Scattered Thoughts . . .

M y previous two blog entries were about this same topic but with different images shot on the same day (earlier in the day during daylight) with the same equipment.  These few latest blog entries are about revisiting some older videos and images in an effort to understand a new software program meant for processing this type of imaging data.  This time around in this blog entry, I'll share the resulting images of some planets and our moon that Sheila and I observed that evening. In case you haven't yet read the couple of previous blog entries, these photos in this blog entry are from a short imaging session I had with Sheila back in November.  We observed the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.  I think we were only out there for less than a half hour but we came back into the house rather cold since it was a brisk 40 degrees or so.  That is about my limit on tolerating cold weather and, even then, I don't want to be out longer than a few minutes.  ___________________________

A fter a mostly sleepless night the night before last with some health issues that kept me in the bathroom and seriously cut into my sleep, I managed to get some sleep yesterday afternoon for about three or four hours in preparation of a clear night last night.  Clear nights around here are few and far between any time of year but especially in the November through March timeframe so I don't like to waste these rare nights, if possible.  This meant a relatively rare opportunity for viewing some objects in our solar system.   As the sky darkened to a deep dark blue, I set up a new telescope of mine that I have been evaluating as an option for beginners.  I had three eyepieces on hand;  a low power wide eyepiece, a medium power eyepiece, and a high power eyepiece.  I also had my Sony a6000 camera ready to go with a nosepiece on it so I could slide the camera into the diagonal in place of an eyepiece when I felt the view was worthy of recording.  Facing the back end of our backyard in

Due to the usual and frustratingly predictable winter overcast skies here in Waterbury, a community nestled in a valley between three ski resorts, yesterday was our only chance to capture a glimpse of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.  It was still three days before the actual conjunction (the point in time when the two planets appear the closest from Earth) but the weather forecast was indicating that Friday (yesterday) was our only option.  Contrary to what we've been seeing in the media and in news articles lately, this conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is not a terribly rare occurrence.  What makes this year's conjunction a little bit special is that the apparent gap between the planets in our sky will be smaller than usual at around 1/8 of a degree in our sky.  This conjunction actually occurs every 20 years but we usually see an apparent separation between the planets in our sky of around 1/2 a degree to 1 degree.  So, the two planets will appear closer together this

We have a significant astronomical event fast approaching.  On December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will appear as one bright star in the sky because they will be lined up almost one behind the other.  To the naked eye, they will likely appear as one.  Through a telescope, they will be separated enough to get a nice photo of the two of them in the same frame.  These two planets won't appear this close together in our sky again for another 60 years so I'm hoping the weather cooperates.  Actually, I question whether the Earth will even support human life and an ecosystem as we know it 60 years from now, honestly.  This conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs every 20 years, approximately.  Some are closer than others.  This 2020 conjunction will show Jupiter and Saturn appearing closer than usual in our sky on the 21st.   Since this is a significant astronomical event, I've been planning and preparing.  I've pulled out the appropriate astronomy gear and even assembled and d

Last night, I quickly assembled my good telescope on the deck so Sheila and I could get some quick views of the moon and Jupiter. Sheila hasn't had an opportunity to view anything at all through my good and bigger telescope until now so last night was a first for her. Her only reference to a quality telescope was her few views through the little cheap telescope I rebuilt in recent weeks.  First, we checked out the moon... we started by observing the entire moon in the field of view... this elicited the first of many WOW's  from Sheila. Compared to the views she has seen before through the small rebuilt telescope, this better telescope provides stunningly crisp and bright views. The views of the moon are so bright, in fact, that we need to use a filter to cut the light down to only 13%. Then we moved to more powerful combinations of eyepieces and barlows. She got to see very closeup views of various craters as well as closeup views of the Montes Apenninus mountain range and

I spent a very short while observing Jupiter and four of its moons tonight. I had intended to stay up late to do some serious observing with my good telescope as well as do some astrophotography. Unfortunately, I was completely exhausted before dinnertime (and that was after a three hour nap) so I decided to make it a very short night and only view through our little telescope.  The small telescope is far easier to set up... it is far lighter... and, since I can't really do any astrophotography with this small scope, it is far less complicated with far fewer parts. I was able to fill my pockets with a few eyepieces and just grab the telescope already on its mount and head out to the backyard. It is very much a grab-and-go telescope so it is far easier to use at the last moment. The viewing was surprisingly good tonight. I was able to easily see four of Jupiter's moons and the bands on Jupiter were clearly visible. My biggest complaint was that the focuser on this small tele