Introduction - About Myself
Hi, Welcome to Pete's Astronomy. My location is Vanderbijlpark South Africa (Lat 26 41' 55"S Lon 27 49' 0"E). Not the best location for astronomy due to extream light pollution. This adds a challenge. Being a retired fellow I also find astronomy a very rewarding hobby which allows for ample mental and physical stimulation, essential for a healthy life.
Apart from the obvious, my interests also include high voltage Tesla coils, radio meteors, NOAA low polar orbiting satellites image reception, general outdoor activities like fishing, walking and wild game viewing. Prior to retiring I was a process engineer with a large petrochemical company.
These pages are intended as a source of general interest and information for the low tech astronomer and will be updated periodically. For the DIY enthusiast check out the adobe pdf files
Chat Update
Mirror Flop Modification - Celestron 8" SCT 20 April 2012
A fellow amateur astronomer and friend has come up with a noval and innovative approach to rectify this annoying problem with his Celestron 8" SCT. Anyone interested in his method/modification can vistit his webpage at this link. Len's approach is well thought out and documented in detail.
NGC3324 - 1 April 2012
Short pulse guiding shot of NGC3324. The face is clearly visiable with a rich star field. A very easy subject to image.
I have also added a shot of the Tarantula Nebula using a Celestron 1.25" UHC LPF and a modified Canon 1000d. This can be compared with a previous shot using an Un-Modified camera on the same page.
Pulse Guiding - 18 March 2012
Have started experimenting with guiding. Current setup is a 60mm f6 refractor piggy-back mounted on the 10" Skywatcher. The guide camera is a 1004XA from RF Concepts with a Sony super HAD sensor with a sensitivity of 0.003 lux. Software is PHD Guiding and EQASCOM. The 1st serious attempt was capturing the Rosette Nebula. Used a 120 second exposure at ISO 1600. A total of 20 images were stacked in Deepskystacker and processed with StarTools 1.2.141. This "DIY MacGyver" approach is working well. See image in Deep Space section
Light pollution has always been a problem for me. I have historically combated this with a software approach. Now I have spoilt myself with a Astronomik CLS clip in filter for the Canon 1000d. I'm over the moon with the results.
New Images - 7 January 2012
Had a few good sessions with lower light pollution than usual. Especially the HorseHead and Flame nebula. Got up 1AM in the morning and saw clear skies with little or no sky glow. Could not resist the temptation
"StarTools". The latest release 1.2.145 is just getting better and better.
Click on the StarTools link icon and find out more.
What's New - 20 Apr 2012
Mirror Flop Celestron 8" SCT - Modification
