Lieveken recording Heel veel Hebben (originally from Grof Geschut)

Patrick is trying an Epiphone Les Paul

Observation night 21th March 2009 Virgo cluster and Coma Berenices

Observation night 21th March 2009: Virgo cluster and Coma Berenices:
Instrument: 200mmF5 newton. location: backyard.

As a test I started with Saturn at 200x: nog bad.
After that M51 at 125x. Visible als 2 bright dots with a weak nebula around it.
M53, bright globular cluster. Periphery more and more stars visible with the 8mm.
Then I tried a weaker galaxy:
M64, visible as a bright center with a big and weak nebula around it in the 8mm.
M3, beautiful globular cluster. It is a joy to view this object. Many starts of about the same magnitude in the 8mm.
Ok, the seeing was acceptable enough to initiate the attack on the Virgo cluster:
M49, weak galaxy. Bright center with a weak nebula around it in the 8mm.
M58, relatively weak galaxy. Bright center with a very weak nebula in the 8mm.
M59, even weaker galaxy. The bright center is just visible. Periphery necessary for the nebula in 8mm.
M60, directly visible galaxy with brighter center. Directly visible in the 8mm.
M61, periphery jsut visible galaxy. Not really sure. Visible as a dot with a slightly more bright center in the 8mm.
M84, galaxy with bright center and weak nebula around it in the 8mm.
M86, galaxy with a nebula that is very big. Only visible periphery in the 8mm.
M88, galaxy without bright center. By looking periphery a very weak nebula is visible in the 8mm.
M89, small galaxy. Visible as a small bright dot. Periphery the nebula becomes slightly bigger in the 8mm.
M90, very wek galaxy, periphery just visible.
Then the biggest achievement:
M91, periphery -just- visible. By far the weakest object of the evening. Doubtful in the 8mm. My first mag. 10+ object ever. And

that from the backyard!
M98, periphery visible as a weak and elongated galaxy. Relatively big. Also very weak, but not as weak as M91. Used 8mm.
M104, Sombrero galaxy: very beatiful edge on. Very bright in the 8mm.
M102, very bright and elongated galaxy. No bright center. Best in 8mm.
After that a few easier ones:
M13, really beautiful and big globula cluster. Back after the winter. Very rich with many stars in the 8mm.
M92, globular cluster that extends very far. Much smaller than M13. Very nice in the 8mm.
After that some beautiful NGC's that were already on my todo list for a long time:
NGC4565, very beautiful edge-on. Bright in the 8mm. Visible as a smear. Fits 8mm fov nicely.
NGC4631, very beautiful and very big edge-on. Does not fit 8mm fov. Therefore used 21mm. Visible as a big thin smear.
NGC4216, almost edge on. Bright center. Best in 8mm.
After that the Leo galaxies:
M65, bright center with a weak nebula around it in the 8mm.
M66, weak galaxy with slightly brighter center. Periphery necessary to see the nebula in the 8mm.
And after that:
M105, M95 and M96 all together in the fov of the 21mm. M105 is relatively weak, the other 2 bright.
This was a nice observation night. I have seen 14 new Messier objects this night!!

Gig at "De Klomp" in Etten-Leur

Last sunday we had to play in a very nice small music cafe in Etten-Leur. We had a lot of fun and good reactions afterwards......It was a joy to play over there.

Here Patrick is layin' it down.











The whole ceiling of the small pub is full with wooden shoes.











This is me when viewing down on my 2 basses......You already see the floor-switchboard of our singer/guitarist. That left me about 30square cm to stand on......









Here the pub-owner is putting on some real rock-stuff!

The One recording their new album

Here we are busy again with recording the guitar parts of our new album.....
Mr. guitarman!







Mr. bassman (me!)








Cello busy with recording......








Me and Liev.....

Comet Lulin

The seeing was far from optimal. There was also a lot of moisture in the air. This was the last chance to photograph Comet Lulin.
This is a stack of 90x30sec ISO800 autoguided (total 45min) with 60 dark frames. Made with the 200mmF5 newton.