I set up last night at dusk, eager to continue working with my CCD camera under the apparently clear skies. By the time I had set up and polar aligned, the clouds had rolled in. Despite the frustration, my instincts told me to keep the gear set up for awhile longer... maybe things would improve.
The clouds came and went most of the night but there were some long stretches when it was only slighly hazy (lots of moisture in the air), and I was able to take some images. All these were taken with my Tak FC100.
(I haven't incorporated these into html pages yet...)
Test image of M42 while trying to find an eyepiece that is parfocal with the camera. Hi-res/progressive mode, 3 min exposure:
http://members.home.com/psterngold/ccd/m42hi.jpg
Yet another image of M65 and M66, but this is my best yet. It's two 10 min exposures in hi-res mode, one progressive and one "fast" (1x2 binned):
http://members.home.com/psterngold/ccd/m65m66hi.jpg
The Sombrero Galaxy, one 5 min exposure in hi-res/fast mode:
http://members.home.com/psterngold/ccd/sombrero.jpg
I still haven't taken any dark or flat field frames yet. Next time...
