After I posted the previous report on 26 December, the skies turned cloudy again.  But I was able to capture the lovely sunset above that evening.  And here is Kitt Peak at sunset, taken with my Nikon D70 and 300mm VR telephoto lens:

I also took this photo of the moon through the clouds at sunset with the 300mm lens:

Sunday, 27 December, it was clear most of the day.  I decided to make a solar filter for the 8" telescope using a spare Thousand Oaks Optical solar filter for my ETX-90. 

I made an adapter for the filter.  I traced out the size of the 8" aperture and the filter housing, cut out the main mask, cut an offset hole for the solar filter, and added side supports.  Here are some construction photos:

After doing the initial assembly with the pieces held together by Scotch tape, I did a fit-test on the telescope.  It was OK, although it was a little loose on the 8" OTA (easily fixed).

I then did a functional test.  Just as I got the sun into the 26mm eyepiece field-of-view, an airliner flew across the sun's disk!  Neat!!!  I could also see one small sunspot (#1039).  I then removed the filter and added the finishing touches to the adapter using aluminum foil (for heat rejection), transparent packing tape, and black masking tape.

Unfortunately, it was sunset when I finished the adapter.  And Monday, 28 December, it was completely overcast, so no solar observing.  Also, the wind was gusting to 34 mph.  Tuesday, 29 December, was also cloudy.  Check out the webcam all-day movie.

It finally cleared up on Thursday, 31 December, and I was able to test out the solar filter.  I opened the observatory at 1103 MST, temp=59°F. I attached the solar filter to the 8”, unparked the telescope, did a GOTO Mercury, and then slewed manually to center the sun in the 26mm eyepiece (77X).  As expected, it worked fine. 

The sun was a little dim since the aperture was stopped way down by the small filter.  But with the 26mm eyepiece, the sun’s disk was very clear.  In a 15mm (133X) eyepiece, sunspot #1039 was very nice.  I then did some solar photography with the D70 DSLR.  Here is the sun at prime focus plus focal reducer, 1/100sec, ISO 500:

Without the focal reducer, I could not capture the entire disk but the sunspots showed up nicely in this 1/160sec, ISO 800 photo:

I tried using eyepiece projection (12mm eyepiece) to photograph the sunspots but focusing was a challenge due to the faintness of the sun’s magnified image.  I even used a black cloth over my head to block out extraneous light.  That helped a little but it was still difficult to focus in the camera’s viewfinder.  None of my test images were in-focus.

I also tested my PST on the piggyback adapter on the 8".

Optical alignment to the 8” LX200-ACF was very good and the balance seemed OK.  The sunspot area looked very active in Hydrogen-Alpha.  There was one nice prominence visible.  Unfortunately, the D70 DSLR will not focus the sun at either prime focus or with eyepiece projection, at least, not with the adapters I have.  The PST just does not have sufficient travel in the focusing mechanism.  I did try several things to focus, but without success.  So, I went back to observing the sun with the PST, something I had not done in a long time.

I can now observe the sun safely using my ETX-90RA telescope or my 8” LX200-ACF.  And I can mount the PST piggyback on either the ETX or the LX200.  It is nice to have these options.  Especially as the (delayed) solar activity should be increasing in 2010.

I closed up the observatory at 1215 MST, 64°F.

Now for a discussion of the Moon.

I was able to get three "Full” Moon photos this month! The first was on 1 December, as reported here.  The second Full Moon was photographed at 0442 MST on Thursday, 31 December, using my Nikon D70 DSLR with the 300mm telephoto lens, 1/2000sec, ISO 500.

The second Full Moon in a single month is known as a “Blue Moon”.  "Blue Moon"?  It looked more like an "Orange Moon" as it set in the west at 0718 MST:

You can see the moon and the Earth's shadow above the horizon:

Gee, a Lunar Eclipse:

Well, the moon was eclipsed by the Earth.

I opened the POD the evening of 31 December at 1810 MST, temp=45°F, for my third “Full” Moon photography in December and the second time today.  I first took a look at Jupiter.  The four Galilean Moons were visible.  That was appropriate on this last night of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, in celebration of 400 years since Galileo first observed the heavens with a telescope.

I then waited until the Full moon rose over the hill to the east.  At 1826 MST, it cleared the hill but was too low and too close to the house roof for good seeing.  By 1848 MST, some high thin clouds were getting closer to the moon.  At 1855 MST, I captured this image at prime focus + focal reducer, 1/500sec, ISO 500:

I then did some lunar observing, using a moon filter, with both a 26mm eyepiece and a 15mm eyepiece.  I could detect no shadows at the limb.  Definitely a “Full Moon”.

I closed up the observatory at 1910 MST, 41°F.

The 100% Full Moon occurred shortly after noon, local time, on Thursday, 31 December, so I captured the Full Moon a few hours before and after the actual Full Moon.

I wish everyone a HAPPY and SAFE 2010 with Clear Skies and no Light Pollution!!!