Swansea Astronomical Society Blog
Monday, February 28, 2011
Active Region 1164
I imaged AR1164 with a DMK camera fitted with the lens assembly from a x2 Barlow through a H-alpha PST and a Ca K-line PST.
AR1164 is very bright in H-alpha and could produce larger flares.
H-alpha image
AR1164 is very bright in H-alpha and could produce larger flares.
Ca K-line image
The bright chromospheric network surrounding the spots in Ca K-line light reflects the high magnetic flux in the area
The bright chromospheric network surrounding the spots in Ca K-line light reflects the high magnetic flux in the area
Steve Wainwright
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Auriga and Cassiopeia with a Pentax K-x on a Merlin AZ mount
A Pentax K-x DSLR was fitted with a 2" light pollution filter via a 52mm - 48mm step-down ring and mounted on a Merlin AZ autotracking mount. The lens was set to 35mm and the camera was set to ISO 12800. 32, 30s exposures of Cassiopeia were captured as RAW data. The RAW files were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with de-rotation and produced the following image. Click on an image to see a larger view:
The double cluster in Perseus at the top of the image and the Andromeda galaxy at the bottom of the image are both easy to see. So many stars of the Milky Way are visible that the main 'W' of the constellation is almost hidden.
20, 30s images of Auriga were captured with the same settings.
M35, M36, M37 and M38 are all easily visible in this image.
These images are best viewed larger.
Steve Wainwright
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The Sun and Orion
Using a DMK camera and a H-alpha PST I captured 3000 frames in each of 3 areas on the eastern side of the Sun. They were processes in Registax and the three resulting images were stitched together to show the active areas on the Sun:
Hydrogen alpha light
Active regions AR1163 and AR1164 were very bright as was a small region at a distance from them. Some filaments were also present.
In Ca K-line light the sunspots were visible as well as the bright chromospheric network surrounding them:
In the evening at the Fairwood observatory, I mounted the Pentax K-x DSLR on a Merlin tracking AZ mount. A 52mm to 48mm step-down ring was used to fit a 2" light pollution filter on the front of the camera 18-55mm lens. The lens was set to 35mm and 36, 30s exposures were taken over a 32min period.
The images were first stacked in Registax with no de-rotation and the field rotation due to the altazimuth mount was very evident:
Then the same 36 images were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with de-rotation:
Click on an image to see a larger view.
The next image shows the main asterism of Orion cropped from the wider field:
Steve Wainwright
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Most of Orion and many stars with a Pentax K-x DSLR
I mounted a Pentax K-x on a Merlin AZ mount, Set the camera to 50mm focal length, ISO to 12800 and programmed exposure to the maximum of 30s (not Bulb). The clouds covered Orion after only two images were captured. The images were converted from RAW to BMP format and stacked in Deep Sky Stacker the resulting TIFF image was further processed to produce this image.
Click on the image to get a larger image:
Unfortunately the focal length of the lens was set a little too high and I didn't capture the top two stars in the constellation; Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. However, the bottom two stars; Saiph and Rigel are clearly visible as are the three stars of Orion's belt, from left to right; Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Nevertheless, this image shows that this camera is capable of producing reasonable images within 30s. Also, it is clear that there are indeed a lot of stars within the 'box' of Orion.
Steve Wainwright
Click on the image to get a larger image:
Unfortunately the focal length of the lens was set a little too high and I didn't capture the top two stars in the constellation; Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. However, the bottom two stars; Saiph and Rigel are clearly visible as are the three stars of Orion's belt, from left to right; Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Nevertheless, this image shows that this camera is capable of producing reasonable images within 30s. Also, it is clear that there are indeed a lot of stars within the 'box' of Orion.
Steve Wainwright
Thursday, February 17, 2011
AR1158 and AR1161 in Ca K-line light and H-alpha
I used a DMK camera fitted with the lens assembly from a x2 Barlow with a Ca K-line PST and a H-alpha PST to produce these images of the Sun. Andrew Sprott's Solar layers software was used to combine disk and prominence images.
This active region was crackling with bright activity
AR1161 in Ca K-line light:
Steve Wainwright
AR1158 in Ca K-line light:
AR1158 in H-alpha light:
This active region was crackling with bright activity
AR1161 in Ca K-line light:
AR1161 and a large prominence in H-alpha light:
A bright, pillar prominence:
AR1158 and AR1161 in white light and H-alpha
An 80mm refractor fitted with a Baader solar filter was used with a DMK camera.
Images were taken at prime focus, with a x2 barlow and a x3 Barlow:
Images were taken at prime focus, with a x2 barlow and a x3 Barlow:
White light:
H-alpha light:
H-alpha light:
Keith Davies
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Monday night Moon
Images of the Moon were taken through an 80mm refractor. This image was taken with a DMK camera and a 0.5 focal reducer:
The following image ws taken through a 2.5x Barlow:
This image was captured afocally with a Powershot 570 Compact digital camera and a 32mm eyepiece. The camera was handheld.
Keith Davies
The Moon with a DMK and an f/5, 130mm Newtonian
Three 1000-frame AVIs were captured of each of six overlapping regions of the Moon which was very high in the sky. The images were then stitched together to produce this image of the 91%, 12 day Moon of lunation 1090:
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Crater Copernicus was imaged through a x3 Barlow:
Steve Wainwright
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Moon and M42 with a Mintron and a 130mm, f/5 Newtonian
A monochrome Mintron with a 1/2" CCD was placed at the prime focus of a 130mm, f/5 Newtonian telescope on a Synscan AZ GOTO mount. 1000 frame AVis were captured via capture card of 4 areas of the Moon. Two AVIs were captured per area. The resulting images were stacked in Registax, Aspect ratio corrected and combined into a Mosaic in Photoshop to produce this image:
In 2 minutes the data were gathered for this Mintron image of M42/43:
Nikki Mackin
The Moon with an 130mm f/5 Newtonian and a 5" Maksutov on an AZ GOTO mount
A 5", f/10 Maksutov tracked the Moon on a Synscan AZ mount.
A DMK camera was placed at the Prime focus and 3 areas of the Moon were imaged in the Clavius, Tycho region. The images were stitched together to produce the following image:
I then used 130mm, f/5 Newtonian, a Samsung WB600 hand-held afocally with a 2" eyepiece to produce this image of an 85%, 11 day Moon:
Then the Pentax K-x DSLR was used hand-held afocally to produce this iamge:
Afocal imaging is worth trying, whatever type of camera you have
Steve Wainwright
Monday, February 14, 2011
Moon between the clouds
In a 10 minute gap between the clouds I captured AVIs of two overlapping partts of the Moon in the region of crater Plato. I used a DMK camera at the prime focus of an f/5, 5" Maksutov. The two images were then stitched together to produce the following image:
Steve Wainwright
Steve Wainwright
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Star Party Despite the rain
The star party at the National Botanic Garden of Wales on Friday night was a success despite the inclement weather.
A marquee was available and a number of members took their telescopes to display for members of the public to see. About 60 members of the public attended and were able to talk to members of the Swansea Astronomical Society about their telescopes:
Below are some photographs from the night:
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Afocal astrophotography
Late last night I made some handheld, afocal images through a 5", f/10 Maksutov with a 27mm eyepiece.
I used two cameras: a Pentax K-x DSLR and a Samsung WB600 compact camera.
Afocal imaging is possible whether you have a DSLR or a compact camera.
I used two cameras: a Pentax K-x DSLR and a Samsung WB600 compact camera.
Samsung WB600 Compact
Saturn
Pentax K-x DSLR
Afocal imaging is possible whether you have a DSLR or a compact camera.
Handheld afocal imaging is the most difficult and yet is was even possible to capture an image of Saturn with a handheld setup.
Steve Wainwright
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Saturn with an 8" SCT and a Philips SPC 900NC camera
On Monday night a x 2 Barlow was used with the SPC900NC modified web-cam and the equatorially mounted 8" SCT.
3,500 frames were captured in 2 AVIs. The best 2000 frames were stacked in Registax. The resulting image was corrected for atmospheric dispersion in Andrew Sprotts AutoCAP program to produce this image of Saturn:
Nikki Mackin
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
M42/43 with a 5", Newtonian and a Pentax K-x DSLR
A Pentax K-x DSLR was fitted with a light pollution filter and the lens assembly from a x2 Barlow and attached to a 5", f/5 Newtonian on an unguided equatorial mount.
Steve Wainwright
30 x 30s exposures at ISO 12800 were captured and 5 x 30s dark-frames. A master dark frame was made and the 30 frames were regisrered and stacked in Registax with dark-frame correction:
The Crescent Moon was a nice target for this system:
Orion's Sword through an 80mm refractor with 5s exposures
10 x 30s exposures of M37, dark-frame corrected and stacked in Registax produced this image
Steve Wainwright
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Testing the Pentax K-x for Astro-imaging
Last night I used a Celestron 130mm f/5 Newtonian on an AZ, GOTO mount and discovered that there was not sufficient back focus (in focus) to bring the stars to focus at prime focus. I placed the lens assembly from a x2 Barlow on the end of the nosepiece to which a light-pollution filter was fitted. This solved the problem but, of course, increased the image scale.
Using time delay for releasing the shutter I took a number of 30s exposures at an ISO value of 12,800. This high value is only allowed for exposures up to 30s. For bulb exposures (which are required for exposures greater than 30s), the maximum ISO value is 1600.
The setup:
Using time delay for releasing the shutter I took a number of 30s exposures at an ISO value of 12,800. This high value is only allowed for exposures up to 30s. For bulb exposures (which are required for exposures greater than 30s), the maximum ISO value is 1600.
Wind and the AZ mount caused some of the frames to be trailed and a total of 6 images were found to be non-trailed. These images were stacked in two ways: First they were stacked in Registax which did not take account of the fact that with an AZ mount, there would be image rotation. The rotation can be seen clearly in the resulting image:
The same images were stacked in Deep-Sky stacker with de-rotation to produce this image:
These initial results are promising and it is clear that the camera is able to see the red of Hydrogen alpha in the nebula.
Steve Wainwright
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