Winter Sky is on the rise...

... and so are my astrophotography opportunities.

Two images are captured last weekend, and I'm quite happy with both of them.

The first one is probably the deepest M45 in Hong Kong:

Borg 77EDII + 0.7x reducer/flattener (357mm f/4.6)
Takahashi EM11, unguided
Canon 5DMkII modified; ISO800
LPS-P2 Filter
3min x 60 (3 hours)

The second one is my first successfully autoguided image:


Scope: Borg125SD + TS2.5Flattener (750mm F/6)
Mount: Takahashi EM11;
Autoguide: Lodestar, PHD, 50mm finder/guider
Camera: Canon 5DMkII modified; ISO1600
Filter: LPS-P2
Exposure: 5min x 27 (Total exposure 135min)

The optical systems are both new tries. I like the lightness of the Borg scopes so I got the 125SD for myself and the 77ED for my workplace. Both the Borg reducer and the TS flattener are working fine. If necessary the reducer can be used for the 125SD, which gives 525mm f/4.2.

Hope I will have another night of clear weather this weekend.

Summer Skies 2013, Hong Kong

Summer is half way done, and these are what were achieved so far. Images taken at a relatively "dark" site here. Nowhere is really dark here anyway...

Sky90 definitely needs to be sent back for maintenance, the question is at what cost.

All images taken with 5DII modified.

M8M20, Sky90 w/reducer, 2.5hour exposure

Veil Nebula, Sky90 w/reducer, 1 hour exposure

M31, Sky90 w/reducer, 1 hour exposure

Veil Nebula, Sky90 w/reducer, 24min exposure

Cygnus Milkyway Mosaic, Canon 100L@f/3.5, 2x2 mosaic, each pane 40min exposure

Attachment board

Being Sentimental

May you walk your way up to heaven, and fly among the stars.

Weird Corners... What happened to my Sky90?

Sky90 with F4.5 reducer/flattener, 1min x 10, unguided, 5DII modified

Full Image:

Centre crop

 Top right, bottom right, top left, bottom left

To demonstrate the problem this is an image taken in 2008, same scope and reducer, Mamiya 645 E200, manually guided 1 hour.

Is this a yearly blog or something?

I have been pretty frustrated not grabbing chances to go out when weather is good. I don't know what happened to my lazy bones...

Anyway, I have been to a few places in 2012, including A few countries in Europe as well as a popular site for Hong Kong people in China.

Haven't been able to do autoguiding yet, but actively looking for good weather to try it out. The following are the pictures I took in 2012...