Blackout EZ Window Covers

When my wife and I attend a star party we prefer to stay in our travel trailer on or near the observing field.  

While I'm out viewing my wife stays in the trailer and watches movies or  listens to music.  It is important to have the trailer windows and skylights covered so that my wife can do her thing with the lights on but avoid having the lights interfere with the viewing.  In our old trailer I covered the windows from the inside with aluminum foil.  It was effective in preventing light leaking out, but was difficult to remove and reapply.  With our new trailer as we prepared to attend the Deep South Regional Star Gaze I was looking for a better solution.

While perusing Amazon.com I came across an interesting product: Blackout EZ window covers.  These covers are an opaque fabric that attaches with hook and loop fasteners.  They sell these covers in small (36" width x 48" length), large (45" width x 66" length), and custom sizes. I ordered a large kit to try.  It arrived in a heavy cardboard mailing tube.  Inside was a piece of vinyl fabric that is white on one side and black on the other.  The fabric is stiff but flexible.  Also in the mailing tube was the hook and loop fasteners with adhesive backing.  

The trailer windows came with curtains and a shade.  They look nice but I had to remove them to install the Blackout EZ kit.

 So with the curtains and shade off I had access to the window frame.  Now to install the hook fastener.

The challenge with the rounded windows is to kerf the hook tape to fit around the frame.

It takes some time to fit the tape around the window frame.

With the hook tape attached to the window frame it is an easy matter to measure and cut the fabric.  It is easy to cut with scissors and on the black side of the fabric there is a grid that makes cutting in a straight line easy.   Then the loop tape is applied to the back side of the fabric.

Attaching the fabric with the hook and loop tape is easy and the result is a nice looking window covering.

Here with the curtains and shade reinstalled, the covering is attractive and doesn't interfere with the operation of the shade. 

When darkness fell I had my wife shine a flashlight all around the window on the inside and I stood outside looking for any light leakage.  There was none.    I was sold and the next day I ordered enough material to do all the windows, skylights, and door in the trailer.  It took 3 of the large kits to cover the 6 windows, 2 skylights, and door. For the two large picture windows,  I bought 2  custom pieces.  The kits come with the hook and loop fastener but I found for the large kits I needed additional fastener tape.

It took me several hours to get the openings in the trailer all covered, but I am quite satisfied with the results.  It looks good and is effective.  You can easily pull the fabric back when you want to look out the window and then firmly reattach the fabric.  When not at star parties we can peel the fabric partially back or even pull it totally off, roll it, and store it away.  The reverse process to reattach is quick 

So how did it do at the Deep South Regional Star Gaze?  Fantastic !  My wife enjoyed being able to have the lights and TV on without bothering the astronomers who were just 30 feet away.  We are happy with the purchase and highly recommend it.  Check it out.

2015 Deep South Regional Star Gaze

My wife and I have come to look forward each fall to our trip to the Deep South Regional Star Gaze at the Feliciana Retreat Center in Norwood, Louisiana.  This year the weather did not bode well.  We missed Tuesday night but, on Wednesday Nov 4 we packed up the RV and made the 1-1/2 hour drive up to the Feliciana Retreat Center.

Here is a shot of the Eastern side of the field.  My setup is at the right edge of the picture.

Here is my setup on the Southeastern corner of the field.  The tent works well to reduce the glow from my computer screen, which even at it's dimmest setting can be bright.  When I don't use the red screen filter, I drape black plastic around the tent.  {No, it wasn't foggy, just my camera lens fogging up from the high humidity.}

Here is our trailer.  Having it on the field just a short distance from my scope setup, is very convenient.  The site has electrical hookups for up to 4 camping trailers, but has no water or waste hookups.

 Here is a shot of the Western side of the field.

There were scopes of all descriptions from small refractors to large Dobsonians.  Here is one of the new Celestron Evolution 9-1/4" Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes.  I didn't get a chance to view through it but the owner seemed happy with it.

 A innovative binocular viewing chair ready for a night of observing.

As the sun set Wednesday night the skies were clear although it was very humid and warm.   My first challenge was identifying Polaris and other stars to align my mount.  Of course why we go to dark sites in the first place is that the darkness reveals many more stars than is visible in a more urban environment.  In my semi-urban backyard, my best Sky Quality Meter (SQM) reading is 18.65 which equates to visible star magnitude of 4.5.   After darkness set in, Barry Simon, DSRSG director, obtained a measurement of around 21.5 on his SQM or a visual star magnitude of 6.4.   This results in a HUGE increase in the number of visible stars  and can make identify constellations difficult.    I eventually got my bearings and built a model.

Some of my favorite targets are globular clusters and Mesiere 13 in Hercules is my favorite.   In my 11 mm eyepiece there were many discrete, bright stars resolved and a bright core.  In my 18 mm eyepiece the roundish shape of the cluster was better appreciated. 

The ring nebula, Mesiere 57, in Lyra is a bright planetary nebula.  In the 10" scope with my 11 mm eyepiece the image scale is very nice.  In my 6" Schmidt-Newtonian I frequently had to use averted vision to detect the shape, but in the 10" scope the nebula is easily seen directly.  I wasn't able to detect the faint (14.8 magnitude) central star. 

In going to Mesiere 31, the Andromeda galaxy, I found the gotos were off so I erased the model and rebuilt it.  I shifted targets to Mesiere 1, the Crab nebula.  It was easliy visible in the 30 mm eyepiece and the view in the 11 mm eyepiece was even better although there was no hint of the filament structure that I've seen with my Mallincam.

The 30 mm eyepiece provided a really nice view of NGC 884, the Double Cluster.  As 11 pm approached, Taurus and then Orion rose in the east.  As Mesiere 42, the great Orion nebula, cleared the trees I was rewarded with a wonderful view in my 30 mm eyepiece.  The extensiveness of the nebula was readily apparent and is an awesome sight.  In my 11 mm eyepiece some structural detail in nebula near the trapezium was gleaned.  This was easily the best visual observation I've had of M42 since I was able to view through a 24" Starmaster Dobsonian and Televue eyepiece at the 2013 DSRSG.

I shut down at 11:45 and headed to the trailer.  It had been a long day and I was tired.  Besides, clouds were gathering in the South West.

 Thursday was cloudy to partly cloudy early but cleared later in the day.  The hopeful congregating for the daily prize drawing on Thursday afternoon.  Some blue sky was visible by the 3 pm drawing.

The young lad, who's name I don't know, drew my wife's name on Thursday.  We won a Telvue 1-1/4" 2X barlow - a very nice prize.

On Thursday night we were hopeful to get in a few hours before the clouds rolled in.  I wanted to try out my Mallincam Extreme 2 which Rock Mallin had recently upgraded to a XT-418.  It took me a bit to get everything setup properly. I found that with the Mallincam 0.75X, 2" focal reducer, it pushed the focal plane back too far to achieve focus with the reworked camera.  I had to install a Baaader 2" spacer adapter that is around an inch thick.  In addition to the upgraded camera I had a new version of the Miloslick Mallincam control program to learn.   With the camera focused I found the mount's goto accuracy was poor so I deleted the model and built a new one.   I went to M57, the Ring nebula, as my first Deep Sky Object (DSO).  With AGC set to 4, I was able to get a nice image in 15 seconds.  Going up to 30 seconds revealed the 14.8 magnitude central star.   It was more readily seen on the monitor than in the image from the computer, but you can see it in the enlarged image.

I viewed a couple of other objects and then around 2030 as I was trying to capture NGC 147, a galaxy in Cassiopeia, , the clouds rolled in and the observing was over.  With rains and thunderstorms forecast for Friday and Saturday, my wife and I packed up and headed home Friday morning.   I enjoyed around 9 hours of observing time under clear, dark skies.  I also got to visit with several old friends that I hadn't seen since the last DSRSG.

On Friday afternoon I received the engineering drawings from Tuff Shed for my home observatory.  I noted a few issues with the plans that we need to resolve but I'm hopeful the observatory will be completed before Thanksgiving.

Luling Skies Observatory Construction, Pier

I have only been in this hobby since 2011 but I've come to greatly enjoy my time out under the stars, with or without a telescope.  As with most hobbies, the time available is limited by work and family commitments and of course by poor weather conditions.   It takes about an hour to setup my equipment and start viewing and then another hour to tear down at the end of the night.  That doesn't leave much time for viewing unless I stay out four or more hours.  I started to consider the convenience of having an observatory where I could leave my equipment setup.  That would allow more productive use of my available observing time.

Living in a semi-urban area, my skies aren't great.  My best Sky Quality Meter readings are around 18.65 (magnitude ~ 4.5).   Despite this, with my Mallincam video camera and a light-pollution filter, I've been able to see many deep sky objects.  Nothing can replace having really dark skies, but with my astro-gear, the skies in my area can provide rewarding observations.  I've seen many astronomers on the Night Skies Network broadcasting from highly light-polluted areas.

After scouring the internet for months, looking at hundreds of pictures, and reading scores of web pages, blog posts, and forum conversations, I decided on a roll off roof design.  I wanted an office space for my computer out of the dew and away from the mosquitoes.  Also as my daughter Heather is responsible for getting me into this hobby, I wanted enough space for her scope so we could view together.  I decided on the below design.

At 8 x 16' it isn't spacious, but should be adequate.  I decided to have Tuff Shed build it as I've been happy with the shop they built for me a few years ago.  Browsing their web site I found that the company has built a roll off roof observatory in California.   More on the building design and construction will be posted later as construction progresses.

The G-11 tripod is huge so I decided a pier was needed.  After much reading I decided on  a 10" concrete pier.  I wanted it to be the same height as the G-11 tripod above the floor of the observatory.   I drew up some plans and sent them to a local contractor who recently poured a driveway for our camping trailer.  I was impressed with their work and figured they would do a good job.  I planned on a 3' x 3' x 20" footer for the pier with rebar through the footer and pier.  The contractor convinced me that a wider and thinner footer would be more stable so we went with a 4' x 4' x 12" footer.  His plans are shown below.

On Oct 10, the guys built my pier.

To support the G-11 mount on the pier I used an adapter plate Dan's Pier Plates.     After 3 days we back-filled the hole and stripped the cardboard form to reveal the pier.

On October 16, 2015 I setup the pier plates and mounted the G-11.   Everything went together well and solidly.

As darkness fell, I sighted Polaris and the polar alignment seemed close.  I installed the polar scope andnervously took a look to see if the scope was aligned with the celestial pole.  I was delighted to discover Polaris near the center of the field.  A few tweaks of the mount's declination and azimuth controls brought the star in line with the markings on the polar scope's reticle.  Successfully polar aligned, I was ready for some viewing.

>My daughter Heather came over and we had a great night viewing several star clusters, the Ring and Dumbell nebulas, and Uranus. They sky conditions were good with much lower humidity than normal for our area.  It took me awhile to reacquaint myself with the GEMINI system as it has been over 6 months since I last used my gear.  Once we overcame operator errors, the equipment performed flawlessly.  It was a good night and Heather and I both enjoyed our time under the stars.

I didn't take the opportunity to try out my Mallincam Extreme 2 which was recently upgraded by Rock Mallin to a XT-418 model.  The Argon purged sensor cell will come in handy in our humid climate.  I hope to squeeze in another couple of nights in the next few days as we have only a couple of weeks left to prepare our equipment and observing plans for the Deep South Regional Star Gaze, November 3-8, 2015.  Soon after the Deep South, Tuff Shed should build the observatory and my focus will be on getting it up and running.  First light should be in November.  Lots to look forward to in the next few weeks..

New Astro-Gear

Since starting in this hobby in 2011, I've often thought of when I would upgrade my equipment. I have used my Meade LXD-75 6" Schmidt-Newtonian reflector quite a bit and coupled with my Mallincam Extreme 2, I've seen more than I thought I ever would, especially from my light polluted backyard. As I tried to view deeper images I needed longer exposures on my Mallincam but my mount was struggling. I installed a Hyper tune kit on the mount and that got me to 75-90 second unguided exposures but there was significant image shift between images.

In mid-2013 I decided a new mount was necessary to move to the next level in observing. While I had owned only a GEM style mount, I had used my daughter's Celestron alt-az mount. Considering I would mostly be observing from my backyard I knew exposures of 2-3 min or perhaps a bit longer were in my future. Concerns of field rotation lead me to decide on a GEM design for my new mount. My 6" S-N reflector, camera, guider, finder, etc totaled nearly 30 pounds, so I knew I needed a mount with at least a 45 pound capacity, but 60 pounds would be better. In my shopping I studied the mounts by Celestron, Meade, Orion, and iOptron. I tabulated specifications, read reviews and user accounts from the Internet forums. I felt the new Ioptron IEQ45 might be a good fit for my needs. It got good reviews and was under constant improvement by the manufacturer. I was intrigued by the then new CEM 60, but it was too new for there to be much information available.

The upper echelon of mounts such as those by Astro Physics, 10 Micro, and Paramount were beyond my financial means. So I turned my attention to what appeared to be the intermediate level of quality, yet reasonably affordable mounts; Losmandy. I found the mid-priced Losmandy G-11 had very good specs, was solidly built, and the company had an excellent reputation. The Gemini control system was well respected and supported. Still with all the options I wanted it would cost around $4,000, a bit more than I had in my astronomy piggy bank. So I decided to get the Ioptron IEQ45 Pro. It would be a step up in quality from my LXD-75 and for considerably less money than the G-11. The order was placed in the summer of 2014, and then, my situation changed and more money became available for astro-gear. I canceled my IEQ 45 order and contemplated my new possibilities.

No I hadn't hit the lottery or robbed a bank. I still had limits to what I could afford, but my budget had grown. Spending my full budget on an Astro Physics or Paramount mount would be nice, but all I had to put on the mount was my Meade 6" S-N. Not a bad scope but I hoped for a bit more aperture. So I decided to go for the G-11 with Gemini 2 and a Mallincam Video Ritchey-Chritchen (VRC) 10" with a carbon fiber tube.

The Mallincam Optical Tube Assembly (OTA), produced by GSO, gave me a significant boost in aperture (6 to 10") and the Ritchey-Chritchen design is great for imaging.  The carbon fiber tube ensures minimal dimensional changes during an observing session and it is well baffled to minimize internal reflections.  The weight is only 34.4 pounds so it is manageable for medium capacity (45 - 60 pound capacity) mounts.

The G-11 mount is a monster compared to my Meade LXD-75 mount.  The Loasmndy tripod is well made and very stout.  The mount clutches can be a bit hard to operate but substituting the optional knobs with 3 "handles" makes it much easier.  The motors easily handle my scope and associated gear as long as the system is appropriately balanced.  The Gemini system is not as intuitive as the Meade system and it took some getting used to but the excellent Gemini 2 web page by Tom Hilton and the Gemini web page by creator Rene Gorlich eased the learning curve.

I would have little time to learn the new system before attending the 2014 Deep South Regional Star Gaze.

Comet C/2012 S1 ISON - Obituary ??

Since imaging comet C/2012 S1 ISON at the Deep South Regional Star Gaze (DSRSG), see my previous post, I have been fascinated by this visitor from the outer reaches of our solar system - presumably the Oort cloud.  {The Oort cloud is thought to be roughly a light year away and is considered to be source of many of the comets we observe in the inner solar system.}  According to a NASA website, around one million years ago, a rather unremarkable cloud resident was ejected and gravitational forces destined it to a perilous journey to the inner solar system and a close encounter with the sun.

Fast forward to Sept 2012 when Russian astronomers, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok, discovered the small,bright object when it was some 585 million miles distant, just beyond the planet Jupiter. Detailed measurements of it's trajectory revealed the comet's rendezvous with the sun would be a very close one.  If it survived ISON would likely put on a brilliant post-perihelion display in December of 2013.  However the relatively small size of the comet ( 3-4 miles in diameter) and the closeness of its approach to the sun make its survival a IF.

There has been much speculation in the astronomical community and some have dubbed ISON to be the "comet of the century".  The wide spread use of social media have enabled astronomers to reach millions with ISON's story and the public news media has been a buzz about the potential for a spectacular show.  Such public outreach is vitally important to astronomy and science in general as it offers the potential to inspire the next generation of would-be scientists.  A bright comet appearing in the night sky, and possibly even during  daytime, could make an indelible imprint on many young minds that could lead them to study science and eventually a scientific career.   Conversely, if the much hyped event turns out to be a dud, we could loose this opportunity.

Since ISON's sun grazing on Thanksgiving day, astronomers have been anxiously watching to learn the comet's fate.  Early reports were that it had disintegrated upon approach to the sun.  Then came reports of survival, albeit badly wounded, with intriguing pictures of a fan-shaped trail emerging from the sun's glare.  This morning the reports are that the object is rapidly fading, suggest that ISON may be no more that a debris field scattered by the solar wind.  The final ISON images as it passes away from the SOHO cameras show ISON's demise.  The final analysis will have to wait a few more days.  Possibly later this week ISON's remnants will be visible in the predawn skies low in the east-southeast, but it is unlikely to be visible to the naked eye.  Weather permitting, I'm planning to try for one last image this coming weekend.

2013 Deep South Regional Star Gaze

My wife Cindy and I arrived at the Feliciana Retreat Center around 2:30 pm on Wednesday Oct. 30 for the 2013 edition of the Deep South Regional Star Gaze. This is our sixth star party at this venue so we are  getting the hang of things.  It is a well run event at a great location and the skies are quite dark offering very good viewing.  This time however our stay will be different because we now have a Tracer 2700RES travel trailer. Staying on the observing field will make it easier to pop in for a coffee refill or to warm up a bit without the ¼ mile walk back to the room in the dark. More importantly having a trailer close by the scope will allow Cindy to participate more as the walk from the room to the observing field was difficult for her.  In preparation for having a trailer on the observing field we covered the windows with aluminum foil and I built skylight covers from Styrofoam covered in black cloth.

In the days leading up to the DSRSG I was hopeful for some good observing sessions.  As chronicled herein, my last 3 star parties have hit significant snags, so I felt I was due a good one. Additionally the weather this summer in south-east Louisiana has offered very few decent observing nights, especially Friday or Saturday nights. So as the DSRSG approached I watched the weather with anticipation of a cold front that would come through and clear out the skies. The cold front did finally arrive, but not until Thursday evening. So Wednesday night was near total cloud cover and Thursday afternoon and evening were stormy.  Early Friday morning the clouds cleared out and Friday was a beautiful day for setting up equipment and a few got in some solar viewing.  Friday also saw the arrival of our daughter Heather, her husband Eric, and son Brandon.  Our party was now complete.

Friday evening as dark fell I eagerly waited for the stars to come out.  As those little pinpoints of light came into view across the sky the sound of Dec and RA motors filled the night air.   After carefully polar aligning my mount I aligned on Vega, Kokalb, and Fomalhaut.  I've found that aligning using the Mallincam and a 7" monitor at the mount provides very good results.  I fired up the Miloslick Mallincam Control software, which I bought a few weeks ago after hearing rave reviews from several broadcasters on the Night Skies Network.  I've only used it a couple of times, but I find the interface intuitive and thus far I really like it.  After I work with it more I may publish a review here.

I fired up Sky Charts and connected to the mount. I've used the Meade Autostar program and Stellarium to control my mount, but I've learned to really like Sky Charts.  I was now ready to roll.  I fired up  Deep Sky Planner and pulled in my Messier and Caldwell observing plan to pick the nights first target: Messier 20 - the Trifid nebula.  I hit the goto button on Sky Charts, motors whirred, I set the Mallincam for a 60 second exposure at AGC 4, and hit theMiloslick shutter button.   When the countdown timer expired, I was rewarded with a nice image of the Trifid nebula, which I've always thought looked like a red, squinting feline.  The nebula was just lower left of the center of the frame.  As I moved from object to object during the course of the night, all requested objects popped right into view.  I was very pleased with my LXD-75 mount's go to accuracy.  Here are several of the images from that night.  All are single exposures with no post processing.

The face of a red, squinting feline

 I have to trust that this is a object is a nebula as it looks like a bright star.

 M13 was low in the Southwest, actually too low as this shot is through some tree limbs.

 Messier 22 is a beautiful globular cluster, but it too was shot through the trees.  Much of the left side of the image is obscured by leaves.

 In my opinion, the dumbbell is one of the nicest deep sky objects.

 Messier 30 is a rather unimpressive globular.

 The Sculptor galaxy is one of my favorite objects.

 A ghostly face in the sky.

The mount's tracking is a bit sloppy so my images are limited to less than 90 seconds.  I need to take some time to lube and tighten the gears.  The night went very well with 17 objects imaged. Clouds rolled in around 1:00, in bed at 2:30.  Meant to get up at 4:30 to see ISON but overslept and din't get out til after 6 and it was too light by the time I got the equipment set up.

I got a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter-L for my birthday. I tried it a few times between 10 & midnight and obtained readings averaging 21.10 MPSAS (Magnitudes per square arcsecond) = (approximately 6.2 NELM (Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude)). Significantly darker than the 18.1 – 18.5 MPSAS readings I obtained in my backyard.

Saturday, Nov. 3 - Had a very nice day visiting with old friends, grilling out hamburgers with Heather's family, and watching some football on TV.  The highlight of the day was the group picture and the drawing for the door prizes.

The hopefull waiting to see if their number is drawn for one the nice prizes.  Up for grabs were 2 refractors, eyepieces, and various other astronomy items.  On Friday I won a 1-1/4" Televue 2X Barlow - a nice addition to my collection.

 A couple of looks at the field.

 Telescopes of all types and sizes.

Somehow I missed taking a picture of the Southeast side of the field where Heather and my scopes were set up.














As darkness fell the outlook for the night was great.  It was drier than Friday night and the seeing was better.  Shortly after 7 I aligned on Vega, Kokalb, & Fomalhaut.  The go to accuracy was again very good.  I was able to image 10 objects on my list.

 An open cluster in a rich star field can be difficult to discern from the surrounding stars.  Here I've taken images of M23 at 3 different exposure durations.  Here at 5 seconds the cluster is more evident.

 Here at 10 seconds it is difficult to pick out the cluster.

Here at 20 seconds the cluster is lost in the star field.  

 Imaged through the trees.

At 9:27 sky meter read 21.09, similar to this time last night but the seeing is better tonight.  At 11:30 got reading of 21.05 – 21.11 at 9 C very clear night and much drier than last night.  Went in around midnight so I could get up to see ISON.  Came back out at 4:30 and fired up the scope to target ISON. Tried to align to Dubhe and Denebola but the alignment failed.  I did a 3 star alignment and went to Denebola and realized I had been choosing the lower star in Sextans instead of Denebola !!! I was too anxious and didn't look closely enough at the sky. At this site the sky is so dark I see many more stars than at home and got confused.  After Denebola I jumped to M65 .  This is a nice galaxy and a member of the Leo Triplet of galaxies.

I told Sky Charts to drive the scope to ISON. I hit the shutter button and waited. Bam, there it was almost dead center in the FOV. A bluish-white core with a distinct halo and a nice but faint and rather short tail. The visible tail was only about 12 arcmin long but the last half is really faint in the pics. I'm not sure of the magnitude as there are no stars in the neighborhood on my charts to gauge the brightness against.  For my best pic I moved the core down a bit and tried to tease out a bit more of the tail.  Jumping the AGC up to 6 yielded a washed out image with less of the tail visible because dawn was approaching.

 The DSRSG was over.  I had checked 27 objects off my observing plan plus ISON.  After 3 disappointing star parties, the 2013 DSRSG was a resounding success.  A benefit of having the trailer is having television so we could watch the first half of the Saints game before heading home.

There are 109 Caldwell objects, but 18 are not viewable from my latitude.  There are 110 Messier objects that are all viewable, so my observing project includes 201 objects.  There are probably a few duplicates between the 2 lists but I haven't yet identified them.   I had 99 done before the star party and was able to image 27 Messier & Caldwell objects at the DSRSG.  I have bagged 126 objects so I'm 62.7% of the way to my goal with 10 months left to go.