Observatory Astropical

Friends and neighbors are always welcome to join, pets are most welcome, too. Free guided 'night sky tours' are possible in Japanese, English and German languages, weather permitting. A room (or a tent) that sleeps two (or a small family) is always available for those who can't return before midnight or dawn (or are having drinks, which is fine with proper manners). The nearest hotel is about 15 car minutes away, the nearest supermarket 10 car minutes, and the nearest convenience store 5 minutes on foot.

All activities are paused or reduced while the COVID pandemic persists!

Sadly, clear nights offering opportunities for both observations and imaging are rare extremely these years. One reason being, the climate change, which causes glaciers to melt and more cloud forming moisture to get into the anyway instable atmosphere. Warmer ocean temperatures presented us a humidity-packed typhoon on the 20th day of November in 2019! This is of course not the worst consequence of Earth warming as increasingly deadly global disasters are teaching us.

While observation through the eyepiece is most rewarding with large aperture telescopes under a dark sky, photography suffices with smaller scopes between Ø60mm and Ø80mm. This is because a camera gathers light for periods of seconds or minutes per exposure which the human can't do. This photon collection can last for hours. More exposures deliver more details and reduce noise. Filters and post-processing of images can compensate a lot for unfavorable conditions, such as light interference. Nevertheless, at the end of a day, a dark, clear sky is the best buddy for both, visual observation and imaging.

Imaging of the moon and bright planets does not take that much time and does not rely too much on a dark sky. "Planetary photography" (includes the moon) involves video recording using a dedicated small CMOS camera on a telescope. Then, by means of special software, the individual frames in a video will be stacked and post-processed. Depending on the length of the video this may take just a few minutes. Planetary imaging is therefore best suited for a demonstration with instant gratification. The surface of the moon or the planets can be monitored in real-time on a PC screen or a large flat TV which is great for small groups.

Telescopes

• Celestron C8 XLT (Ø200mm/FL=2030mm)
• Sky-Watcher BKP150 (Ø150mm/FL=750mm with aperture ring and Baader coma corrector)
• TS-Optics TS71SDQ (Ø71mm/FL=450mm)
• Celestron C90 (Ø90mm/FL=1000mm), Made in USA, black OTA, with 27mm 1.25" plössl and erecting prism

Mounts

• Orion Atlas EQ-G (on loan)
• Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro on Vixen SXG-AL130 tripod
• Vixen Polarie Tracker

Imagers

• Nikon D5300 DSLR (modified)
• Nikon D5500 DSLR (used)
• ZWO ASI120MC-S
• ZWO ASI290MM
• ZWO ASI462MC
• Player One Neptune-M (IMX178, prize win)
• Player One Uranus-C (IMX585)

Photo Lenses

• Samyang 135mm F2 UMC
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 standard
• Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX
• Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 standard

Eyepieces

• Explore Scientific 18mm/82°, 2"
• Kokusai Kohki Photon 12mm/60°, 1.25"
• Svbony 6mm/68°, 1.25"
• Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom Mark IV

Diagonals/Barlows

• Explore Scientific, 2" diagonal
• Teleview 2.5x Powermate, 1.25"
• Vixen 2x Barlow, 1.25"
• Kokusai Kohki 3x Barlow, 1.25"
• Kasai Trading 0.5x reducer, 1.25"
• GSO 0.5x reducer, 2"
• William Optics 1.6x/2x tubeless barlows, 1.25"

Binoculars

• Celestron SkyMaster 15 x 70

Filters

• Hoya Red Enhancer Ø52mm
• Kenko Starry Night Ø77mm
• Kenko Astro LPR Type II, Ø77mm
• Sightron Hα, Hβ, OIII, SII Quad Band Pass, Ø1.25"
• Sightron Pro IR640nm Ø1.25"
• Astronomik Pro-Planet IR642nm Ø1.25"
• Astronomik Pro-Planet IR742nm Ø1.25"
• Player One ERF Ø1.25"
• Baader UV/IR cut Ø1.25"
• Baader UV/IR cut Ø1.25", CMOS optimized
• Svbony UV/IR cut Ø1.25"
• DIY solar filter with Baader foil Ø62mm
• ZWO mechanical filter wheel