For some reason, the only things I feel like posting in this category have to do with astronomy.  In March I purchased a simple 2x barlow so I can get higher magnifications with my same eyepieces.  In addition to saving money, the barlow allows me to use the same camera jig that I built for my Orion Plossl eyepieces. 

This first picture is the Moon on the evening of 3/25 at 360x (without the barlow).  Click on the image for full resolution.

This really is an amazingly detailed image.  If you saw the cheap digital camera and homemade wooden jig that I took this with you wouldn’t believe it.  Moreover, my telescope is not equipped with the tracking system so I have to use faster shutter speeds.

This second picture is the Moon on the same night at 720x (with the barlow).  Click on the image for full resolution.

Because the motion of the Earth (and apparent “motion” of the celestial objects) is more pronounced at higher magnifications, faster shutter speeds are required.  Unfortunately, there is also less light available at higher magnifications so between this and the faster shutter speeds, there is little light available for a good crisp exposure.  Photoshop (gamma correction) helps, but you can clearly see the “graininess” of the image.

These next two images are of Saturn and Jupiter from the end of March.  Both images were taken with the barlow at approximately 720x.  A lot of post-processing was required to brighten these up.  My next move is to build a motorized equitorial platform that will allow some rough tracking of the telescope - perhaps enough to slow my shutter speed down a bit.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 11:02 am and is filed under Random Things. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.