Author: Roland Roberts
C/2023 A3 Processing
This took a while to work through. There are a lot of tips on processing comet images and PixInsight makes it easy for the most part, but I found the combination of untracked DSLR images from Brooklyn skies a bit too challenging to be able to separate out the comet from the background and get …
Finding C/2023 A3 in October from Bay Ridge
Back in October, this comet made an appearance first in the morning sky (though weather and circumstance prevented me from seeing it then), then in the evening sky. Finding this comet to take pictures was a challenge from Brooklyn. Anything astronomy is a challenge from Brooklyn. The first day with reasonable weather to see it …
C/2023 A3 from Brooklyn
I’m still working to see how much I can draw out of the data for this one, but like most images taken from Brooklyn, it’s difficult to get through the effects of ligh pollution. The pictures were take back on Oct 16, 2024, but I’m just now getting around to doing anything with them. What …
Comet C/2023 A3
Quick and dirty using a cell phone from near my home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Hoping for much better views later this week as it to rises higher after sunset.
Eclipse Prominences
I had a vague idea of trying to merge this with an HDR version of the corona to show the prominences and the corona all at once. Of course, it doesn’t look like that to the naked eye, but hey! However, the process of aligning the image sets immediately revealed that won’t work. The moon …
“First” 2024 Totality Image
It’s really about the 3rd or 4th attempt to merge multiple exposures to get an HDR image. Object: Sun, solar eclipse Location: Outskirts of Jackson, MO Observer: Roland Roberts Time: 8 April 2024, 13:59:10 – 13:59:33 Camera: Canon T6i, Lens: AstroTech 66ED, 400 mm @ f/6 Exposure: 2 each at 1/4000, 1/1000, 1/250, 1/60, 1/15, …
3D Constellation Models
Last week I as at NEAF and as usual, the 3D constellation models were a hit. I’ve been reusing some very old model templates created ages ago but they have some problems…with the math that created them. This past year, I wrote up a spreadsheet with the calculations an a write-up on how to use …
Eclipse 2024 Preparation
Final setup and tests for Monday’s totality from Jackson, MO. I’m fortunate enough to have family living pretty much on the centerline for this one. Depending on which eclipse map web site I visit, the centerline either goes by about 50 meters west or 50 meters east of my location. This is a 1200×1200 crop …
Eclipse is Coming
I’ve been silent for the past year because…well, I’ve done pretty much nothing astronomy-wise. Life has kept me busy. But I’m fortunate enough to have relatives that live pretty much on the centerline of this eclipse (within a couple hundred meters or less, depending in which online map I consult). So, I’ve got 4 minutes …
Lost Drivers from the Days of Windows 7
So I haven’t used my Orion ST120 in a while which means I’ve gone through two OS upgrades from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and recently to Window 11. Which means I don’t have a driver for my archaic James Lacy LazyFocus controller that goes with my very nice first generation Moonlite focuser. Fortunately, I’m …