Month: May 2012

Aerial haze in New Mexico

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The normally great skies at Rancho Hidalgo were somewhat marred by aerial haze from fires burning in Arizona. Here’s a picture from the El Paso- Phoenix plane showing the source of some of the aerial haze.   We’re at about 36,000 feet. I showed this to Dan Klinglesmith, who is studying astronomical seeing at the … Read more

Canon 60Da First Light

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At Rancho Hidalgo, I set up the Canon with my standard 28-135 zoom and the tracker head.  The tracker has a small polar scope, and the alignment just uses that.  I shot constellation scale tests, mostly at 28mm with ASA from 1600 to 6400. Here’s a 3 minute exposure of the Scorpius region at 6400.  … Read more