Author Archives: Michael Foegelle

My initial setup had too much back focus from the focal reducer, resulting in distorted stars around the edge of the field of view.  The off-axis guider pick-off mirror was also shadowing the image, resulting in unusable images.   My initial … Continue reading →

After the solar eclipse in April, it took me quite a while to get around to putting the observatory back to it’s normal nighttime viewing state.  Unfortunately, then something went wrong with the serial interface between my controlling computer and … Continue reading →

I’ve managed to generate new darks and debayer all of the frames from my QHY-247C on my AT-80LE.  I’m post processing these in Photoshop and have processed the six 6-millisecond frames from totality.  I have six times that with exposures … Continue reading →

Unprocessed and not deBayered, but here was totality!  Watch for updates in the coming week or two!

It’s still not looking great for Monday, but we’re so borderline it’s painful.  The Clear Sky Chart is showing a tiny gap right around the start of the eclipse and clouding back up after totality.  However, this morning vs. last … Continue reading →

After weeks of prep and quite a few days/evenings of cleaning, the observatory is cleaner than it’s been in years and I have both piers set up for solar observing and photography.  Test runs of photos with my QHY247C on … Continue reading →

I’m not normally outspoken about my faith, especially online, but when people ask, I’ll tell them that I can’t look at the wonders and majesty of this universe and the elegance of the physics that we’ve discovered and believe that … Continue reading →

Well, over the weekend, weather.com started showing the long term forecast for April 8th, and unfortunately it’s not looking good.  That said, given that they haven’t been able to accurately predict our weather here eight hours ahead of time, I’m … Continue reading →

Historic predictions from the National Weather Service, as well as my own recollection and records of April weather give us a 50/50 chance of having clear skies here in Central Texas and the rest of the state.  As we’re sitting … Continue reading →

Never look at the sun without eye protection! The next great total solar eclipse is now less than a year away, with a path from Mexico, up through Texas and much of the Eastern United States, leaving through northern New … Continue reading →