Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
Hopefully it's okay to post these old images. It's been very cloudy and windy around here lately and I'm still unemployed so I'm bored and going through my old "keepers".
Today - This is Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy taken February 12th, 2015 using my old appropriately named Celestron Comet Catcher f3.64 500mm scope. I was the original owner of that scope and purchased it back in 1985 for the return of Halleys Comet. Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 3200 20x 60second exposures.
I finally sold the comet catcher recently because I couldn't find a coma-corrector/flattener that would work with the scope. As you can see in the corners, it's pretty bad.
And the reason I bought the scope...
Halleys Comet - 1P/Halley Taken 03/16/1986 outside of Alexandria, La. Ektachrome 400 film, a single 10 minute manually guided exposure. I think my astro-imaging has improved a bit.
I'm curious how many there are out there that remember manually guiding film cameras using illuminated reticle eyepieces? As they say, "The good ol' days..".
I did manage to "see" comet C/2020 F8 SWAN but it was extremely difficult to image from our chosen location. We were looking right over Boulder City, NV lights when it rose. This was my pathetic attempt. At least I can say I saw it though...
Hello AstroBee. Several great comet images from you. I also have a Celestron Comet catcher here. I gave it to my eldest son many years ago, and when he moved to Michigan in 2016, he gave it back to me. The focuser is damaged and I don't know if Celestron can service this instrument anymore due to it's age. Thanks for sharing your work with us AstroBee, and the best of wishes for many clear skies.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
Makuser wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:27 pm
Hello AstroBee. Several great comet images from you. I also have a Celestron Comet catcher here. I gave it to my eldest son many years ago, and when he moved to Michigan in 2016, he gave it back to me. The focuser is damaged and I don't know if Celestron can service this instrument anymore due to it's age. Thanks for sharing your work with us AstroBee, and the best of wishes for many clear skies.
Is it the little track that the focuser ride on that has come loose? The track is a couple of inches long and has a tiny screw at each end holding it to the tube. I had to remove the front corrector plate and JBWeld it into place to fix mine once many years ago. I went ahead and flocked the inside of the tube while I had it open and the focuser removed. It's a little tricky, but doable.
