Tom King

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4)

tking2097 — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 04:01:46 GMT

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4)

Comet Pan-STARRS (upper left) dances with the Moon and clouds. At magnitude 2, the comet was not visible to the naked eye in the bright twilight. The clouds made it quite a challenge to capture any image containing both Pan-STARRS and the Moon at the same time.

CalSky provided information showing that the comet would be within 4 degrees of the Moon this night, providing a rare opportunity to photograph the two together. This image was captured with the camera looking due west, across northern Fort Worth, Texas. The tall grain elevators in the lower left are located in Saginaw, Texas

Equipment: Canon EOS 300D, Sigma 55-200mm lens at 94mm, ISO 1600, 0.4s exposure.

Date: March 12, 2013
Watauga, Texas, USA.

Venus Transit - July 5, 2012

tking2097 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 01:42:36 GMT

Venus Transit - July 5, 2012

The sharp black shadow of Venus, a smearing of low clouds, and a spattering of sunspots produce a stunning image of the 2012 Transit of Venus. This image is the last one taken just before the sun sets with the transit a bit more than halfway completed. Photo details: Canon EOS 300D, ISO 400, 1/2s exposure, Sky-Watcher 400mm refractor telescope, Thousand Oaks glass solar filter.

Venus and Mars - DSI II Color/LX90

tking2097 — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:57:12 GMT

Venus and Mars - DSI II Color/LX90

Winter Planet Hunting - Venus and Mars
DSI II Color Camera on 8" Meade LX90 Telescope at f/40!

Venus as recorded mid-afternoon on January 31, 2012. Yes, the telescope and cameras can capture brighter objects in daylight! The planet is 15 arc seconds in diameter, and the disc is illuminated 74.2%, making it like a smaller copy of our Moon when the Moon is not fully illuminated.

Mars is now much brighter and closer than it was just a month ago. When this image was taken on February 1, 2012, Mars is 12 arc seconds in diameter, nearly twice the size it appeared in early December. Mars is getting closer to us, and sometime between the end of February to the beginning of March it’ll be at its largest (13.8 arc seconds) during this current two-year cycle. Please don’t think Mars will ever get as big as the Moon appears, as it’s made to look in email hoax images that circulate every year or so. At its closest approach, it won't look much bigger than it does now

Equipment

Meade LX90 8" SCT@f/40, 2 Celestron X-Cel 2x barlows, Meade DSI II Color camera.
Venus: Astronomik Pro 807 IR Pass filter.

Camera Settings
Venus - 182 x 0.0112sec, Gain=95, Offset=50, Image Process: Planet, EdgeEnhanceMed
Mars - 397 x 0.0221sec, Gain=96, Offset=50, Image Process: Planet, EdgeEnhanceHard

Image Processing
Venus - Stacking in Envisage, image processing in Adobe Photoshop CS
Mars - Image processed in Registax 4
Venus and Mars panel created in Adobe Photoshop CS

Location: Watauga Skies Observatory, Watauga, Texas

Dates: January 31, 2012 & February 1, 2012

C/2009 P1 - Comet Garradd

tking2097 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:23:00 GMT

C/2009 P1 - Comet Garradd

C/2009 P1 (Comet Garradd)
Equipment: Meade LX90 8" SCT@f/10, Meade DSI II Color camera, Baader IR/UV cut filter.

Guiding: Astronomy Technologies AT80ED 80mm APO refractor piggy-back on Meade LX90, Meade DSI II Pro camera.

Capture Software and Settings:
Meade Envisage, 60 x 60s, gain=100, offset=50, Fits Save All Uncombined.

Post-processing using Adobe Photoshop CS.
This image was created with the help of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop Fits Liberator.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

September 27, 2011

Got Lunar X? - DSI II Color & LX90

tking2097 — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:19:55 GMT

Got Lunar X? - DSI II Color & LX90

The Lunar X - DSI II Color Camera

Lunar X Marks The Spot!

A rarely seen, yet delightful lunar optical feature appears like the letter "X" in this image. The "X" is observable for only about 4 hours around the First Quarter Moon. Don't see it? Look halfway down the light/dark terminator line. The "X" is created by sunlight falling on crater rims and edges between craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach. The actual craters are not visible until the following night.

Equipment: Meade LX90 8" SCT telescope @f/10, Meade DSI II Color camera, IR/UV cut filter.

Settings: 133 x 0.001s, gain =100, offset =48, Image Process = Moon, Fits, Save all Uncombined images.

Images captured and stacked with Envisage. Levels and Curves tools applied in Photoshop CS.

This image was created with the help of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

July 7, 2011

Messier 44 - Praesepe, The Beehive Cluster - Canon 300D

tking2097 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:32:48 GMT

Messier 44 - Praesepe, The Beehive Cluster - Canon 300D

Messier 44 - Praesepe, The Beehive Cluster in Cancer

Persistence does pay. I have imaged Messier 44 on more than 10 different evenings, but never was satisfied with the results. I found a set of exposures that I had never processed while reviewing images files on the hard drive, a set that is the first acceptable Messier 44! Can you find the hive??

Equipment: Astronomy Technologies AT80ED 80mm f/6.9 APO refractor, Canon 300D EOS DSLR camera. Guiding: Meade LX90 8" Classic, DSI II Pro.

Exposures: 14 x 30s, ISO 800

Images captured and guiding performed in Envisage, Stacking and dark subtraction in Deep Sky Stacker, Image processing performed with Adobe Photoshop CS, Star spikes added with Noel Carboni's Photoshop Actions.

Watauga Skies Observatory
www.wataugaskies.net
Watauga, Texas

Date Imaged: January 18, 2009
Date Processed: April 20, 2011

Sun in Ha - DSI II Pro

tking2097 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:59:15 GMT

Sun in Ha - DSI II Pro

Sun In Ha - Custom Scientific Ha 3nm Night Filter!

An active Sun captured using a regular Custom Scientific 3nm Ha imaging filter. The filter reveals nice detail, particularly for granules and filaments.

YOU MUST USE A SAFE SOLAR FILTER OVER THE OBJECTIVE LENS AND FINDER SCOPE OF THE TELESCOPE IN ORDER TO AVOID DAMAGE TO EQUIPMENT OR YOUR EYES!!

Equipment: Thousand Oaks Solar Filter, Custom Scientific 4.5nm Ha filter, Astronomy Technologies AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, Watauga Skies Observatory Precision USB Focuser, piggy-backed on Meade LX90 8" Classic telescope for tracking.

Settings: 250 x 0.0221s, gain = 100, offset = 37, Kernel Filter = EdgeEnhanceMed, Image Process = Moon.

Processing: Envisage .fts auto-stacked image processed with Photoshop CS, image de-interlaced, high pass sharpening action, converted to color, false color added.

This image was processed with the help of Fits Liberator.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

Date: April 17, 2011

Messier 48 in Hydra - Canon EOS 300D

tking2097 — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 04:38:14 GMT

Messier 48 in Hydra - Canon EOS 300D

Open cluster Messier 48 (M48, NGC 2548)

Messier's lost open cluster in the head of the extended constellation Hydra, almost on its border to Monoceros. Although Charles observed and recorded M48 in 1771, he made an entry error for the coordinates. So the cluster was lost until modern researchers determined that Charles must have meant to record this beautiful cluster which lies four degrees exactly to the south of the mistaken entry.

This is a very beautiful large open cluster, spanning 54 arc-minutes, or almost one full degree in diameter! The cluster contains three yellow giant suns.

Equipment: Astronomy Technologies AT80ED 80mm APO @f/6.9, Canon EOS 300D DLSR, Guided by Meade DSI II Color camera on Meade 8" LX90 telescope @f/10.

Settings: 10 x 30 seconds, ISO 800. Images stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, final processing performed in Adobe Photoshop CS.

Location: Watauga, Texas
Watauga Skies Observatory

Date: January 29, 2011

Lunar Eclipse Animation - Canon 300D

tking2097 — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 01:22:24 GMT

Lunar Eclipse Animation - Canon 300D

Lunar Eclipse Animation - 2 Hours in 20 Seconds!
(click on image to view full size animation - size: 2.4mb)

This is an animation of the 2 hour eclipse condensed down to about 20 seconds, consisting of 14 images chosen from 160 images captured during the eclipse, or a little under 10% of the images taken.

At the start of the eclipse, a Windows system crash forced a reboot of the imaging computer and restarting all the imaging and scope control software. Then following totality, intermittent clouds, then thicker clouds moved in and wreaked havoc with my exposures and plans to get a good series of images for animation. I still managed to pull together enough material for an interesting, if yet different lunar eclipse animation. The increase in clouds is very evident in the images following the coppery red totality!

To witness a full lunar eclipse is a very unique experience, and I feel most fortunate, especially given the dicey weather conditions in the area, to have the opportunity to see this one through from start to finish. If you did not get to see this eclipse, and should you ever have the opportunity to witness one in person sometime in the future, do so, no matter what it takes!! It is worth the effort...

Equipment: Canon 300D DSLR, Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, 0.5 focal reducer, mounted on Meade LX90 8" telescope for tracking.

Animation created in Adobe Photoshop CS and Adobe ImageReady software.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Location: Watauga, Texas

Date: 12/21/2010 - 02:12 a.m., CST

Full Lunar Eclipse - 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

tking2097 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:15:11 GMT

Full Lunar Eclipse - 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

The Moon at Totality!
(click on image for full size)

A rare total lunar eclipse occurs on the night of the northern winter solstice! I have waited for quite some time for such an imaging opportunity, so just once I can capture a decent set of lunar eclipse images. This is that night! So I stayed up for the entire event, and it was so worth it, even though I was almost ill for the next two days. Some of us don't do well on the full night shift! Measured by the results, at least for me, it was a morning worth fighting against the ever so sleepy eyes!

Eclipse Timing Details: The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am CST. At that time, Earth's shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 01:41 am CST and lasts for 72 minutes.

This image is one of my favorites of the night, taken during totality. The delightful coppery red color is picked up as light from the Sun is refracted around and through the Earth's atmosphere to reach the Moon to lightly illuminate it while remains lurking in the Earth's shadow.

Before the eclipse began, you could literally read the newspaper in the brilliant light reflected by the full moon. By this time at totality, if you did not know where to look for the Moon, it is so dark in the sky that you likely will not find it!

Photo details: Canon 300D DSLR, Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, 0.5 focal reducer, mounted on Meade LX90 8" telescope for tracking. Exposure: 5s, ISO 800.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Location: Watauga, Texas

Date: 12/21/2010 - 02:12 a.m., CST

Lunar Eclipse Halo 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

tking2097 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:57:12 GMT

Lunar Eclipse Halo 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

Lunar Eclipse Halo
(click on image to see full effect!)

A ghostly coppery red glow surrounds the Moon during full totality as high, thin clouds once again pass between us. I notice this warm, ruddy glow and quickly adjust the camera setting for a long exposure, in order to capture the scene as closely as possible as it appears in person. A fifteen second exposure appears to do nicely, as the totally eclipsed Moon shows me yet another totally different look on this oh-so magical morning!
Photo details: Canon 300D DSLR, Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, 0.5 focal reducer, mounted on Meade LX90 8" telescope for tracking. Exposure: 15s, ISO 800.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Location: Watauga, Texas

Date: 12/21/2010 - 02:37 a.m. CST

Diamond Eclipse Moon - 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

tking2097 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:37:13 GMT

Diamond Eclipse Moon - 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

Diamond Eclipse Moon!

Before the eclipse begins, clouds cn be seen above the horizon in all directions! As the eclipse progresses, very thin and high clouds occasionally drift by, sometimes dramatically changing the scene. The clouds teased off and on throughout the eclipse, but blessedly held off until just after then eclipse ended, when suddenly the skies were completely overcast!

The Moon is about two-thirds in shadow for this image. Direct sunlight brilliantly illuminates the remaining one-third of the surface. The bright direct sunlight is magnified as the high thin clouds spread the light out as it reflects from the Moon to the telescope and camera through the atmosphere. The effect reminds me of the glint of sunlight refracting through a facet on a large cut diamond or gem, an event even more stunning when seen in person! This image does well to capture the essence of the amazing sight I see as I stare out over the telescope. I am amazed how the eclipse scenes transform each time I look up, providing a seemingly new and fresh look each time.

Photo details: Canon 300D DSLR, Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, 0.5 focal reducer, mounted on Meade LX90 8" telescope for tracking. Exposure: 4s, ISO 200.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Location: Watauga, Texas

Date: 12/21/2010 - 03:04 a.m. CST

Iridium 62 Satellite Flare

tking2097 — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:11:28 GMT

Iridium 62 Satellite Flare

Iridium 62 Satellite Flare - Magnitude -5.9
click on image for full size.

The sun reflects off of a highly reflective MMA1 right antenna of Iridium 62, one of 66 active satellites, used to provide voice and data coverage to satellite phones, pagers and integrated transceivers over Earth's entire surface, orbiting at a height of approximately 485 miles / 781km. The altitude of the Sun below the horizon is -19.4º. The satellite is moving in the constellation Aquarius, with a maximum azimuth of 85.7º, with a velocity of approximately 17,000 mph / 27,000 km/h.

The Iridium communication satellites have a peculiar shape with three polished door-sized antennas, 120° apart and at 40° angles with the main bus. The forward antenna faces the direction the satellite is traveling. Occasionally, an antenna reflects sunlight directly down at Earth, creating a predictable and quickly moving illuminated spot on the surface below of about 10 km diameter. To an observer this looks like a bright flash, or flare in the sky, with a duration of a few seconds. - Wikipedia.

Equipment: Canon 300D EOS DLSR, Canon 18mm-55mm f/1:3-5:6 Lens@38mm, 30 second time-lapse exposure. mounted on a Meade LX90 8" SCT telescope for aiming and tracking.

Cropping and color correction performed using Adobe Photoshop CS.

Date: November 12, 2010 - 19:02:32-19:03:02 CDT.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

Mars - DSI I Color Camera

tking2097 — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 04:37:05 GMT

Mars - DSI I Color Camera

Mars - DSI Color Camera, October 4, 2005

This is an older image I had long overlooked in the library. Since I have never posted an image of Mars before, I decided to post this one, probably my best image of Mars.

Mars is notoriously difficult to capture due to it's small size, even when imaged during the closest approaches to Earth. On this evening, the angular size of Mars was 18 arc-seconds. High magnification and excellent seeing are required to obtain any hope for a decent image.

Equipment: Meade LX90 8" SCT@f/30, 3x barlow, Meade DSI I Color camera, IR filter.

Images captured using Meade Envisage software, gain=100, offset=50.
208 bmp file images stacked and post-processed using Registax software.

Date: October 10, 2005

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

www.wataugaskies.net

Sheliak in Lyrae, DSI II Color camera

tking2097 — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:07:50 GMT

Sheliak in Lyrae, DSI II Color camera

Sheliak (Beta Lyrae) in the Lyra the Harp - DSI II Color Camera

The southwestern-most star of the parallelogram that makes the body of the Harp, Lyra's Beta star. The name Sheliak derives from an Arabic word that refers to the celestial harp of Orpheus. The three dimmer stars surrounding the brighter Sheliak are single stars in the Tycho catalog ranging from magnitudes of 7 to 10.

Located nearly 900 light years away, Sheliak radiates the visible light of 2000 Suns. However, it is not one star, but two, a bright bluish hotter one orbiting a dimmer white cooler one. The plane of the orbit is oriented so that during an orbital period of 12.9 days each star gets in the way of the other, with the combined light of the system at minimum alternating between 30% and half of normal every 6.5 days.

The two stars, both quite massive, are very close together. Tidal forces both distort the stars and cause streams of matter to flow from one star to the other. Beta Lyrae is the prototype of this class of eclipsing binaries, the Beta Lyrae Stars or EB variables.

According to Dr. Jim Kaler at the University of Illinois, "such 'mass transfer' is profoundly important in the lives of double stars and produces some of the more bizarre of celestial phenomena (including Sheliak!). In extreme cases, one star can actually orbit inside the extended envelope of an expanding, dying giant star, gradually bringing the two closer together and setting the stage for later stellar explosions. Others are so close they actually touch at their surfaces."

Sheliak was found to be a radio star by radio astronomers Wade and Hjellming in 1971 - another indication of the matter transfer between the two stars. Astrophysicists think that matter is flowing from the larger to the smaller star at 300 km/s. (credit - SEDS)

Sheliak, a not so run-of-the-mill double star system...

Equipment: Meade LX90 8"SCT@f/10, Meade DSI II Color Camera, Baadar IR/UV cut filter.

Guiding: AT80ED 80mm APO, Meade DSI II Pro camera

100 x 4s, gain=100, offset=50

Image captured and guiding performed with Meade Envisage software. Setting black-point, color balancing and slight brightening performed in Adobe Photoshop CS.

This image was created with the help of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator.

August 8, 2010
Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

Jupiter with IO Transit - DSI II Color

tking2097 — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:27:58 GMT

Jupiter with IO Transit - DSI II Color

Jupiter with IO Transit in Progress - DSI II Color Camera

Jupiter reached opposition on September 21st, making its finest appearance in 47 years! This is no ordinary opposition, since Jupiter reaches perihelion, the closest point to the Sun during its 12-year orbit, so it lies closer to the Earth at this opposition than at a typical one.

Patience finally pays off on this night, as seeing finally supports imaging Jupiter at f/30 for the first time since in reached opposition on September 21st. While currently at the close distance from Earth of 3.99 AU, Jupter's apparent diameter is 49 arc-seconds, providing for excellent detail.

The planet appears strangely unbalanced while the dark Southern Equatorial Band remains missing, possibly caused by higher cirrus clouds obscuring it. The Great Red Spot is clearly visible, as is Jupiter's moon IO, located directly above the Great Red Spot in this image. IO's shadow is cast on the surface of Jupiter by the Sun at the 10 o'clock position above the Great Red Spot.

Seeing conditions: Quite poor for longer exposures. 15 second images are totally useless. Oddly, the very short exposure times required for brighter Jupiter work out quite well this evening!

Equipment: Meade LX90 8" SCT@f/30, 3x Barlow, Meade DSI II Color camera, Baadar UV/IR cut filter.

Guiding: Self-guided on Jupiter with Envisage software.

Capture Software & Settings:
Meade Envisage software
68 x 0.0422s, gain=100, offset=50
Image Process: Planet, Kernel Filter: EdgeEnhanceHard
Fits Save All Uncombined Images

Post-processing using Adobe Photoshop CS2

This image was created with the help of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

October 6, 2010

Jupiter & Galilean Moons - DSI II Color

tking2097 — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 19:37:24 GMT

Jupiter & Galilean Moons - DSI II Color

Jupiter & Galilean Moons - DSI II Color Camera
(click on image for full-size view)

Jupiter and three of the four Galilean Moons, Ganymede, IO and Callisto (left to right). Jupiter is at opposition and is 48 arc-seconds in diameter, the best it will be for years to come. Seeing conditions have not been very favorable to date, with the best supported magnification being with a 2x barlow, providing an approximate magnification of 440x for this image.

This image is a composite of 2 images, one for the planet, and a second longer exposure to accentuate the moons. The moon image is overlaid on the planet exposure.

Equipment - Meade 8" LX90 SCT@f/20, Meade DSI II Color camera, Baadar IR & UV block filter, Celestron X-Cell 2x Barlow lens.

DSI II Color camera settings:
Planet exposures - 0.0156s x 75, gain=100, offset=50, Image Process=Planet, Kernel Filter=EdgeEnhanceMed.

Moon exposures - 0.0625s x 30. gain=95, offset=50. Image Process=Planet, Kernel Filter=EdgeEnhanceMed.

Image processing using Photoshop CS2.

This image was created with the help of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator software.

Watauga Skies Observatory
Watauga, Texas

October 1, 2010

Albireo - DSI II, LX90

tking2097 — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:07:15 GMT

Albireo - DSI II, LX90

Albireo - Binary System in Cygnus

A friend stopped by the observatory, and we decided to chase a double star.

The bright double star Albireo that marks the head of Cygnus the Swan is a stunning example of contrasting colors and one of the finest double stars in the heavens. Albireo lies in the middle of the Summer Triangle formed by the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair.

The Albireo star system is approximately 380 light-years away, and it takes 75,000 years for the stars to complete one orbit about each other.

Equipment:
Meade 8" LX90 Classic @f/10,
DSI II Color Camera,
IR blocking filter

100 x 1s, gain=100, offset=50
Image auto-stacked using Meade Envisage
Brightness and background levels set in Photoshop CS

This image was created with the help of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator.

July 31, 2010
Watauga Skies Observatory,
Watauga, Texas

Daylight Venus at f/40 versus Mariner 10

tking2097 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:10:24 GMT

Daylight Venus at f/40 versus Mariner 10

Earth-based Venus versus Mariner 10 Venus Image

A resized Mariner 10 true color image of Venus to match the size of the image of Venus taken at f/40 on the Watauga Skies observatory's LX90 telescope on June 19th, 2010.

While there is no question the Mariner 10 image of Venus is the better photo, Mariner 10 had the advantage of flying within approx. 4,500 miles of Venus. Mariner 10 also did not have to contend with peering through Earth's atmosphere. Note that Venus's cloud cover is nearly featureless in visible light.

It is truly stunning to see what can be done with even modest equipment available to today's amateur astronomers!

Brief Summary of the Mariner 10 Mission and Accomplishments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_10

Watauga Skies Observatory Image Details

Equipment:
Meade LX90 8" telescope@f/40, 2 Celestron X-Cel APO 2x barlows

DSI II Color camera, IR blocking filter, best 39 x 0.0028s exposures, gain=100, offset=50, Envisage software, Image Process set to "Planet."

Location: Watauga, Texas
Watauga Skies Observatory

Date: June 19, 2010

Venus - Daylight DSI II Color Imaging at f/40

tking2097 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:11:15 GMT

Venus - Daylight DSI II Color Imaging at f/40

Venus - Daylight DSI II Color Imaging at f/40

The previous afternoon allowed imaging Venus at a f/30 with the LX90 and DSI II Color. Conditions were even better than the day before, and it appeared that perhaps imaging at f/40 would be supported, so why not give it a try?!?

Venus was getting low in the sky, only 29º above the horizon, so time was running short, so I used the DSI II Color camera to capture rgb 16-bit images this time. I captured one good set of images before Venus dropped beneath the observatory wall.

The next morning, with fresh eyes, I processed the images in Registax. I was stunned to see the results were better at f/40 than the previous day's images at f/30! It has been a remarkable 2 days for imaging Venus!

Venus is currently 15 arc-seconds in diameter, 74.7% of the disc is illuminated, and has a visual magnitude of -4.1.

Equipment:
Meade LX90 8" SCT@F/40, 2 Celestron X-Cel APO x2 barlows

DSI II Color camera, IR Blocking filter, 0.0028s exposures, gain =100, offset=50,
39 rgb fits images processed in Registax, RGB image created in Photoshop CS.

Location: Watauga, Texas
Watauga Skies Observatory

June 19, 2010

Tom King

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4)

Venus Transit - July 5, 2012

Venus and Mars - DSI II Color/LX90

C/2009 P1 - Comet Garradd

Got Lunar X? - DSI II Color & LX90

Messier 44 - Praesepe, The Beehive Cluster - Canon 300D

Sun in Ha - DSI II Pro

Messier 48 in Hydra - Canon EOS 300D

Lunar Eclipse Animation - Canon 300D

Full Lunar Eclipse - 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

Lunar Eclipse Halo 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

Diamond Eclipse Moon - 12/21/2010 - Canon 300D

Iridium 62 Satellite Flare

Mars - DSI I Color Camera

Sheliak in Lyrae, DSI II Color camera

Jupiter with IO Transit - DSI II Color

Jupiter &amp; Galilean Moons - DSI II Color

Albireo - DSI II, LX90

Daylight Venus at f/40 versus Mariner 10

Venus - Daylight DSI II Color Imaging at f/40

Jupiter & Galilean Moons - DSI II Color