Hersey – Page 7 – The Suffolk Sky

05/01/2024 – SeeStar – Quick Galaxy EAA Session…

May 2, 2024 by Hersey

I have been traveling for work the past couple of days. I took the SeeStar with me, unfortunately cloudy nights prevented me from doing any observing while on the road. I returned home to a nice clear sky so I put the…

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04/26/2024 – SeeStar – A Quick Look at the Sun…

April 27, 2024 by Hersey

It was a long day for a Friday, just a lot going on at work. I had a break in the early afternoon and need to destress a bit, so I set up the SeeStar S50 with the included solar filter to…

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Background Extraction and Noise Reduction using AI for Free

April 25, 2024 by Hersey

GraXpert is a free opensource tool which can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) models to perform background extraction (gradient removal) and denoising (noise removal) on astrophotography images. I have been tinkering with this tool using a FITS image saved from a live stack…

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04/22/2024 – SeeStar EAA… A Crab, a Gorgon, and more…

April 23, 2024 by Hersey

A bright nearly full Moon, a mostly clear sky, and a little cooler than it has been. The image on the AllSky Camera looked like it was day time out even after Sunset due to the Moon being so bright. Not the…

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SeeStar S50 on a CG5 Tripod…

April 21, 2024 by Hersey

The SeeStar S50 tripod is light and fairly sturdy, however even with the legs fully extended it only raises the SeeStar a little more than a foot (1′) off the ground. The SeeStar tripod will definitely be great for traveling, but I…

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04/18/2024 – SeeStar Observing a Monkey’s Head

April 19, 2024 by Hersey

The Clear Outside forecast was not looking all that great, earlier in the day the forecast looked OK, but by early afternoon the forecast had worsened quite a bit. At around 8 PM the sky looked at least mostly clear so I…

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New Gear… SeeStar S50 First Light

April 17, 2024 by Hersey

I have thought about picking up a SeeStar S50 a few times, it has made it into my AgenaAstro cart more than once. After seeing some of the images captured, and watching a NightSkiesNetwork.com broadcast, using the SeeStar S50 during the Solar…

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04/13/2024 – Messier 51, The Whirlpool Galaxy

April 14, 2024 by Hersey

It is galaxy season! It was a nice night for observing. A crisp clear sky and temperatures in the mid-to-low 50s F. Not a lot of humidity in the air, so seeing was nice and dew was at a minimum. Last nights…

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Learning KStars/Ekos – Back to the Future… Working with Time

April 11, 2024 by Hersey

The ability to adjust the date/time in a planetarium program is extremely handy when planning an observation session. What will the sky look like, or what will be visible, later tonight/2 days from now/1 week from now/etc from now at 10 PM?…

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Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024 – It. Was. Amazing!

April 9, 2024 by Hersey

Beautiful weather the April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse. Temperatures in the mid-70s and a nice mostly clear sky. Just a few passing thin clouds. The weather forecast had been a bit all over the place in the days leading up to the…

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