Lunar Imaging Session - October 30, 2013

Once again, my alarm clock and fellow ALPer Oli de Guzman's Viber Call alarm didn't helped me wake up at 4:00am :( Sigh! Nevertheless, I wake up at around 4:45am already and saw the Moon on a clear sky. I quickly setup my telescope and try to image the Moon at moderate resolution. Seeing is not that good this morning thus I didn't attempt to increase magnification. I used the ZWO ASI120MM webcam for the second night on the Moon but this time around , I i added a Televue 2x Big Barlow to increase the magnification. I image this morning around Pythagoras Region as well as Gassendi Crater / Mare Humorum region. Despite the poor seeing, the ASI120MM was again able to impressed me with its great contrast and resolution which are by far my best. I hope to increase the resolution tomorrow morning using a 5x Televue Powermate if seeing permits.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 29, 2013 (ASI1200MM First Light!)

I overslept again this morning and almost missed imaging the Moon! I quickly setup my TV-101 refractor and tested the ZWO ASI1200MM webcam on its first light replacing my trusted ATIK 1HS II webcam which was my primary solar and lunar imaging camera. Seeing condition is not that good. Initial conclusion is this camera is awesome! I need to use a 3" extension tube for me to reach focus. Using the 2" diagonal can't reach focus though. I was planning to image at high resolution but roof obstruction prevented me from doing it :( Anyway, I will try to do another session tomorrow morning at an earlier time :)

Solar Imaging Session - October 21, 2013 ( Huge Dark Filaments & Beautiful Large Eruptive Prominence !)

I wake up late this morning and quickly setup to check on the Sun before the Sun gets obstructed by our roof :( I manage to only image 2 shots of the Sun in Ha wavelength and can see a beautiful large eruptive prominence in the NW limb as well as very active NE quadrant featuring 2 huge dark filaments and an active AR11875 Sunspot Group. Unfortunately, i missed imaging other regions but I manged to image the active areas before getting obstructed :(

Solar Imaging Session - October 20, 2013 (Numerous Huge Dark Filaments)

The sky this morning is clear and seeing is average. AR11877 & 11875 Sunspot Groups are the prominent sunspot groups on the Sun aside from numerous small sunspot groups. A nice thing to observe as well are the numerous huge dark filaments on the NE quadrant. 2 nice prominences are visible as well on the NE and SW limb.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)Image taken using Canon EOS 500D with Canon Ef 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/11.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)Image taken using Canon EOS 500D with Canon Ef 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/11.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)Image taken using Canon EOS 500D with Canon Ef 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/11.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)Image taken using Canon EOS 500D with Canon Ef 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/11.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)Image taken using Canon EOS 500D with Canon Ef 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/11.

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)

Lunar Imaging Session - October 19, 2013 Full Moon

After returning home from having some coffee at Starbucks, I saw the Full Moon shining brightly near the zenith so I brought out my camera to take an image of Luna. Hmmm..... astro imaging fever is starting to build up for next weekend imaging at Caliraya :)

Solar Imaging Session - October 18, 2013 ( 3 Large Eruptive Prominences ! )

The sky this morning is clear but seeing condition is once again not that good. There are 2 large eruptive prominences that are visible in the SE limb as well as one in the SW limb. Departing AR11861 Sunspot Group still shows a lot of activity inside its core. A large twisting dark filament can also be seen near AR11865/64 Sunspot Groups and another one in the NE limb. New AR11875 Sunspot Groups that is visible near the NE limb looks promising to be a good group to monitor in the days to come.

Solar Imaging Session - October 15, 2013 (Large Hedgerow Prominences and Dark Filaments)

The sky this morning is partly cloudy and seeing condition is poor. I have to play hide and seek with the clouds just to get some decent images of the Sun in Ha wavelength. There are 2 nice large hedgerow prominences in the NE and SE limb. Numerous large dark filaments can also be seen around AR11865/64 Sunspot Groups. Once again, I wasn't able to get close up shots of AR11861 Sunspot Groups in white light wavelength because of the clouds. Overall, still a nice solar imaging session :)

Lunar Imaging Session - October 14, 2013

While I was going home from work, I saw the Quarter Moon shining clearly over the SE horizon. So i quickly grab my Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set to 400mm f/8 to capture the lunar beauty.

Solar Imaging Session - October 13, 2013 (Bright Flare in AR11865 Sunspot Group !!!)

The Sun this morning is partly hazy and seeing condition is again poor. There is a bright flare developing in AR11865 Sunspot Group! AR11861 Sunspot Group also shows some good solar activity inside its core. There is also several nice prominences that are visible on the Sun's limb. AR11861 Sunspot Group is large but unfortunately, my limited viewing position right now prevented me from doing a white light image of this group :( Hopefully I can image it tomorrow.........

Solar Imaging Session - October 9, 2013 (Huge Eruptive Prominence)

The sky this morning is clear but seeing condition is poor. Once again, I'm very frustrated with the loss of imaging time due to the F&^%%** building crane in front of my observing window that is obstructing my view! But nevertheless, i waited patiently till past 8:30am before the Sun totally cleared out of that damn building crane! Lots of activities in the Sun this morning. A huge eruptive prominence is clearly visible in the SE limb beside AR11865 & 11864 sunspot group! It is still very gorgeous despite the poor seeing condition. AR11861 & AR11856 Sunspot Groups show a lot of solar activities and flares inside its core. Numerous large dark filaments can also be seen in the SE and SW quadrants. Hopefully, I will be able to do some white light observation and imaging as well tomorrow if I have good weather condition.