For the first time ever I went to a star party with the full imaging gear and not only with the intention to observe visually. Silently I had my doubts if it would be wise to set up the fragile equipment at a busy site like the International Telescope Meeting Vogelsberg. But I wanted to test the TMB-refractor with its new focus-motor in order to be ready for the planned trip to La Palma.
Already on the site was Thomas, head of the Rhine-Main-Taunus-astro-aficionados, later to be joined by my old buddy Ben from Munich and by Tobbe from Lausanne, who brought his 20“ flexrocker-Dobson. On their websites Ben and .de/itv2016.html" target="_new">Thomas posted very colourful narratives catching the wonderful spirit of the four days we stayed there.
I had imaged the Bode galaxies from my terrace with the same equipment only two nights before and I wondered how much a difference the decent rural sky of the Vogelsberg would make compared to the sky of a small town on the river Rhine. The difference is enormous. For this image I used only the frames captured at the ITV.