Lunar Imaging Session - March 31, 2015

After I got back my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens from lock ring repair. I test out the lens on the Waxing Gibbous Moon. I image the Moon with Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/8. 1/250 sec exposure at ISO 100.

Solar Imaging Session - March 31, 2015

The sky this morning is clear and seeing is fair. AR2305 Sunspot Group is nearing the SW limb and will probably exits the limb more or less in 2-3 days. There is a huge hedgerow prominence in the NW limb as well as a large hedgerow prominence in the SE limb. There is also a long dark filament in the NE limb as well.

Solar Imaging Session - March 30, 2015

The sky this morning is clear and seeing is fair. AR2305 Sunspot Group continues to be beautiful in Ha wavelength but has decline in its solar activity a bit compare to last 2 days ago. There is also a large hedgerow prominence and long dark filament near the SE limb. I was also able to image AR2305 Sunspot Group in close up white light but seeing unfortunately worsen as it is near the tall building obstruction :( Anyway, will try to image it again in an earlier time tomorrow I hope.

Solar Imaging Session - March 28, 2015

The sky this morning is partly cloudy but I was surprised to see the Sun visible again in the morning window view! That's great for me as I can do regular solar imaging session again from 7:30-8:30am ! Wohoo!!! As for this morning, seeing condition is fair but I was only able to snap AR2305 Sunspot Group region as clouds started to cover the Sun after I took an image. BTW, the huge hedgerow prominence visible in the NE limb is gone :( Although I was able to see another large hedgerow prominence in the SE limb, couldn't manage to image it as got clouded out and later obstructed by the tall darn building once again :( Anyway, a consolation shot for me is the inclusion of a nice moderate size looped prominence in the NW limb in the image I took of AR2305. AR2305 Sunspot Group region is a beauty as it is swarmed with numerous large twisted dark filaments surround the area where the group is located. I had to lighten my processing a bit for this image so as not to dimmed out the cute moderate size looped prominence :) Image taken with a stock Coronado PST-Ha with 2x barlow lens with ZWO ASI120MM webcam. No white light of AR2305 Sunspot Group this morning because of the circumstances.

Solar Imaging Session - March 27, 2015 (Huge Hedgerow Prominence)

The sky this morning is partly cloudy and I had a hard time imaging. Seeing condition is also not good as well. Its been almost 3 weeks since I did any solar imaging session. With my plan to return the SM40 back to my friend this week after a few month's testing, I decided to use the Coronado PST-Ha again on its own once again and true enough , I think the results can still give me some confidence to do it again after a few months of having luxury of double stacking the PST-Ha with SM40. There is a huge Hedgerow Prominence in the NE limb while moderate size AR2305 Sunspot Group is a joy to view at with a twisting huge dark filaments surrounding the group :) LOL To be able to image these 2 images, I had to wait more than 2.5 hours before I got a small hole to do a fast one before I got clouded out again. As they say Astronomy teaches us to be humble and patient :) Truly it is!

Saturn Imaging Session - March 15, 2015

The sky this early morning is surprisingly clear with very good seeing condition .I use a Meade 8" f/10 SCT with ZWO ASI120MM webcam and 2x barlow to get a good clear image of Saturn . It's thus far the best of my Saturn image since using a monochrome camera. I hope to improve my skills more with practice .

Solar Imaging Session - March 8, 2015

The sky this morning is clear and seeing condition is fair. There is a new large sunspot group designated AR2297 coming out of the eastern limb. It also shows some active X flare going on inside its structure. There is also a beautiful Huge Dark Filament breakup remnants visible in the SE quadrant that is a joy to look at as well. Some nice group of eruptive prominences are also visible in the NE, NW and SW limb.

Lunar Imaging Session - March 5, 2015 (Apogee Full Moon)

The sky this evening is clear and the Full Moon today is also at its farthest distance to Earth which is called the Apogee Full Moon or jokingly refer to as Mini Moon. The distance between the Moon and Earth is more or less around 406,384 kms away. I use my Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/8 to image the Moon. 1/500sec at ISO 100. I will also try to image the Full Moon again this coming September 27, 2015 when the Moon is closest to the Earth (Perigee Full Moon or Super Moon) at more or less 356,877 kms.

Saturn Imaging Session - March 2, 2015

The sky this early morning is again clear. Seeing condition is fair as well. I attempted again to image the beautiful ring planet once again. I can say is image is a bit better than yesterday's result but I still need to practice more in my planetary processing skills.