September 30, 2008

Equinox Star Party, Sept 2008

What an unbelievable weekend! A UK weekend in September that had 3 clear nights (4 if you count Sundays slightly milky sky). That is just unheard of. In fact, I had more clear nights in one weekend than the rest of the appalling UK summer. And the fact that it was star party weekend just makes it astonishing.

Just a couple of astro related images to start with, followed by some other pictures.

M45
OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 31x300s, IDAS
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

(Click on image for larger version)

M42/M43/NGC1977
OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 20×60s + 20x300s, IDAS
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

(Click on image for larger version)

And now some other random images from the Kelling Heath Start paty weekend. We were down in the blue field at Kelling, so what you see here is a small part of several hundred pitches, all of them full with astronomers and their kit. And yes, that orange glow in the sky is light pollution 🙁

And click >> HERE << for a large panorama image taken from the middle of our small observing field, helped by Tony and his many clones 🙂

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September 19, 2008

Fighting the moon to shoot the Veil complex

Conditions were pretty dire last night…. sure it was dry and calm, but that big bright moon lit of the hazy skies like it was on fire 🙁 … but it was a clear sky! I`d nearly forgotten what they looked like. I also had a few “issues” that made me lose 2 hours of imaging time. Grrr!!!

I`ve been after the Veil complex since the end of last year, but weather and other things prevented me from being in the right place at the right time. The only tool that was right for the job was the NS8GPS+Hyperstar, which hasnt seen a night sky since April. It was great to get the beast out again, quick and easy polar alignment, and no issues about meridian flips.

Considering the state of the sky, I`m happy I managed to get anything out of my subs at all. I was fighting some horrid gradients, and the noise in the stacked image started to show very early in the processing.

OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 13nm Ha
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

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September 1, 2008

Sacrifice to the weather gods?

What exactly do I have to sacrifice to the weather gods to make the near 24/7 cloud cover go away? Its just getting silly now. Its been the gloomiest August on record (cloud cover), with some parts of the UK have had the wettest August on record.

Not that the skies havent been clear…. we have have plenty of glorious mornings, and fantastic evenings… but as soon as it gets anywhere near dark, the cloud cover rolls in, and stays there until the sun comes up, at which point it occasionally rolls out again. Since my session on the 2nd August, the nearest thing I have had to a clear night this month was a few hours on Saturday 30th August, with a cloud bank rolling over 2-3 hours before midnight, and leaving at about 3-4am. Not that it would have helped, as I was at a wedding near Stockton-on-Tees, which was 100% cloud cover all night.

The problem is that the pressure graphs for northern europe look like the ones for December, with storm pattern after storm pattern rolling in, one after the other, and passing straight over the UK. Normally they pass north of us, pushed out by the high pressure from the Azores, but it hasnt happened this year. So not only do we have this converyor belt of storm patterns coming in, they are large and swollen with water vapour from the Atlantic, making them overlap with each other. At least in winter we get some break between the storms!

So, here I sit, watching the depressing weather forecasts that always say “clear skies tomorrow” but when we get there, it cloudy again, but promising clear skies tomorrow again. When will this ever end? Over the course of this year, I am down to 1/3rd of my sessions compared to 2007. I think I`ll take up stamp collecting, or knitting, or just standing outside at night, cursing at the weather gods until they reaslise that this is not funny anymore!

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August 3, 2008

RGB M27 Dumbell (and a star trail image)

Well, what a quite amazing night that was! I was at a BBQ early in the evening, and managed to escape early (wife could see me staring up at the sky all the time), got home and set up. The Milky Way was bright and crisp across the Zenith, no wind, no rain, no clouds, and the sky got REALLY dark (down to 20.30 Mag persquare arcminute or something on my sky meter).

Anyway, here goes: M27 Dumbell
OTA: C11 @ f/10
Guiding: SW ED80 + DSI-C + PHD (via EQMOD)
Ha Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 30 x 300s, IDAS
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

(Click on image for larger version)

While waiting for this sequence to finish, I started playing with the 350D, and this image popped out of the camera earlier today. Some heavy duty light pollution removal, and a two layer composition wth alpha channel, and here is the end result.

(Click on image for larger version)

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July 24, 2008

Clear Skies! At last…. a night out under the stars

The last few months have been extremely frustrating. I`ve been out 3 times since the 23rd April, and I have been going stir crazy.

But finally, the high pressure is building, the weather is warming up, and it fells almost like Summer. A bit hazy last night, and the moon coming up later didnt help matters, but the seeing was very stable.

I had both systems out last night because I wasnt sure how the skies would turn out, but in the end, I used the EQ6/C11 combination.

OTA: C11 @ f/6.3 (or thereabouts)
Guiding: SW ED80 + DSI-C + PHD (via EQMOD)
Ha Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 9 x 300s (lost 3 subs to the seeing), Astronomik 13nm Ha filter
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

(Click on Image for Larger Version)

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July 16, 2008

NGC7293 Ha (Helix Nebula) – GRAS

The seeing and transparency were fantastic last night…. in Australia <sigh>. I gave in and spent some more money on my Global Rent-a-Scope account to use the scopes in Oz to grab some new subs.

NGC7293 is an object that is JUST too low from the UK to be a valid target, but was nearly at the Zenith from Australia.

So, here we go:

OTA: RCOS 10″ f/6
Imaging: SBIG ST-10XME, 10 x 600secs, flats and darks applied.

Notes: This is the first image I have processed using the techniques I have learnt over the last few days from Ron Wodawski’s Zone System book, which is well worth a read if you can get your hands on it.

(Click on image for larger version)

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June 26, 2008

EQ6/C11/ED80 first imaging light – M13

It seems like forever since I was last out in my own garden with my own astrokit (23rd April), but finally the skies cleared and allowed me out to play.

This was my first serious session with the “new” EQ6 Pro + C11 + ED80, and so it took a while to get everything organised, attached, cables routed, etc, but I got there eventually.

With the nights so short and light, I needed to choose a target that would be bright and easy to image. Yes, sadly its M13… another one! I do have a soft spot for M13, it was my very first DSO I ever imaged back in May 2007.

Things have changed a LOT for me since then, new kit, lots of experience, a lot of confidence… but all this counted for nothing with a completely new rig to get working last night.

Thankfully, I used EQMOD + GPS + wireless gamepad, which made life so much easier. I only touched the Synscan handset when i powered up and when i packed it away.

Anyway, here are the results of my first imaging light with the C11.

OTA: C11 @ f/10
Guiding: SW ED80 + DSI-C + PHD (via EQMOD)
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 11×180s, IDAS
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
(It was supposed to be 30 x 180s but I didnt remember that the C11 will need more heat on the dew strips, so it dewed up after about 30 minutes and I didnt notice)

(Click on image to view larger version)

I learned a lot of things last night, useful things that will help me set up faster and get imaging sooner. Am already looking for the next clear night!

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June 7, 2008

New addition to my equipment list

My NexStar 8 GPS continues to serve me well (when the UK skies actually co-operate), and with the Hyperstar attached, it supplies me with plenty of quality image to data to work on. What I do miss is actually looking through my telescope… yes, odd really! 🙂 I would love to look through my telescope more often, but gievn that clear skies here in the UK are in terribly short supply, if its a choice between imaging or observing, then imaging always wins.

I`ve been on the lookout for a suitable observing system for a while. I did toy with the idea of getting a Celestron 6SE, but I wanted something with more light grasp. I also toyed with the idea of a SkyWatcher FlexTube 12″ Dobsonian (which I was fortunate to use at Kelling star party in Spring 2008), but there is something to be said for the old saying “Being in the right place at the right time”. With my annual bonus arriving recently, I was offered two great (and complimenatry) deals by two friends at the same time, so I jumped at the chance to expand my equipment list, and it can be used for observing and imaging, depending on the seeing and sky quality.

So, here it is, my latest addition: EQ6 Pro, Celestron C11 XLT, ED80 Pro, all on an ADM Side-By-Side plate (the C11 OTA is not Fastar compatible, but probably best in the long run 🙂 )

It will take me a while to get used to this new system, as I have never used a GEM before. A bit of a learning curve ahead for me, learning to use the polar scope, having to do the real polar alignment the hard way (unlike the oh so easy Celestron Wedge Align routine!), plus the joys of EQASCOM look tempting but overwhelming. More news as it happens… thats if I ever get to see clear dark skies again!

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May 30, 2008

NGC3372 HaRGB (finally!)

After having a few issues with Rob Gendler’s method for HaRGB, someone pointed me at Russell Croman’s solution, which appears to be a lot easier and more flexible (at least for a newbie to it like me).

Global Rent-A-Scope
Remote System: Global Rent-A-Scope GRAS-012 (TAK FSQ 106, SBIG STL-11000M)
Images: Ha 36 x 300s , Lum 24 x 300s, RGB 9 x 45 2xbin (for each channel)
Stacked: DeepSky Stacker
Post Process: Images Plus + PSCS2 + Noels Astro Tools

(Click on image for larger version)

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May 30, 2008

NGC3372 Ha rework

Just spent rather a lot of time on this reprocess of the new Ha data (without the autoguder induced trailing visible n the previous large version). I have to say that I have learned quite a lot from this one. I could bring the detail out in the nebula but had horrible noise issues in the darker areas, so have learned a lot about the color range, expand, feather options, as wel as how to manually make a star mask.

So, as reference, this was the original:

and this is the new version (click on image for the HUGE version)

Far more subtle, far more detail, zero dark rings around stars from deconvolution… I`m really quite pleased with this rework, and have learned some new techniques along the way that I can use in future processing sessions.

I now also have a lot of Luminance and RGB data to play with for his target, but as a OSC imager, I`m finding this hard to combine without it looking utterly pants.

The huge Ha version is going off to Pixum to get printed out as a 30″ x 20″ poster 🙂

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