Das PlaneWave!

I know, I know... I've lately been taking more photos of gear than of the sky, but I am hoping my work now will pay off in LOTS of image data later!

So THIS is a milestone -- my buddy Phil finally brought his new PlaneWave 12.5" CDK scope, Optec 3" focuser, and Apogee U16 camera down to my BuckSnort Observatory last weekend.

When Phil learned I was building an observatory and intended to operate it remotely, he asked if I was interested in having a partner. When he proposed selling a bunch of his gear and buying this scope for the observatory, the offer was too good to pass up (besides, Phil is a great guy and I knew we'd have fun).

Anyway, we still have some minor issues to fix before it is fully operational (like adding more counterweight, replacing a bad USB hub, etc.), but we tested it on Friday night and it did great! We were both very excited.

This scope will allow me to image much smaller targets at great resolution (galaxies, planetary nebulae, small reflection nebulae, etc.) than I currently can with my "wide field" rigs . The available target list now goes way up.

And aside from the obvious photographic potential, the scope just looks COOL on my big red Paramount ME ; )