Quick update — my attempts to make Starry Night Pro work in Vista have failed so far. My solution for now is to either use Stellarium (freeware / coolware) or use the dual boot I setup for Windows XP.
Took the plunge and bought a laptop for use in the observatory. I’m dealing with Vista issues. Fairly sure my DSLR won’t connect with Vista but I can deal with that. Starry Night Pro (which them claim works with Vista) is not working with Vista. The company is sending me an update disk. We’ll see… In the meantime, I’m installing XP as a virtual PC running under Vista to see if that works.
Had just a few hours to play a little bit more with polar alignment and take a test shot. This is a stack of 5 2-min non-guided shots and 1-dark shot. A few lessons to try for next time: (1) somehow put a piece of foam between the lens and the scope to keep the lens from shaking, (2) use RAW format, (3) remove front UV lens (I think this is creating inner reflections), and (4) take pictures on a clearer night! Also might help to stop down the lens one or two stops.
Tonight I decided to invest the time to get some polar alignment done. Got a program (WCS — I’ll post a link later when it’s not 2:00 am) that helps do this. Trick was to NOT use a diagonal and set the settings to inverse. For the Azimuth setting, need to use a star in the South and input the Dec setting (I used Altair). For the Altitude setting setting, need to use a star in the East (I used Alpheratz). It seems to have nailed the polar alignment (at least per the program). I will calibrate again on a less windy night and then do some PEC training.
Took a wide angle shot (300mm on my Canon DSLR) and autoguided with the Meade LPI on the LX200. Picture is here. One shot with 5 minute exposure. Focus is reasonable but tracking could be better.
Check out this website: http://www.cosmotography.com.
The cost of this picture (M13 Hercules Cluster) is as follows (not counting the scope, wedge, or other accessories)…
Nasa.gov