February was a good month for astrophotography, and I got out three
nights without ever having to worry about getting up for work. Part of
the month's haul has been posted, along with a few new equipment and other
shots for my web pages. I'm still working on a composite of Sh2-240
and a Provia F 100 film test shot at f/4. My attempt to shoot the Vela
SNR from 39.9N was successful but unspectacular and won't be
posted.
First, a new photo of me on the Background page, just in case you
were wondering what recently unemployed folks look like after 24 years of
steady work. Actually the shot was taken last
Fall.
I'm using a new mounting plate I had made at a local machine
shop. I've been calling it a "multi-mounting plate" but I think the
term Superthingamajig is more fitting. This is the plate I used for
the Leonid storm, and the last photo on the page shows my meteor rig.
Notice the lack of snow at 9000 feet in November - the other shots were
taken this month.
No, this isn't the Michelin Man with a tan looking for some Ass
Kung Fu. It's one for Herm and all you other folks in tropical
locations who don't know what a sharply dressed astrophotographer
really looks like. The double-thick knee material lets me get down and
dirty with a Knife-edge in any weather. It's about 15F in early
twilight in this shot, having dropped from 45F in the previous hour
while I was setting up. And you call that shindig in Florida a
"Winter" star party - yeah.
Alright, enough of that stuff - on to the
astrophtos:
1)
Borg 100ED at f/6.4 on a night of spectacularly steady seeing - best I've
ever had. Cold. Two 60-minute exposures, one each on E200 and
Provia 400F. This film combination looks very good together to my
eye.
2)
Same setup, date, and exposure info as above. The stars got a little
big on me in this one - probably a focus shift due to dropping
temperatures. I tried some masking tricks to make them smaller, but
that wound up making some dark rings around the stars embedded in
nebulosity. I'll probably start this one from scratch sometime in the
future.
3)
Borg100ED at f/4 on night of more typical (that is, fair to poor)
seeing. Two images on E200, 30 and 45 minutes. 45 minutes is
really, really deep at f/4 on this film. I may have gone a bit far
with the color correction on this one.
4)
Same rig as 3), a couple of nights later. Two 40m exposures on
E200. This one's kind of a face-slapper, especially at full
resolution, and I may back off on the Rosette a bit in another run at
it.
5)
One wide-field shot is ready, done with the 105mm f/2.4 Pentax 67
lens. Two 60-minute shots at f/6.7, one each on E200 and
Provia 400F. There's some trailing visible at high zoom,
probably due to the tripod head QR plate slipping again.
Comments always welcome, even if just to make fun of my
wardrobe.