First Shot of Mars

It was a little smoggy out but I wanted to get Mars while it was still "big".  It appears bigger because it is closer to Earth right now.  I wanted to get the shot using my 3x Barlow lens similar to what I did with Jupiter last month, unfortunately, however, I did not have time to focus it correctly as some clouds were moving in.

Image 1 - pipp-reg-ps-crop-LR2

Image 2 - pipp-reg-ps-crop

Image 3 - pipp-reg-ps

Image 4 - pipp-reg

Mars
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 5/26/16   00:54 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, 5X Planetary Mode
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: none
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 2000 x 1/800s (jpeg/avi)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: PIPP, Registax, Photoshop, Lightroom

Messier 53 - First shot with the Concrete Pier

Its's been a while since I last imaged a deep sky object as I have been busy constructing a concrete pier (ultimately an observatory).  Messier 53 is  a globular cluster about 58,000 light years from Earth and is in the Coma Berencies constellation.  This is my first attempt at using the concrete pier and was taken during the full moon.  Normally I would not shoot deep sky objects during such a phase, however, it was clear out and I really wanted to check the new concrete pier. The images came out better than I expected and I will add it to my catalog of Messier Objects with the ED80.

Cropped Image

Wide Field Image

Wide Field Image - Labelled

M53
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 5/19/16 11:50 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Exposure: 12 x 30 sec, 43 x 45 sec (~38 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom

Equipment and Pier

Good Night at Booth Hill Observatory

Pretty good turn out and a better than expected observing night at the Boothe Memorial Astronomical Society (BMAS) Observatory on Friday 5-20-16.   Regular meetings are from 8-10 pm on the 1st and 3rd Friday's of each month, all are welcome...

Taken with Canon T3i (600D)

Taken with Canon T3i (600D) mounted on Allen's 9.5 inch SCT.

Cicconium

To those who knew Tony Ciccone!

An account has been setup allowing you to make a donation to the Cicconium Scholarship Fund in memory of Mr. Antonio Ciccone. The link below will guide you to the donation page. Once on the page please enter “Seymour Public Schools Fund” into the name of the fund box. There you can add your information and donation amount. In the optional section click on “in memory,” a text box will appear where you would write, in memory of Antonio Ciccone.

Link: Valley Community Fdn-Ciccone

Star Party at Seymour Middle School 5-11-16

Some general picts form the SHS star Party

Big Dipper

Location: Seymour Middle School, CT
Date/Time: 5/11/16 8:45 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Focal Length: 18mm
f/3.5
Exposure: 20 sec.
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop - crop, color balance
Vega

Location: Seymour Middle School, CT
Date/Time: 5/11/16 8:45 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Focal Length: 18mm
f/3.5
Exposure: 10 sec.
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop - crop, color balance

Vega

Location: Seymour Middle School, CT
Date/Time: 5/11/16 8:45 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Focal Length: 18mm
f/3.5
Exposure: 10 sec.
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop - crop, color balance, crop

Other Pics by Students:

Mercury Transit, 5-9-16, Spencer Beddington, i-phone

Moon, 5-11-16, Spencer Beddington, i-phone

Moon, 5-11-16, Spencer Beddington, i-phone

Jupiter and moons, 5-11-16, Spencer Beddington, i-phone

Mercury Transit 2016

Mercury Crossing the Sun from the Seymour High School parking lot. Also visible are some sun spots - center spots. Would have liked to capture the whole transit but I had to go back in for other classes. I settled on shots at 8:41 and 9:35.

Mercury crossing the Sun

Location: Seymour High School, CT
Date/Time: 5/9/16 8:41 - 9:35 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i

Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 1/4000
ISO: 200
Post Processing: Photoshop - crop, color balance