{"id":1140,"date":"2016-10-22T07:54:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T11:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2019-01-17T08:02:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T13:02:42","slug":"octnovdec2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/2016\/10\/22\/octnovdec2016\/","title":{"rendered":"OctNovDec2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connecticut Star Party 2016<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The 26th annual Connecticut Star Party was held at the Edmund D. Strang Scout Reservation in Goshen CT on the weekend of September 30-October 2. The weather did not cooperate, with overcast skies, cool temperatures, rain, and drizzle throughout the weekend.  This prevented any astronomical observing, but it did not dampen the spirits of those who attended.  There were three excellent presentations by Gaianne Jenkins, Robert Zinn, and Stella Kafka, along with several informal talks by ASNH members and other attendees.  There was plenty of good conversation among old friends and new acquaintances, and a lot of delicious food. Andy Poniros hosted a live broadcast of his radio show Cosmic Perspectives<\/em>, which included interviews with many of the ASNH officers and CSP speakers.  And of course, many exciting prizes were awarded during the ever popular children’s raffle and adult raffle.<\/p>\n

\n

President\u2019s Note:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019d like to thank everyone who helped support the 26th Connecticut Star Party, attendees, donors, speakers, the ASNH Board of Director and the CSP Planning Committee. Mike Zarick and Donna Pursley did another outstanding job designing our T-shirts and sweatshirts. We had our usual group of hard working volunteers, Leo Taylor, Laurie Averill, Jim Mazur, Al Washburn, Ray Kaville, Matt Baker, Steve and Wendo Steinhardt, Mike Zarick and Donna Pursley. They worked very hard with months of planning, and long hours of event setup, support and cleanup. Thanks also to Andy Poniros for hosting his Cosmic Perspective radio show again. In spite of the terrible weather, it was actually one of our most successful CSP\u2019s to date. We had a large number of attendees who spent a rainy day listening to speakers, enjoying catered meals, and generously supporting our raffle. Again thank you everyone for your support and we look forward to CSP27.<\/p>\n

Best regards and clear skies<\/p>\n

Greg Barker
\nASNH President<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"The

The live WPKN radio program. Speaking here, from left to right are Cheryl Barker, Greg Barker, Bob Carruthers, and host Andy Poniros.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Gaianne

Gaianne Jenkins described her work on the Metonic lunar calendar, and she gave working lunar calendars to all those present.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Dr.

Dr. Robert Zinn gave an overview of his extensive research on globular clusters, and described how they have provided many important clues about galactic evolution.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Dr.

Dr. Stella Kafka of the American Association of Variable Star Observers described many findings about variable stars, and she encouraged attendees to get involved in variable star observing.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

More pictures from CSP 26:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Saturday

Saturday lunch in the dining hall.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Greg

Greg Barker and Al Washburn conduct the CSP raffle.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The group photo for CSP 2016.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on August 27, 2016
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

ASNH Members Viewed the Event at Bethany Airport<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Donna Pursley<\/h3>\n

Venus and Jupiter were set to be really close together a little after sunset, so we needed a site with a nice low horizon to the West. Greg Barker chose the Bethany airport. It is close to the Bethany Observatory and has good horizons. As this would be a new location for us, he picked a spot on the field that was near a building that would block the lights from the street. There were over a dozen members gathered for the event. I believe that Bob Carruthers was the first to spot the planets in his binoculars. After that, the rest of us were able to find them. When those planets set, we went about looking for other objects including Saturn. I would call it an average night with a summer haze and a single bright light coming from the airport.<\/p>\n

\"BethanyAirport\"<\/p>\n

Summer Solstice Picnic <\/strong><\/h1>\n

On Saturday, June 25, our annual summer solstice picnic was held at the Pavilion at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden. Once again we were lucky to have great weather.  It was sunny and beautiful.  As always, there was abundant good food and good conversation.  Alan Sacharow and Bob Carruthers set up their telescopes for solar observing, and we had some impressive views of the Sun.  A few hearty souls even made the hike to the tower at the top of the park!  Everyone agreed that it was a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"picnic1\"<\/p>\n

\"picnic2\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Upcoming Public Events<\/strong><\/h1>\n

All of these events are free and open to the public. If the weather looks questionable for an observing event, check the ASNH website<\/a> before you leave home. There will be a scrolling message on the home page if an event has been cancelled.<\/p>\n

Sunday, October 16, 7:00pm
\n<\/strong>Madison Surf Club, Madison, CT
\nMadison Moon Light Walk<\/p>\n

Friday, October 21, 8:00pm
\n<\/strong>Silver Sands State Park, Milford, CT
\nPublic observing session<\/p>\n

Saturday, October 22, 8:00pm<\/strong>
\nYoung\u2019s Pond Park, Branford, CT
\nPublic observing session<\/p>\n

Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
\nYale Leitner Student Observatory
\nGeneral monthly meeting<\/p>\n

Friday, November 4, 8:00pm
\n<\/strong>Silver Sands State Park, Milford, CT
\nPublic observing session<\/p>\n

Saturday, November 5, 8:00pm<\/strong>
\nYoung\u2019s Pond Park, Branford, CT
\nPublic observing session<\/p>\n

Tuesday, November 29, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
\nYale Leitner Student Observatory
\nGeneral monthly meeting<\/p>\n

Upcoming Events for ASNH Members<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Friday, October 7, 7:00pm<\/strong>
\nRegional Water Authority, Lake Gaillard, North Branford CT
\nStargazing night
\n(Rain date: Saturday, October 8, 8:00pm)<\/p>\n

Friday, October 28, 7:00pm<\/strong>
\nCamp Cedarcrest Hautoree, Orange CT (map<\/a>)
\nOutreach program: Members and telescopes are needed for this event<\/p>\n

Thursday, November 10, 7:00-8:00pm<\/strong>
\nMathewson Elementary PTA Family Science Night, Milford CT (map<\/a>)
\nOutreach program: Members and telescopes are needed for this event<\/p>\n

Friday, November 11, 8:00pm<\/strong>
\nTrumbull Nature & Arts Center, Trumbull CT
\nOutreach program: Members and telescopes are needed for this event.
\n(Rain date: Saturday, November 12, 8:00pm)<\/p>\n

Features<\/strong><\/h1>\n

If you have not looked at the newsletter before, check out some of the regular features. There are four useful links in the menu at the top of this page:<\/p>\n

Calendar <\/b> This is a monthly calendar that includes all the scheduled events of ASNH, other regional events of interest, plus the dates and times of noteworthy events in the night sky.<\/p>\n

SkyMap <\/b> This page has a chart of the sky as it appears over the New Haven area at the present date and time. It is constantly updated, so you can go to this page on any clear night to see what is overhead.<\/p>\n

Space Place<\/strong> Read the monthly article from Space Place.<\/p>\n

Directions <\/b>This page gives directions to all the locations where regular activities of ASNH take place, including the monthly meeting, public observing sessions, and the annual Connecticut Star Party.<\/p>\n

Other regular features can be found within these pages:<\/p>\n

Upcoming Public Events <\/strong>Many ASNH events are free and open to the public. These include the monthly meetings and public observing sessions at Young’s Pond Park in Branford and Silver Sands State Park in Milford. This section gives the dates, times, and descriptions of these events.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Events for ASNH Members <\/strong>These events are for ASNH members only. Some are private observing nights, and others are outreach events where volunteers are needed with the telescopes and equipment.<\/p>\n

Night Sky Highlights <\/strong> For those who are new to astronomy, this section lists some objects to observe in the sky during the next few months, whether you are using just your eyes, a pair of binoculars, or a telescope.<\/p>\n

Gallery <\/strong> This section will feature recent photographs of celestial targets taken by ASNH members and others. If you have a picture you want to share with us, please submit it to newsletter@asnh.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Always Prepare Early<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By Ray Kaville<\/h3>\n

Location:  Long Wharf Park near Veterans Monument, New Haven, CT
\n<\/strong>Time:   8:00pm August 13, 2016   <\/strong>Conditions: Terrible
\n<\/strong>Temp & Environ:  Hot and Humid, Serious storms visibly approaching from the W and SW.
\n<\/strong>Event:  New Haven Land Trust request for ASNH to show the night sky<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, after rapidly collecting some books and maps I jump into the hastily packed car and head out to New Haven. The good news is the Long Wharf exit is now mid-way down Sargeant Drive. It was a small jump from there to the I95 underpass and I made it in onto the field in plenty of time. Actually I flew down I-91 at about 85 and rolled over the curb onto the playing field at 7:59. Slid up next to Donna and Mike who were next to Cheryl and Greg and a couple of other folks I did not know.<\/p>\n

As usual I misjudged the timing and although all was ready to hit the road, I had not done any lunar study prior to the event. Although this is not normally a big deal I had not planned for the extremely brisk breezes (aka winds) that were pummeling the shore area.<\/p>\n

The distant glow of a glare bomb farm across the bay was enhanced by an intense skyglow from Jordan’s furniture to our rear and the regularly peppered 60′ high twin super glare bombs lining Long Wharf Drive. Our luck was with us. We had a double of our very own right behind us providing plenty of illumination for our group to set up. So set up we did to the cacaphony of sirens on the interstate and groups of rice burning motorcycles as they raced by us (some with two guys rolling on a single wheel).<\/p>\n

We started with a small crowd of maybe 15 or so people. All were excited and had lots of questions as I set up my rig for viewing. Once done we were all ready to attack the small list astronomical objects. First up, the Moon.<\/p>\n

By now we had about 50 people milling around and apparently everyone in our group had selected the Moon as their target. Made sense since it was still light out and the only other thing visible was Mars. Gradually Saturn showed its face, then Antares. I brought out my favorite moon map to make sure I could identify all the tasty visible lunar objects on this 10 day moon and along the terminator at 38\u00b0. This should make it easy to id everything. Unfortunately no manner of weight or rigging could prevent the winds from blowing this map away like a giant sail. Relocating the map to the back of my car took care of the wind, but of course this moon map uses delicate little characters and delicate little lines for accuracy. You guessed it, all red. (What were they thinking!?) So with my red lights, both dim and bright, we had invisible lines and numbers making it quite difficult to get a fix on our beautiful targets.<\/p>\n

What ended up being Copernicus, Tycho and Kepler remained unnamed objects that I should have known all about. Note to self, do some lunar observing from time to time and do your homework -early. Still, aside from one pretty young girl with a French <?> accent everyone was pretty pleased about the general information I was able to muster. That particular young lady was with a bunch of other “accented” young people and she was very disappointed that I couldn’t name all the surface features on the moon.lol, oh well, you get what you pay for.<\/p>\n

The views of the Moon were very nice with lots of surface detail within the craters and along the terminator, as were the views of Saturn. Saturn early on was exceptional with easy splitting of the rings by Cassini and a number of the largest moons popping in. Visible surface markings grew more distinct as it got darker, and thrilled several of our guests, including one young man whose mother explained he has a \u201cthing\u201d for Saturn. Saturn’s recent opposition on June 2, 2016 probably had a lot to do with the excellent views. We had between 4 and 5 moons under these conditions, where I’m used to seeing maybe 2 or so.<\/p>\n

Mars was so bright it showed a lot of blooming in the eyepiece. Not sure what to attribute that to, but there was a ton of growing moisture in the air and a lot of varying levels of overcast and winds. As we approached 9:15pm or so the clouds started rolling in. We all swung back to the moon which was bright enough to burn through. Visibility reduced to some quick sucker holes and then it was gone. By about 20 after it was totally socked in, and thank goodness Donna was paying attention because we had two massive storm cells heading straight for us from Stratford. We all started breaking down as we tried to explain to our guests (who numbered about 150 or more by now) that we had to get going. It was difficult to get things done as the enthusiastic crowd was ooohing and applauding the huge bolts of lightning running from zenith to the ground as the massive clouds approached our position. The ice cream truck who had intruded into our area was smart enough to be the first one to hightail it out, soon to be followed by other vehicles that drove in later, and then ourselves. Some of our guests, not so much, even with repeated warnings about the dangers of lightning.<\/p>\n

Finished packing, I headed for the front seat and I made one last effort to impress the remaining folks by saying, “HEY! I just want to remind you. You are the highest objects in this area.” With a smile and a nod to them. As they finally began to absorb this I jumped into the car, put it in gear, and waited for the masses of people to complete their exodus across our exit path.<\/p>\n

Overall not a bad way to spend a Saturday night. We had fun and the visitors and officials did as well.<\/p>\n

Clear Skies, Keep looking up!<\/p>\n

What’s Up Tonight?
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ray Kaville recommends this website as a handy tool for finding observing targets.  Just enter your location and the date, plus what types of objects you want to observe (ranging from planets to galaxies).  You can filter them for naked eye, binoculars, or telescope, and choose different degrees of difficulty:<\/p>\n

tonightssky.com\/MainPage.php<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stellafane 2016
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

August 4-7, Springfield, Vermont<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Donna Pursley<\/h3>\n

Stellafane is the annual convention of the Springfield Telescope Makers (STM). They have optical and mechanical competitions for homemade scopes. You don\u2019t need to have made your scope to go to Stellafane. I think that this is our 7th<\/sup> year. We met about a half a dozen other ASNH members there.<\/p>\n

This year they did something new called the Observing Olympics. Larry Mitchell from the Texas Star Party put together an observing program of 30 NGC objects. Anyone who finds 15 or more of the objects during the convention wins a pin commemorating their accomplishment. They said that all objects should be visible in a 4 inch scope under a sky with fairly good seeing and transparency. HA! I must have a different opinion about what fairly good seeing is.  I was able to find 15 objects in my 6\u201d scope by star hopping and I received a pin, but I don\u2019t think I could have found even 1 more object from the list.<\/p>\n

STM added a master class to the awards this year. This is for the entrants that have demonstrated excellence in previous Stellafane competitions. Dick Parker won along with his friend Allen Hall. They made twin 6\u201d F15 Alvan Clark Replicas, \u00be Scale. It took them 8 years to make these. The scopes are magnificent! The Clarks were modeled after the 8\u201d Alvan Clark Telescope at the Seagrave Memorial Observatory in North Scituate, RI, which they restored.<\/p>\n

\"The

The iconic Pink Clubhouse at Stellafane.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Dick

Dick Parker with his prize-winning telescope. (Photos by Mike Zarick.)<\/p><\/div>\n


\nAcadia Night Sky Festival<\/strong><\/h1>\n

ASNH member David Noble attended this year’s Acadia Night Sky Festival in the Acadia National Park. As shown below, the ASNH logo was prominently displayed on the program for the event, along with those of other astronomical societies in the area.<\/p>\n

\"acadia\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Night Sky Highlights for October-December 2016<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Solar System<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meteor Showers
\n<\/strong>Several meteor showers are visible in the fall each year.  A few of the most notable are:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Orionids, peaking on October 21
\nLeonids, peaking on November 17
\nGeminids, peaking on December 14<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, a bright Moon interferes with the Leonids and Geminids this year. Probably the best bet is to look for some Orionids during the late evenings on or after October 21, before the last-quarter Moon rises.<\/p>\n

Mercury
\n<\/strong>In mid-December, Mercury makes a brief appearance in the western sky right after sunset. It will be furthest from the Sun, and therefore easiest to see, on December 10. <\/strong> Just a week or so later, it will be too close to the Sun to be seen.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Venus
\n<\/strong>Venus will be fairly low in the western sky after sunset in October, gradually getting higher in November and December.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong>
\nMars will be moving east through Scorpius and Sagittarius even as these constellations move toward the western sunset.  As a result, Mars will continue to be visible in the southeast throughout the fall, though iit will not be very large or impressive through a telescope.<\/p>\n

Jupiter
\n<\/strong>The giant planet is close to the Sun in the beginning of October, but by the end of the month it rises in the east shortly before sunrise.  It gets higher and higher in the predawn sky in November and December.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturn
\n<\/strong>Saturn has been a treat to observe all summer, and it can still be seen in the early fall, though it will be setting earlier in the evening as the weeks go by. Though a telescope of moderate size, several of its moons should also be visible.<\/p>\n

Uranus and Neptune<\/strong>
\nThese two giant planets are not hard to observe with a small telescope, as long as you know where to look.  Both are visible throughout the fall. Uranus is in Pisces, and Neptune is in Aquarius.  Both have a distinct blue-green color that helps to pick them out of the starry background.  This article from the Sky & Telescope<\/em> website includes finder charts for finding these planets:<\/p>\n

www.skyandtelescope.com\/observing\/planets\/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Pluto<\/strong>
\nFor a more challenging target in you have a telescope with medium or large aperture, try finding Pluto, which is in the “teaspoon” asterism of Sagittarius and can be seen in the southwest during the early fall.  Below is a link to a good finder chart from Blue Water Astronomy.  The way to be sure you have seen Pluto is to draw what you see on one night and then again on the next night to see if is has moved.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bluewaterastronomy.info\/resources\/MapsCharts\/Pluto-2016.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

Deep Sky Objects<\/b><\/h2>\n

Epsilon Lyra
\n<\/strong>Double-double star in Lyra
\nWithout optical aide, people with very good eyesight can detect that Epsilon Lyra is a double star. Through binoculars, two blue-white stars can be seen.  Through a telescope with high magnification, each can be separated into a close pair of stars.<\/p>\n

Perseus Double Cluster
\n<\/strong>Pair of open clusters in Perseus
\nThis is one of the most frequently observed objects in the fall skies.  With the naked eye, these two clusters appear as a faint oblong cloud.   With binoculars, two star groupings can be seen. Through a telescope, hundreds of stars are visible, and the view can be spectacular.<\/p>\n

Messier 76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula<\/strong>
\nPlanetary nebula in Perseus
\nThe nickname of this nebula suggests that it resembles, in miniature, the larger Dumbbell Nebula (M27).  At about magnitude 10, the Little Dumbbell is harder to see, but it does have an oblong shape and a narrow \u201cwaist\u201d.  It is a nice example of a planetary nebula.<\/p>\n

Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy (with M32 and M110)
\n<\/strong>Spiral galaxy in Andromeda
\nAnother favorite in the fall sky, this galaxy can be seen with the naked eye on a dark clear night.  Through a telescope, its two largest satellite galaxies (M32 and M110) can also be seen.  Once you figure out the directions in your telescope\u2019s eyepiece, start from the nucleus of M31 and then look about \u00bd degree south for the tight oval glow of M32, and look about 1 degree to the northwest for the larger but dimmer M110.<\/p>\n

Messier 103<\/strong>
\nOpen cluster in Cassiopeia
\nThis is a small but distinct open cluster with a triangular shape.  It is easy to find, less than 1 degree northeast of delta Cassiopeia, the star that forms the first angle of the \u201cW\u201d shape.<\/p>\n

NGC 7789, Caroline\u2019s Rose<\/strong>
\nOpen cluster in Cassiopeia
\nIn contrast to the relatively sparse M103, this cluster contains some 900 stars over an area of about 20 arcminutes (large enough to fill the field of view with a medium power eyepiece).  It was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783.  Look for the swirling strings of stars that look like the petals of a rose.<\/p>\n

Eta Cassiopeia<\/strong>
\nDouble star in Cassiopeia
\nThese two stars are of uneven brightness (magnitudes 3.4 and 7.5), but with a separation of about 12 arcseconds they can be easily resolved in just about any telescope.  Their colors have been described as gold and purple.  What colors do you see?<\/p>\n

Messier 2<\/strong>
\nGlobular cluster in Aquarius
\nAt about magnitude 6, this is one of the brightest globular clusters in the sky, and it does not get the attention it deserves.  It is a fairly dense globular that is not as easily resolved into stars as the Hercules cluster (M13), but it is certainly worth tracking down.<\/p>\n

Messier 45, the Pleiades<\/strong>
\nNaked-eye open cluster in Taurus
\nMost people can see at least 5 stars with the naked eye in this cluster, but more can be seen if you have good eyesight and ideal viewing conditions. This is a great object for binoculars or a telescope with a wide-angle eyepiece.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gallery
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Dwarf Planets on the Move
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

by Jim Mazur<\/p>\n

There are currently five objects classified as dwarf planets in the solar system: Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea. Below are images of three of them, showing their movement by blinking images taken on two different nights. They may not be easy to spot, but look for the moving object near the center of each image.<\/p>\n

Pluto.<\/strong> The movement of Pluto over a 48-hour period is shown against the rich Milky Way background stars in Sagittarius. It is moving up and down, near the very center of this image. Taken with a 12-inch Meade LX200 telescope and an SBIG ST8300M imager, September 20-22, 2013.<\/p>\n

\"pluto\"<\/p>\n


\nEris.<\/strong> About 9 billion miles from the Sun, Eris is the most distant dwarf planet known, roughly three times as far away as Pluto. It is the very dim moving point of light (about magnitude 18.7) that is roughly halfway between the brightest star in this image and the small galaxy to its lower right. Taken with a 12-inch Meade LX200 telescope and an SBIG ST8300M imager, September 27-28, 2013.<\/p>\n

\"eris\"<\/p>\n

Haumea.<\/strong> Haumea is smaller than Pluto, and it is slightly farther away. Its shape is not round but elliptical. These two images were taken three nights apart. In the first, Haumea is just to the lower right of the bright star in the center of the picture. In the image taken three nights later, Haumea has moved toward the lower left, but still not far from the center. Taken with a 14-inch Meade LX850 telescope and an SBIG ST8300M imager, August 26-29, 2016.<\/p>\n

\"haumea\"
\n<\/p>\n

Gallery, page 2
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

My First Astrophoto
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

by John Pancoast<\/p>\n

\"m31-pancoast\"<\/p>\n

This is the first picture that I have been able to create by stacking multiple exposures. It comes on the heels of several months of trial and error with very few good opportunities to image, due to the local streetlights (5 shine on my driveway) and general light pollution at home in North Haven.<\/p>\n

I have always been captivated by Andromeda but, before this year, I had never actually seen it. I believe it was at CSP25 last year that I first saw it through some kind astronomer\u2019s enormous refractor. I was delighted to discover how to find it for myself and to see it through binoculars whenever it was up.<\/p>\n

When I have had the opportunity, something always seemed to jump out and bedevil me! Early this past spring, in April, just after the NEAF show, I went up to the Berkshires for a few nights to try out some of my equipment. This included a 110mm William Optics refractor and a 127mm Meade SCT, the former bought on Cloudy Nights and the latter on eBay.  I was also just getting to know how to set up and use my iOptron CEM25 mount and to control the Canon T3i DSLR with my computer. Oh, and I can\u2019t forget the Kendrick observatory tent, also from Cloudy Nights, which I had (ahem) never set up.<\/p>\n

Each of these proved challenging in its own way that first spring weekend under dark skies. I had trouble balancing the refractor on the mount. Then the camera wouldn\u2019t come to focus with the short adapter I had. Of course, I was doing all this in the dark because it took me so long to figure out how the tent was supposed to be set up! Note to self – there\u2019s no such thing as being too early to a star party.<\/p>\n

I did get some images of Mars that evening through the eyepiece holder of the Meade SCT using the Canon in video mode. Looks great on the camera… Unfortunately, I can\u2019t convert the .mov file to .avi in a way that my Autostakkert! can recognize. Ugh! More stuff I need to buy\u2026 So I still haven\u2019t processed that file. I had some more practice at the Summer Star Party in Massachusetts, the same weekend as Stellafane.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the present. After getting progressively better at aligning and balancing the mount, and doing lots of test shots on bright stars from home, I discovered that my maximum unguided exposure was about 30 seconds. Heading up to northwest Connecticut for Labor Day weekend, I got everything to work well enough for this picture of M31.<\/p>\n

So, here you have it\u2026 my first astro photo. This is a stack of 165 lights and 20 darks exposed for 30 seconds each through the William Optics 110 mm refractor (655 mm focal length f\/5.95) using Nebulosity4 for both acquisition and all processing. I use a MacBook Air, and this seems to be the best technical solution.<\/p>\n

Now, after a year of paying attention to the night sky, I know where a lot of beautiful objects are hiding. I\u2019m looking forward to making longer exposures and learning the art of processing in the months and years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Connecticut Star Party 2016 The 26th annual Connecticut Star Party was held at the Edmund D. Strang Scout Reservation in Goshen CT on the weekend of September 30-October 2. The weather did not cooperate, with overcast skies, cool temperatures, rain, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1140"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2073,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions\/2073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}