Age of Aquarids

Last weekend had beautiful clear skies and was pretty close to the peak of the Eta-Aquarid meteor shower so I spend the night at the Observatory at Bisbee Hill.  My astro-buddy Jim had a spanking new Canon 60D he was chomping at the bit to try out on the scope.  After resolving a bit of alignment as well as PC issues we decided to shoot a couple galaxies I've been wanting to hit.  These three images were processed with out darks subtracted because Randy wasn't there to remind us (it's all your fault, Randy).  I may reprocess them with darks later to see if it can improve anything.

We started with the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), that's always a favorite lying in the constellation Canes Venatici (Boötes' hunting dogs).  This shot is 29 frames stacked and processed with Deep Sky Stacker then touched up a tad in Photoshop.  The focus could be admittedly better but not bad for the virgin astrophoto on the new DSLR.

We then moved on to the Black Eye Galaxy (M64).  Quite an interesting little (or unfathomably huge depending on your perspective) gem lying in the constellation Coma Berenices. This image is 29 stacked frames.

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Coma Berenices is apparently a satellite superhighway because we captured 4 of them traveling through our tiny window on the sky.  Kinda nifty.

The Sunflower Galaxy(M63) is another found in Canes Venatici.  It was pretty bleh in the individual images, I almost didn't bother processing them but after stacking it really popped (I guess that's the point though, isn't it?).

While we were shooting with the scope I had my camera shooting a time lapse of the Eta-Aquarid meteors. The radiant is in the constellation Aquarius and specifically the star Eta-Aquarii, "Eta" being the 7th brightest star of the constellation.  Aquarius was set to rise in the east around 2:30 so I decided a "Milky Way rise" time lapse was in order.  I set up my camera with a wide lens and intervalometer set at 45 sec and started shooting around 11:30pm until my battery died at 4:05am.  I hoped I could make it until the Moon rose over the treeline but apparently I need to invest in a battery grip to double my power.  I captured at least three meteors towards the end of the night.  The local farm kids were having quite a party in the woods at the bottom of the video.  At one point they decided it would be fun to drive a truck up to the observatory, but when we gave them the international sign for cut the lights (or maybe they thought we were threatening to cut their throats?) they quickly returned to their bonfire.  This is my best time lapse to date, definitely something to improve on, I've got much more to learn.

The Stellar Nursery Next Door

Friday [3/29/13] was a gorgeous clear night, finally.  We started looking for PanSTARRS while waiting for astronomical dusk, found it well below Andromeda and not terribly spectacular.  We're planning on shooting it when it snuggles up to the Andromeda Galaxy 2 degrees apart this Thursday [4/4/13]. Fingers crossed for clear skies!  Once the Sun dropped sufficiently low we spent the few pre-Moon dark hours aimed at the Orion Nebula since it will be disappearing soon with the oncoming summer sky.  With my Nikon D90 attached to the William Optics Telescope mounted to the top of the Meade RCX for tracking we shot 45 second exposures for over a hour.

It's amazing, what looks like a single point of light in the most recognizable star formation of the Northern Hemisphere is actually a unfathomably massive star forming region.  Churning out stars and proto solar systems just down the street from us in our own Milky Way.

 Here she is in all her glory...well at least all the glory I could capture, there's so much going on there.

29 frames stacked in DeepSkyStacker
Williams Optics 81mm, f6, 45 sec, ISO2000 

Better than the previous Orion Nebula image? ...I like to think so.

PanSTARRS

The promising "year of comets" kicked off early this month with comet PanSTARRS finally visible in the northern hemisphere.  It has been either completely overcast or just cloudy at the western horizon every evening until the sky beautifully cleared on 14th.  I had a wicked cold brewing but I forced myself get out to go stand in a field in the freezing cold waiting for a glimpse since I knew it could be the last good view (and boy, was I was right!).  The Sun set at 7:26pm and after scanning and scanning with the binocs I nearly gave up when I finally spotted it much later than I expected, around 8:25pm (good thing I'm so stubborn!).  It was only barely naked eye visible for a very brief time around 8:30pm but you kinda really needed to already know exactly where to look.  Of course, a few seconds at ISO1000 made it really pop.  Here's the two worthy images.

3/14/13 8:30pm
300mm, f5.6, 1sec, ISO1000

Moon and comet PanSTARRS
3/14/13 8:38pm
29mm, f5.6, 10sec, ISO640

Polaris Vortex

Winter observing...not for pansies.

Last night was the most gorgeous sky we've seen in a long time.  A high, bright, and long ISS pass started the evening on the right foot but eventually it was just too cold to keep frost off the optics...and our fingers. Good thing we had good company, good food, and good beer so it wasn't a total bust.

While we stayed warm inside, I set up the camera for consecutive 1 min exposures at 18mm, f4, ISO1000 and left it out in the cold for 75 min.  I'm perpetually unprepared and forgot a frost shield so I wasn't comfortable with my gear out there much longer than that.  I used Startrails to create the final image as well as the "comet" images used in the progessive trail video.

I think my next investment will have to be a super wide angle lens so I can get more sky and foreground without feeling like I have to be in portrait orientation.
Make sure you view the vidoes in full screen and HD or they look awful.

Sunset on the trees

This was the scenery I drove through on my way home this morning.

...and I made my first GIF!

Conjunction Junction

Tonight is the closest Moon and Jupiter conjunction until 2026. The Moon and Jupiter are only approx 1 degree apart, about the width of a finger on your outstretched hand. The visible Galilean Moons from left to right are Ganymede, Io, and Callisto (the three that line up on the same plane nearest Jupiter). Europa is on the left side but is lost in the glare of Jupiter. 

Somehow, I drove through one of the worst blizzards I've ever experienced and when I got home the sky was perfectly clear!   This is a composite of two exposures to reclaim the detail in the Moon.

Moon - f6.3 1/320sec ISO640    Jupiter - f6.3 1 sec ISO 640

Beaver Moon

Well, it's been a while, folks.  I've been observing and learning all the while but the photography has suffered.  Struggles with focusing and failing hardware have made it a challenge.  My little D90 is nearing (or already surpassed) it's average lifespan.  Blah blah, excuses excuses.

Tonight (11/28/12) is a rare treat as Jupiter is snuggling up close to the full "Beaver" Moon.  Jupiter is nearing opposition on 12/3 where it will be at it's closest position to the Earth for almost a decade.  The Great Red Spot will be swinging into view during that time as well.  So it's a great time to grab any telephoto lens, binoculars, or scope and check it out.

I stepped out to check  the sky this evening and with luck the clouds were breaking up.  They stayed partly cloudy for about 15 min.  Just enough time to snap of these shots before my lens fogged up completley.  Always prep your gear for temperature.  In winter, I recommend placing your camera bag somewhere equal (or near) to the outside temperature, like a shed, sunporch, or garage for a few hours before heading out.  If not your glass is going to fog up...no bueno. When returning home, it's just as important (if not more so) to slowly bring your gear back up to room temp and placing it in a sealed bag to reduce condensation while doing so.

Enjoy my impromptu robe-wearing driveway astrophotography:

f9, 1sec, ISO400

f8, 3sec, ISO320

f8, 1sec, ISO320

Dark skies of eastern New Mexico

On 7/22/12, the family and I drove from Pennsylvania to Arizona to visit my father and family.  It was a long stretch from St. Louis to Albuquerque but a couple hours before we hit the hotel we drove under some amazingly dark skies.  With much whining and gnashing of teeth from the back seat I pulled off at a random exit on I40 (marked Las Vegas) and into a field.  Stepping out of the car, there was a collective WOW from the wife and kids as they looked up and saw the brightest Milky Way they have ever seen arching from horizon to horizon as I dug my tripod out from under coolers and suitcases.

Unfortunately, it was very warm that night causing an INSANE amount of  nasty green noise in this 30 second exposure at ISO3200.  Needless to say MAJOR noise reduction work was needed in post processing to salvage this shot.  A car was nice enough to light the foreground for me and there was a thunderstorm in the distant horizon.  I could have spent hours out there but we were pressed for time, I'm just glad the boss let me stop at all.

In my normal observing location in northwest Pennsylvania, the "Teapot" of Sagittarius is fairly low on the horizon and the curve of Scorpius' tail dips below.  In the southern states both constellations are much higher meaning the bright center of our own galaxy is riding high in the southern sky giving a more spectacular view.

30s f4.5 @ ISO3200

rough constellation guides

pre noise reduction