Category Archives: Observation Log

Eqiupment, Images, Observation Log

Tuesday Two-fer

3 Comments

Well at long last the sky has cleared up and the haze has lifted. The temperature is 47º F (which is so cold for us here that I’m tempted to express it in Kelvin… but anyway) and I’d say the seeing is about as good as it ever gets.

I took the scope out on Christmas day and pointed it at a distant terrestrial object (a tree) in order to train the drives but clearly I did something wrong. I went out tonight and began the alignment procedure and the telescope asked me to verify it was pointing at Sirius — the first “alignment star” it chose — not even close. Back to the old drawing board I guess. I didn’t need Autostar to find something like Saturn so I set up for imaging anyway. Here is the result of my labor.

click for larger

Yes, not the prettiest but I consider it practice for the Jan 27th opposition. You can clearly see the Cassini Division and some banding in the atmosphere (South Equatorial Belt). Also you can note the sliver of a shadow the planet is casting on the left hand side of the rings behind it. At the eyepiece there wasn’t as much color as captured here, but there was far more crispness and detail in the ring system. There has got to be a better way to do this.

Earlier in the evening just after sunset, I pulled the scope out in manual mode with the Canon EOS 300D at prime focus. I took a number of shots of Venus at varying exposures, 1/200 sec came out the best which incidentally was the first one I took.

click for larger

I found that with any longer exposures, shutter-induced vibration blurred the image as the scope (with the camera attached) was sorely out of balance. I need to quit talking about making a counter-weight for this configuration and just do it! I have all the freakin’ parts for crying out loud.

Lastly, for Christmas Santa left me a Canon Angle Finder C, a Canon Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3for me Digital Rebel (300D), and the Orion Deluxe Stargazer’s Filter Set for the telescope. Hopefully I’ll get to give all these items a good workout soon!

I hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday!

Images, Observation Log

Imaged Mars tonight

2 Comments

It was about 65º F and breezy tonight with fast-moving intermittent clouds (low-level Cumulus?). I did about 10 runs with the camera, refocusing before each run. The reason I do this is because it’s close to impossible to tell if I’m in focus with Mars unless I can make out some surface details — which is close to impossible on my red-screened iBook using the Meade LPI imager. I had similar trouble with Jupiter earlier this year and I learned that by refocusing before every exposure I give myself the best chance of hitting one right on.

Here is the image from tonight’s optimum run. It’s a stack of 250 frames.

click for larger

Notice the “tan” area in the upper left quarter of the image. I tried to find current information regarding dust storm activity on Mars but I was not able to — or I just didn’t look long enough. I would be interested in knowing if this is indeed a dust storm or just an artifact introduced somewhere along the line in my imaging/processing sequence.

While we’re on about Mars, take a look at these synthesized images of the rovers on Mars. The images were created using a photorealistic model of the rover and Mars surface images shot by the rover. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the image. I think I’m going to add the color shots to desktop images I’m currently compiling for December.

They really fire the imagination!

Images, Observation Log

Prime Focus Moon

3 Comments

I took the scope out last night in manual mode to shoot some portraits of the Moon. I took 49 shots in various configurations and camera settings as I was trying out the Canon Digital Rebel with the scope for the first time. I took many shots with the camera coupled to ScopeTronix 40mm ST Series Plössl but not one of them came out. I think the camera was so heavy that it was actually torqing the eyepiece in the tube and it caused all kinds of wierd warping of the image.

I then switched to prime focus configuration. If you aren’t familiar with this it’s where you attach the camera to the back of the scope’s optical tube assembly (OTA) which essentially turns my ETX90 into a 900mm telephoto lens!

I ended up with ONE perfectly framed shot that was reasonably in focus.

click for larger

Unfortunately I under exposed the image so some grainyness was introduced when I digitally enhanced the light levels in photoshop. I only took about 10 shots in this configuration as it required me to be a contortionist in order to frame and focus the shots — the Moon was near zenith so the scope was basically pointing straight up (which negated the need for the counter-weight, for those of you who have been following that…project?) As it happens one of the items on my Christmas list is the Canon Angle Finder C which really would have went a LONG way in assisting me tonight as I was trying to get under this.

click for larger

There was quite a bit of water vapor (and haze) in the air which was steadily increasing during the time I was outside. It wasn’t long before I began to notice a lunar halo much like the one I recently saw pictured over at Stuart’s Astronomy Blog. Here is my shot of this phenomenon.

click for larger

Lastly, probably the most interesting shot I took was of a prop plane that flew over. I was already focused on infinity so I swung the camera around and opened the shutter for about 5 seconds.

click for larger

Neato huh? At any rate it turned out to be a productive evening under the dirty skies. I finally got to bed about 4 AM (again this morning) to be awakened at 8 AM by my boys ages 1 and 3 (again this morning)… 🙁

Gotta love it!

Images, Observation Log

Two Degrees pt II

2 Comments

The clouds gave me little break after midnight and I was ready to go with the camera on the tripod with the telephoto attached. I took about 3 dozen pictures at different settings in order to have the best chance of getting the “money shot.” The reason I do this is because I’m framing and focusing the old fashioned way, through the view finder. After each shot I get a few seconds of the image on the LCD but it’s basically meaningless in low light or astronomical applications. The proof is when you pack it up and go view the shots at the computer.

I got ONE shot…

click for larger

What impresses me more (ok so I’m easily impressed) are the features visible on the moon. Here is that same shot with Mars cropped out and a section along the western limb of the Moon near Grimaldi crater enhanced.

click for larger

Lastly, (again from the same shot) the moon at full resolution from the camera.

I remind you this is not a telescope but a 6 MP digital SLR with a 100-300 zoom telephoto. I REALLY need to get my act together and get the counter-weight system for my telescope built so I can attach this baby to my ETX90!