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Software deep dives, equipment reviews, tutorials, imaging sessions, and field notes — everything published on Mac Observatory.

109 articles
Imaging Star Clusters with the AT6RC and the ZWO ASI071MC-Pro
Imaging

Imaging Star Clusters with the AT6RC and the ZWO ASI071MC-Pro

I spent a few nights this week trying out my color camera, the ZWO ASI071MC-Pro on the AT6RC. I really love the pixel scale achieved

Apr 17, 2019 1 min read
Imaging M51 Whirlpool Galaxy with the ZWO ASI071MC-Pro
Imaging

Imaging M51 Whirlpool Galaxy with the ZWO ASI071MC-Pro

After a rocky start with my EdgeHD 11 telescope, I decided to move the main imaging camera over to the AT6RC telescope I have. It

Apr 16, 2019 1 min read
Celestron EdgeHD 11"
Reviews

Celestron EdgeHD 11"

Going Big The EdgeHD 11" represents a significant step up in aperture and focal length from the 6" Ritchey-Chrétien I had been using.

Mar 24, 2019 2 min read
First light with the EdgeHD 11"
Reviews

First light with the EdgeHD 11"

It’s been a few weeks since I picked up the used EdgeHD 11” SCT. And in that time I made some final hardware decisions

Mar 24, 2019 3 min read
AstroPixel Processor 1.072 Released
News

AstroPixel Processor 1.072 Released

The latest version of Astro Pixel Processor has been released. Lots of support for Sony cameras has been added. Improved Drizzle/Bayer Drizzle. Lots of

Mar 8, 2019 1 min read
KStars/EKOS 3.1 is released!
News

KStars/EKOS 3.1 is released!

An update to my current favorite imaging platform has been released. In this release there’s a bunch of 3.0 fixes as well as

Mar 6, 2019 1 min read
Celestron CGX and EdgeHD 11" Schmidt Cassegrain
Reviews

Celestron CGX and EdgeHD 11" Schmidt Cassegrain

GOING BIG This past holiday, I received a Celestron CGX for Christmas. You might have seen photos of it pop up on some of my

Feb 19, 2019 2 min read
Astro Pixel Processor 1.071 released
News

Astro Pixel Processor 1.071 released

This version includes a bunch of new fixes and features. * IMPROVED, access to license server * IMPROVED/FIXED, star analysis & registration * FIXED, Calibration AMP-GLOW * FIXED,

Feb 5, 2019 1 min read
Removing light pollution with Astro Pixel Processor
Tutorials

Removing light pollution with Astro Pixel Processor

The above screenshot is what my Luminance data looks like after a few nights of imaging the same object. In this particular image I was

Feb 4, 2019 4 min read
Sometimes...all you need to do is reprocess your data
Imaging

Sometimes...all you need to do is reprocess your data

It often pays to revisit older images you’ve captured. I was never very happy with the processing job I did originally on the Pacman

Jan 31, 2019 1 min read
Asteroid or satellite?
Imaging

Asteroid or satellite?

I managed to catch this on my guide scope with the ZWO ASI290mm camera as I was trying to focus it better. I saw a

Jan 29, 2019 1 min read
The bloodiest of moons.
Imaging

The bloodiest of moons.

As most people did last week, I managed to get outside and catch the Blood Moon. I came prepared. I had two telescope setups and

Jan 29, 2019 1 min read