astreqlo

Equipment

setting up

Currently I do my observing and imaging through these instruments:

Vixen R200SS 8 inch f/4 Newtonian
Vixen VC200L 8 inch f/9 Catadioptric Cassegrain
Meade 2045D 4 inch f/10 Schmidt Cassegrain
Meade ETX90 3.5 inch f/12.7 Schmidt Cassegrain
Celestron 80 mm f/7.5 semi-apo refractor
Sbig ST237 Ccd camera (also used as autoguide)
Starlight Xpress HX516 Ccd camera
Canon Eos 350D modified digital camera
The equipment is mounted on a Vixen Great Polaris Dx
computerized with a Vixen Sky Sensor 2000 Pc

Setting up after sunset

Location (N42°37'00'' E12°02'00'')

Usually my"observatory" is a long terrace on one side of my country house located on the hills surrounding the beautiful lake Bolsena, 130 kilometers north of Rome, in central Italy. It is one of the biggest lakes of volcanic origin in the Mediter-ranean area. In the village of Capodimonte (left picture) there is a small fishing industry, which provides local restaurants with several varieties of exquisite fish. So, if the skies are not clear (right picture), I can always enjoy good cuisine!.

Despite having sodium street lights around the house, the skies are quite dark.
I can often reach magnitude 5 to 6 visually but, due to the vicinity of the lake,
the atmosphere tends to be unsteady.

Clear skies to you!

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