Wondering how Mars looks like through a telescope?
A few days ago, on January 30, 2023, I captured Mars using a webcam (SPC900NC) attached to the Westerlund 90cm Telescope in Uppsala, Sweden. The focal length in the Nasmyth focus is 9 meter. The pixel size of the camera (5.6μm) thus leads to a pixel scale of ...
Finally! Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
After desperately waiting for two weeks in a row, the weather here in Uppsala finally improved and we could observe the famous comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) with our rooftop telescope at the Angström Laboratory, the so called "Westerlund Telescope". As the comet just ...
Comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise)
Comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise). Crop from an image taken at Postalm (Salzburg, AT) on July 21st, 2020 with a Nikon DF using an AF-S 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor at f/2.2 and ISO 1600. The exposure time was 15 ...
Nikkor Lens Comparison for Astrophotography AF 80-200 f2.8 ED vs. AF-S VR 70-200 f2.8 ED
I bought two used Nikon lenses, both very similar in their specifications, which is not surprising as the Nikkor AF 80-200 f2.8 ED is a precursor of the Nikkor AF-S VR 70-200 f2.8 ED (see Ken Rockwell's history page). With the highest bid, I got the 80-200mm for 280 EUR + ...
Observing Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina)
Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) was first discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on October 31, 2013. It originates from the Oort cloud, a vast spherical reservoir of comets far beyond Neptun. By chance, gravitational perturbations can push Oort objects into the inner solar ...
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is bright (around 5mag) enough to be easily seen with binoculars or small telescopes in constellation Eridanus. On really good sites one should be able to spot it even with naked eye. However, currently the observing conditions are hard, because ...
