ShahGazer Rambling about Astrophotography, Coding and Clouds

In a rare event, I found myself to be extremely active imaging the sun for the past few days. Well, that is until the haze began to engulf the Klang Valley! Previous attempt to have a consistent record on the sun, was mostly hampered by the extreme heat at my home observatory. And it doesn't help with me having to view the DSLR LCD under the hot sun. I decided then, to finally buy Backyard EOS (BYE) , which will help me to control the DSLR remotely. I've already hooked up my EQ6 and Moonlite Focuser to my laptop, and controlling via EQMOD and FocusMax. So, the addition of BYE certainly helps. So, after conjuring a nice setup and with me hiding near the doorstep of my observatory, away from the heat and sun, I've managed to come up with a consistent set of images on the Sun. It so happen that sunspot AR1504 is evolving nicely, and quickly became my main target. So here are my collections. (descending order)

I simply loved a daylight moon. The lack of contrast between the sky and the moon surface, especially at the Lunar Maria area somehow gave it a peaceful and kind of a sad, appearance. This shot was taken this morning (14 Feb 2012) using Canon 550D,  SW 80ED, ISO200 and 1/1600 sec exposure.

Finally i got to test my modded Canon 40D. The sky wasn't great. High thin clouds were apparent, but since this is the best night since.. well, 'forever' ! ... I just couldn't pass it. I was scrambling most of the time, to familiarizes myself with the buttons on the 40D. Need to get a used to it, after using 550D for so long. But eventually, with the help of a couple of video tips on youtube, I am finally ready for the shots. Since I don't have the remote cable, I am stuck with the 30 sec shots. I did some 10 shots, and choose the best 7 of it. My processing steps are as follows: 1. Convert CRW files to TIF, using Canon DPP software. 2. Stacked using MaxIm DL. 3. Levels and Curves adjustment using Photoshop. The final photo was the best I can push for, otherwise the noise will be too hard to handle. I was pretty pleased with the performance of the modded 40D. Comparing it with  the QHY9 CCD, well.. I don't think it's a fair comparison. I can ...

This is, as far as I can remember, the most complete set of Total Lunar Eclipse sequence, I managed to capture under the unpredictable Malaysian sky! I am very pleased with the results. And equally please with the performance of my newly bought AstroTrac! This is a screenshot from my local television, with me and my good friend, Dr. Rowi along with the new toy.

The morning of 14th May 2011 was pretty clear. After several days shrouded by haze, the sky at my observatory was promising this morning. My 10'x10' observatory footprint doesn't allow me to have a good spot for the shot. But at least the planets were pretty near the nearby mosque and have a photogenic look. I submitted this photo at Spaceweather.com and surprisingly was selected at the front page today . Thanks Dr. Tony Phillips of Spaceweather.com !

The moon was pretty much basking its light in Scorpio last night. But the sky was somewhat clear from clouds. So, I decided to do some DSLR astrophotography on the moon (left). Equipment is Canon 300D and Skywatcher Equinox 80 ED. Both tracking on HEQ5-Pro mount. Then, thin clouds came and went around the southern part of the sky. But the temptation of doing DSLR on Deep-Sky seems to be too good to be true. So, here are some of the objects taken last night. M22. 26 X 20 sec subs.