A look at M99

I intended to get a good hour in for LRGB on this, but as it turned out the guiding was intermittent and I really only got 4 each good RGB frames for 20 minute total exposure.  So the image is not deep. I’ve started using CCDStack and, when calibrating the frames, was getting a “negative … Read more

Orion and New Moon

We’ve had a rainy week and 5 or 6 inches of rain, but it cleared up nicely.  I planned a run on M99, which I had botched a few weeks before.  i unparked the scope, fired up the camera & coolers, opened the roof and aimed at Denebola to check the aim.  That accomplished, I … Read more

Supernova 2013am in Leo

In my continuing, ongoing shakedown, I set up a full LRGB series of M65 (NGC 3623) on the clear, moonless night of April 3. The forecast was good, so I set things running and went to bed. Somewhere in the green series, things murked up a bit, and the tracking crapped out for some of … Read more

Control System Prefs with AppleScript

I use TeamViewer to control the PC in the Hut, because it’s free, and it often works quite well.  The thing that drives me most nuts about it is how to right-click remotely.  I’m working from a Mac Book Pro with a trackpad.  I suppose I could actually use a two button mouse, but I … Read more