Hi Ron, glad to see someone is still active. I have not been active or interested enough in months to get the telescope out. You are wondering why the comet is elongated in the shot on this post and it is because the comet is moving at a different speed that the apparent motion of the stars. Try stacking your images "on the comet" instead of "on the stars". The stars will trail a little but the comet will be more round. There are three stacking options in DSS, stars, comet, stars+comet. Keep up the good work.

James C
Arkansas

Nice shots of Panstarrs.

I went out at sunset on Mar 14 but was unable to find the comet. It was a little hazy but where the comet should have been was clear so I don't know what happened?  Perihelion was March 9.

I wasn't able to see the second magnitude stars near the moon either but the moon looked nice. I am hoping to find out if others had difficulty finding it as well.

James C
Arkansas

I saw the comet today prior to sunset with binoculars. I estimated the tail at 2-3° in length and bright. Sunset was at 7:12PM and I found the comet about 7:00pm and it dipped below my horizon very quickly. It was the first bright comet with tail I have seen AND with binos. I was pretty excited to find it. It was right where Starry Night showed it.
 
It reminded me of a passenger jet contrail. A couple of jets passed in front of the comet that is the reason for the comparison.

James C
Arkansas

I have hesitantly collimated my sct only 2 or three time but I am not comfortable doing it either and I have a set of "Bob's Knobs" therefore no hex key is
needed. I am glad you found your problems.  Once you figure out the new camera I hope you will post a review.

By the way, I thought your wide field images looked good.

James C
Arkansas

Ron, have you checked the collimation of the scope?  If you have never done a star test for collimation this site has a good
explanation. 

http://starizona.com/acb/basics/using_collimating_sct.aspx

James C
Arkansas

Doc, thanks for the info about the moon phase. I was hoping you would see and respond to the post.

I observed the moon for the past 2 nights to see  it's rotation as it moves from from East to West. I have been involved in astronomy for at least 10 years and it hard to believe that I never noticed this motion. Oh well, as they say live and learn.

James C
Arkansas

The bright part of the moon was at the bottom of the moon on jan 17. I don't remember seeing it this way.

Moon phase calendar for Jan 2013 show the bright part of the moon as being on the right side.

James C
Arkansas

The quadrantid shower occurs during the early morning of Jan 03. It is cloudy in Arkansas but NASA has a live link at
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/quadrantids_2013.html

The link is the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The wx in Alabama is cloudy but the following link looks better
http://www.livescience.com/25922-meteor-showers-live-webcasts.html

James C
Arkansas

There is one bright star or planet inside the lunar halo Christmas Eve.  Thanks for the info Doc.

James C
Arkansas

After doing a little research I have decided to look into purchasing a "fish eye" lens. They can go 180° or more and I have seen some meteor shower pics taken
with the fish eye. Just set the camera on automatic and let it take a sequence of timed pictures while you sleep.

James C
Arkansas

Did anyone else see the very large lunar halo Saturday nite? I could not take a picture because my camera lens could not go that wide.
The moon was 1° in diameter and the halo was 60° in diameter using hand approximations.

James C
Arkansas

Hi Ron
I found the following site that sounds like the problem you are having?

http://www.ehow.com/list_7464728_viruses-open-internet-explorer-ads.html

James C
Arkansas

I have not had any unusual things happen when viewing the posts so I am guessing it is some sort of malware  in your machine. You might consider "system restore" to  a point in time before this gremlin appeared?

James C
Arkansas

Yes, my SNP does show it. I found a web site after I posted the info that had more info. I am not sure the lower latitudes of the USA can see it? If I can find the website again I'll post the link.

James

The moon will hide minor planet Ceres early in the morning September 9 for about 45 minutes. The show starts at 2:20 AM  CDT.  

http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1209/08ceres/

James C
Arkansas