The Naked Astronomer

09/11/2008 - URANUS IN MOTION

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:36:50 -0800

Here, you can quickly and easily spot the motion of Uranus against the backdrop of space. Taken five days apart, these pictures make identification of the planet a snap.

09/10/2008 - NEPTUNE ON THE MOVE

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:37:06 -0800

In this time sequence shot over a period of five days, you can clearly see the planet Neptune move across the field of background stars.

09/09/2008 - PLUTO IMAGED

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:01:30 -0800

I was able to positively identify Pluto in several of my images by carefully watching its movement over the period of a week. Unfortunately, the planet is so tiny and so far away that in our light-polluted skies, the photo is grainy. I will try to get some better images soon! It literally was like searching for a needle in a haystack - taking the photos was the easy part.

09/06/2008 - M57 THE RING NEBULA

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:49:47 -0800

The Ring Nebula (Messier Object 57 or NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Lyra, south of its brightest star, Vega. This time of year, both lie near the zenith, directly overhead. M57 is best seen through at least an 8-inch telescope - a 12 inch telescope was used here. This was my first time to image this particular nebula, and it was the highlight of the night.
(Canon EOS20D, f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Field Flattener, Meade 12" LX90 GPS, Jim W. Coleman, Port Orchard, Washington)

09/06/2008 - M11 The Wild Duck Cluster

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:05:17 -0800

The Wild Duck Cluster (Messier Object 11 or NGC 6705) is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. It contains thousands of stars and is just over 5,000 light years distant. I haven't imaged this in a year - it was a lot of fun to return to it.
(Canon EOS20D, f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Field Flattener, Meade 12" LX90 GPS, Jim W. Coleman, Port Orchard, Washington)

09/06/2008 - M17 The Swan Nebula

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:03:58 -0800

The Omega Nebula (Messier Object 17 or NGC 6618) is also called the Swan Nebula, the Horseshoe Nebula or (particularly south of the equator) the Lobster Nebula. It is a region of star formation and shines by excited emission casued by the higher radiation of young stars. Star formation is either still active in this nebula, or very recently ceased. A small cluster of about 35 bright but obscured stars seems embedded in the nebulosity.
(Canon EOS20D, f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Field Flattener, Meade 12" LX90 GPS, Jim W. Coleman, Port Orchard, Washington)

09/06/2008 - Eagle Nebula

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:01:36 -0800

The Eagle Nebula (Messier Object 15 or NGC 6611) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens. The brightest star in the nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8.24, easily visible with good binoculars. The Eagle Nebula is home to the famous "Pillars of Creation," one of the Hubble Space Telescope's finest images.

(Canon EOS20D, f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Field Flattener, Meade 12" LX90 GPS, Jim W. Coleman, Port Orchard, Washington)

09/06/2008 - M15

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:00:00 -0800

Globular cluster Messier 15 (M15, NGC 7078) is among the more conspicuous of these great stellar swarms. At a distance of about 33,600 light years, its diameter of 18.0 arc min corresponds to a linear extension of about 175 light-years, and its total visual brightness of 6.2 magnitudes corresponds to an absolute magnitude of -9.17, or roughly 360,000 times that of our sun.
(Canon EOS20D, f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Field Flattener, Meade 12" LX90 GPS, Jim W. Coleman, Port Orchard, Washington)

07/12/2008 - JUPITER SHINES OVER HOUSE

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:49:49 -0800

Jupiter shines brightly in the southeast over the rooftop of our house. The red glow comes from a red floodlight outside of the observatory - it is so bright due to the fact that this is a time exposure. In the original (high resolution) image, three of Jupiter's moons are visible in the photo.

06/15/2008 - PAINTING THE OBSERVATORY

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:06:10 -0800

Father's Day weekend in the Seattle region brought a good amount of sunshine (YAY, FINALLY!!) and I took advantage of the weather to paint the observatory. I made very good progress but there still is work left to do - you can see the top panels are still bare and should be red, along with some of the trim. The observatory was painted to match the outbuilding and the house.

06/08/2008 - ROOF OPEN!

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:06:10 -0800

06/07/08 - EVOLUTION OF AN OBSERVATORY

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:41:00 -0800

Today I was able to complete most of the remodels to the observatory - the new roof rails are in place and the roof was fully retracted today (despite the rain); external outlets were installed; the building was trimmed in cedar (which is now WAY expensive ... ); and it was wired into the house security system. The only things left are rebuilding the door with a stronger, solid door and painting the exterior. Woohoo!

06/03/2008 - OBSERVATORY EXTENSION

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:36:31 -0800

After having the property logged, enough sky was opened up that the observatory had to be redesigned to allow the roof to retract further. Where only the southern ecliptic was visible before, the zenith and even Polaris might likely be in view now, provided the roof fully retract. Work is underway to extend the rails to make that possible.

05/18/2008 PIER PLATE/PIER MOUNT

Sun, 18 May 2008 07:26:22 -0800

This completes the permanent pier project, a mounting custom built to hold the Meade Ultrawedge and the 12" LX90 GPS. This is my own design but borrows from others I have seen on the Internet. The big decision was wood versus steel (or aluminum). I finally chose wood as it has better vibration-dampening characteristics than steel. These are solid 1 1/2 inch thick pieces of oak plywood, glued and pressed together to form a top and a bottom plate. It is adjustable for leveling and there are adjustments to allow the Ultrawedge to be moved as well. This still uses a shortened version of the center bolt with the knob and Meade compass. The yellow bubble level I set in place on the front reads ... perfectly level. :)

05/17/2008 - TELESCOPE ON PIER

Sat, 17 May 2008 12:19:51 -0800

Here, the 12" Meade LX90 sits atop the permanent pier, on a mount built specifically for this pier and for the Meade Ultrawedge. A power receptacle will allow the telescope, computers and other accessories to be plugged in without having wires crossing the floor of the observatory.