imaged the nova with Sharmin (Richmond Hill)

11:24 PM, Saturday, August 17, 2013. I redid the alignment with the GoToStar system. In preparation for chasing down the nova in Delphinus.

Instrument: Celestron 8-inch SCT
Mount: Vixen Super Polaris
Method: slewing and tracking with IDEA GoToStar

Nicole G asked if we'd could see the nova naked eye. I suggested it was not possible tonight, here.

Chris V helped me get to SAO 106357. And I finally found the nova. In the Orion finder scope. Huh. I hadn't noticed before. The nova and 29 Vulpecula were slightly different colours.

Sharmin C said hello. We caught up briefly. She herself was trying to find the nova, with her binoculars.

Bryon C took a look. He thought it was slightly brighter than 29 Vul.

11:45. Showed Nicole the nova, in my finder. She too thought it slightly brighter.

Paul M and Rajesh S were leaving. I returned the Do Not Touch card and the step stool.

Sharmin found the nova. Yeh.

Ralph C popped by. I had seen him, briefly, early but he had not seen me. He thought the nova brighter than last night. And currently marginally brighter than 29 Vul.

Sharmin was lying on the ground with her binos. Asked if she wanted a tarp to lie on. Too late.

Shared how I had helped people up at the CAO, last night, to find the nova.

Noticed the Vixen was getting near the meridian. Still had room. But without sensors, I had to check for a collision. I didn't look forward to reacquiring on the other side... Partly because I couldn't remember the SAO number. Hadn't written it down. And couldn't seem to find details in the hand controller for the current viewed object. Asked Sharmin if she would record the current RA and Dec numbers.

Readied for piggybacking! Tried to secure the mini tripod to the counter weight shaft but was worried about twisting. As I suspected, the ¼-20 mount wanted to spin. Ah. I could secure on the counter weight themselves. Between the clamp screws. It looked like it would work. Thank you Velcro! Attached the camera and gingerly released it. It worked. It was steady. Aligned the camera lens parallel to the OTA.

All photos: north is up; east is left.

Started adjusting the camera settings. Turned off AF. Set to 18mm. Focused past infinity, then back a bit. Saw some flaring. Put the hood on the lens. Took test shots. Dropped the exposure to 15. Saw that the focus was improving. Considered a light shield. Reached better focus. Checked settings. 1000 ISO, RAW, daylight. Dropped the ISO. Better. Spotted Altair in the LCD, woo hoo, and Delphinus near the middle. Adjusted the focus again. Still better. Saw Sagitta. Confirmed the nova! Dropped to 400 ISO, 20 seconds. Almost pinpoint stars.

Sharmin wanted to know how I knew what would be in the picture. Told her I had pre-checked the field of view sizes in SkyTools.

Sharmin liked my red LED pen. She was impressed with my deep red flashlight. Liked my tripod tray illuminator. And then was not surprised that I had built my own UV flashlight.

Zoomed about half-way. The focus changed, of course. Corrected. Put the dew heater one. Activated the 2 second timer. Check the shots. Clear. Easy to see. A lot of colour in Sagitta. Focused again. I was at 30 seconds. The max. Check clearances on the mount. Still OK.

12:34 AM, Sunday, August 18, 2013. I thought we were pretty good. 200 ISO was too low. Too dark. Decided on 400. Saw some trailing. Good focus. Pointy stars. Saw the faint double beside the nova. Wow.

Collab! We shot with the Moon blocked. Sharmin held the light shield in the way. Hey! We got the Coathanger. I let her release the shutter; while I held the shield. Don't forget to breathe! Good collaboration.

40D, 18-55mm lens at 33, lens hood, hand-held light shield, 25 seconds, f/4.5, ISO 400, RAW, daylight white balance, Adobe RGB, no noise reduction, 2 second timer, piggybacked on the Vixen Super Polaris, not precisely polar aligned, no post-processing.

Took darks with a black hat. Actually the Starfest cap. Sharmin spotted the holes. Right. We used her case instead. We discussed if we could do better. My objective was to get the nova with 29. We decided it was good enough.

Offered my camera for her own shots but she declined.

We talked about my lens strap. Removed during the imaging run to avoid vibration. She's lost her lens cap three times. She has the opposite problem.

Sharmin enjoyed this. She thought it something she'd like to try. I was happy overall with the telescope and mount. The piggyback was fun.

Tear down time. Sharmin helped me. She picked up the stars while I taped up the box.

12:57. Weather check. 81%. 14.0. Rain tomorrow. Pressure dropping. Damp. Sharmin said the N11 at the CAO needed a dew shield. Quite correct. I said we were already looking into it. Durham had one for $75.

Oh oh. Found a DDO part. A 2-to-1¼" adapter. Sharmin said she'd take care of it. She'd take it back and she'd return on Friday.

She spotted a bright star in the east. Wasn't sure what it was. What constellation would that be? We think of it as a winter constellation. Auriga. When she asked me what the lucida was, I drew a blank. [ed: Capella.] We lugged stuff to the car.

1:10. After spotting my home-made focusing mask, Sharmin packed up the finder scope. I packed the OTA in the soft case.

As we packed up all the little items, we chatted about Manuel. We had seen him briefly at the DDO tonight. I suspected he had worked late. I knew his plans to image with a friend had been thwarted. Talked about the issues at Starfest. She agreed: we're not baby sitters. Then we carried the last items to the car... Checked the grounds with a white flash light. Found two stars!

Packed the car in earnest. The big deal was finding a spot for the battery tank. I tried the trunk. Too tall. To the back seat then. Sharmin was impressed with the portable picnic table. I love it. And it's how I learned about kijiji.

1:45. We left the grounds.

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Wikipedia link: V339 Delphini.