The campsite location is perfect for a star party sitting as it does in a
As my CGX has been messing about lately I decided not to upset it further and instead to take my
The sky was clear and blue at dusk and we were all hopeful for some good imaging and viewing sessions. So I set up my camera and tripod, I put the laptop on my camping table and connected everything up. Vega was first to appear followed by Deneb in the time honoured fashion. I pointed my camera South using the trees to show a level orientation and focus whilst waiting for more stars to appear. As darkness fell I focused on the stars and captured my first images. I forgot about the
While the camera was busy Astronomical Dark had started and the beauty of the night sky, not seen at home, fully revealed itself! It was brilliant and will stay with me for a long time! Naked eye Milky Way was so plain to see. Smaller constellations that can't be seen at home in clear view. A definite wow moment! I spent some time with the binoculars studying M31, M13 and others, they don't look this good at home!
I had a look at what the others were doing; Carol was set up with a dual rig waiting for the Taurus molecular cloud to rise. My new astronomy friend Rodger was capturing the Iris Nebula and Barnard 145. My new astronomy friend Simon was pointing his rig at Cepheus. And my new astronomy friend Mark was capturing the Flying Bat through his Tak Epsilon. All were so pleased to be doing the hobby in such great conditions and I was beginning to regret not bringing my CGX and
A good night was had by all. The tent was supposed to be a 3 man size but there was barley room to sit up and getting in an out was tricky to say the least! The self inflating air bed turned out to be self deflating! But I managed to get some sleep! In the morning I had a well arty breakfast in Ticehurst in a well arty coffee shop. During the day we chatted, did laptop stuff and checked out each others telescope setups. It was a relaxing day just being in the country side.
The evening was cloudy and didn't look promising but as darkness fell gaps opened in the clouds. We saw the
I got 99 semi usable x 30 second subs and blinked them last night to take out the passing clouds and narrowed it down to 43 subs. I already had some 30 second darks. Here's the result:
Not a great image, in the subs there was a faint hint of pink where the North America Nebula is, I seem to have processed out the colour! But the shape and the Pelican's eyes are still there. Very pleased to have captured this part of the Milky Way.
If you ever thought of going to a star party but never did, then go, you won't regret it! Right, I'm off to process my star trails!
Regards
Graeme
