Better to input the ephemeris instead, otherwise you will have to keep manually changing the RA & Dec continuously to track the comet...... This comet is really speeding past Earth now!
BTW the weather prediction for KL tonight is partly cloudly......so let's hope we will be successful this weekend!

check back on post #658.

Ephemerides of almost every comet and asteriod you'd ever want is available at Nasa's Near Earth Object Program.
link here: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/

Have fun!

Ya, they really made it difficult to see....like treasure hunt lah.

I think I'm going to surrender doing visual observation of this comet. Only thing left is a camping trip and some astrophotography. But with the non-UHTC LX90 I think maybe the results will be disappointing. Your new LX90 will not face the same limitations.

According to specs, there's a 10% difference in the light transmission - Which means its like a 7" scope versus your 8" monster!

In order do astrophotography, it is important to know where to point, and how to get accurate tracking, so I think everything we talk about is relevant. Except maybe when I talk about space aliens...sorry.

I mainly use my Casio digicam with any telescope I can beg borrow or steal. The Philips TouCam is great for planets (with stacking), but it can't do much else unless I change some of the ics, and I need to bring along a notebook if I want to use it, so troublesome. Since the digicam can zoom in and out, I only need to bring along one 32mm eyepiece, so convenient. And with 7 megapixel shots of the full moon...the details are unbelievable! This thrashes the TouCam flat. Of course, there are others with different opinions.....

And i go nuts over dis astrostuff...so tat makes us......monkeys?

You won't know until you try them out. The LPI is an integrated solution so it's easier to use out of the box. It does realtime stacking as you watch, thus you see instant results.

With the ToUCam, you'll have to find third party software to do stacking, and do your own settings to acheive optimum results. It seems to be more suited to the experienced astrophotographer who is quite pc literate. i.e. you must know how to do video capture, and how to import the captured movies into the image processing software.

Both will give great results if you know how to tweak them to the maximum advantage.

BTW this is what I got with the ToUCam during the recent Jupiter opposition.


Just to keep inline with the astrophotography theme so nobody can complain that we are not really doing astrophotography here.

It was clear by Kuala Lumpur standards. if you know what I mean.

Direct viewing through the eyepiece, can easily see the two centre bands, and the great spot. But the eddies in the clouds cannot make out lah. The moons no problem, very bright as usual.

But I only put the the ToUCam directly and did the video capture. I did not use any barlow. I think usually other ppl add in a 3x barlow for larger image and more detail. I was actually looking for the comet at that time and only slew to Jupiter for a quick capture because I noticed the great spot. Then I went back to searching for the comet. I should have spent more time on Jupiter that night!

Ya, you will have to wait for the great spot to rotate into view, but since Jupiter rotates so fast, you can see it if you are prepared to wait.

Using the barlow will definitely require long exposure, since as you say it will cut some light. We will have to weigh the disadvantage of long exposure (softening of the image due to atmospheric effects) against advantage of slightly higher details. So if the sky is very clear, use the barlow. Otherwise, take it off. Of course, if got time, do both and then see which way turns out better.

That's one of the best shots of the moon posted here taken with a standard camera and normal telephoto! What equipment are you using? It looks like it will be excellent for recording the moon phases and both solar and lunar eclipses.
My Casio is quite cacat at shooting the moon unaided...hehe. You can see for yourself how bad it is on page 12, post #229 of this thread. Don't blame me if you vomit.....

julchin_09, don't worry too much about trying to understand what we are talking about. Astrophotography is fun when you experiment with what you have. It gets boring when you get too technical.

BTW what happened to Choostar? She seems to have disappeared in Oct 2005. As a member of APGM, she would be great to help us out here!

Looks like the beginning of the Kluang Astronomy Club.....hehe.

jealous, jealous, jealous,.......

Eithanius, let's do some Serious Astrophotography with our SNP tonite!

julchin_09, if you're looking East, that's Jupiter. If you're looking West, then that's most likely Sirius, the dog star.

Yep, Starry Night Pro is what we call a `planetarium in your pc' program. It simulates the sky (night and day) for any location on earth. Some of us in this thread think it's the coolest software of its kind available today......but then we could be a wee bit biased.

So how was last night?

I would like to report, sirs, that the sky was excellent too, in my SNP!

Oh well, weekend's coming up. Let's hope the KL skies clear up as a personal favour to me.......I'm still green with envy.

Hi starry...oops sorry, stanny, may I suggest you start with a pair of good binoculars and a planisphere/star charts first?
You may not get a very good telescope system at that budget, and poor optics/struggling with siderial tracking could damage your interest in astronomy right at the start.
Unless you have an enthusiast living nearby to quide you.

Did you catch the earthshine? I was driving when I saw the thin moon in the corner of my eye. Unfortunately when I got home the moon had set.
julchin_09, pls post whatever you got.

julchin_09, as Mr.LKM suggested, you need to give it a longer exposure. By my reckoning, you need to push the exposure by at least another 2 stops. Then you should be able to see the details in the darker parts. The bright crescent will be overexposed, of course.
However, since you have maxed out your aperture at F/3.5 already and were using 1/2 sec shutter speed, 2 stops would mean a 2 second exposure. That could be a problem as you will encounter motion blur unless you have a motorised equatorial mount. The only other alternative is to increase your iso and bear with increased noise.

But you made a jolly good attempt anyway. I can just manage to make out the full circle of the moon in your first shot!

Hey, aren't you supposed to be teaching me to blog?
I think you're doing fine anyway. Just be your natural self and post your nightly observations as you see it (or don't see it).

You will most likely have to wait another 4 weeks for the next opportunity. The moon with earthshine is one of the most beautiful astronomical sights, and best captured when the moon is extremely thin.
This is very challenging as success depends on your timing, the sky conditions, and the quality of your camera lens (good contrast etc).

If you put in too many articles it won't feel like a blog site anymore. Just provide a link to current news and events that have caught your eye instead of reproducing those articles in your blog. You can throw in your own original opinions and comments, of course.

Your observation notes should be on the main page (after all, your blog is called `Astronomy Notes') and other items can be kept secondary (i.e links or on next pages).

These are just my opinions. I'm quite a dull & conservative person so you understand......

Unfortunately, nothing much to report. Skies have been pretty bad.

Just something of interest, comet(s) 73P/SW has crossed the space directly between us and the sun and will now start to appear just before dawn, but the fragments are much further away compared to last month, so more difficult to observe even though they will rise earlier as time goes by.

I'm sorry to say I still cannot locate the StarHunters' business card. Can anybody else help?

I can only find the Star-finders Assosciation contact. But this is a Selangor/KL group, so may not be much help to you guys in Johore.

I wonder if she'll turn out to be like the Heroine in Carl Sagan's `Contact'?