Astrophile

2010-10-18T23:28:00.001-04:00

I'm back. With 2 Galaxies!

2008-02-15T17:28:00.002-05:00

Not much imaging done in a while. Let me rephrase that. Not much productive imaging done in a while. I have made several attempts to image the Pleiades and several other open clusters from my backyard. Unfortunately, the light pollution keeps my length of my sub frames so short and not having a permanent observatory means that I have to tear down my gear my every night after imaging. I need to get a Light Pollution Suppression Filter. Anyway...

M81 and M82. Two galaxies in Ursa Major that are gravitaionally interacting. It does not look like they are close, but in a cosmological sense, they are neighbors. In fact about 100 million years ago, they passed close enough to trigger massive star birth in eachother. There are much better images of them out there that shows the results of this interaction.

Hopefully I will be updating sooner than I have in the past.

The Sword of Orion...again.

2007-11-12T08:33:00.000-05:00

The Orion Nebula is one of the most observed and photographed of all night sky objects. For me Orion represents a milestone. Since the very first day that I became obsessed with astronomy Orion has been challenging me. While the world is not suffering from a shortage of beautiful images of the Orion Nebula, it can never have too many.This is my best image to date and is the culmination of two years of work and toil, research, making mistakes and many many late nights. While I still have many areas that need improvement, I am pleased. I have proved to myself that I can do this. Now to the next step. Making it better.

Image Details:

Canon 300D

10 x 180 Secs ISO 800

10 x 60 Secs ISO 800

8" Newtonian ReflectorBaader

MPCCAtlas EQ-G

PHD Guiding w/Meade DSI Pro

DSLR Focus

DSLR Shutter

Deep Sky Stacker

Photoshop CS

Autumn is here..

2007-11-05T11:18:00.000-05:00

After many months of relative inactivity, cooler weather signaled the arrival of Autumn. Months of cloudy skies were replaced pristine clear skies. While not as clear as they could have been, they were certainly cloudless and dark from the new site I found in North Port. Anyway I finally managed to get out and image again. This time I managed to bag a target that has been very elusive to me. Trying to image M33 from my backyard was next to impossible. It was simply too light polluted, and the target was just too faint.

I powered my rig (laptop, camera, USB hub and telescope mount) with a 350 watt inverter attached to my car battery. This required me to keep my Jeep running most of the night. While I did not enjoy the noise or the exhaust, it did allow me to image hassle free. Thank God it wasn't very wet out. I would have been screwed if dew had developed. I still have not gotten a dew solution.

Image details:

Canon 300D (Modified)

8" Newt. Reflector

Baader MPCC

Phd Guiding

DSLR Focus

DSLR Shutter

PSCS2

13 x 300 Secs

ISO 800

Dark Frame

No Bias or Flats

Mira has a tail.

2007-08-15T19:35:00.000-04:00

I'm in a hurry so I will just post a link to a VERY interesting story about my daughter's namesake.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/home/9179047.html

WOOHOO!!!!!

2007-08-05T20:57:00.000-04:00

Ok. I can barely contain my excitement. The weather finally cleared up enough for me to get First Light on my newly modified Canon 300D. Like I said earlier, I was worried that I had messed it up somehow. Well it turns out that wasn't the case.

It was hot and very humid when I was setting up my scope and camera. I had to keep taking breaks to go inside the house to cool off in the AC and dry my face off lest I drip sweat on some electronic component. After more than an hour and a half I finally started tripping the shutter. Once I was confident that my auto guider was running reliably, I went inside. When there was about 15 minutes left I went back outside to check my gear. To my horror I saw that my auto guider had "performed an illegal operation" and was shut down. After doing the math I realized I had lost 30 minutes of exposures due to the image drifting out of my frame. I tried to capture an additional 20 subs but the clouds rolled in so I gave up. I ended up processing on 40 minutes worth of exposures. Not enough from my light polluted skies to make a really nice image, but certainly enough to showcase the difference in my camera after making the Ha modification.

This image was taken not long ago before the mod was conducted.

This was taken AFTER the mod.

As you can see there is a sigificant improvement in Ha sensitivity. Both images are roughly the same exposure time. Anyway, as the weather improves I will continue to image more and more Ha objects.
Yes. I have a big grin. I am very happy.

Ha is here!

2007-07-30T17:15:00.000-04:00

I finally sat down on Saturday afternoon with my Canon and my new ACF Filter and started the modification. After about 4 hours of non-continuous work, my camera powered on and appeared normal. It even took pictures. Auto focus did not function properly but I use this astro-photography so who cares, eh? Without going into details, there was reason for me to believe that this camera would never function again after my clumsy surgery. Anyway it seemed to work. So today I decided to test it in a dark environment and see how well it saw faint red light. I set up my tripod with my camera in the second bathroom (the only room I could get dark enough in the afternoon) and parked a small faint red LED in view of the camera. Needless to say, the test results were good. But I remembered I had a red laser I used for collimating my reflectors. So I had a bit of fun.

The REAL test of the camera will come when the weather clears. M8 is still a potential target...

ACF goodness

2007-07-27T12:29:00.001-04:00

My ACF Filter finally arrived. Happy happy joy joy. Now if only I had the time and energy to devote an entire afternoon to modifying my camera. I am reluctant to make the change yet because I want to get a before as well as an after shot. The problem again is the weather and CLOUDS!! What's new? *sigh*

Ha, here we come.

2007-07-20T00:59:00.000-04:00

Ha. Get it? Hydrogen Alpha? Get it? Nevermind. Anyway, just a quick note. My Baader DSLR ACF I Filter will be shipped today from Alpine Astro. This pretty piece of glass will replace the IR block filter that comes stock on a Canon DSLR. This in turn will make my 300D far more sensitive to Ha light. It basically means I will be removing the blindfold from my camera allowing it to see more and record more photons.

I had originally intended to pay someone else, i.e. Hap Griffin, to make the modification to my camera. Sadly, finances require me to be more frugal and I have to trust my own hands to make the mod myself. I am confident that I will succeed. I want it bad enough to not screw up. But we shall see.

Anyway more later when I actually get the ACF Filter and prepare for the mod.

Omicron Ceti

2007-07-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in an ealrier post that Mira was named after a variable star in the Cetus constellation. The star is called Omicron Ceti, or Mira. In fact, many variable stars that are similiar to Mira are called "Mira Type" variable stars.

Anyway, Mira has a brightness range that spans 331.96 days. It varies between magnitude 2.0 to 10.2. This image was taken February 21, 2007. Next year I will try and get a better image sometime between mid December to mid January.

M3

2007-07-03T20:09:00.000-04:00

I mentioned earlier that I had an image of M3 to post, but I neglected to post it. So here it is.

As you can see M3 (NGC 5272) is another globular cluster. This one is located approximately 30,000 light years away in the Constellation Canes Venatici. It is believed to contain 500,000 stars. It is most notable for it's large population of variable stars.

Image Details:

M3
Canon 300D (Unmodified)
8 Inch Reflector
Image acquisition with DSLR Shutter
Auto-guided with PHD Guiding
Stack of 45 x 2 minute @ ISO 800
Stacking and Dark Frame Subtraction done in Deep Sky Stacker
Post Processing in PS CS.

Saturn

2007-06-30T02:17:00.000-04:00

The Logitech Fusion webcam that I had previously used to image the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter took a dirt nap on me just as Saturn started rising high at the optimum time for imaging. I had to order a new webcam. I chose the Philips SPC900NC which has proven itself a capable imaging device. I also needed a Mogg Adapter to allow attachment of the webcam to the telescope. All this took valuable time. After I finally had everything I needed there was very little good weather. The clouds or Florida's humid weather frustrated me. In the end, I was only able to get one video sequence of Saturn and was able to produce the best Saturn I have produced yet. Well, I'm proud of it anyway. Soon Saturn will dip below the western horizon before it gets completely dark. I'll have to wait until next year.

M13

2007-06-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

I haven't had much chance to get out to image lately. Which would explain the lack of posts. But I forgot I had some images of M13 and M3 that I had acquired. So much for my excuses.

Excuse or not, the weather has been extremely unagreeable so I have not been out anywhere near as much as I would like. I have a new Orion ED80 that has yet to see first light, in spite of having received it as a birthday gift in March. I have also gotten my hands on other essential equipment but there are still so many things that I need to image in Florida during the Summer.

One of the most important things I have learned after my first year of imaging is that a dark sky site greatly improves the quality of any astro image. In my rush to produce great images, I attempted to acquire shots of many faint galaxies and nebulas. As a beginner, this was hard enough but add to that a light polluted sky and you have a serious headache on your hands. I have all but given up on most of the "faint fuzzies" but will continue to image Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, and the brighter DSOs from my backyard. For the rest of the marvellous objects that I want to image I will have to drag my equipment out to a remote dark sky site. That means I will have to produce enough electrical power for my laptop, cameras, mount, dew heaters and other PC peripherals. Aside from the weather, lacking particular pieces of equipment is the greatest reason for no images. I know, excuses excuses. On with the show...

This is an image of M13 or The Great Hercules Cluster. It was taken on the night of April 23, 2007. This is a globular cluster located 25,100 light years away and contains more than a million stars. The stars in M13 are among the oldest. It is believed that M13 is 14 Billion years old but some have aged it at over 20 Billion. It's hard to wrap your brain around that much time.

Image Details:

M13: The Great Hercules Cluster
Canon 300D (Unmodified)
8 Inch Reflector
Image acquisition with DSLR Shutter
Auto-guided with PHD Guiding
Stack of 45 x 2 minute @ ISO 800
Stacking and Dark Frame Subtraction done in Deep Sky Stacker
Post Processing in PS CS.

Ok already...

2007-06-29T17:39:00.000-04:00

Well, I have to get off my ass and actually start posting here on a regular basis now. Kristen, my more sigificant half has created a blog where she has so kindly posted a link to my private corner. She is by passion (and soon to be trade as well) a writer, so I am obliged to make an effort to appear somewhat intelligent. I may be deluding myself by thinking anyone would step through that door from her blog to this one, but I won't leave my site looking pathetic in the off chance that someone may accidently trip through.

The Seven Sisters

2007-01-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

This is an image of the open cluster in Taurus called the Pleiades or M45 (or Subaru if you are in Japan). This is one of my favorite objects. It always reminds me of a diamond necklace. The black backdrop of space makes for perfect contrast of these bright blue jewels.

I have struggled with imaging M45 for a while now. I can't seem to get the right exposure combination. I have either over-exposed or under-exposed. My first attempt at M45 was probably my best. I had achieved the best focus that I have attained so far, the skies were dark, clear and tranparent and I was all properly setup with gear that was 100% functioning. I imaged both M45 and M42. I was especially eager to start processing my images of M45. When I satrted to transfer the images from my DSLR to my desktop PC, I saw that they were transferring much too quickly. To my horror I realized that I had accidently saved all my images as JPEGs instead of RAWs. Any experienced imagers will know the significance of this blunder. My perfect night with perfect conditions was trashed. Well, someone far more skilled (Lon Shelton, who has been invaluable as a cyber tutor about imaging and post processing) was able to draw out some nebulosity but definitely not what the images COULD have produced.

Anyway, this is my best effort thus far. At least this time I remembered to make sure the images were being saved as RAWS. My Western sky is awash in skyglow from Sarasota so I can't capture as many exposures as I would like.

M45: The Pleiades
300D (Unmodified)
8 Inch Reflector
Auto-guided with PHD Guiding
Stack of 15 x 3 minute @ ISO 800
Stacking and Dark Frame Subtraction done in Deep Sky Stacker
Post Processing in PS CS.

The Sword of Orion

2007-01-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

This image of M42 is my 4th attempt at trying to capture the faint outer tendrils of nebulosity visible in many images taken with modified DSLRs. My Canon 300D is NOT modified, so I have to take more and more exposures to achieve similar results. I am not overly pleased, but this is my best effort to date. I am having problems with vignetting and coma at the outer edges. The stock focuser on my reflector is not up to the task either. I can never achieve that "perfect" focus. I always seem to be on one side or the other of perfect.

In any case, I will return to Orion again and again until I know I have done the best I can with my current equipment.

M42: The Great Orion Nebula
Canon 300D (Unmodified)
8 Inch Reflector
Auto-guided with PHD Guiding
Stack of 15 x 3 minute @ ISO 800 + 10 x 30 seconds @ ISO 800 + 20 x 2 minutes @ ISO 1600
Stacking and Dark Frame Subtraction done in Deep Sky Stacker
Post Processing in PS CS.

A little Star named Mira

2007-01-18T20:17:00.000-05:00

Ok. I have been slack. It's been nearly six months since Mira was born. Well, I am sure no one has been reading this Gilligan's Island of a blog. But anyway...

As you may infer, we had a baby girl and her name is Mira as I mentioned. I was wrong about her birth day. She came on the 22nd, and she is a PERFECT baby. She is healthy, beautiful and always alert. She always seems mindful of everything going on around her. I think she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, but being daddy makes me biased I am sure. :)

I will have a blog set up exclusively for her progress and photos. I will have a link from this blog as soon as I get my life into order. Thank God that Kristen is a patient woman. Any other would have brought me back for a refund.

Now, considering this is my blog about my obsession about astro-photography, I should update you on my progress at learning this extremely tedious hobby. I have finally got a set up that I am proud of. I can now start to capture images that I would actually print and frame.

Subsequent posts should contain my latest images.

Crazy world

2006-07-18T14:15:00.000-04:00

Well, we are down to the last few days before the baby is born. We are still struggling to find a name if it is a boy. I am liking the name Kane (or Caine, Kayne, Kaine). It rings well with Hochhalter attached to it. I don't think Kristen likes it much though.

It's a crazy world right now. Israel and it's campaign against Hezbollah is currently raging away in the middle east. The talking heads are claiming that we are in the early stages of World War III. Yes, WWIII. I remember growing up during the cold war days of the 80's and always thinking that WWIII would be a nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR. I wonder what kind of world Kane/Mira will be growing up in. I pray that this world wide conflict is over and the world is working towards more cooperative efforts in space when our children are young adults.

Anyway, I am going to get back to stressing about when the aby will come. For the record, I think it will be on Sunday, the 23rd of July.

Calm before the Storm

2006-07-11T16:36:00.000-04:00

Ironically, it is thundering and raining outside with sporadic bursts of lightning. Typical summer weather here in Florida. Not ideal for astrophotography. That's why I have not posted in so long and why there are no images to show.

In any case, the storm that I spoke of is coming on the 21st, or so it has been tentatively scheduled. Kristen is tired of carrying he/she around, but right now I am still enjoying these moments of non-parenting.

We have not decided on a boys name yet. Seeing as how most constellation names and the stars that make them up have OLD arabic names, they are pretty much unusable for children. Zubinel Genubi rolls off the tongue with ease, but it will certainly make life difficult for anyone bearing this as a name.

For a girl, we have decided on Mira. Mira is the brightest variable star in the Cetus constellation and is the root of miracle. It also means "amazing one." Pretty cool.

As long as it has been taking me to post, I am sure it will be after the baby is born before I post again. When I do I will have plenty of pictures to post. Even if they aren't astro-images. :)

Here are some older photos taken of Saturn and Jupiter on the 3rd of May 2006.

2006-05-23T16:24:00.000-04:00

Well... After months of prodding from a friend I have finally decided to blog my attempts to photograph various celestial bodies.

I am no photographer, nor am I a writer. But I will attempt both. God help us all. ;)