Saturday, March 13, 2010

Imaging at Canyon of Eagles

The Austin Astronomical Society, of which we are members, has its dark site at the Eagle Eye Observatory, located in the Canyon of Eagles park.  Once a month on a Saturday, the club has a members-only night which is ideal for imaging. The portable setup I am currently using includes a Celestron CGE mount, a TMB-130SS refractor with Orion 80mm guidescope, a QSI-540ws CCD, and a dedicated PC.


Many thanks to Todd Hargis, member of AAS, for taking this photo of my setup.  You can see the zodiacal lights in parallel with the OTA and some city lights behind my head. Todd used the trick of "painting" me in with a red-light.  In the star field, Orion and the Pleiades are recognizable. I am posting this after the fact, so I am not certain which Saturday in March 2010 was the member's night.