My Observatory (Stan McQueen)

Contains: Gear

My Observatory

This is Cascade Mountain Observatory (aka My Backyard) with Cascade Mountain in the background!

This image shows my hypertuned CGEM mount, WilliamOptics FLT110 main scope, Orion ST80 guide/finder scope, Orion SSAG guide camera, Orion Deep Space Monochome Imager III, Orion 7x1.25 filter wheel, and Orion rotator/AO guider. Below the scope are the various electronics for running it: USB hubs, Astrozap dew heater controller, power supply, etc. Power and data are fed through a 2" PVC pipe that goes underground back to the house.

Added 2014-01-08: I forgot to mention that I replaced the original WilliamOptics focuser with a Starlight Instruments Feathertouch focuser. The original focuser did not have the lifting ability I needed with this optical train. I then added a Rigel Systems nStep stepper motor to remotely control the focuser. The latest addition is a pair of Astrozap dew heaters (one each for the main scope and the guide scope) with associated controller.

Software: ACP Observatory Control software, MaximDL imaging software, ImagesPlus Camera Control (used mainly for DSLR control of planetary imaging), FocusMax autofocus software, NexRemote Celestron remote controller for the mount, AMBReticle for placing a reticle on the MaximDL image for star centering, aligning, and syncing purposes. For image processing, I use a combination of MaximDL, Photoshop, ImagesPlus, and Pixinsight (still climbing up the steep learning curve of Pixinsight!)

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	n/a
Started	n/a
Astrometry.net job	n/a
PixInsight job	n/a
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

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My Observatory

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My Observatory

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