Vern’s Weblog

It was slightly after 4 am and the eastern horizon was brightening when I turned the scope and Stellacam II to take a look at the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula. I’m always amazed by this incredible object. It looked great in Gary’s 30″ dob. Visually through the eyepeice we were able to trace the outer ring in the 30 which the below image doesn’t pick up very well.

Image taken Sunday May 20, 2007 at the Cactus Flats North site in the Pawnee National Grasslands, 8 miles east of Briggsdale, CO. Sky was clear, transparency was good, no wind, temperature around 46°F, and turbulence about 5/10. Telescope was Celestron Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Registax used to dark subtract, flat field correct, align, and stack about 8 minutes of video. Stellacam II set 10/14 gain, medium gamma, and 256 integration (8 seconds).

Comet C/2006 VZ13 (Linear) is located in constellation Andromeda and is about magnitude +13.5 according to recent reports. If so this is the faintest comet I’ve captured thus far. Dark sky certainly helped, I haven’t been able to capture any comets less than mag 13 in the light polluted Denver suburbs.

Image taken around 4:30 to 4:50 am on Sunday May 20, 2007 at Cactus Flats North in the Pawnee National Grasslands 8 miles east of Briggsdale, CO. The sky was clear, transparency was good (humidity was high), no wind, and the temperature around 45°F. Telescope was Celestron Nexstar 11 with F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Camera settings were 10/14 gain, medium gamma, 256 integration (8 seconds). Registax4 was used to flat field, dark subtract, align, stack and enhance 8 minutes of video for each of two frames in final image. Animation created with Photoshop2.