Monthly Archives: December 2010

A cold night, and more time on NGC2403

Tonight was the first clear night in a couple of weeks. It was quite cold – about minus 13 degrees, and there is an inch of snow on the ground.

NGC2403-SC-b-04-curveThe observatory computer wouldn’t start at first – the “keep just above freezing” setting of my heater apparently wasn’t working, and everything was frozen. I ran the heater on full for 1/2 hour, bringing the dome interior up above freezing, then the computer started ok. Once it is going, it generates enough internal heat to keep going ok.

I took some additional exposure time on NGC2403 in a mix of 5-, 10-, and 15-minute subs, another 2 hours 20 minutes total. Guiding is extremely stable so close to NCP, so the tracking is very clean.

The image here is a combination of tonights 2:20 hours and an hour taken a month or so ago.