Decided to entertain the idea of using the moving cart, or, lectern, for the computer "workstation" near the eyepiece. Cleared some floor space. Put the laptop on the low shelf, mouse beside it, red LED in the left USB, LAN cable. Moved the eyepieces. One of the feet fell off. Oops.
Woke up the NexStar. Date and time were wrong. Suggests the RTC is bad. Or rather the battery. Tried to attach to the 'scope. Didn't work. Tried a bunch of things. Then realised I had read it wrong. Duh. COM5. Worked fine.
Sky did not look good. High clouds.
Slewed to Saturn. Didn't see anything. Went to Vega to confirm focus. Yep, off a bit. Noted the blue-white colour against the pale blue sky. Still, it seemed dim. Due to the clouds.
8:31. Lora and Skeena visited me. Lora spotted the black speakers. Tony's old musical setup. Showed her where the wires were cut.
8:36. Slewed back to Saturn. Spotted it.
Realised I needed to worry about cord wrap, in a broader sense. Now a power cord and ethernet cable to the computer. Moved the cart around.
8:38. Took another look at Saturn.
Decided to move the computer to the top level of the lectern while keeping the mouse at the low level. That seemed a bit better. Secured the telescope data and ethernet cables with a Velcro strap. Used the Hand Controller buttons on the computer while looking through the ocular. Super convenient!
8:44 PM. From the Oregon: humidity 63%, temperature 23.1°C, fairly dark Moon, pressure dropping, partly cloudy tomorrow.
Heard the GBO roof opening. Millie was on the Observing Pad with her two 'scopes. Phil and Dietmar's PODs were open.
Steve visited me. He showed me the radar. Not looking great. I showed him Saturn. He spotted my music stand.
Started to rig up the camera stuff. Connected the 40D to the NexStar 11" SCT telescope via the EOS t-ring, 2" nose piece, into the TV adapter, to the visual back.
Realised I need an extra "back" dust cap for the EOS lenses. When the camera is attached to the telescope and the stock lens if off, I don't have a proper cover.
All images: north is up; east is left.
8:54. EOS Utility launched correctly. Activated full screen mode on the netbook. Activated the Live View. Could not see Saturn. Returned to Vega to focus. Centred with the finder and the nearby HC Controls in the computer. Used Live View at 200%. Once again, slewed to Saturn.
9:07. Started shooting. Played with the exposure settings. Then played with focus. Screwed it up.
9:13. Still intrigued why the camera shows a "correct" view. In removing the mirror diagonal, it is not laterally inverted. It's just rotated.
Spotted Dietmar walked to his POD. Asked him to take a photo of me. He was busy. Asked Lora to take a photo of me in the THO.
9:24. Sky was getting darker. Contrast was getting better (or increasing). Was still trying to see Titan. But couldn't. Yet.
9:27. Dim. Due to clouds. Clouds seemed to be getting worse.
Closed some unneeded apps on the computer. Heard a mozzie. Decided to put some repellent on.
Verified Titan was on the same side as the shadow. For some reason I thought it was on the other. Bumped the ISO, from 100 to 400.
9:34. Tried a 1 second exposure. It was very soft.
Turned off the Folder display in DPP.
9:37. Good contrast.
Considered the inability to lock the mirror with Live View. But then it is holding the mirror up to allow the Live View. So it is essential locked. Hmm. Why was I upset about this? The benefit is the same...
I could see Titan now.
9:42. ISO 800. 1 second. There were a few points now, a few moons. The planet was blown out. Tried to corroborate positions in SkyTools. Turned the roof a bit. Moved the cart.
Mosquitoes were annoying.
9:50. Mozzies flew by the mic! Sheesh.
9:57. Saturn was not visible in the last two photos. Looked at the skies out the side port.
Kicked the 'scope power supply again. Worried that it will disconnected.
Saturn reappeared. Bright. I could see moons. On the left. Titan, Rhea, Dione, Tethys. Mimas was too close to the rings. Enceladus, not visible. Too close as well? Hyperion I could not see. But there was also a substantial glow...
10:03. Continued to play with the exposures. Tried 1 second and then a half. To improve the appearance of the planet proper. Then back to 8 seconds.
I wondered if I was getting trailing at 8 sec.
13 seconds. Got round moons.
Closed the roof. Bonk. Oops. Forgot the OneWorld was out there. Could not read the display. Definitely needs a fresh battery now.
While outside, spotted a very bright object, in the north-west, near the house roof line. A planet? [ed: Venus.]
10:18. Inside: 67%, 20.2°, pressure steady, rain tomorrow.
Shot some darks. For the various settings. Upon review the Info panel in DPP.
10:24. Turned off the tracking. Headed to the house. Joined the crew in the living room and commiserated.
11:24. Back in the THO. The sky seemed very soft. Gah. Turned the tracking back on.
Told Phil about the red film sheet in the GBO. Yelled across the yard. He needed some for his new laptop computer. Earlier, he had asked me about getting more...
11:27. Readied for visual observing. Red light mode. Applied filters. Went to the double star 2 CVn. Couldn't see anything.
Moved the rolly-polly. Disconnected the computer power, running on battery, to offer more flexibility.
11:33. Had a another firefly visitor. He was close enough that I could hear him.
Went to Mizar to verify alignment. Forgot the focus was off, still set for photography. Slewed by to 2 CVn.
11:38. The computer mouse was pulsing red. What does that mean? Batteries weakening?
Was off target again but I panned and found it. Dim. Because of all the clouds. Main star was yellow to dark yellow. The secondary was hard to make out. Very different magnitudes, 4 to 5?
Closed up again. The sky was really soft.
11:46. Put the 'scope into hibernate mode. Packed up the computer and headed to the house.
11:52. Millie called out to me as I headed to the house, something about the seeing conditions with Saturn. I said I thought the general conditions were poor.
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The plan is to try to make a composite image, with the planet proper at a quick exposure, and the moons from the long exposure...
1 comment:
For some reason, the photo of you in the THO reminds me of "whack-a-mole". Score!!!
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