

My wife, Patti, was also able to easily spot the comet in the sky and look at it with the binoculars. She agreed about the round shape and brighter inner coma.

10/31/2007 10-11pm Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-08 01:44:37
I observed M2 from my back yard - clear and cold with no moon and a little haze.

Through my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass, this globular cluster was a distinct round hazy patch at 80x. When observed at 160x, individual stars were perceptible with averted vision and contrast was markedly better.

Although past transit, M2 is still about 40 degrees off the horizon. I would call it a "grainy cloud" or a "cloud of sand".
10/29/2007 1:30am ? Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-05 07:36:08
My urban back yard - cool and clear - waning gibbous moon
Almach Thumbnail

Observed the multiple star Almach through my Celestron Schmidt-Cass 8" using a Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO II taking images through its red, green, and blue filters.

As with Albireo, I used the GIMP's Color Balance tool on each image to boost the appropriate color channel for midtones and highlights to max two times. Each image was stacked over the other as a layer with the top 2 layers' modes set to Screen.

The resulting image is not as rich in color as Albireo, but is fairly accurate in it's rendering of the gold and blue even if subtle. These stars are separated by 10".
9/13/2007 time? rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-05 00:51:48
My urban back yard - clear - no moon
Comet Holmes Thumbnail

Observed M15 through my Celestron Schmidt-Cass 8" using a Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO II. This globular cluster was not far beyond transit although the time is uncertain.

  First, this original image was captured
  - Adjusted exposure by eye while watching the live feed
  - Applied "darks" to filter out CCD noise

  This enhanced image was processed with the GIMP's Unsharp Masking tool
  - Radius = 0.1
  - Amount = 5.00
  - Threshold = 20
8/23/2007 approx. 3:00am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-04 21:46:16
My urban backyard - clear
Lunar Eclipse Thumbnail

Observed a total Lunar Eclipse with 10x50 binoculars and a Sony 7.2 Mega pixel CyberShot in night mode on a tripod. The photos were a spur-of-the-moment experiment taken at intervals that were not carefully timed. As the Moon moves apparently toward the west, it actually moves eastward into the Umbra. A high line is visible across the 8th, 9th, and 10th images.

I used the GIMP's layering capability to stack the images setting the layers' modes to Addition. Then I applied a brightness value of 100 and a contrast value of 92 with the Brightness-Contrast tool to create this image representing closely what I saw in the sky.
8/11/2007 time? rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-11-01 04:21:13
My urban backyard - no moon
Albireo Thumbnail

Observed Albireo through my Celestron Schmidt-Cass 8" using a Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO II taking images through its red, green, and blue filters.

I used the GIMP's Color Balance tool on each image to boost the appropriate color channel for midtones and highlights to max two times. Each image was stacked over the other as a layer with the top 2 layers' modes set to Screen.

The resulting image is fairly accurate in it's rendering of the gold and blue colors I perceive with my eye. These stars are separated by 34" with a striking contrast of both color and magnitude!
7/2/2007 6:00-6:30pm Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-07-02 21:16:04
My front walk - 95 degrees - much thermal turbulence - a few small hazy clouds - mostly clear - breeze

I observed the Sun with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass at 80x using a Thousand Oaks white light glass filter - neutral density 5 (reduces light about 100,000x). A sun spot with 2 distinct dark nuclei somewhat quad-angular surrounded by a somewhat pent-angular gray area. This structure is estimated to be about 1.5 x 2 earth diameters based on estimating scale from a SOHO image. There was also a much smaller dark spot very close to the larger structure. According to the SOHO image at 20:48 UT, the spots are just south of the solar equator and around a day past transit.

My grandson (6), daughter (30), and wife (not telling) also shared in this observation. They all agreed on seeing the gray area around the outside of the spot(s) and Patti, my wife, agreed that the nucleus was 2-part.
6/30/2007 12:00-2:20am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-07-01 04:38:47
My urban backyard - nearly full moon - breeze, temperature in the 60s, air nearly haze-free:
Jupiter Thumbnail

Observed Jupiter through my Celestron Schmidt-Cass 8" using a CCD for the first time - Meade Deep Sky Imager PRO II with its blue filter in place. The bundled software was installed on my ThinkPad. The planet is near transit 27 degrees off the southern horizon NE of Antares.

  First image
  - Auto exposure (1 second) and auto contrast both active
  - Planet's disk over-exposed, Galilean moons captured very clearly

  Following images
  - Exposures from under .0100 to over .0400 seconds tested
  - Galilean moons faint
  - Planet's bands showing distinctly varying shades
    * Northern polar region medium shading
    * Northern central region very light
    * Narrow southern central band darkest
    * Southern polar region medium shading

  Manipulated image
  - Image rotated with planet's north pole up, east left
  - Galilean moons from first image at 60% brightness
  - Left-to-right moons are Ganymede, Io, Callisto, Europa
  - Planet's disk from following reduced exposure
  - Blue tint added representing the blue filter My urban backyard - nearly full moon - breeze, temperature in the 60s, air nearly haze-free:

  Enhanced image
  - Applied the GIMP's Unsharp Masking tool
  - Radius = 5.0, Amount = 1.00, Threshold = 0

What was most striking - the difference between my impressions of Jupiter's features and what the CCD saw. Where I thought I saw a similar shading for the north central and southern polar regions visually using the previously-mentioned Orion #80A medium-blue eyepiece filter, the CCD revealed the northern central region as the brightest feature and the southern polar region as medium shaded.
6/19-20/2007 11:05-12:40am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-21 00:31:29
My urban backyard - waxing crescent moon about 5 degrees off the horizon at 11:30pm - little haze:

My wife, Patti, and I observed Jupiter through my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass at 120x w/ Orion #80A medium-blue filter.
  - Northern region moderately shaded
  - Northern-central band appeared double
  - Southern-central band darkest feature
  - Slight shading in the southern region
  - A small "knot" may have been discerned in the dark southern-central band

The air seems a little clearer of haze than usual. Jupiter is 28 degrees off the horizon, NE of Antares in the southern sky close to transit. Patti commented "wow" tonight - clearest view of this planet so far with this scope! Observed 11:05-11:40.

Observed M4 with 80x and 160x from 11:45-11:55. This globular cluster's center was faint but better with averted vision. Round shape not really discernible. Some brighter stars in field stood out.

Boötes double stars 11:55-12:40
  * Epsilon Boötis at 160x a difficult separation - brighter star gold - companion unsure - 3" separation
  * Xi Boötis at 160x is nicely separated - less difference in magnitude - brighter star off-white, companion dull gold - separation 7"
  * Kappa Boötis at 160x is well separated at 13" - brighter star silver, companion gray
6/17/2007 3:04-3:50am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-17 20:00:31
My urban backyard - no moon, some haze:

I observed Jupiter from 3:10-3:35am with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass at 120x with an Orion #58 green and Orion #80A medium blue filter. Haze & low elevation - 15 degrees off the horizon - caused general features to be barely distinguished. The narrow, darkest central-southern band was briefly discernible but most of the time, the darker central and northern polar regions were only faintly in contrast with the lighter regions. The medium-blue filter was best.

I observed M57, planetary nebula in Lyra, from 3:40-3:50am using 80x, 120x, 160x, and 240x. The darker center was easily visible at all magnifications – best using averted vision – and the object was more striking with each increase in power. The brighter outer ring seemed to perhaps display some variations in brightness.  M57 was high overhead where seeing was significantly better with less haze and more contrast.
6/11/2007 1:45-2:45am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 20:59:44
My urban backyard - no moon, patchy clouds, some haze:

I observed Jupiter with my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass at 120x using an Orion #80A medium blue filter, then an Orion #58 green filter. Jupiter is about 23 degrees above the horizon, NE of Antares. I can see some variations in shading in the central area shown in my sketch. The southern border of the darker central region appears as a very narrow band and is the darkest feature. Tonight I have to say that the green filter seemed to enhance contrast variations of details a bit better than the medium blue.
5/26/2007 2:30-3:30am Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 20:52:48
My urban backyard - Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass:

I observed Jupiter again using the Orion medium blue filter with similar observations as found in the previous entry regarding the bands or belts.

The air quality was such that the edge of Jupiter's disk showed evidence of some atmospheric shimmer or "boiling". Thermal? - Inherent to the planet's low altitude off the horizon? (About 26 degrees)
5/??/2007 2:00-3:00am (approx) rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 20:45:39
My urban backyard - Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass:

Observed Jupiter with an Orion #80A medium blue filter. At 80x or 120x, what are simply "rusty" stripes or bands when unfiltered just begin to show uneven edges or some variations in the darkness - or perhaps the saturation of the "rust" color. This color appears more gray through this filter.
5/12/2007 6:00pm Mountain (approx) rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 20:22:32
My urban front yard Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass:

Observed the sun with a new solar filter. A group of 3 small sun spots and what I think may have been a 4th which was even smaller. Reference the SOHO image for 2007/05/12 16:00. There were intermittent clouds, but considering how low in the sky the sun's disk was, the sun spots could be seen quite well. I estimate the more prominent 3 sun spots to be comparable to the earth in size!
3/??/2007 time? rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 20:00:37
My urban backyard, Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass:

I believe I saw the mag 10.9 component of Meissa (Lambda Orionis), but I want to verify this. I believe that the 29" separation makes this mag 10.9 star an easier visual target than Theta's mag 10.3 component.

I'm observing Sigma Orionis again, the mag 10.3 component separated by 11" from the mag 4.0 component is easier than Theta's mag 10.2 F component separated by approx 3" from the mag 5.1 C component.
3/??/2007 8:00-10:00pm Mountain (approx) rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 19:52:26
From my urban backyard with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass - near new moon, some very thin clouds early in session:

Found the E member of Theta Orionis at mag 10.3. As I recall, As I recall, 120x or 160x was best rather than either 80x or 240x. The F member was apparently too close to C and the proximity to the brighter star is what I believe prevented its detection from my light-polluted backyard.
2/10/2007 9:30-10:30pm Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 19:45:11
From my urban backyard with Celstron 8" Schmidt-Cass - crisp cold air, no moon, nearly no turbulance:

M42 - Again observed swirl patterns even with the light pollution.

Sigma Orionis - all 4 members are visible at 80x. With a Barlow at 160x, my hasty sketch represents the view.
11/28/2006 NOTES: rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 19:34:21
Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass:

I kept the hand control and the battery pack in my office. I suspect the hand control being cold may have caused recent odd behavior when aligning, calibrating, and slewing. The scope was right on target functioning correctly.

Now the hand control, DEC cable, and battery pack are inside during cold weather.

AC adapter to be tested.
11/28/2006 12:00-1:00am (approx) rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 19:27:34
From my urban backyard with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass - cool, clear, maybe some haze?:

M42 - again swirls easily distinguished at 80x.

Rigel - could not separate companion at 160x.

Mintaka (Delta Orionis) was very widely separated at 53". My color impressions: Mintaka a bright blue-white and its companion greenish or grayish, but unsure about "lilac" mentioned by an observer in comments I'm reading.
11/19/2006 time? rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 19:22:07
From my urban backyard with Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass - cool, clear, no moon:

M42 showed clear swirl patterns esp. w/ averted vision. The trapezium was easily, widely separated - all at 80x.

Saturn at 160x showed the planet's shadow on the ring and the ring's shadow on the planet. A light tan band was visible above the ring. Tital and other moon yet to confirm.
10/24/2006 10:30-11:00pm Mountain rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 19:10:22
From my urban back yard, Almaak (or Almach) was clearly separated at 80x in my Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass and the colors looked gold and green-blue. The dimmer companion sometimes appeared blue - sometimes green. An Orion eyepiece at 120x seemed to contrast the colors a bit better. The star was even more striking at 160x w/ Celestron eyepiece and Barlow, and even though some crispness was lost, the separation and color contrast at 240x w/ the Orion eyepiece and a Barlow was best.

NGC 7789 showed crisp, fine, low-magnitude stars against a rich background. With averted vision, many many dim yet crisp and contrasting stars were revealed.

M103 even at 80x seems too apparently large a structure to appreciate. Perhaps actually better with 10x50 binoculars?
10/24/2006 rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 18:59:11
Some objects already observed while learning my new Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cass from my urban Aurora, Colorado backyard:

Planets:
  Uranus
  Neptune
  Jupiter

Messier:
  M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)
  M57 (Ring Nebula)
  M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
  M34 (Open Cluster)
  M13 (Hercules Globular Cluster)

Multiple Stars:
  Cygnus
    Albireo
    16
    17
    61

  Misc.
    Gamma Delphini
    Struve 2725
Officially beginning my star log rburton rick.burton@datapathways.com 2007-06-11 18:43:07
I fell in love with astronomy at an early age under dark skies in South Dakota beginning my hobby in earnest with an Edmond 4" Newtonian telescope - not even having a clock drive! Over time I have used an 8" home-built (purchased) Newtonian (also no clock drive), an Edmund Astroscan 4" reflector, and a Celestron C90 (90mm) WITH a clock drive!

Having recently purchased a Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope mounted on a German equatorial tripod with GoTo, I have finally come to appreciate keeping a star log or star diary if you will. Some of the early entries being transcribed here will be less-than-complete, but I am now putting an effort into consistent content and style - and also to get more serious about this adventure!

Soon I will embark on the CCD astrophotography experience as well.

Finally, my compliments to the friendly knowledgeable staff at S&S Optika here in the Denver area. http://www.sandsoptika.com (Thanks Cathy and Stephanie!)

  -Rick
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