Astro Images: Mar-May 2012

12" LX200R, Paramount ME, STL-11000M C1

CLICK ON EACH IMAGE FOR FULL-RESOLUTION VIEW

 

Annular Solar Eclipse!

Sierra Skies Observatory, in El Dorado Hills, California USA, was at the very edge of the annular solar eclipse of May 20, 2012.

Below is an image of the sun just prior to the eclipse, a short video showing progress of the eclipse, and the series of photos taken through the 12" LX200R scope using both a white light solar filter ("ERF" at the front of the scope) and a 3nm bandwidth Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) filter. You will note that 1) the field-of view of the LX200 (24x36 arcminutes) does not quite encompass the entire sun or moon; 2) due to technical difficulties, I did not get photos from first contact through about the first 15 minutes of the eclipse; and 3) the location of the observatory was just outside the annular eclipse zone - so even at the peak, we did not see a full annulus of the sun encircling the moon. For a detailed description of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly regarding my recent eclipse photography experience, please check out the Blog.

Sequence of Images from the May 20, 2012 Annular Eclipse (12" LX200R, White Light Solar Filter & Ha Filter)

(White Light Filter and Astrodon 3nm Ha filter, 0.2-5 second exposures, alll binned 1x1; 5:44-7:40PM, May 2012)

Video of Solar Eclipse on May 20, 2012 from Sierra Skies Observatory (El Dorado Hills, California USA)

(Short but Hi-Def video linked to YouTube)

Sun before Eclipse (12" LX200R, White Light Solar Filter & Ha Filter)

(White Light Filter and Astrodon 3nm Ha Filter, 0.2 second exposure at 3400mm Focal Length, binned 1x1; 2:40PM, May 2012)

THE FIELD OF VIEW WAS 24x36 ARCMINUTES, SOLAR TRACKING RATE, F#=11.15, PA=155

M104 - The "UFO" Galaxy (LX, LRGB Image)

(11.5 hours total exposure - L 34x10 min, binned 1x1; R 6x20 min, G 9x10 min, B 7x20 min, RGB binned 2x2;, Apr 2012)