Primary mirror cleaning

After 4 years of intensive use my primary mirror of the 200mmF5 Newtonian is becoming very dirty. There was even a piece of hay stuck to it. I was not able to get all dust particles off, but it is a major improvement.

 Here is the primary mirror before cleaning, you see the piece of hay stuck to it (I have no idea how it ever came there in the first place....)

 Rinsing the mirror thoroughly for 10 minutes already does a lot of good work.

After that I let it rest in the sink for 1 hour under lukewarm water with 1 drop of cleaning agent. After that I used cotton to clean in from the outside in, under absolutely no pressure. After that a few minutes of rinsing. This is the final result. You still see some particle, but it is a major improvement.

Starparty Netersel, last Saturday 27-8-2011

Last Saturdaynight the weather was very dubious, we still decided to go observing at Netersel, despite the clouds. Two other guys from the astroforum joined me on that night. Despite the clouds we were able to do some moderate observing. I was also able to explain many issues regarding telescopes etc. to the newcomers.
This is the list of objects observed, most observations were done with the 33mm William optics SWAN (giving 30x magnification) in my 200mmF5 Newtonian reflector.
- The Andromeda nebula (M31), together with its M32 and M110 neighboring galaxies in 1 view.
- NGC869/884 Double cluster in Perseus
- The Triangulum galaxy M33, very big and very weak
- M71 globular cluster near Sagitta in the 8mm Hyperion (125x)
- M27 Dumbbell nebula (planetary nebula), very clearly visible
- M45 Pleiades, just fitting in the field of view.
- M57 Ring nebula with the 8mm Hyperion (125x), very clearly visible
- Comet C2009/P1 Garrad, visible as a small, slightly ellipsoid nebula.
- M37 Open cluster in Auriga with the 8mm Hyperion (125x)
And then the "object of the night":
- NGC6960 "Witches broom" in the Veil nebula around star 52 Cygni. This nebula is a supernova remnant. I was nevel able to clearly see this nebula. I needed the Baader Ultra high contrast, narrowband (UHC-S) filter to see the brightest filament on one side of 52 Cygni. On the other side I also saw hints of nebulae, this was only visible by looking periphery.

Reading the classic astronomy book "Mijn Sterrenwacht" from Piet Meesters

 Very nice to read in the classic book. It is written by one of the most famous Dutch amateur astronomers: "Piet Meesters".

 It contains many nice sketches. These are from Mars, by Flammarion.

This is inside Mr. Meesters' amateur observatory at Halfweg. He also built many (very sought after) telescopes himself.

Old tractor day in Bergeyk

The good old Farmall, many parts of this tractor went through my hands when I was working at my fathers' company when I was young.

Mud, beer and smoke from old tractors, my kind of party!

My dear old friend Frank Dieker passed away....

My very dear old friend Frank Dieker passed away...... 
Last night I could not sleep about that. I thought of him the whole day...drove in the rain to Rotterdam on my motocycle thinking of Frank all the time.......could not work properly....I still remember the nice trips we had together on our motocycles, the many beers we drank, the music festivals we visited (especially Elastiek), built (Splinter) and played on ourselves (Richelwoede). Very dear friend of mine, rest in peace....I will never forget you, you have a very special place in my heart. I also remember how much you liked Neil Young. Heart of gold was one of your (and my) favorites. Every time I play that song from now one I will think of you, because that is what you really had: a heart of gold!

NGC6960 "Witches broom" supernova remnant.

This is part of the Veil nebula, it is officially known as NGC6960 or more commonly "The Witches Broom". It is part of a large supernova remnant in constellation Cygnus. This is a combination of 5 1200sec. exposures shot with my 200mmF5 Newtonian fitted with a cooled CCD astrocamera.

This is again a large step forward than before. I used star-collimation techniques on the main-mirror and a more accurate corrector/CCD distance (which still needs improvement).