Dark Sky Map

Dark Sky: Where Are You? [Astrophotography]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:November 3, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / Astrophotography / Night Sky / Wide Field Astrophotography

Milky Way (I didn't take this photo) The hunt for a dark sky was once imaginary. Before Lewis Howard Latimer and Thomas Alva Edison dropped the mic on the light…

Telescope & Mount: ModifiedOrion Astroview 6 Reflector with Astroview Mount Camera: Canon EOS XTi Guiding: None Location: Carrollton, VA Sky: Bortle Class 5 Acquisition & Calibration: - Filter: None and I'm looking into narrowband filters - ISO 1600 - 49 Light Frames @ 30 s - 35 Dark Frames @ 30 s - 20 Flat Frames - 30 Bias Frames - Total Integration Time: 24.5 minutes

Long Exposure Astrophotography [Get A Drive Motor]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:October 20, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / DSLR Camera / Google PIxel / Long Exposure Astrophotography / Telescope / Telescope Mount / Wide Field Astrophotography

Long exposure astrophotography without a GoTo Mount has been a fun challenge for me. Over the past few months, I've posted a few of my results on Reddit to some…

Messier 31 Andromeda Galaxy Telescope & Mount: Orion ST-80 with Astroview Mount Camera: Canon EOS XTi Guiding: None Location: Carrollton, VA Sky: Bortle Class 5Acquisition & Calibration: - Filter: None - APT (Astrophotography Tool) - ISO 1600 - 40 Light Frames @ 120 s - 62 Dark Frames @ 120 s - 19 Flat Frames - 60 Bias Frames - Total Integration Time: 80 minutes

Wide Field Astrophotography and First Light with My Orion ST-80 [Andromeda Galaxy]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:October 6, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / Galaxies / Night Sky / Telescope / Wide Field Astrophotography

Because it's small and great for wide field astrophotography picked up an Orion ST-80 telescope. The ST stands for Short Tube. In case you're wondering, first light, simply means the…

M13: Great Globular Cluster May 16, 2019 Messier 13 Telescope: RRRT (Fan Mountain) Camera: SBIG STX-16803 Exposure: Visible (Mono): 40 @ 2 min Total - 1 Hour 20 minutes exposure

Comparing M13 Photos [Messier 13]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:June 16, 2019
Post category:Astrophotography / Deep Sky / Post Processing / Star Clusters

M13 or the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules is an astronomy favorite. It is 145 light years in diameter and contains approximately 300,000 stars. I've recently focused two telescopes on…

Messier 3 Globular Cluster May 28, 2019 Messier 3 Telescope: Modified Orion Astroview 6 Camera: Canon EOS XTi Exposure: No Filter: 14 @ 90 seconds Total - 21 minutes exposure

How To Find Night Sky Objects Without A GoTo Mount [Plate Solving]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:June 14, 2019
Post category:Astrophotography / Deep Sky / Night Sky / Plate Solving / Star Clusters

I want to find night sky objects with a GoTo mount. If you know me, I love technology. Yet for this hobby, I want to learn the night sky with…

Google Pixel Really Blue using the NOAA Magnetic Field Calculator to determine true north

My Polar Alignment Methods [Telescope Setup]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:June 2, 2019
Post category:Astrophotography / Deep Sky / Long Exposure Astrophotography / Telescope / Telescope Mount / Wide Field Astrophotography

Messier 51 or M51 or Whirlpool Galaxy. Telescope: RRRT (Fan Mountain) Camera: SBIG STX-16803 Exposure: Red: 14 @ 2 min Blue: 14 @ 2 min Visible: 14 @ 2 min…

Messier 51 or M51 or Whirlpool Galaxy. Telescope: RRRT (Fan Mountain) Camera: SBIG STX-16803 Exposure: Red: 14 @ 2 min Blue: 14 @ 2 min Visible: 14 @ 2 min Total - 84 minutes exposure

Messier 51 On The RRRT [Whirlpool Galaxy]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:May 11, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / Astrophotography / Deep Sky / Long Exposure Astrophotography / Night Sky / Telescope

Remember my last article? You know the one about my experience at the Fan Mountain Observatory in April 2019. The outcome was to target Messier 51 or the Whirlpool Galaxy…

Fan Mountain Observatory Complex which houses the 30 inch and 40 inch telescopes.

UVA, Norfolk State & Me [Fan Mountain Observatory]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:May 2, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / Astrophysics / Night Sky / Telescope / Universe

Fresh off seeing my UVA Cavaliers win the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship, I couldn't wait to visit grounds. In fact I packed all my UVA gear

Orion Astroview 6: Equipment Spotlight [Moving Prime Focus]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:March 10, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / DSLR Camera / Nebula / Night Sky / Telescope

I moved prime focus without cutting the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) on my Orion Astroview 6 telescope. Huh? How? No way? The first thing I did when the Canon EOS…

3D printed Bahtinov Masks

Bahtinov Mask: Equipment Spotlight [Focus]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:February 2, 2019
Post category:Astronomy / Astrophysics / DSLR Camera / Telescope

I 3D printed a Bahtinov Mask, so I can clearly see the sky. There are numerous objects in the night sky. Using a telescope brings them into view but how…