Astro Nut

My CG5GT was getting to be a MESS with all of the cables coming and going.

I have come close to tripping and ripping some of the cables out. THAT would have been BAD VERY VERY BAD!
I have 4 cables
2 are for the cameras,
the Orion LPI and

the Meade DSI C
2 are for guiding
GPUSB guide port interface and
the Hand Controler.

So I got a couple of 4 port USB hubs
Now I have to spend some time routing all of them out of the way!

The best bit of advice I can give you about purchasing new equipment is to
try before you buy!
My Astro Hut is full of stuff I wish had never bought.
Eyepieces, worthless filters and bits and pieces of hardware.
Most of the equipment in this hobby such a personal choice.
Your choice of equipment all depends on how and what you’re going to do with it.

So before you go and shell out your hard-earned money, visit your local astronomy club.
Go to one of the local star parties.
Or visit one of the plethora of online forums.
GET INFORMED!

Stellarium is one of the finest pieces of software of its kind!
And now it has been updated to 0.9.1!
I used this to learn the night sky.

What is Stellarium?
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.
You can down load Stellarium HERE

I have a 9×50 and can’t stand it as a matter of fact it was the very first upgrade I did to my Dob.
The Telrad is one of those things that when you get one and use it ……
HOW DID I GET ALONG WITHOUT IT

For star hopping it just can’t be beat.
There is a TON of charts, maps and software that use the Telrad circles.
The batteries last forever….or it seems like it. I have left my Telrad on for a couple of days and they went on for MONTHS.
My red dot finder does not come close. Leave it on overnight and the batteries ARE DEAD.
Some people think the Telrad as heavy and bulky….

You can see my Telrad, it is not as long nor as tall as the stock 9×50.
As for being heavy hummm it is heavier the the 9×50 but we are talking OUNCES here not pounds.
Bulky? I think it fits right in next to the 2? focuser

There will be a Telrad on all of my scopes!!!

Messier 22 (M22, NGC 6656) is one of the brightest and remarkable clusters in the sky and next to M13 this my favorite Globular Clusters. M 22 is also a great binoculars object!
At 10,400 light years, M22 is one of the nearer globular clusters. At this distance, its 32′ angular diameter, slightly larger than that of the Full Moon

This is 1 subs @ 8 sec
Scope Orion 120mm f/5.0
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition
processed with PhotoShop 6

The weather cleared and I got to go out to the Astro Hut last night! My tracking was off and I could not find a bright enough star do to a drift alignment. So I only got this 1 picture of M11 (Wild Duck Cluster) Its pretty easy to find in Scutum and it a good bino object too. Here is a Telrad finder chart M11 PDF If you look at the chart you will see that M11 in in a target rich area of the sky. There is 12+ other Messier Objects just to the south!

This is 1 subs @ 8 sec
Scope Orion 120mm f/5.0
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition
processed with PhotoShop 6

A scoping buddy let me borrow his Orion 120mm f/5.0!
I have sort of been wanting one of these scopes to use for astrophotography!
Last night I got my chance.
The Moon was at 89% and viewing was not that good.
I am more then surprised at how nice the picture came out!

Here is M13 The Hercules Globular Cluster
This is 10 subs @ 15 sec
Scope Orion 120mm f/5.0
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition
processed with PhotoShop 6

The only trouble I had was I could not use the 2 inch diagonal but had to use a 1 1/4 inch….. And that was not a big deal at all!

Over all Orion 120mm f/5.0 is a joy to use for both astrophotography and visual.
This scope is going on my wish list……

This is M20 the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius

This is 11 subs @ 15 sec
Scope Starblast 4.5 imaging
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition
processed with PhotoShop 6

This what one of the subs look like.

M57 The Ring Nebula is one of my favorite deep sky object.
It BRIGHT for a planetary nebulae and its very easy to find!
I can see it in my little Celestron StarSeeker 80mm.
I was out in the HUT till the wee hours this morning and M57
cleared the trees so I had the chance to take this!

This is 1 subs @ 15 sec
Scope Starblast 4.5 imaging
Camera Meade DSI-C
Mount CG5GT unguided
Stacked with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition (it comes with the SS II)
processed with PhoteShop 6

Finding M57 is pretty easy.
Find the constellation Lyra,
look for the diamond-shaped set of 4 stars just below Vega.
M57 is in between the bottom pair stars.

Here is a PDF star chat of Lyra