Takahashi alignment problem found

Yesterday I was testing the driftalignment method on my NEQ6 mount in my backyard observatory and found out that I swapped the calibration axis during the Halley calibration. Stupid beginners mistake I should not have made. This gives me good hope for the next alignment trial, I am sure we will succeed the next time.

Takahashi altitude alignment

Today the altitude of het mount was measured with an angle measuring device. It showed that the mount is at 48 degrees now, so it must be moved back to where it was. This is very arkward because I must have passed the correct altitude alignment point.
We will first set the mount with the measuring device back to the desired setting for Heesch and use that as a starting point.

Takahashi E-300 on Astrotechniek CP-180 mount progress

After consulting ASH Holland (the original builder of the setup) it became clear that we need to put a metal strip of a few cm. under the forward altitude adjustment bolts in order to reach correct polar alignment. We can also use some of their measurement tools to rougly align the mount on the longitude of the observatory location. That will give a more accurate starting point for aligning the Astrotechniek CP-180 mount. It is now set to max., 5 degrees offset to horizontal, but I think we need to reach 10 degrees offset to reach proper alignment.

1st light after rough altitude alignment of Takahashi on CP-180

Yesterday evening we tried many things on the Takahashi/CP-180 setup of Halley observatory:

- Eos450d comes in focus with special adapter

- Azimuth alignment acceptable

- Altitude alignment difficult. EQalign needed 25 (!) iterations with CP-180 level to reach polar alignment. After letting the CP-180 lean backwards for approx. 5 degrees only 12 iterations (still too much) were needed. 

- I tried a PHD calibration and that succeeded. After that we took a 30sec exposure @ iso1600. See the picture. The collimation is acceptable but the alignment is still not good enough. We need to modify the base of the mount mechanically I think.

"Burgundy style" dinner evening.....

Yesterday evening, we had a very nice "Burgundy style" dinner with the guys and girls from work. It was organised by Arjan van Dijk evenementen. We had a very nice evening with good food, drinks and nice music. The only thing you got was a plate, knife and cup. For the rest you had to eat with your hands of course!

This is me!

This is the table during our dinner!

Photographed Astroid 160/Una

Last wednesdayevening I tried to photograph NGC2903 (in the head of Leo). Unfortunately my goto was a bit off (set for Halley observatory in Heesch) so I ended up a bit right of the desired object. At first glance I thought this picture (a stack of 7 20min exposures @ ISO800 in the prime focus of my 200mmF5 Newtonian, riding a NEQ6) contained only stars, but a careful look at it shows many small faint galaxies. Some are standing really close to each other. What was also visible is a moving object (right bottom). A fellow astronomer found the answer in Starry Night: it is the asteroid Una.

Here is a crop showing some faint galaxies....

Look in the right bottom, there is an object moving there....

My "voorwerp" picture featured in the Dutch astroblogs

I am very proud that the dutch site astroblogs features my "voorwep" picture.
See:
http://www.astroblogs.nl/2011/01/27/hannys-voorwerp-niet-alleen-voor-professionals/

IC2497 with "Hanny's Voorwerp"

"Hanny's Voorwerp" was already a long time on my todo list. Last Sundaynight Leo Minor was in reach of my scope.
For me this is a record, IC2497 is a former quasar at 730 million lightyears distance. Just before it went out it lit-up a gas cloud which is now called "Hanny's Voorwerp" because Hanny van Arkel (a Dutch teacher) discovered it at the galaxy zoo.

This picture is a combination of 8 20min exposures @ ISO800 of my Eos400d in the primary focus of the 200mmF5 Newtonian telecope.

See the distinct "green" color, that is the "Voorwerp".

IC405 Flaming star nebula with AE Aurigae

Last night I photographed the IC405 Flaming star nebula. It was the 1st real test of the observatory after commissioning/finetuning of the new NEQ6 mount. IC405 is an emission/reflection nebula. The variable star AE Aurigae lits up this nebula that is standing approx. 1600 lightyears from us. It is thought that AE Aurigae originated from the Orion star cloud (source: Burnhams' celestial handbook).
This picture was taken with my 200mmF5 Newtonian with Eos400d in prime focus on the NEQ6 mount. It is a combination of 7x20min@ISO800 autoguided totalling 2hrs20min of exposure.
I'm quite happy with the result. I conclude that the observatory is fully operational now. Next step: narrowband Halpha photography and a more sensitive CCD camera.

Here's a more detailed view of the nebula. The blue parts are dust particles and the red parts are gaseous filaments. I am impressed by the guiding accuracy of this NEQ6. Very fine and sharp details. That was what we were looking for when we upgraded from the HEQ5pro to the NEQ6 mount. For more information, see the detailed topic on http://www.astroforum.nl/threads/128938-IC405-Flaming-star-nebula-met-AE-Aurigae

Yess, I received my golden Messier certificate

For successfully observing and logging all 110 Messier deepsky objects on www.deepskylog.be I received my golden certificate and a nice t-shirt. 2 years of hard work paid off.

Backyard observatory in the snow

Is is snowing for the first time in Holland and also in my backyard. Here's the backyard observatory in the snow for the 1st time. I was also able to solve the EQ6 power supply problems by reconnecting the 12V power cables in a better. Last Saturdaynight I driftaligned the EQ6 (with -5 degr. and the EQ6 power supply problems). Next clear night I will make a test astrophoto to see if the driftalignment procedure pays off. The good thing is that I built up some experience for the upcoming Halley Takahashi driftalignment.

More pictures of the Takahashi E-300/Jones-Bird combination

Here's a nice picture of the astrograph we are working on. It is a combination of a superb Takahashi Epsilon 300mm astrograph in combination with a 300mm Jones-Bird Newtonian mounted on a Astrotechniek CP-180 mount with FS2 control system. First we will get the communication going, restore goto capability (from laptop via Cartes du Ciel/ASCOM/LX200 protocol) and then we will test the autoguiding interface. After that we will refine polar alignment and do some serious astrophotography with this superb setup!

Recommissioning Takahashi Epsilon 300mm for astrophotography

A project has been started to re-commission the Takahashi Epsilon 300mm Newton for astrophotography (with the 300mm Jones-bird Newton as guidescope) for the Halley Observatory This setup is installed on a superb Astrotechniek CP-180 mount that first has to be correctly polar aligned with drift-alignment. The mount is fitted with an FS2 goto system including a ST4 autoguiding option. Everything I need.

Here's another picture of the setup in the small observatory (the C14 on CGEM-pro is in the bigger observatory, primarily used for presentations to the public)

Here's an example of the CP-180 mount. We have to figure out how to adjust the azimuth with this mount.

Here are some specifications on the superb Takahashi Epsilon-300 astrograph:

Opening: 300mm F3.8

Focal length: 1140mm

Central obstruction: 0.36

The focal length does not scare me, I am using 1000mm now on my EQ6pro. What is very challenging to me is the collimation of a F3.8 system with the barlowed laser method.

First light with the 2nd hand NEQ6 mount: Algol, the Demon Star

This is the first testshot I made with the 2nd hand NEQ6 I bought a few weeks ago. It is a single frame shot of 30sec exposure at ISO800 with the Eos400d in primary focus of the 200mm Newtonian telescope. The guiding is very tight. I need to focus on collimation because that is clearly visible on this picure. The MPCC could not compensate all.

The datalogging of the autoguiding shows a much smoother running on the RA axis (the undershoot is when I touched the cam between exposures). Next step is focus on driftalignment and reducing coma.

New mounts on astro fair at Sonnenborgh observatory

New Skywatcher EQ7 mount prototype.

The Mesu mount: also very nice. Can hold 2x65kg!

Starparty at the Halley observatory

Last saturdaynight we had a nice starparty at the Halley observatory in Heesch. Here I'm standing (left) next to my 200mmF5 Newtonian. It is pointed at comet 103P/Hartley.

Comet 103P/Hartley

Comet 103P/Hartley is still very faint. I could not see it visible, so I decided to try it photographically. This is a combination of 4 20min exposures at ISO800. The green-blueish color that is very common to Comets is clearly visible. Next months it will become more bright.

NGC7331 and Stephans quintet: realm of galaxies

Last night I photographed NGC7331 and the Stephans quintet, a group of galaxies approx 300 mln lightyears distant. This is a combination of 5 20min exposures @ ISO800 with an eos400d in the primary focus of my 200mmF5 Newtonian.

I also added 5 extra exposures of NGC7331 from the previous night, this is a total of 10 20min exposures........

This is an enlarged part of the Stephans quintet itself.

IC10 and NGC7662 with the webcam

This is IC10 captured with the modded SPC900 in primary focus of my 200mmF5 Newtonian. It is a combination of 12 180sec exposures.

And here's the Blue Snowball NGC7662, also captured with the webcam.

NGC7635 Bubble nebula with the modified webcam

This is NGC 7635, better known as the Bubble nebula. I wanted to try my modified webcam again on deepsky objects. This is a combination of 10 90sec exposures with my SC3 modded SPC900 (fitted with ICX-424 B/W CCD) in the primary focus of my 200mmF5 Newtonian. Autoguiding was done with a separate 90mmF10 fitted with a standard TouCam webcam.