M42(Orion nebula) using my DIY Barn Door Tracker.

After 8 months of researching, building and learning to write code for a microprocessor, I finally got into the garden to test my Arduino driven, straight rod Barn Door mount.

 Its not only more portable and faster to set up (including polar alignment) than my Meade Etx 105, its also more sturdy . I have used the Meade tripod for stability along with my home made wedge which is now used on both barn door and Meade. This image was taken on a Canon 40D with 70-200 f/4 lens @ 200mm. I was really interested on the roundness of the stars as this would indicate that my calculations and programming for driving the mount were out. Tonight also was very windy so I was delighted when I staked only three 30 second images to reveal this image.

Geminid meteor shower 2013

Taken using a canon 40D with a 17mm f2.8 lens. 20 second exposure @ISO 400.
This year shower was really good with 5 or six meteors in quick succession followed by a lull for a few minutes then half a dozen more. The weather had been cloudy all week but at 10pm the clouds melted away leaving a still cold and clear night. Jupiter was shining brightly in the constellation of Gemini with Orion between it an the moon. I tried to catch a meteor crossing Orion and this was the closest I could manage. As I was setting up the camera a very large meteor passed right through the viewfinder. It sounds like a fisherman's tail of the one that got away but its true.

Tonight's Moon Halo.

Tonight's moon halo was extra bright so I just had to get a shot. Its supposedly 22 degrees in diameter and caused by ice crystals high in the atmosphere.