Seems like Ann and I were both on the same mission (night before last)… to capture the rare meeting of Mars and the beehive cluster. I had a bout of poor planning 🙂 because I set up in a location where by the time it got dark enough the pair started to set behind the trees. I managed to get a few 30sec to 1 minute unguided shots with the 80mm scope. This is also a first light with my Williams Optics type II field flattener. The flattener gives me sharper stars out to the edge of the frame and reduces my f ratio to f5 from f6.3.

uncropped image: http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1573&g2_imageViewsIndex=2

A few more images taken over the past month:

M106 spiral galaxy
http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1560&g2_imageViewsIndex=2

M92 globular cluster
http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1568&g2_imageViewsIndex=2

KerryLH