Posts Made By: Roland Christen

Just a quick exposure of galaxies centered on NGC7331 with Stephan's Quintet in upper right. Scope was 180F9 with STL11K camera. Exposure 6 x 10 minutes at my light polluted observatory.

Rolando

From a recent talk the Alan Friedman gave about sharing astronomy with the public.

Rolando

From a recent talk the Alan Friedman gave about sharing astronomy with the public.

Rolando

Well, George Whitney finally finished his observatory and he's ready for first light.
George is our AP customer service guy who joined our company 2 years ago, relocating from up in Maine. He brought with him his various scopes, bought a house in the sticks of northern Illinois and has been busy constructing his dream roll-off roof observatory this past year and some. So here is the result. Still has a bit of work to do on the inside, but it looks slick already.

By the way, that's George on the right and Howard in the middle. I'm ready to PARTAY! We'll bring the Spotted Cow*, George!

Rolando
* TM New Glarus Brewing Company

Well, George Whitney finally finished his observatory and he's ready for first light.
George is our AP customer service guy who joined our company 2 years ago, relocating from up in Maine. He brought with him his various scopes, bought a house in the sticks of northern Illinois and has been busy constructing his dream roll-off roof observatory this past year and some. So here is the result. Still has a bit of work to do on the inside, but it looks slick already.

By the way, that's George on the right and Howard in the middle. I'm ready to PARTAY! We'll bring the Spotted Cow*, George!

Rolando
* TM New Glarus Brewing Company

Look thru the lens. You will see nothing when looking thru it, and nothing will affect your image. Lenses are not made to be looked at by reflection. Back scatter from microscopic sleeks is only applicable in mirrors, and only in such applications as coronagraphs. You will find most mirrors will also not pass the "flashlight test".

Rolando

Hi All,

I have heard all kinds of wakky reasons for the latest mega-storm Nemo, including climate change, solar flares, groundhogs losing their edge, etc etc.

Here is the real reason: Ever since George (our intrepid customer service professional here at AP) came here from Maine, he has been busy building his dream roll-off roof observatory. And of course the minute he finishes it, we had a series of storm disasters including Sandy and now Nemo!! Pure coincidence? I think NOT! Once you begin to aim serious glass skyward, no telling what can happen. After all, ever hear of the Butterfly Effect and how it spawns tornados?

For more than 4 years, we here in the Midwest have had snowmobile-less winters. I have seen ski shops go out of business because of lack of snow. On top of that, my daughter recently sold all her snowmobiles and traded them for jetskis, and of course what happens - it snows like it's never going to stop. I have four 305F3.8 R-H tube assemblies sitting here and I cannot test them in my observatory because the snow is just piled up on the roof and against the door, plus it is snowing non-stop, and probably will until April! (see attached photo)

I tell you, it is high time for George to issue a sincere apology for this mess we are in. Somebody has to take the blame and it might as well be George - along with Howard who helped him finish the observatory ... and Robert who also lent a hand!

Rolando

enough with the white stuff.

Well, since nobody else posted any images, here's mine, taken with a 180F9 refractor under slightly hazy skies.

Rolando

Well, since nobody else posted any images, here's mine, taken with a 180F9 refractor under slightly hazy skies, last night (March29).

Rolando

Last night was clear and cold, perfect time to go after this faint comet, which is supposed to be the comet of the century in December. Right now hovering around mag 16. Taken with a 206EDF F8 refractor and STL11K camera.

The comet was just visible in a 10 second exposure above noise level. This image consists of nine exposures of 5 minutes each, stacked, with the addition of one set of star images. The comet did move significantly during this time, something I did not expect to see. later on I will make a short GIF to show the movement in the 1 hour time period.

The comet is just above center in the wide field image, which spans about 1.25 degrees.

Rolando