2016 – CRW

2016-10-02 The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula IC 1396

I previously imaged this deep space target back in the summer of 2015. I was using a modified DSLR camera with a camera lens on a basic tracking mount, and not a whole lot of knowledge on what exactly I was doing. At the time I was quite pleased with the result, although my interpretation of this target was not nearly as appealing as many of the other image I have seen. This summer I decided that I wanted to upgrade my imaging equipment. DSLR cameras capture all three color channels (red, green, and blue) at the same time, and give the photographer very little choice over which types of signal he or she wishes to collect. DSLR cameras are also inherently inefficient at collecting the faint signals that dominate much of the night sky. After all, (more…)

2016-08-09 The Iris Nebula NGC 7023

I’m not generally one to complain, but I cannot resist mentioning that this summer has been a lousy summer for astronomy. Until last weekend it had been over two months since we had a truly clear night that coincided with a small crescent or new moon. We have had many “close to clear” nights, nights that the forecast promised to be clear, when in reality thin layers of high altitude clouds obscured the stars just enough to make imaging impossible. Last weekend, the streak was broken, and we had three nights back to back where (more…)

2016-07-30 The Great North Woods

Every year I do my best to find the time to get to Northern Maine. For me, it has almost become a pilgrimage, and I look forward to this annual trip as a way to get off the grid and ironically, recharge. I find that I am most at peace when I can get away from it all and be close to nature. Where I go there are no cell phones, texts or emails, or anything resembling a meeting or appointment… unless you consider a sunrise rendezvous with a moose to be a meeting. This year I planned six nights in Northern Maine (with my father in-law Lee Cordner and good friend Jim Borden), with four of these nights totally off the grid, however a family emergency drew me home after only half of the trip. Although my visit was short and sweet, I did have two days to enjoy the wilderness, and for that I am thankful. (more…)

2016-07-09 The Sun in Hydrogen Alpha

A couple of months ago I posted a white light image of the Sun captured by using a solar film placed over the front of a camera lens to protect the equipment (and my eyes) from the damaging effects of the suns intense light. This method works very well for visual observation and basic imaging of sun spots, but does not allow for capturing any of the more dramatic details such as the surface texture, filaments and prominences. Ever since those first imaging sessions where I shot white light images of the sun I became determined to capture more than these simple sun spot images. (more…)

2016-04-21 The Sun

I cannot believe that it has been five months since I have been out with my camera! The last time I really photographed anything was back in November when I imaged Messier 33, The Triangulum Galaxy. Since then, work has gotten in the way of play. As soon as the Christmas season was over I refocused on the maple sugarwoods, as a strong El Nino not so subtly hinted at a mild winter. With the chance for early season thaws we had to be ready much earlier than normal, and sure enough our first big sap run came during the first week of February. With only short periods of down-time, we boiled right through the 15th of April. I cannot remember a sugaring season where we boiled for ten weeks straight. Despite the long and intense sugaring season, I (more…)