NOTE: I am currently rebuilding my website.
"New" 05-20-2009 M5 - I've been wanting to image globular clusters for a while now but most of my time imaging is done at Fort McKavett. Since this is a great dark sky site, I've focused on dimmer objects such as galaxies and nebulas. At my home in Santa Fe, TX., I have about a 6 mag sky at its best. I've finally decided to image a globular cluster and after doing so, I wondered why I waited so long.
"New" 03-20-2009 M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy has to be one of my favorite galaxies to observe with my 20 inch Obsession telescope. Visually, this is a stunning object in dark skies. You can clearly make out the spiral arms visually along with dust lanes. I've been wanting to photograph this wonderful galaxy but due to it's position in the sky, I've been unsuccessful until now. With clear dark skies and calm wind at the fort this spring, I was able to get the picture I wanted.
"New" 03-19-2009 My 2009 spring trip to Fort McKavett was a time of new equipment and great viewing despite the weatherman's forcast. Even though wind was a limiting factor, as always, I was able to grab a very interesting galaxy. NGC 3628 is a dim galaxy visually and photographically. This was the first object I capture with my newly self-modified Canon XS DSLR.
10-23-08 Another Great Trip to Fort McKavett. By far, this was my best "imaging" trip to the fort to date. I was able to image 4 objects, the Sculptor Galaxy being my first target. NGC 253, also known as the Sculptor Galaxy is a bright galaxy that can be observed with just about any scope. Through larger scopes, detail is well evident with dust lanes and mottled detail abound.
04-04-08 My spring trip to Fort McKavett was one of the best times I've had! Not only did I have great friends to visit with, but Friday night was the best imaging sessions I've ever had. This trip I was making an attempt to image galaxies. M-104, otherwise known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is one of my favorite objects to view through my 20" Obsession. I've attempted to image this galaxy at my house in Santa Fe Texas but the light polution severly limited my ability to obtain a suitable image for posting. Combining dark skies and calm winds at the fort, this was a special night to remember. Click on image to see larger version and details.
10-29-07 With the beautful weather lately, I decided to image Comet 17P/Holmes. I've been hearing all the chatter in my astronomy club (JSCAS) and throughout the astronomical community and was excited to find some time to observe and image this exciting event. We've had 5-6 days of perfect weather and didn't expect a change but about the time of sunset, smoke filled clouds started to move in from Galveston way. To my surprise, those clouds obscured my view up till around 10:00 pm. By that time, the comet was high enough to observe and image. What a beautiful object!! I have both a "Visual" view image and an "Enhanced" view image. Click on image to see both versions and details.
10-12-07 Imaged on my fall trip to Fort McKavett, M27 otherwise known as The Dumbbell Nebula, was a complete surprise! Like the spring trip, we were rewarded by clear skies most of the time, but the wind was a killer for imaging. Knowing how bad the wind was I just starting taking exposures of only 20 secs due to wind gusts upwards to 10-15 mph. Out of 60+ subframes, I actually found that 8 were half way stackable. Due to the short exposure time & lack of confidence that anything would turn out, no dark frames were taken. Low and behold, I was able to process something presentable. Click on image to see larger version and details.
03-16-07 My spring trip to Fort McKavett was an especially interesting this time around. Two words,."New Camper!!". The most important factor was that the telescope fit in the camper's storage. Even though we had great weather every night (up to about midnight), I was able to image only one night out of four due to wind. This was my first image of B-33, otherwise know as the Horsehead Nebula. Actually, I was more impressed with the blue reflection nebula NGC 2023.
10-20-06 My semi-annual trip to Fort McKavett was enjoyable as always. Due to 5-10 mph winds buffering my scope, I was able to keep only 20 out of 55 shots of NGC 7293, better known as the Helix Nebula. Not too much to look at in my scope, but photographically, very stunning.
9-20-06 Wiped the dust off my telescope, camera, and all the other "stuff" to do some imaging since it's been forever since I've seen some sustainable clear weather here and got a shot of one of my favorite objects...The Swan Nebula (M17). Don't forget to check out the core of this beauty!
1-30-06 2nd Light with my new Canon 20D Capturing The Great Nebula in Orion.
1-29-06 It never fails. Get a new astronomy toy and the clouds move in for a week. Finally, some clear skies for about an 2 hours tonight! I finally got to do some imaging tonight with my new Canon 20D hooked to my 20" Obsession scope. After getting aligned and my autoguide a'guiding I started testing my new setup. I shot some quick 30 sec shots of m42 & m43(of course) for my first light. After about 10 shots or so the clouds moved in. Anyway, I started processing some of the images and noticed something strange....even spooky. Some of the experienced astroimagers probably have seen this before but it was new to me. I zoomed in on the Trapezium region and noticed what appeared to be a man embedded to the right of the Trapezium with his back to me looking over his left shoulder into the sky! And... I think he's necked!!!! I know ya'll think I've lost it but look for yourself! I'm calling this the "Necked Man Nebula"
2005 Mars Opposition. Click on the image of Mars on the left to see several images made with my 20" Obsession Telescope, Toucam Pro II and Tom Osypowski Aluminum Dual Axis Equatorial Platform.
3-21-04 - The last night at Spring trip to Fort McKavett. All by myself with bats flying around my head, I obtain this shot of Jupiter. I tried to process this shot with the goal of how it actually appears visually (less processing) through my scope with excellent seeing conditions. Transparency was 9/10 but the seeing was around 5/10. 20" Obsession @ f/20 with ToUcam Pro II webcam.
3-20-04 - Animation of Jupiter, Ganymede, and Europa. Animation has 39 frames, each frame consisting of over 400 frames aligned, processed, and stacked with Registax. Seeing started out good (around 6-7/10). As night progressed, seeing decreased and wind increased as illustrated in animation. 20" Obsession @ f/10 with ToUcam webcam.
3-19-04 Saturn taken at 2004 spring trip to Fort McKavett. 20"Obsession @ f/10, ToUcam Pro II webcam, seeing 6/10.
3-19-04 - My first pic of the face of Jupiter showing the Great Red Spot with my current setup. Taken at the 2004 spring trip to Fort McKavett. 20" Obsession, f/10 ToUcam Pro II webcam, seeing 5/10.
3-6-04 - Wow!!! It's amazing how much detail can be seen when the seeing gets better. This is an f/20 shot using the ToUcam pro II with 20" Obsession. 475 out of 535 frames processed with Registax2. Considered the "boring" side of Jupiter, this was anything but boring last night. Seeing was 7/10, Transparency was 5/10.
3-6-04 - Jupiter and Io at f/10. I finally got some clear weather to shoot in. Seeing was good (7/10) but shooting through a persistant cloud (transparency 5/10) that just seem to hang over my house was challenging. Also, the full moon was about 7.8 degrees from Jupiter. I began to see what the ToUcam Pro II and my 20" Obsession combination could really do. Cloud knots, white ovals and blue festoons galore! Just unbelievable!!! I used all 792 frames stacked with Registax2.
02-26-04 - My first attempt at animation. Very short, I admit but it has potential!!! I didn't realize that I had enough shots that evening to create one but after seeing Randy Brewer's fine work, I thought I would try. 20" Obsession @ f/10, ToUcam Pro II seeing 3/10.
02-26-04 - This was the first image of Jupiter I've taken with my new ToUcam Pro II, 20" Obsession at f/10. Seeing was about 3/10. Notice Io to the left and Europa and it's shadow on the right side. 57 frames hand picked from 481 frames stacked and processed using Registax 2.
02-26-04- This was the first Image using my new ToUcam Pro II webcam. I just pointed it at the moon in broad daylight to align the finder and get it ready for viewing that night. Mirror was still warm and image was swimming all over the place. I did not know what crater this was at first but a nice gentleman named John from the Yahoo Obsession User Group Forum correctly identified this crater as Piccolomini.
1-19-04 - This is probably the highest resolution of Saturn to date for me. This was on a night that the seeing was about 6/10. Taken at f/20 with 20" Obsession with surveillance camera recordered to Sony Digital Camcorder then converted to AVI file to be processed in Registax 2
1-19-04 - With the light gathering power of the 20" scope, some nebulosity can be detected on the video screen when recording the Trapezium. Taken at f/10 with surveillance camera recorded using a Sony Digital 8 camcorder downloaded as a AVI file then processed with Registax 2
12-07-03 - This is a Tri-color stacked image taken with my 20" Obsession at f/10 with a cheap surveillance camera I bought at EPO. I captured the images with my Sony Digital 8 Video Cam then downloaded them as an AVI file to my computer for processing with Registax 2. The camera uses a 1/2" ccd chip which gives a much larger field of view than a webcam.
12-7-03 First Image taken with 20" Obsession, "Electric Screwdriver" Equatorial Platform, B/W surveillance camera setup. Recorded to a Sony Digital 8 camcorder, downloaded to an AVI file for processing with Registax 2.
08/27/03- Mars taken via Eyepiece projection through 20" Obsession using an Olympus C-3020Z Digital Camera
08-26-03- Mars using 20" Obsession and Quickcam Pro 4000. Images stacked and processed using Registax 2
04-05-02- First Image of Jupiter with 20" Obsession. Eyepiece Projection using my Olympus C-3030Z Digital camera.
3-30-02- M42 & M43 - Olympus C-3030Z digital camera mounted to 11x80 Binoculars Eyepiece Projection on an EQ Platform.
03-30-02 - Moon taken with a 4 1/4" Reflector. 14 individual shots stiched together. Images taken with an old camcorder and using a Snappy video capture device to down load pics to computer.
04-14-99: My first planet shot of Venus taken with my Dad's digital camera via eyepiece projection with a 4 1/4" homemade Newtonian Telescope.