The Search for Pluto....

[Unitron48]

This report represents several observing sessions starting on the night of 17/18 June....and concluding on the night of 9/10 July. It also represents the combined effort of myself, Don and Chris conducted at Morning Calm Observatory, Reva, Virginia. The primary scope was an older 12 inch Meade LX200 with camera. The primary objective was to capture several images over time of the Pluto star field for the purpose of identifying the planet. We used Skylive photographs to back up the goto capability of the LX200. This first photo was the 9/10 July Skylive photo showing several positions of Pluto.

The next two photos were taken on 6 July and 10 July. The red circle shows Pluto; the bluish circle shows the absence of the planet. Note: Actual star fields images courtesy of Don, MCO owner.

Looking forward to any comments.

Dave

[notFritzArgelander]

Yep!

[Thefatkitty]

That's really well done, Dave! Good planning, all of you, and the pics are really great also. Easy to see with the three stars as a reference

All the best,

[Unitron48]

That's really well done, Dave! Good planning, all of you, and the pics are really great also. Easy to see with the three stars as a reference

All the best,

Thanks, Mark! No matter how long I've been doing this (observing), some things still provide a thrill!

Dave

[turboscrew]

Really good job! Congratulations!

[KingNothing13]

Dave - that's really neat - thanks and congrats! Seems like a lot of work to see Pluto.

[Unitron48]

Dave - that's really neat - thanks and congrats! Seems like a lot of work to see Pluto.

Thanks, Brett! Nothing is too good for our dear planet Pluto!

Dave

[Bigzmey]

Well done Dave!

[MistrBadgr]

Congratulations, Dave! You did it!

[Graeme1858]

Congratulations on spotting Pluto Dave.

Funny how identifying a tiny dot can be such a buzz!

Regards

Graeme

[Unitron48]

Congratulations on spotting Pluto Dave.

Funny how identifying a tiny dot can be such a buzz!

Regards

Graeme

Thanks, Graeme! It is funny how something so insignificant can be so exciting! But then again, if we weren't into tiny dots we wouldn't be in this business!

Dave

[helicon]

Great job Dave on spotting Pluto! Success!

And congrats on winning the VROD for the day!

[Gordon]

Congratulations on finding a difficult target!

[Makuser]

Hi Dave. This is a great report on the search for a "tough cookie". Your time lapse photo work confirms your success, and many of us have never even observed Pluto. Thanks for sharing this report with us on here Dave, and congratulations on winning another TSS VROD Award today.

[kt4hx]

Very well done Dave, Don and Chris. Your methodology was sound and worked as intended. Congrats on finding Pluto and on the VROD.

I remember when I observed it visually with my 12 inch, I printed out charts of the field to the stellar magnitude of 15.0 to help aid me in finding this little dot. It is indeed a rush to make a plan and then have it come to fruition because you planned and executed it well. Again, nicely done and very happy for you guys.

[Unitron48]

Great job Dave on spotting Pluto! Success!

And congrats on winning the VROD for the day!

Thanks, Michael! Much appreciated.

Dave

[John Baars]

This was a a great job, very well done!
It remembers me of a visual Pluto quest more than 30 years ago with a C14 and the use of sketches.
Photos, however, speak much more to the imagination. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[Unitron48]

Very well done Dave, Don and Chris. Your methodology was sound and worked as intended. Congrats on finding Pluto and on the VROD.

I remember when I observed it visually with my 12 inch, I printed out charts of the field to the stellar magnitude of 15.0 to help aid me in finding this little dot. It is indeed a rush to make a plan and then have it come to fruition because you planned and executed it well. Again, nicely done and very happy for you guys.

Thanks, Alan! Your method was more "purist", but sometimes taking advantage of technology is fun too!

Dave

[Unitron48]

Hi Dave. This is a great report on the search for a "tough cookie". Your time lapse photo work confirms your success, and many of us have never even observed Pluto. Thanks for sharing this report with us on here Dave, and congratulations on winning another TSS VROD Award today.

Thanks, Marshall! This was my first success also!! All the sweeter!!!

Dave

[Unitron48]

This was a a great job, very well done!
It remembers me of a visual Pluto quest more than 30 years ago with a C14 and the use of sketches.
Photos, however, speak much more to the imagination. Thanks for sharing this with us!

Thanks, John. You do a much better job with sketches than I ever could. Takes a lot more patience and skill than I have!!

Dave