Solar Imaging Session - March 1, 2015

The sky around lunchtime is clear but seeing once again is fair. 2 of the 3 large eruptive prominences are gone now but the remaining hedgerow prominence is looking good. The large group of dark filaments are still visible and by using Double stacked Coronado PST-Ha/ SM40 configuration, the dark filaments and flares are more enhanced but at the expense of the dimmer image. Nevertheless, the session is ok as I use a very light mount on Celestron CG3 mount to image the Sun in Ha wavelength.

Saturn Imaging Session - March 1, 2015

My first try with Saturn using the ZWO ASI120MM webcam with Meade 8" f/10 SCT. I had to wait till around 2:00am before Saturn pops out behind the tall building! I thought I wouldn't be able to image it this morning as I was very tired already. Seeing is poor despite the clear sky :( I hope to have another crack at Saturn again tomorrow morning as I'm trying to get a feel on imaging Saturn through a monochrome webcam. Nevertheless, I'm still happy with the results. Hope to do better next session.

Solar Imaging Session - February 28, 2015

The sky this morning is mostly cloudy but just before lunchtime, I was able to get s small opening through clouds for me to image the Sun in Ha wavelength. Seeing is fair. Most interesting part of the Sun is in the NE limb whereas there are 3 large group of eruptive prominences visible as well as numerous group of large dark filaments near AR2294 Sunspot Group. As I was ending my exposure for the surface image of the dark filament region, a plane suddenly swoop into the field of view to my surprise :) LOL

Solar Imaging Session - February 23, 2015

The sky this morning is clear but my observing window is too short and I can only take 1 short of the Sun before I got obstructed again! :( Anyway, the Sun is very quiet in white light so I use the only opportunity I got to image in Ha. Not much prominences visible and the large prominence yesterday has also simmered down as well so I stacked my Coronado PST-Ha with a Coronado SM40 to enhance the surface feature to bring out more details on the large dark filament visible in the NE quadrant as well as several nice small flares on AR2289 and 2290 Sunspot Groups.

Solar Imaging Session - February 22, 2015

I wake up very late this morning after a tiring but enjoyable conclusion of the ALP National Astronomy Week. I observe the Sun in Ha together with my son KC at the laundry area. It's kind of bonding time for us :) The Sun seems very quiet both in white light and Ha lately. We were able to see several small sunspot groups as well as a nice eruptive prominence in the eastern limb. It was also a nice father and son observing tandem to view our Earth's nearest star.

Jupiter Imaging Session - February 21, 2015

As we were doing a public viewing session . Jupiter was a fascinating object to view through the Meade 8" f/10 SCT and I can see the Great Red Spot with the shadow of Io also visible on Jupiter's disk. But unfortunately, I don't have my planetary imaging camera with me as I was doing free public viewing with members of ALP. I just couldn't resist myself and took a single frame sissy Jupiter shot with my Canon EOS 500D DSLR with EFS18-55mm f./3.5-4.5 IS lens set at 55mm and pointed the lens directly toward the Meade 8" f/10 SCT with TV 8-24mm zoom eyepiece (afocal method) handheld ONLY!!! :) LOL Anyway, it's not a great shot but I'm surprised with the results as well :)

Solar Imaging Session - February 15, 2015

The sky this morning is very cloudy but I could see some small holes in the clouds that I might be able to do some Ha imaging of the remaining view of the huge long dark filament that is exiting the SW limb. As I was waiting for the hole openings, I was saddened that the clouds become thicker and thicker as I wait! But suddenly a small hole pops out for me to make a short exposure of the SW limb and saw a nice FilamProm lurking out of the limb. The prominence looks like a Dragon's armored Fin Scale and composed nicely to the remaining tail end of this beautiful long dark filament. I only use a basic Coronado PST-Ha setup as the image is already dim and by adding the Double Stacked SM40 into the setup might dimmed it further as well as deprived me of getting an exposure of the prominence. True enough, after the exposure, I got totally clouded out :(

Solar Activity Picture of the Day - February 11, 2015

My Huge Long Dark Filament was selected as Solar Activity Picture of the Day for February 11, 2015 :)

Jupiter Imaging Session - February 11, 2015

After a light drizzle in the late afternoon, I thought it will be cloudy this evening. But strangely, it was clear so I tried once again to image Jupiter. The Great Red Spot is visible tonight and seeing is fair, I adjusted my imaging skills and procedure a bit and looks like it is getting better than my previous 2 sessions. Still not that great but I'm happy about it :)

Solar Imaging Session - February 11, 2015

I'm really cramp for morning time this morning to image the Sun as the Sun rises further to NE as the days passed by thus delaying the time for me to view the Sun as it comes out of the darn tall building in my Eastern horizon. I was only able to snap 1 short AVI before I go to work. Seeing is fair so I only image the main superstar on the Sun's disk right now which is the super huge long dark filament that stretches more than half of the Sun's diameter already! It's like a huge serpent with AR2280 acting as its head and strutting its body across the Sun;'s disk !!! But from the image I got, it seems the long dark filament might already been undergoing snapping process already as I can see lightening shade near the middle of the long dark filament thus I'm speculating snapping process has already begun :(

Reprocessed Jupiter Image - February 9, 2015

I try to realign my Jupiter image taken last night using new procedures and looks a tad better than what I processed last night which is obviously misaligned. The new processed image has Ganymede shadow as well as overall image quality. Still need to learn a lot in monochrome RGB planetary imaging.

Jupiter Imaging Session - February 9, 2015

The sky this evening is clear but seeing is once again poor. I can see Ganymede transit and casting shadow while Great Red Spot is about to exit the disk. As I'm experimenting on doing monochrome RGB planetary imaging, I got to learn that if there is a Jovian satellite transiting the disk, the exposure should be cut short so that one won't be dealing with a blurry satellite disk caused by RGB misalignment on the satellite disk as it is moving either faster or slower than Jupiter's rotation :( Since I'm pretty new in doing planetary monochrome RGB imaging, I hope to get improvements as more and more shots are taken.

Jupiter Imaging Session - February 8, 2015

I finally force myself to haul down my scope and mount from 3rd floor to out ground floor laundry area where I setup the Meade 8" f/10 SCT on Vixen GP-DX mount. I let the scope cool down for about an hour before I started to take some shots of Jupiter with ZWO ASI120MM webcam with RGB filters and 2x barlow lens. Seeing condition is not that good. I'm not an expert planetary imager but I'm still pleased with what I captured. This is my first Jupiter image since January 7, 2012!!! Oh my God! I hope to do some further Jupiter works hopefully if I'm not yet tired in the evening after work. Sigh!

Solar Imaging Session - February 8, 2015 (Huge Dark Filament !!!)

The sky this morning is clear but I had to wait till around 9:10am before I could start any shot due to the tall darn building in front of my eastern horizon! It's been more than a week since I did any solar imaging session and this will continue to get worst as the days pass and eventually will get obstructed and resume again maybe after 2 months except on weekend imaging at the laundry area :( === Anyway, as I turn on my imaging capture software, I was almost blown out of my seat by seeing such a super huge long dark filament that stretches almost half disk of the Sun!!! Numerous group of eruptive prominences as well as smaller dark filaments are also visible on the surface of the Sun! I wasn't able to do any white light imaging anymore as observing window time is less than 30 minutes :( Nevertheless, I'm still happy with the results.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 7, 2015

I was planning to image Jupiter tonight but unfortunately, my observing window is blocked from seeing Jupiter so try to image the Waning Gibbous Moon instead. I once again use the Meade 8" f/10 SCT at prime focus with ZWO ASI120MM webcam to image Janssen crater region before I got obstructed again by the tall darn building :( Sigh!

Lunar Imaging Session - February 6, 2015

The sky this evening is partly cloudy and seeing initially was unstable as I had to cool down the Meade 8" f/10 SCT corrector for about an hour. Afterwards, I started to check on the seeing condition which improves a bit but still not that great. I only shot some crater regions like Janssen, Cleomedes and Edymion crater region at prime focus of the Meade 8" f/10 SCT using ZWO ASI120MM webcam .

Lunar Imaging Session - February 5, 2015

The sky this evening is partly cloudy but seeing is fair. I setup my WO Megrez 90FD refractor on Vixen GP-DX mount with Canon EOS 500D DSLR to image the Waning Gibbous Moon. I was also able to do some close up shots of craters such as Petavius, Langrenus, Copernicus, Edymion craters as well as Mare Serenitatis , Tycho and Crisium region using same scope but with TV 5x powermate as well as 2x barlow and double stacked 2x barlow lens with ZWO ASI120MM webcam.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 3, 2015

As I was returning from work, I saw a beautiful Full Mon rising up from the eastern horizon. So when I get home, I set up my WO Megrez 90FD refractor on Vixen GP-DX mount to do some prime focus shot with Canon EOS 500D DSLR as well as moderate shots of the Mare Serenitatis region and Tycho region using ZWO ASI120MM webcam with 2x barlow lens. Seeing condition is not that good, so I didn't attempt high resolution shots.