ASTRO: M65 and M66 Galaxies

Last night was one of those nights where you just gotta go for it: we had
some unforecast clear skies last night between monsoons of near-biblical
proportion. We get hit again tomorrow :-(

This time of year we can get rain and clouds for two to three weeks without
any relief, so when I saw an opening last night I scrambled to get some time
logged.

I picked M65 and M66 because with the FOV I get with my ST10XME and my
AP155EDF, it frames them both nicely.

This is the first time I have shot any galaxies in a eon it seems. I
actually put away the emission line filters and used my other filter wheel
with the LRGB set (what's that dad?).

After the rain we've had lately, I expected good transparency. Turns out to
have been pretty dark, clear and the seeing was better than I expected
looking at the jetstream map.

I managed to log 5 exposures of 20 minutes each through my lum filter before
the wispy stuff rolled through again.

I decided to shoot a few darks and see what happened a bit later. When it
cleared about an hour or so later, I decided to tear down, it was getting
late and I was tired.

So here is 100 minutes worth of luminance

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/m65_m66_page.htm

Hi Richard,

Nice shots!

Thanks for sharing.

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
Lunar Picture of the Day http://www.lpod.org/
************************************

"Richard Crisp" wrote in message
m...
Last night was one of those nights where you just gotta go for it: we had
some unforecast clear skies last night between monsoons of near-biblical
proportion. We get hit again tomorrow :-(

This time of year we can get rain and clouds for two to three weeks
without
any relief, so when I saw an opening last night I scrambled to get some
time
logged.

I picked M65 and M66 because with the FOV I get with my ST10XME and my
AP155EDF, it frames them both nicely.

This is the first time I have shot any galaxies in a eon it seems. I
actually put away the emission line filters and used my other filter wheel
with the LRGB set (what's that dad?).

After the rain we've had lately, I expected good transparency. Turns out
to
have been pretty dark, clear and the seeing was better than I expected
looking at the jetstream map.

I managed to log 5 exposures of 20 minutes each through my lum filter
before
the wispy stuff rolled through again.

I decided to shoot a few darks and see what happened a bit later. When it
cleared about an hour or so later, I decided to tear down, it was getting
late and I was tired.

So here is 100 minutes worth of luminance

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/m65_m66_page.htm

Hi Richard

I moved FROM Castro Valley after 20 years about 5 years ago. How can you
EVER get a clear night? Summer is the worse! It finally warms up and the
fog rolls in. Anyway, your shots were great...

Doink


"CLT" not@thisaddress wrote in message
...
Hi Richard,

Nice shots!

Thanks for sharing.

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
Lunar Picture of the Day http://www.lpod.org/
************************************

"Richard Crisp" wrote in message
m...
Last night was one of those nights where you just gotta go for it: we
had
some unforecast clear skies last night between monsoons of near-biblical
proportion. We get hit again tomorrow :-(

This time of year we can get rain and clouds for two to three weeks
without
any relief, so when I saw an opening last night I scrambled to get some
time
logged.

I picked M65 and M66 because with the FOV I get with my ST10XME and my
AP155EDF, it frames them both nicely.

This is the first time I have shot any galaxies in a eon it seems. I
actually put away the emission line filters and used my other filter
wheel
with the LRGB set (what's that dad?).

After the rain we've had lately, I expected good transparency. Turns out
to
have been pretty dark, clear and the seeing was better than I expected
looking at the jetstream map.

I managed to log 5 exposures of 20 minutes each through my lum filter
before
the wispy stuff rolled through again.

I decided to shoot a few darks and see what happened a bit later. When
it
cleared about an hour or so later, I decided to tear down, it was
getting
late and I was tired.

So here is 100 minutes worth of luminance

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/m65_m66_page.htm

"Doink" wrote in message
...
Hi Richard

I moved FROM Castro Valley after 20 years about 5 years ago. How can you
EVER get a clear night? Summer is the worse! It finally warms up and the
fog rolls in. Anyway, your shots were great...

Doink

Where did you move to, Doink? Are you still in the area? Glad you liked the
shot.

We moved here about 3 years ago from San Jose. You are right about the
summers: the marine layer is tough.

I end up doing Fremont Peak and some of the other mountain tops when the
summer marine layer is back.

The fall and spring and winter aren't too bad except for the rain.

I guess I get 5-10 or so nights per month of clear skies; but obviously it
varies.

"Richard Crisp" wrote in message om...
Last night was one of those nights where you just gotta go for it: we had
some unforecast clear skies last night between monsoons of near-biblical
proportion. We get hit again tomorrow :-(

[snip]
So here is 100 minutes worth of luminance

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/m65_m66_page.htm

Very nice shot. I particularly liked the detail you were able to get.
I remember last spring trying to locate M65 and M66 with my 60mm.
Not a very good scope, mounted on a camera tripod (the one included
fell apart within 3 months). But locating them was satisfying, even
though I had to verify with my starmap that the two small fuzzy dots
that I saw were galaxies and not stars! I have since upgraded scopes,
and if the rain in socal leaves soon (though we do need it), I will
see what they look like in a 4.5" scope.

Erik
socalsw

"socalsw" wrote in message
om...
"Richard Crisp" wrote in message
om...
Last night was one of those nights where you just gotta go for it: we
had
some unforecast clear skies last night between monsoons of near-biblical
proportion. We get hit again tomorrow :-(

[snip]
So here is 100 minutes worth of luminance

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/m65_m66_page.htm

Very nice shot. I particularly liked the detail you were able to get.
I remember last spring trying to locate M65 and M66 with my 60mm.
Not a very good scope, mounted on a camera tripod (the one included
fell apart within 3 months). But locating them was satisfying, even


Thanks, the seeing was better than average the night I took them, even
though I shot them fairly early in the evening before they rose very high.
The transparency was good too, we'd had about 7 days of rain/clouds
preceeding it. The day or two before had been pretty windy too, so my theory
is the weather swished the smog out of the valley....

Hi, Richard,
Another great image! Keep them coming! You are keeping SAA alive.
How is your CPT18 working out? I understand you have found a way to have it
function as both a Newtonian and a Cassegrain? When you have a chance, could
you post pictures of this set up, or pictures taken with it? When you have a
chance.
Ciao,
Bill Meyers

Richard Crisp wrote:

Last night was one of those nights where you just gotta go for it: we had
some unforecast clear skies last night between monsoons of near-biblical
proportion. We get hit again tomorrow :-(

This time of year we can get rain and clouds for two to three weeks without
any relief, so when I saw an opening last night I scrambled to get some time
logged.

I picked M65 and M66 because with the FOV I get with my ST10XME and my
AP155EDF, it frames them both nicely.

This is the first time I have shot any galaxies in a eon it seems. I
actually put away the emission line filters and used my other filter wheel
with the LRGB set (what's that dad?).

After the rain we've had lately, I expected good transparency. Turns out to
have been pretty dark, clear and the seeing was better than I expected
looking at the jetstream map.

I managed to log 5 exposures of 20 minutes each through my lum filter before
the wispy stuff rolled through again.

I decided to shoot a few darks and see what happened a bit later. When it
cleared about an hour or so later, I decided to tear down, it was getting
late and I was tired.

So here is 100 minutes worth of luminance

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/m65_m66_page.htm

"Bill Meyers" wrote in message
...
Hi, Richard,
Another great image! Keep them coming! You are keeping SAA alive.
How is your CPT18 working out? I understand you have found a way to
have it
function as both a Newtonian and a Cassegrain? When you have a chance,
could
you post pictures of this set up, or pictures taken with it? When you have
a
chance.
Ciao,


Thanks Bill.

Actually just yesterday I took delivery of the CPT18 frame. The optics are
on order with expected delivery in May or June.

I am working on solving the problem of how to support the instruments and
baffle tube with a rear endcap sort of thing.

The frame is a monster, but it fits in the backseat of my wife's car:

I snapped a couple of shots before I unloaded it. Mark Wagner of Resource
International, the maker of the frame, had requested I shoot these. They
show that it really is portable.

Full Resolution:
http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_1.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_2.jpg

VGA resolution (640x480):

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_1_small.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_2_small.jpg

Hello, Richard,
I went to the web site and there are great images by you but nothing on the
CPT18 seems to have arrived yet.
A couple of years ago, Ray Gralak was using a CPT18 and he achieved some
remarkable images, but there has been silence from that quarter as far as CPT
images go, as far as I know. But there is a lot I don't know since I was
turned down for membership in the TAC imaging mailing list. (This was actually a
high for me, since I had hardly ever been turned down for anything before,
except the time I flunked the Army draft exemption because of too low a score
on the written test.)
I feel I know Mark Wagner well, though we have never met. Our email
correspondence has been extensive. He is a classy guy and stands behind his
products. I own a CPT10. The quality of the CNC machining work on it is
excellent. The First Base mount works wonderfully. The CPTs do indeed collapse
into a very small volume for transport, and they are easily set up for
observing. I think you will like the CPT18, but as you imply, the folding
aluminum OTAs are not lightweight, just a remarkably compact precision OTA with
a remarkably compact and very stable First Base mount, in the case of the
CPT10..
I look forward to the arrival of the CPT18 photos on darkhorizons, and to
hearing your experience with it.
Clear skies to you. You use them well.
Bill Meyers


Richard Crisp wrote:

"Bill Meyers" wrote in message
...
Hi, Richard,
Another great image! Keep them coming! You are keeping SAA alive.
How is your CPT18 working out? I understand you have found a way to
have it
function as both a Newtonian and a Cassegrain? When you have a chance,
could
you post pictures of this set up, or pictures taken with it? When you have
a
chance.
Ciao,

Thanks Bill.

Actually just yesterday I took delivery of the CPT18 frame. The optics are
on order with expected delivery in May or June.

I am working on solving the problem of how to support the instruments and
baffle tube with a rear endcap sort of thing.

The frame is a monster, but it fits in the backseat of my wife's car:

I snapped a couple of shots before I unloaded it. Mark Wagner of Resource
International, the maker of the frame, had requested I shoot these. They
show that it really is portable.

Full Resolution:
http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_1.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_2.jpg

VGA resolution (640x480):

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_1_small.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_2_small.jpg

I am puzzled that the links below did not work for you. Is that what you are
saying?

Full Resolution:
http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_1.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_2.jpg

VGA resolution (640x480):

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_1_small.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_2_small.jpg

I sent you an email separately addressing some of the other comments you
made.

Best
Richard



"Bill Meyers" wrote in message
...
Hello, Richard,
I went to the web site and there are great images by you but nothing
on the
CPT18 seems to have arrived yet.
A couple of years ago, Ray Gralak was using a CPT18 and he achieved
some
remarkable images, but there has been silence from that quarter as far as
CPT
images go, as far as I know. But there is a lot I don't know since I was
turned down for membership in the TAC imaging mailing list. (This was
actually a
high for me, since I had hardly ever been turned down for anything
before,
except the time I flunked the Army draft exemption because of too low a
score
on the written test.)
I feel I know Mark Wagner well, though we have never met. Our email
correspondence has been extensive. He is a classy guy and stands behind
his
products. I own a CPT10. The quality of the CNC machining work on it is
excellent. The First Base mount works wonderfully. The CPTs do indeed
collapse
into a very small volume for transport, and they are easily set up for
observing. I think you will like the CPT18, but as you imply, the folding
aluminum OTAs are not lightweight, just a remarkably compact precision
OTA with
a remarkably compact and very stable First Base mount, in the case of the
CPT10..
I look forward to the arrival of the CPT18 photos on darkhorizons,
and to
hearing your experience with it.
Clear skies to you. You use them well.
Bill Meyers


Richard Crisp wrote:

"Bill Meyers" wrote in message
...
Hi, Richard,
Another great image! Keep them coming! You are keeping SAA alive.
How is your CPT18 working out? I understand you have found a way
to
have it
function as both a Newtonian and a Cassegrain? When you have a
chance,
could
you post pictures of this set up, or pictures taken with it? When you
have
a
chance.
Ciao,

Thanks Bill.

Actually just yesterday I took delivery of the CPT18 frame. The optics
are
on order with expected delivery in May or June.

I am working on solving the problem of how to support the instruments
and
baffle tube with a rear endcap sort of thing.

The frame is a monster, but it fits in the backseat of my wife's car:

I snapped a couple of shots before I unloaded it. Mark Wagner of
Resource
International, the maker of the frame, had requested I shoot these. They
show that it really is portable.

Full Resolution:
http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_1.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...8_bmw540_2.jpg

VGA resolution (640x480):

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_1_small.jpg

http://www.rdcrisp.darkhorizons.org/...40_2_small.jpg