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Saturday Night Viewing at Kye's Star Farm
May 31, 2003
Fred Lehman
Saturday afternoon was consumed preparing for a full night of
astro-imaging, and as usual, I was the last one to arrive on the
scene. The viewing field was already full of cars, trailers, and
scopes, so I had to set up on the far outskirts near the big trees.
This was probably all for the best, because the mass of indicator
LEDs from the array of cameras, autoguiders, dew heaters, and
computers lights up my LX200 like a Christmas Tree. Even with a
dark red filter on my laptop screen, I still have to wear sunglasses
to preserve my night vision.
In stark contrast to my solitary imaging sessions in the Everglades,
Kye's Star Farm was tonight living up to it name. In addition to Kye
and her 20" Obsession, the event was attended by Paul Crate with his
TV85 refractor, Frank (whose last name I can't remember) with his
Meade 10" Starfinder, Jim Mayes with his 6" dob, George DeBarros
with his new Meade 8" LX200GPS, John Clifton with his nearly new
Meade 12" LX200GPS, and Jim Kimball with his 14.5" Starmaster.
All scopes other than my own 12" LX200 were set up for visual
work.
The skies were clear, the humidity was low, the winds were light and
steady, and there were very few mosquitoes. I started imaging as soon
as it was dark enough to do so, and I proceeded to capture perfect
image after perfect image. In fact, if it weren't for the other scopes
on the field through which I occasionally mooched a view, the evening
would have been downright uneventful.
We all had a splendid time and everyone stayed at it till the wee hours
of the morning. Things finally started to wind down around 3 AM, and by
5:30 everyone was fast asleep. All in all, a very pleasant
evening.
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- Object: Antennae Galaxies NGC4038 and NGC4039
- Constellation: Corvus the Crow
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 26 x 2 minutes
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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- Object: Dwarf Irregular Starburst Galaxy NGC4449
- Constellation: Canes Venatici, the two hunting dogs of Bootes: Astarion and Chara.
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 16 x 2 minutes
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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- Object: Cocoon Galaxy NGC4490
- Constellation: Canes Venatici, the two hunting dogs of Bootes: Astarion and Chara.
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 13 x 2 minutes
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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- Object: Globular Cluster NGC6171 (M107)
- Constellation: Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 20 x 30 seconds
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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- Object: Globular Cluster NGC6093 (M80)
- Constellation: Scorpius the Scorpion
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 13 x 30 seconds
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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- Object: Veil Nebula Section NGC6992
- Constellation: Cygnus the Swan
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 13 x 30 seconds
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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- Object: Veil Nebula Section NGC6995
- Constellation: Cygnus the Swan
- Telescope: 12" LX200 @ f/5
- Camera: Starlight Xpress MX7c
- Resolution: 780x580 @ 1.12 arcseconds per pixel
- Exposure: 8 x 2 minutes
- Autoguider: SBIG STV on piggyback 120mm refractor @ f/3
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