Posts Made By: Andrew Chatman

Got my SolarMax 60 today after patiently waiting about 2-1/2 months (OK, I wasn't very patient).

I grabbed a first light image. Technique needs practice, especially combining the Prominence image with the surface image seamlessly. Here's the image.

Andy

Here is (part of) the sun as seen this morning from my dock.
Prominences aren't terrific, but the surface shows a lot of activity:

Andy

Here is an h-alpha closeup of this wonderful sunspot group. It's my first closeup and processing of a closeup of the sun, perhaps I overdid it a bit?

macnmotion

Here is a photo of Sunspot group AR 0375 on 06/10/2003.

Flares happening all day! Beautiful site.

Andy

Hello everyone,

RocheStar Fest, the annual star party hosted by the Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of Science, is going to be the weekend of July 25-27, 2003 at our dark sky site in Ionia, NY.

The weekend will consist of two nights of observing, a full slate of demonstrations, workshops and speakers (including our main speaker Dr. Michael Richmond), a silent auction, door prizes, and a Saturday Night BBQ Dinner cooked on-site! Daytime activities other than scheduled talks include solar observing, hiking, a solar-filter workshop (build your own baader filter), children's activities, and general comraderie.

Our lower grounds will be available for primitive camping at no cost (no power or water hookups or showers). Tents and modest campers are permitted. Power is available at our observing pads for telescopes and accessories.

Registrations are now being accepted through our website and by mail, and walk-in registrations are welcome. However, dinner reservations must be made by this Friday (7/18/2003) if you plan on joining us for the Saturday BBQ dinner.

Much more information can be found at the RocheStar Fest website:
http://www.rochesterastronomy.com/main.asp?section=14

Last year, we welcomed fellow astronomers from as near as Syracuse to as far as South America. Join us this year for a great weekend!

Andy Chatman
Board of Directors
Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of Science
http://www.rochesterastronomy.com/

A shot of this morning's doings on the Sun. Canon D60 through Televue Pronto and Coronado SolarMax 60.

macnmotion

Several of us made it out to the Ionia, NY observatory, where I took photos. Here are the decent ones.

http://www.macnmotion.com/aurora2003

The colors were constantly changing. At the peak of the show, the lights were diverging from the zenith above Mars, I'm not quite sure why that would be.

Anyway, if you look carefully, you'll see me in one of the photos. And I'm especially happy about the photo of Mars bathed in green light. Here it is:

Enjoy! Andy

Here is my first M45. Canon D60 digital camera at prime focus through Televue Pronto. 39x2-minute integrated exposures, ISO 800, RAW. Processed in ImagesPlus and Photoshop.

macnmotion

Here is my first M31. Canon D60 digital camera at prime focus through Televue Pronto. 30x2-minute integrated exposures, ISO 800, RAW. Processed in ImagesPlus and Photoshop.

macnmotion

I fought a terrible polar alignment last night to capture this image of M42 (my first of this object). This is a stack of 136 1-minute exposures at ISO 400, through a Televue Pronto piggybacked on a Meade LX200 8".

Image processed in ImagesPlus and Photoshop.

Next month, I'll attack M42 again, with a better alignment, higher ISO and longer exposures.

Have a nice day. Andy