Had a freak clear night last Tuesday that gave me 47 minutes of perfect Andromeda shots

I was out in my backyard near Boise at 2am with my Celestron and the sky was so still I actually got a photo sharp enough to see the dust lanes, has anyone else ever had one of those random perfect windows?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan8d ago

Oh man, that sounds amazing! I read somewhere that those perfect nights happen when the jet stream dips way down and the atmosphere just settles. I got a similar window last fall in Oregon, just 20 minutes of dead calm air, and my M42 came out way better than anything I'd done before. I bet that Andromeda shot is a real keeper with the dust lanes showing up like that.

ray_williams8d ago

You had me at 'dead calm air in Oregon.' That's like finding a unicorn with a clear sky forecast. @the_susan, you're telling me you got 20 minutes of that magic and M42 turned out killer? Man, I had a night like that once and spent the whole time fumbling with my damn tripod lock - aren't those the moments when the telescope decides to fog up just to spite you? Still, at least Andromeda gave you the dust lanes, which is more than I got out of that night's blurry coma.

aaron7408d ago

Can't believe you actually got dust lanes on M42 from Oregon... that's like winning the astronomy lottery. I've been trying for years to get that kind of detail, but my light pollution here in the city always washes out the faint stuff. Even with a filter, my best shots just look muddy. You must have been grinning ear to ear when you pulled that data off the card.