Joe, The moon is always a problem for imaging except for some narrowband work (hydrogen alpha in particular), which is essentially unaffected. It isn't too bad for objects as bright as the Horsehead, but for many objects, the moonlit sky is as bright, or brighter, than the target, which makes imaging an exercise in futility. I am sure that I could have captured better detail without the moon, but I was happy just to get a little imaging time in during the winter, which is somewhat rare here in Utah. Cheers, Tyler _____________________________________________ -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Joe Bauman Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 10:43 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Horsehead and Flame That's really nice, Tyler. Did the moon affect your imaging at all? Best wishes, Joe --- On Sat, 2/7/09, Tyler Allred <tylerallred@earthlink.net> wrote: From: Tyler Allred <tylerallred@earthlink.net> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Horsehead and Flame To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Date: Saturday, February 7, 2009, 9:34 PM Hello all. Despite the bright moon, I decided to image in color the other night. I choose this target because it is fairly bright itself. Here is a link to the image in the SLAS gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=971 , and here is a link to the "Latest Images" page of my personal website: http://www.allred-astro.com/gpage8.html I really like this image, and I thought it might help to get people interested in my imaging talk on the 17th. I am finally taming the problems with the ASA (Astro Systeme Austria N8) scope and getting the results I was hoping for from a scope of this caliber. I am planning to bring my imaging setup to the meeting so that people can look it over. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Cheers, Tyler _____________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

  I have been trying to get my used Losmand GM8 in shape for some astro-imaging and all of this is new to me. This is my first GEM so I can’t always tell when things are right or wrong.    I didn’t like the way my GM8 responded to hand slewing. It felt sluggish everywhere and jerky in spots. Tyler Allred gave me this link on the web: http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~mischa/mounts/g11_disassembly.html.  Even though it describes how to dismantle a GM11 and tune it, I thought the GM8 probably wasn’t too much different so I gave it a try.   When I got inside both the RA and Dec blocks I found the old grease was so gunky I could not get some of the needle bearings to move.  I used some Brakleen to get rid of the old grease.  Brakeen is the best stuff ever for removing old stiff grease and freeing up bearings.   I got everything nice and clean, bearings moving freely and re-greased.  Mischa, the guy who wrote the article spent more time explaining where not to put grease than where to put it, but I think I finely got it figured out.  The nice thing is that the GM8 is so modular inside that if I have to take it a part again it will be easy and I won’t be afraid to get in and clean something.   I actually reassembled the GM8 like Mischa suggested with out applying new grease first just to test it out. The difference was amazing. With the clutches loose the RA and Dec blocks actually spun around when pushed.   It was an easy disassemble, then applyed grease to the appropriate locations and back together again, being careful not to get grease on the all the places Mischa mentioned.  The job was complete.  There was a since of satisfaction of knowing my equipment better and having improved it.   I put the scope on and again the difference was unbelievable.  Prior to cleaning I couldn’t really tell when I had the mount in balance. I would kind of push on the RA or Dec and see if the scope wanted to keep going.  But now with clean bearings the mount lets me know when there is an imbalance. What a difference!    I feel confident that the tracking will be greatly improved.  Bad weather has kept me from trying it out as yet.    I just got an Orion StarShoot AutoGuider in the mail today so now I can make some graphs and see if the bearings are noisy indicating an improper adjustment.   Tyler mentioned that Astro-imaging is a bottomless pit.  I feel like a photon on the verge of entering the event horizon. I feel like I am entering the Hawking uncertainty principle and I am trying to escape the black hole but it has a firm grasp on my wallet.    Jim