About AmAstro

AmAstro is my Amateur Astromonmy page and is deticated to sharing my images. Most of the images are captured from my small private observatory located on the outskirts of Halifax, UK. While the location is not ideal (not within a 'dark site') my use of narrowband images and specialist colour filters and a specialist astronomical imaging camera have resulted in the images you see here. 

The majority of images presented here are captured using my observatory setup which comprises of a 10" Meade LX200 SCT equitorial mounted and fitted with Starlight Xpress guide and imaging cameras. The setup also incorperates a motorised focuser and filterwheel. See observatory page for images of the setup. 

Apart from opening the roof on the observatory, the setup is now predominatly remote controlled. The advantage of this is that on cold winter nights, the telescope can be controlled remotely and from somewhere warm. 

Observatory

The observatory is not your traditional revolving dome. Instead, it's the rear section of a garage converted into a space for the telescope and computers with a slide off roof. 

For many years I would take my telescope outside each night it looked like being clear skies and setup ready for imaging. I had got this off to a fine art and culd setup reasonably quickly. 

However, when I upgraded to the Meade LX200 SCT with a larger and heavier Celestron CGEM mount, the time requried setup each time increased. Nevertheless, I continued to haul all the equipment out and setup each night it was clear. 

The decision to convert the rear of the garage into an observatory came one very cold and frosty night when, having just completed setting up the telescope and gone in for a quick cup of tea, I returned to find the whole telescope covered in a thin layer of snow. In the few minutes I was gone, clouds had rolled in and shed snow all around me!

Equipment

I have several telescopes in my collection including Newtonian and Refractor telescopes which I use. However, my permanent telescope is a Meade Schmidt Cassergrain telescope. This is a Meade LX200 10" SCT which I have permanenetly mounted in my observatory on Celestron CGEM mount. 

Coupled to the telecope, I use a Moonlite SCT focuser with integral focal reducer mount. to the focuser is mounted a Lakeside Astro autofocus contol system. 

The image train, fised into the rear of the focuser comprises of: 

- Starlight Xpress mini filter wheel with off-axis guider

- Starlight Xpress Lodestar guide camera 

- Starlight Xpress Trius SX-9 monochrome imaging camera 

I use a range of filters when imaging filters which include narrow band filters sush as: Ha, Hb, Sii & Oiii

However, my mopst commonly used filters are a CLS filter for light, Ha, and Baader R, G, B fitlers for the colour channels. 

Useful Info

AmAstro uses AstroArt image capture and processing software. Over time I intend to include some helpful guides in the use of AstroArt to both capture and process images. 

New house, new observatory 

New house, new observatory. Having recently move house it's time for a new observatory. So, I'm presently making plans for a new observatory. 

Nothings ever perfect, with the positives come the negatives. Neverthless, I have a large south facing garden with no adjacent properties, now or in the future as the land opposite is unsuitable for building on. However, I'm still at the edge of a town (on the edge of rural contryside) and not as elevated as I was previously. 

More on the plans later but, in order to comply with the covenants on the property, I have some pretty ingenious plans. More to follow.......

On the equipment front, the trusty old laptop that ran the telescope has packed in. So, and as I will need an easier setup to build and dismantle for a while, I've invested in a Primaluce Lab Eagle 3 onboard computer. As this can be mounted to te telescope, it makes for a cleaner and less clutered setup which can be demoutned with the telescope and stored. Again, more to follow soon....