Acton Sky Portal

(click image to view & discuss)	Comet PANSTARRS 3/13/2013 Canon 60D DLSR with ES 80mm f6 480mm refractor.  Single image 4 sec exposure ISO 1600; Acton, MA Submitted by Paul Benni on 03/16/2013 08:48:06
(click image to view & discuss)	Comet PANSTARRS 3/13/2013b Canon 60D DLSR with ES 80mm f6 480mm refractor.  Single image 4 sec exposure ISO 1600.  Comet near horizon.  Acton, MA Submitted by Paul Benni on 03/16/2013 08:49:03
(click image to view & discuss)	Earthshine on Moon 3/13/2013 Canon 60D DLSR with ES 80mm f6 480mm refractor.  Single image Submitted by Paul Benni on 03/16/2013 08:50:20
(click image to view & discuss)	Comet PANSTARRS 3/17/2013 C8 SCT Image of Comet PanSTARRS taken with a Canon 60D DLSR and an 8" EdgeHD SCT in Acton MA. Exposure info: Single image 10 sec exposure at ISO 1600, binned x2 and cropped to fit. No other processing. Submitted by Paul Benni on 03/18/2013 12:05:31
(click image to view & discuss)	M51 Whirlpool Galaxy Setup: C11 EdgeHD plus 0.7x reducer on a Losmandy G11/Gemini-2 mount Image details: SBIG ST-8300M ccd; Lum 10 minutes exposure x11, RGB 7.5 min x28 binned, Ha 10min x6 exposure, 380 min total. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 21:31:02
(click image to view & discuss)	Pluto movement over 3 days My first series of images of Pluto taken July 9-11 2012 about 11 pm spaced ~24 hours apart as marked in the cross-hairs. July 11 image with M25 shows Pluto area of interest magnified as shown in second series of 3 images. I needed to identify Pluto's movement to make a positive ID among the many stars, which was fun to do. 8" EdgeHD telescope, 0.62x reducer, and SBIG ST-8300C camera. 5 minute images. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 21:35:28
(click image to view & discuss)	Exoplanet transit WASP-3b My first recorded exoplanet transit posted on ETD- Exoplanet Transit Database / TRESCA Database http://var2.astro.cz/ETD/index.php. Setup: C11 EdgeHD plus 0.7x reducer on a Losmandy G11/Gemini-2 mount and SBIG ST-8300M ccd.  Image series photometry analyzed in AIP4WinV2 Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 21:52:42
(click image to view & discuss)	Haumea & Makemake (KBOs) 24h movement After finding Pluto for the first time by imaging on consecutive days, I targeted two Kuiper belt dwarf planets (KBOs), March 17 & 18 about 5am EDT (0900 UTC). Equipment C11 EdgeHD with 0.7x reducer on G11 mount, & ST-8300M ccd. For each image, 3x5min L & RGB 1x5min, cropped to fit. Haumea (136108) in Bootes, 50 au from Earth (for comparison, Pluto is 32 au from Earth). Makemake (136472) in Coma Berenices, 51 au from Earth. Locations and data verified by TheSkyX and SkySafari software. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 21:56:59
(click image to view & discuss)	M65 & Supernova 2013am Finally got the opportunity to image M65 galaxy and the new supernova 2013am after dodging clouds with the wind dying down enough for a few hours to get good autoguiding. Seeing was not very good but had to try anyway. AP setup: C11 EdgeHd SCT, 0.7x reducer, OAG, G11-Gemini2 mount, and ST-8300M with filter wheel. Image details: 212 minutes total; L 10 min exposure x 10; HaRGB 7.5 min x 15 binned. Processed by Nebulosity and Photoshop CS2. Image cropped to fit. The supernova is indicated by the cross-hairs. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 22:01:08
(click image to view & discuss)	Eskimo PN (NGC2392) C11 Edge HD at f/10 on a hypertuned CGEM mount, targeting bright & small planetary nebulas during sood seeing nights. Setup included an OAG5 off-axis guider and a ST-8300C camera.  3 minute exposures. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 22:07:39
(click image to view & discuss)	NGC1501 PN C11 Edge HD at f/10 on a hypertuned CGEM mount, targeting bright & small planetary nebulas during sood seeing nights. Setup included an OAG5 off-axis guider and a ST-8300C camera.  3 minute exposures. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 22:08:59
(click image to view & discuss)	Comet PanSTARRS long anti-tail 80mm refractor at f4.8 with ST-8300C ccd.  May 27 Earth crossed the plane of the comet's orbit, giving a unique opportunity to observe the comet's long anti-tail. Submitted by Paul Benni on 06/07/2013 22:28:46
(click image to view & discuss)	Comet C/2012 S1 ISON (November 8) Early morning image (Nov. 8) as ISON clears trees in my front yard in Acton. Binned average of 6 images of 60sec exposure before twilight. C8 EdgeHD with Hyperstar @ f/2.1 and ST-8300C ccd. This is an uncropped full frame image for the C8 Hyperstar setup. Submitted by Paul Benni on 11/27/2013 18:35:45
(click image to view & discuss)	Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy (November 8) Morning image (Nov. 8) of Comet Lovejoy. This is a binned average of 16 images of 60sec exposure. C8 EdgeHD SCT with Hyperstar (f/2.1) and ST-8300C ccd. Image is uncropped from the Hyperstar setup. Compare to my Comet ISON image with the same image scaling. Interesting how much brighter and larger Comet Lovejoy is now compared to ISON. Submitted by Paul Benni on 11/27/2013 18:38:14
(click image to view & discuss)	Exoplanet transit HAT-P-20b This is a photometry measurement of a hot Jupiter transit across a star slightly smaller than the sun originally posted on the Exoplanet Transit Database (ETD) http://var2.astro.cz/ETD/index.php.  Data collected from a C11 EdgeHD SCT, ST8XME ccd, and G11 mount stationed at my front yard.  Since my first exoplanet transit (Wasp-3b) posted earlier, I successfully recorded 70+ exoplanet transits with C11 and C8 SCTs, which can be found on ETD. Submitted by Paul Benni on 11/27/2013 18:54:38