Lunar Imaging Session - January 3, 2015

I got a small window tonight for me to test my WO Megrez 90FD refractor's focuser on the Waning Gibbous Moon. I test it at prime focus with my Canon EOS 500D DSLR and my ZWO ASI120MM webcam and both are smooth and lock on focus easily. Unfortunately, the window was short for me to do further close up imaging of the Moon's craters as the Moon got blocked by our roof :( But I think it is adequate for me to conclude that it is ready for this weekend comet imaging session with fellow ALPers :)

Solar Imaging Session - January 3, 2015

The sky this morning is clear but seeing continues to be poor. I still proceeded with imaging the Sun. Seeing was terrible that I needed more than 10 AVIs on AR2253 Sunspot Group just to get the best of the lot!!! Sigh! In Ha wavelength, the SE limb huge hedgerow prominence is still visible but is a lit bit dimmer because of the slight haze over the Sun after I imaged in white light. AR2253 Sunspot Group in Ha has calm down a bit compare to yesterday's bright flaring.

Solar Imaging Session - January 2, 2015

I started off my 2015 astro imaging session on the Sun as usual. The sky is partly clear in the morning and seeing condition is poor. I had a hard time locking focus on high resolution as seeing was not very good. But I still manage to image the giant group AR2253 Sunspot Group as well as full disk through thin passing clouds. In Ha wavelength, there is a very nice huge hedgerow prominence together with 2 large dark filaments visible in the SE limb. Giant AR2253 Sunspot Group has lots of activity inside its core and will probably be having some nice flares in the days to come I guess. Smaller AR2252 and 2251 Sunspot Groups are also very active and both has twisted dark filaments coming out form respective groups.

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy Imaging Session - December 28, 2014

A last minute decision by ALPers James Kevin Ty, Andrew Ian Chan and Shubhashish Banerjee to go to Nasugbu instead of the traditional Caliraya site because of unfavorable weather condition paid off as they were blessed with a perfectly clear cloudless sky the entire night till morning. They arrived at Johndel Beach Resort at around 10:45pm and started to unload their stuff to their rooms. ALPers James Kevin Ty brought along his Canon EOS500D DSLR with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens mounted on a Vixen GP-DX mount. Andrew Ian Chan brought along his Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount while Shubhashish Banerjee with his Canon EOS 350D DSLr mounted on Andrew's Vixen Polarie mount. After getting some rest, they started to setup their equipment and started to locate Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy which is located between Columba and Lepus area that night. After checking for a short while, they located the comet which is almost visible to the naked eye at around mag 5.6. As expected from a good weather, equipment gremlins started to creep in with our mounts not being able to track properly initially as well as PHD not working with James' autoguider because he brought along another laptop which he doesn't use in the field as the netbook he used to brought along imaging sessions died out :( In the end, they were able to recuperate and overcome the gremlins and still get good images of the comet. They later found out from fellow ALPer Manuel Goseco that our initial Caliraya site was completely clouded out entire evening and very muddy because it rained for several days already thus making the grounds muddy and damp. They packed up their stuff at around 4:30am and get some rest after they tale their traditional group shot :) They are looking forward for January 10 next year for another possible session here in Nasugbu or back in Caliraya.

Solar Imaging Session - December 27, 2014

The sky this morning is hazy and a bit cloudy. I only used the standard Coronado PST-Ha this morning as images were very dark when I double stacked it because of the haze and clouds. Not much solar activity except for a few large dark filaments as well as some moderate eruptive prominences.

Solar Imaging Session - December 26, 2014

The sky this morning is clear but seeing condition is fair. The large group of eruptive prominence is still visible in the NE limb but is now slightly dimmer a bit compare to yesterday brightness but is still very large! There is also a nice looking S shaped twisted dark filament around AR2249 Sunspot Group. Aside from these 2 interesting features, the rest of the Sun is quiet.

Solar Imaging Session - December 25, 2014

The sky this morning is cloudy and seeing condition is poor. It's been days since I last imaged so I still proceeded with my session despite poor expectation of my output. AR2241 Sunspot Group is near the SW limb already. Several other small sunspot groups are visible on the Sun's surface but are not large. I wasn't able to image other sunspot groups in white light as clouds continues to cover the Sun making it difficult to focus and image. I almost gave up but I got to see a thin layer of clouds for me to capture a nice large group of eruptive prominence in the NE limb under poor seeing condition but I hope to get another crack on this prominence tomorrow if it is still visible :0