Drumming it up
After some discussions on Cloudynights.com ATM forum I decided that trying to bend my own plywood would involve a lot of trial and error so I just went ahead and…
Micro-Observatory Latest
Well, I rolled the roof off of my shed last night and noticed that over the winter some of the columns have shifted in the runoff so the 600 lb…
Rebuilding the NTT16
So as the summer solstice approaches and I don’t use my astronomy time in my shed with a 10″ in an NEQ6 taking pictures, it’s time to start working on…
DIY Spectroheliograph Now Available
Christian Buil is a wonder. This Frenchman amateur astronomer has been a driving force behind a number of excellent amateur spectroscopy projects and products such as the instruments sold by…
SuperNova 2022hrs
Supernova 2022hrs, discovered by amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki on April 16.619 (14:50h UT) is in NGC 4647, an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. He used a 0.5-metre,…
First Light – M94 with New Scope and Camera
It’s always exciting to try out a new setup for the first time, although the net result is generally a picture of all the work that needs to be done…
Observatory Up and Running
After a truly horrible Spring with major snowstorms (>30cm) followed by major rainstorms (>70mm) we’ve finally gotten enough warm weather to melt the snow that was locking up my observatory…
DIY Photometric B and V Filters
I’ve been interested in photometry for quite a long time, starting in the early 2000s when I bought a photometric V (visual spectrum) filter paired with a monochrome camera to…
Digging out for Spring
So as Spring approaches my thoughts turn towards getting the observatory up and running. This year has been a particularly heavy year for snow, so the first sight as I…
Printing Eyepiece Cases
Eyepieces need cases, but it’s expensive to buy a bunch of different sizes for different size eyepieces, particularly for 2” “hand grenade” sized eyepieces like the 18mm TeleVue Nagler and…