Cold mornings here, but the day warms up nicely to the low 20C's (70ish F) and it's been sunny. Almost every day has seen me out with my white light setup.
Not sure what it is, but lately my focusing seems to be a bit off. I've had the focuser on this scope (C80-HD) locked in for years now. Well, maybe not as "locked in" as I thought
I also received a new T-ring from Baader some time back. I'm currently using a Vixen one, but every so often you have to tighten the three screws that hold the two parts of the body together. The Baader (on the left) is one piece.
Switching these will require a re-focus for sure, but the Sun is very difficult to get focus on, at least for me. The sweat running into my eyes doesn't help either...
Best thing I've found to do for that is get focus on the Moon first, then you're good to go for Solar, planetary, etc.
On the 25th I took some shots of the Sun with Baader 5.0 OD film. I set my EOS 550D to ISO 800 and 1/200th sec exp for this. Best 10% of 120 shots:
Full size image here
A little blurry, and that's even with some post processing in Astra Image.
That night I switched T-rings and focused my setup on the Moon rising in the east. I think I found focus:
Full size image here
Yesterday the 26th, I took 120 shots of the Sun and processed again the best 10%. I also used Baader 3.8 OD film this time, and an exposure of 1/1600th second. I have to think the increased shutter speed helps eliminate any atmospheric turbulence, though I could be wrong on that. Still, I think it's much sharper; this is ol' Sol with no post processing at all with the exception of some cropping:
Full size image here
So that's Thefatkitty's adventures in AP. One night (maybe even tonight weather permitting) I'd like to get out and actually observe something...!! If my lenses weren't in a sealed container they'd have a lot of dust on them.
I need food. It's 10AM here, my stomach is rumbling. I just put my hand on my stomach and I think I felt my spine
Have a good day/night all!
