Carl's Home Page

Midnight Observatory

Mewlon 300 first images using SBIG ST 2000 XM camera 7-21-03

L to R top:  Sunflower Galaxy, M51 and M3 2 minutes each @ prime focus, f/12, dark frame subtracted and processed in MaxIm DL

L to R bottom:  same images processed in Photoshop 6.0, duplicated each 3 times and merged channels for RGB and set the levels of each channel to produce false color images.

Update:  September 28, 2002--First light with Mewlon 300 was excellent but the primary had not totally cooled down since I had not removed the back plate or side panels.  I was short on time and decided to "wing it" and I could detect heat currents for about 20 minutes until everything stabilized.  The electric focuser is a breeze to use and focus is very easy to find!  I hope to be able to do some imaging soon.  My schedule has kept me busy with work and not much time for playing with the new toys.  The SBIG ST 2000XM arrived and is all set up with the CFW-8.  I look forward to imaging using this set up very soon and will post some results here.  I have added two items since I first mounted this set up:  I put a 42" pier instead of the 48" I had originally started with.  The 48" pier was way too high for even my 6' + height.  I also added a 28" counter weight shaft instead of the 18" shaft.  By replacing the original 18" shaft with the 28" shaft, I only need four eighteen pound weights compared to the 6 I was using before.  That means the mount has thirty six less pounds to deal with.  Balancing everything is very easy with the 28" shaft and less weight means less stress on the 1200GTO mount ;>)

Welcome to my web site, Midnight Observatory.  The dome's construction is first rate and took a very short time to construct.  The dome is 3m by 3m and works very well for what I need.  The shutter and dome are motorized by 12v motors and construction is first rate.  You can find the manufacture from Australia by clicking here.

Update with Mewlon photos with AP 155EDF on top.  Also my imaging station using two CCD cameras, Starlite Express MX7C, SBIG ST2000XM and Dell Latitude LS400, soon to be upgraded with a Dell SmartStep 250N P4 2200 and have the ability to remote image from inside my home using Linksys wireless PC cards.

Here are some photos of the solar eclipse in June, 2002   Coverage here in San Antonio Texas was about 50%.

Thanks for stopping by Midnight Observatory, clear skies!

You can contact me at: cwellman@satx.rr.com