Backyard Astronomy with the Moon, M15, Mizar/Alcor and Some Plain Old Observing

This weekend I packed up all my gear and headed over to my friend John's house north of the city. It's not exactly dark skies, but there is a lot less light pollution from direct glare (but still can't escape the sky glow on the horizon). My goal was to photograph the moon, try to spot Andromeda through my scope, and then maybe check out some objects on the September list or just show John some double stars that I'm already familiar with.

232 images stacked in StarStaX, taken with Canon Powershot at ISO 800, 15 sec each

DSLR at prime focus on Meade 285, 1/50 sec, ISO 200, stack of 20 images

DSLR on fixed tripod, 196 subs, 44 darks, 42 bias, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1.3 sec, 300mm

I started by showing John how I set up my point and shoot to take star trail photos. We got this camera up and running first so that it could go the whole night while we were looking at other objects. Next, I went to the moon because it's such an easy target. We observed the moon, and then I tried to find the Andromeda Galaxy by star hopping. I still couldn't locate it with my scope! It must be too faint, and I must be too inexperienced.

After getting frustrated about Andromeda, I tried an easier target - I was able to find Albireo and showed John the color contrast between the two stars. Next, I tried to observe Beta Cephei, but I still couldn't resolve it into two different stars. I either had the wrong star, or my magnification (or resolution) just isn't high enough to split them.

I was, however, able to split Mizar and Alcor very easily. I put my camera back on the scope to take a few shots. I didn't notice it until I got the images onto my computer, but it looks like I actually got Mizar to split into its two subsequent stars (each of which are actually double stars themselves!). Tons of fun and quite the prolific night of observing!

ISO 1600, 1/3 sec, Canon Rebel XT at prime focus on Meade 285
Mizar A/B have a separation of 14.4" (arcseconds) which I guess is about the limit of my setup

Mini Messier Marathon: M27 (Dumbbell Nebula), M15, M56, M71

I woke up at 2:30am on Saturday morning to take the dog out. It was clear out, so I decided to set up my camera on the balcony and shoot some objects around the Summer Triangle that was in the western sky. Between 2:30am - 4:00am I was able to image four Messier objects and Nova Delphini 2013.

First up, M27 the Dumbbell Nebula. I never thought I'd be able to catch this dim nebula with just my DSLR on a fixed tripod, but I was excited that the basic shape is visible! This object also counts toward my IAS Novice/Urban Observing List for August 2013.

161 subs, 62 dark, 45 bias each at 300mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

Crop of the above image showing Dumbbell Nebula shape

132 subs, 62 dark, 45 bias each at 300mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

88 subs, 62 dark, 45 bias each at 300mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

145 subs, 62 dark, 45 bias each at 300mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

I also noticed that the apparent magnitudes listed on each item's main Wikipedia page is different from the items listed on the Messier object page, and different than the magnitudes listed in Stellarium - So which should I use?? Either way, M71 and M56 were super faint.

I also recycled some bias and dark frames from another day entirely. I know it's probably not the best solution, but I don't think at this level of photography it's that noticeable - plus my memory card was completely full.

So much easier! Another reason why I love a balcony.

I brought my laptop running Stellarium out onto the balcony with me - which was so much easier than going back and forth to look up anchor stars or stars that look familiar. Luckily it has a night vision mode, and I turned the screen brightness way down.