Category Archives: Equipment

Posts about the equipment used at the observatory

Fun with Astrometrics! and a Near Earth Object

Posted on April 24, 2010 by rbuchwald

As some of you may know, I have recently been experimenting with the capability of our observatory equipment to accurately measure the position of objects in the telescope camera images. Things outside of our solar system don’t change position much, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cameras, Equipment, Imaging, Software, Solar System, Telescope | 2 Comments

Nova in Sagittarius

Posted on October 28, 2009 by rbuchwald

Image of the nova – a star that was not visible there before. A little while back, I subscribed to the special notice bulletins from the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). I thought that it might be interesting to … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Sky, Imaging, Sky Events, Software, Stars | 2 Comments

Long Time Exposures for Deep Space

Posted on September 21, 2009 by rbuchwald

The CCD cameras at the observatory are very light sensitive but have a smaller number of “megapixels” as compared to the digital camera that you may be using at home. The CCD chip in many digital cameras today might also … Continue reading →

Posted in Cameras, Deep Sky, Equipment, Imaging | Comments Off

Balancing the telescope

Posted on September 7, 2009 by twalkowski

Balancing the telescope tube is essential to good slewing and tracking.  Putting the guide scope on top of the tube messes with the balance in two axes.  Both axes must be brought back into balance by moving the counterweight under the … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Imaging, Telescope | Comments Off