The best starparty in the southern hemisphere...the Queensland Astrofest in pictures 2005 and 2007

Voted the top 10 best star parties around the world by BBC's Sky at Night magazine (May 2007 issue), the Queensland Astrofest is held at Lion's Camp Duckadang in Linville, Queensland every year during the cold winter months. The top 10 list includes luminaries such as the Grand Canyon Star Party (USA), Texas Star Party (USA), Starfest (Canada) , Winter Start Party (USA), Southern Skies Star Party (Bolivia), Equinox Star Party (UK), Kielder Star Camp (UK), Swiss Star Party (Switzerland) and South Pacific Star Party (Australia), so our very own QLD Astrofest certainly ranks up there with the best of the best. Running since 1993, QLD Astrofest celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013. The star party is convened by the South East Queensland Astronomical Society, the Southern Astronomical Society, the Brisbane Astronomical Society, the Astronomical Association of Queensland, the Amateur Telescope Makers of Queensland. 

I have had the pleasure of attending this fantastic star party twice, both with friends of whom I introduced to the hobby. Both are not active astronomers now, but do the occasional dabble in amateur astronomy. John Zhu, a close friend of mine observes with his 6" f/5 EQ 3-2 newtonian, and my other friend Yeh Yixin observes with a 76mm f/9 alt-az newtonian. Both prefer solar system objects. 

My first trip to this wonderful starparty happened in 2005. John came along for the ride, as did his new (at that time) his 6" f/5 EQ. John too started off like I did, with a 76mm f/9 alt-az newtonian, but quickly traded that in (in a week!) for his 6" f/5 EQ. He never looked back. My second second trip happened in 2007. This time Yixin came along. He used my Orion 4.5" StarBlast dob extensively that night as it was just so easy to use. For the 2005 session, I had with me my Synta 102mm f/5 refractor, and in 2007, I brought along my Celestron/Vixen 6" f/5 and my Orion 4.5" StarBlast. The GS 10" f/5 never made it to the Astrofest as I had guest traveling with me and there was just not enough room in the Hyundai Excel hatchback.

QLD Astrofest attracts some really well know speakers. Some of the more well known include the late John Dobson, Fred Watson, Gary Kopff, David Malin and comet discoverers Rev Bob Evans, Bill Bradfield and Rob McNaught.

Without furthur ado, here are images from Astrofest 2005 and 2007. Pictures speak a thousand words.

Queensland Astrofest 2005 in picture-icy frost cold

My first Astrofest and boy was it cold, as in negative numbers cold. Everything was covered in frost the next morning. My fave part of the whole Astrofest was looking through Pete Robbins 30" SDM. Now I have looked through Pete's scope from SAS's dark sky site at Leyburn, but what is a good star party without looking through a giant scope? Scary being on top of that tall ladder with a slight breeze blowing but the views through the 31T5  Nagler's blew everything else away. I was glad I left that till later. My impression of the skies at Linville were good, but not nearly as dark as from Leyburn.

 "Imaging field and we were smack in the middle of it. Well it was close to the dorms we stayed in. Astrofest 2005"

 "John's 6" f/5 EQ in the middle of the field and my Synta 102 f/5 to the right of the field. The guesthouse with food is to the right of the picture and the office to the left. Astrofest 2005"

"Me and my Synta 102mm f/5 on EQ in Alt-Az mode. Nice wide field but horrible chromatic abberation. No contest between my 6" f/5 and this scope. Astrofest 2005"

"No pic with Pete (Robbins), but I have one with his amazing scope...the behemoth SDM 30!!!!! The dust lane in NGC 5128 was wide enough to drive a dump truck through....and there was mottling in the dust lane!!!!!! The pillars of creation in M16, the Eagle Nebula were plain as day and the central star in M57, the Ring Nebula was easy with direct vision.
The only drawback was the long line and the very tall ladder!. Astrofest 2005"

Queensland Astrofest 2007 in pictures-hot and dry


My second Astrofest. This year we opted to buy the super cool Astrofest T's. Collected them on our way in. It has a cool milky way logo and this message : "QLD Astrofest, perfect one night, supernova the next!". We stayed in the same bunkhouse as the last time (not that we slept much as we observed throughout the night). It had double decked beds and This time round it was much warmer, despite me being fully decked out in Ugg boots etc etc. Well as they say better to stay warm than freeze. We had a bit of a problem this year with smokers in the observing field. It was kind of annoying. The things I remember from this Astrofest, Pete Robbin's 30" SDM was out of commission that night we were there as the hot weather melted the encoders on his Argo Navis GOTO system. Most memorable thing for me was winning something at the raffle during dinner (I won a Patrick Moore signed Sky at Night magazine...cool or what!).

"In the daytime we amuse ourselves with events such as the counterweight throwing event!!!!!!! Astrofest 2007"

"In the middle of a very bad drought.....if I remember correctly we were on level 7 water restriction that year. Astrofest 2007"

"Still pretty despite the bad drought. Its nice walking around the grounds in the daytime. Astrofest 2007"

"The advent of cheap, large, mass produced scopes. Me and a spanking new 16" Meade Lightbridge...someday it will be mine.........Astrofest 2007"

"While walking around, we came upon an 8" Mag1 Portaball, an Astroscan on steroids. Astrofest 2007"

 "In 2007, I had with me my trusty most used scope, the Celestron/Vixen C6 (6" f/5) on my EQ in alt-az mode, and my Orion StarBlast 4.5" mini dob. Again as I had a friend travel with me in my lil' Hyundai Excel hatchback, the 10" did not make the trip. Astrofest 2007"

 "As in 2005, we were once again smack bang in the middle of the imaging field.....look at all those hi tech gear!!! Astrofest 2007"

So if I were still living in Brisbane, a place I still hold dear to my heart, and a place I will always call home, I would not bat an eyelid and make the QLD Astrofest my premier and one and only star party. Check out the QLD Astrofest.

 

The year of the horse starts off with a bang...literally....imaging supernova 2014J from Malibu on CNY day 31st Jan 2014

The title says it all. I traveled to Solstice Canyon in Malibu on Chinese New Year's day/night despite the "potential"for cloudy weather (forecast was for patchy clouds clearing at 1am). The skies we not totally clear at our place in Culver City but I took a leap of faith, packed the car up and headed to my fave semi dark sky spot. As always I had with me my list of "objects to image". Objects on the list this time round included NGC 2359 (Thor's Helmet) in Puppis, NGC 1514 (planetary in Taurus), some Fornax galaxies (as I discovered later were too low to image now so I have to save these for the next season), as well as some Leo galaxies (M95/M96/M105/NGC 3384 and NGC 2903). The main item for tonight's session was of course to see and image the newly spotted supernova explosion in M82 in Ursa Major, as the title of this blog implies. I decided that I was going to image from the mouth of Solstice Canyon park and risk the cops coming and paying me a visit (which they did not). Firstly this site, while more obstructed in views, is more protected from the winds (which in turn work out in my favour as the trees and canyon walls did block a bit of the howling winds...yup it was that bad!), so CCD imaging will be easier to achieve. Also since the park is closed at night, I would not be interrupted by curious onlookers, like what I experienced the last time I was at the other site further up the road. So after getting there a little after 10pm, I proceeded to set up my equipment, the NexStar 102GT and my Astroscan and its new/old Celestron red dot pointer, which is an excellent investment as I can now aim my Astroscan at anything and be on target.

"M95 Leo"

Started off the session with a little visual observing with the 102GT, after leveling the mount and doing the two star align. GOTO was pretty spot on throughout the night and I was pleased. The mount was also purring along nicely since I just changed a fresh set of 8xAA batteries for the powerpack. Generally I can do up to 4 long sessions of about 5 hours before the batteries start behaving eratic, but for imaging, I usually prefer fresh batteries. To get my eyes dark adapted, I looked at some bright open clusters, the double double in Perseus, M45; the Pleiades cluster in Taurus, M42; the great nebula in Orion, M78; Orion's reflection nebula and NGC 2359; Thor's Helmet. Since my last visual object was NGC 2359, I decided to start my imaging run with the Meade DSI. The Meade DSI is still my CCD cam of choice when it comes to "bagging" objects. I am used to its functions, it is pretty sensitive (funny how the Orion should be just as good...more on that later), and Meade Envisage automates everything, making capturing deep space panorama's a snap (no pun intended). So naturally my first target was Thor's Helmet, which was dimly visible with the NPB filter in place. The image however yielded nothing (after processing in PS back home the next day). This is very odd indeed...just like when I imaged the Veil Nebula, which was also visible faintly in the 102GT with the NPB filter in place. Something tells me I should start imaging dim nebulae with the SkyGlow filter in place, even from the darker Malibu skies. Why I have not done that is still a big mystery. My second target did the same vanishing act. No trace of NGC 1514 in my frames, despite me capturing the correct star field. Moral of the story is "use the damn SkyGlow" filter, even from Malibu!!!!!

"M96 Leo"

Galaxies were a different bag of fish though. They are heaps easier to image, their bright cores anyways. The catch is to try and bring out their delicate spiral arms. M95, M96 and M105 were easy fish to catch for the Meade DSI. My main problem this night, was like my previous outing, the winds, the howling, gusty winds. It was a good test of patience having to wait for just that precise moment when the winds died down enough for me to hit "start" and hit "stop" as soon as I started detecting the wind picking up. Needless to say I was spewing expletives when shot after shot got ruined. It was better than being at the other site though since the trees did help a little with holding the winds at bay, plus giving me warning of impending winds when the leaves start rustling.

"M105, NGC 3389 and NGC 3384 Leo"

My last imaging stop for the night was the supernova in M82, the cigar galaxy in Ursa Major. The galaxy was now riding high in the sky and was just waiting to be inspected and shot. I figured I give the Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II CCD a short run to see if I could get nice pics of the supernova and M82, since it is pretty bright. Using the focal point I marked on the barrel of the focuser on my 102GT OTA, I could not get anything to focus on the screen using MaxIm DL, despite changing the focus. All I got was blue noise (as opposed to white noise on the telly lol). Frustrated, I unmounted the CCD and put the Meade DSI I back in and whala.....nice colored image of M82 and the blazingly bright supernova (easily visible visually as well, despite its magnitude of 10). Satisfied with my loot for the night, I unmounted the CCD cam and packed up the NexStar 102GT.

"M82 and supernova Ursa Major"

Next on my agenda for the night was easy going, unstressful observing with the Astroscan. "Grab and Go" astronomy at its best, even better than bringing the Orion SkyScanner, because I still have to bring a tripod with me. Plus the Astroscan is just so easy to carry. Just grab it by its strap and sling it over my shoulder. No bags, etc etc to worry about. Also with the Astroscan, all I have to do it put it on the hood of my Mazda5, plonk in the TV 13T6 Nagler (somehow this combo gives the best balance between FOV, size of most objects and detail. With that I waltzed over to the galaxy rich region's, starting with Corvus and M104; the Sombrero, and then bagged M65/M66/NGC 3628, all three visible easily in the wide field 13T6 Nagler. Then I swung over to M95/M96/M105 in Leo, before plunging deep into Virgo and her host of galaxies. All major Messiers were easily visible. Then onto the Ursa Major/Canes Venatici region. M51; the whirlpool galaxy easily showed both lobes in the 13T6, M97; the Owl Nebula and then galaxies in Canes Venatici, M63 and M94. Stargazing sessions should always be like that, with a nice relaxing end to the night, just drinking in the views of faint ancient starlight.......till the next Malibu session clear transparent skies.....

Blast from the past.....special dark sky report from Mark'splace at Glenore Grove.....19/20th August 2006

Finally getting back to regular postings. I intend to keep my word and finish posting my blast from the past blogs. Re-reading them sure does bring back heaps of good memories and makes me want to go back to oz to observe. So without further ado here is my blast from the past from Glenore Grove, Mark's orchard observing site.

Viewing conditions: Excellent transparency magnitude 6++ skies, below average seeing ; Telescope 10" GS dob and 20x80LW binocs

Observing notes:

Glenore Groove Report 19/20^th of August 2006-08-19/20

 "Observing from Glenore Grove, our awesome semi dark sky site that was some 80% as dark as Leyburn, from left to right, Mark our gracious hos, Andrew Middy and my best astro buddy Andrew Durick. Equipment in piccies from left to right, my 20x80LW, my 10" f/5 dob and Andrew's 12.5" f/5 truss"

A big thank you to Mark for hosting us once again at his humble abode out at Glenore Groove. Since I have not gotten out to darker skies in a while, I was really keen to get out. Plus the 10" GS dob has not seen dark sky action. Needless to say I was itching for some good dark sky observing and galaxy hunting! There were just the 4 of us Andrew (Durick), Andrew (Middy), Mark and me present. Mark was with his 20x80 triplets, while Andrew had his 12.5”f/6 truss and me with my 20x80 LW’s and 10” f/5 GS dob.

The night started off brilliantly even before nightfall. We spotted a brilliant irdium flare towards the east which brightened thrice before fading. Cool start to a great night of superb transparency if indifferent seeing (stars started to look bloated past 200x magnification so most work was done below that magnification). As the sky got darker, the milky way became more and more prominent. I was a little bit worried coming in from Brissie as there were some bush fires here and there. But the skies were just glorious from Glenore Groove (as always)! Our home galaxy was so structured that the dark rifts were apparent. The coal sack near Crux was black as night and the celestial horse and the pipe nebula were all easy with the naked eye. And the North American Nebula was also easily visible without optical aid.

I started with some of the constellations that were slowly sinking into the twilight such as Corvus (M 104 the Sombrero brilliant in Andrew's 12.5" f/6 truss and in my 10" GS dob at powers of about 200x with the dark lane showing easily and the Corvus planetary...nice central star visible). Also had a quick sneaky peek at the galaxy fields in Virgo (started off with M59/60 pair and worked my way to M84/86, stopping at other sights along the way like M87). I did not have a structured observing program for tonight and just wanted to hit as many of my faves as possible to see what they looked like in my 10” dob. The zodiacal light was pretty bright so the views of the Virgo galaxies were compromised. Also swung to the south and picked out the quickly sinking Eta Carina Nebula and surrounds (again Eta Carina was glorious with the NPB filter with its dark lanes and extensive mottling and the clusters…need I say more?). I am again reminded of how lucky I am to be observing from such a southerly location as the skies were just strews with stars and clusters. I also looked at objects in Centaurus, Crux and Musca. Omega Centauri was first up and I got superb views of this glorious ball of stars. I like views of this at 63x in my KK widescan III with the cluster fully resolved to the core. Higher mags are okay but at such high powers, loose globs such as Omega start to look more like rich open clusters. Also looked at NGC 4945 and its small companion. Nice mottling and it looks as if a bite was taken out of its quarters. NGC 5128, the Centaurus A galaxy with its dark lane bisecting the galaxy also looked very nice in the 10” and moving north to M83 at the head of Centaurus, this lovely face on spiral showed its bar and spiral arm structure in the 10”. Also the spiral planetary in Musca looked great with the NPB filter. Whilst in the vicinity, we hopped over to Lupus and looked at the planetary and the galaxies NGC 5643, IC 4444, NGC 5786 surrounding this planetary. This was impromptu but we managed to bag three new galaxies. Cool.

"My old faithful, then only less than a year old 10" f/5 Guan Sheng dobbie"

I next swung to the northern sky and looked at the usual suspects. As I was sure the small galaxy near M13 (nice propellar shape of its arms visible) would be visible, I placed it in the field of view and immediately saw the faint glow of this small galaxy. Also I knew that M57, the Ring Nebula (nice unevenly illuminated ring with the dark hole, now not so dark with inner illumination…cool) had a similar companion. No such luck though through both the dobs. We will need a better map for this one or even a photo. M27, the Dumbbell nebula was a glorious sight in Andrew’s 12.5” with the Dumbbell no longer looking like a Dumbbell as it had its wings outstretched. Then I had a look at the Veil Nebula in the 12.5” and then in my 10” dob with Andrew’s OIII filter. All three portions were visible including pickering’s triangle down the middle. The Veil looks distinctly clumpy and filamentary and looked like a black and white photo. Great views all. And while we were on the subject of star death, Andrew remembered Sp1 in Norma and hunted that down. We got to look at this faint inconspicuous smoke ring that was brighter on one end with Andrew's 12.5" and my 10" dobs. Views were very much enhanced with narrowband filters. Andrew also hunted down a bipolar nebula in Norma and this one was nice as well with a central bright star and two nebulous ears on both sides. Will have to check the NGC or IC number for this.

With that I decided it was time to scan the star clouds and nebulosities of Sagittarius and Scorpius. Started off with the easy stuff like open clusters M7 (Ptolemy’s cluster nice companion globular easily visible with some resolution in the 10”), M6 (the butterfly cluster), the false comet cluster and some globulars like M4 (star bar easily visible even at 63x), M80 (resolution at this mag as well), M22 (looking like a poorer cousin of Omega Centauri but fully resolved as well), M55 (sparser cousin to Omega and M22 also fully resolved at this mag and looking like an open cluster) and some of the globulars in Sagittarius like M28 (also resolution evident). Also took a slight detour from this and looked at the Ophiuchus globulars, M10 and M12 and the Wild Duck cluster, M11 in Scutum. Both were also nicely resolved at 63x in the 10” (you can see that I was a little bit lazy in switching eyepieces). The Wild Duck was a glorious swarm of stars, appearing more like a loose globular cluster than an open cluster.

With the clusters out of the way, I now indulged myself in some nebulosities, screwing on the NPB to the Orion 20mm Expanse so I would not have to screw and unscrew the filter from the KK widescan III. M8, the Lagoon showed extensive nebulosity surrounding the open cluster, appearing much larger than I have ever seen it before.The hourglass nebula close to its core was clearly evident as was the dark “lagoon” running through the nebula. M20, the Trifid likewise showed delicate structure with the dark lanes so evident. Its reflection component was also easily visible. I then swung northwards via the small Sagittarius starcloud and hit M17, the Swan nebula and then M18, the Eagle nebula. Again the Swan looked brilliant with extra nebulosity surrounding the immediate area of the Swan. Again at higher powers, the billowy effect down the Swan’s back was evident as was the dark “lane” running across the Swan’s neck. The eagle showed traces of the dark “pillars of creation”structure with the NPB filter but looked more like O’Meara’s little ghost than an eagle. To top off my Sagittarius tour, we looked at Banard’s galaxy (NGC 6822) and the little gem planetary.

Since I was still in the southern part of the sky, I decided to check out NGC 6397 and NGC 6752, the Ara and Pavo globs. Both appeared nicely resolved at 63x.My fave glob would still have to be the starfish/Pavo glob.It is bright and has very nicely resolved outstretching arms. And since I was in the vicinity, I looked at the Pavo galaxy (NGC 6744) as well. Spiral arms visible in the 10” as well. I then noticed that the SMC was now well placed for viewing and naturally went for 47 Tucana. Nicely resolved at 63x with a tight but glittering core. High powered views are usually better for 47 Tucana but tonight the seeing was just not up to it.

To end the night, we decided to go galaxy hunting once again in the Grus, Sculptor region. Started with the three bears in Grus (NGC 7582, 7590, 7599, make that four bears as the fourth member was also easily visible NGC 7552) and several galaxies surrounding this field, and looked at the brighter galaxies such as NGC 55 (very nice with the mottling in the fatter part of the galaxy…this galaxy goes on forever…..), NGC 253 (nice mottling as well and very bright with its companion globular also resolved nicely NGC 288). And finally M31 and its companions in the 20x80LW’s as they were too low for the scopes. And did I mentioned that I looked at M15 in Pegasus as well. Not fully resolved at 63x. More magnification required.

But the highlights for me for this trip would be scanning the dark nebula’s and brighter regions of our home galaxy in my tripod mounted 20x80LW’s. This is the best time of the year to be a large binocular user. The views of these were just unreal and cannot be expressed in words. The milky way came alive in the binocs with stars being resolved against the multitude of unresolved stars, appearing as clumpiness in our galaxy. And not to mention all those dark nebulosities……COOL! I will have to get out to dark skies more often.

Testing the new/old CCD camera...my Orion Starshoot Deep Space II imager and MaxIm DL software package

The title of this blog should read "Shooting from the Burbs Part 1" as this is the first in this series. However it is more appropriate to give it a different title seeing that this is the Orion's maiden imaging session. Ok so it is the second week of the new year already. Time sure does fly. Over the course of the year's end/new year, I acquired yet another CCD cam with slightly better specs than my first CCD, the stupendous, super awesome Meade DSI I C. I have imaged, 73 deep sky objects so far, most of which turned out better than I expected, considering my meager astro-imaging setup, consisting of a Celestron NexStar 102GT (and for wide field a Celestron Travelscope 70 OTA, mounted on the same alt-az GOTO rig). So have I sold out? I think I have, in a big way. The new CCD, specs listed below, comes with a new capture software too, MaxIm DL, which I have to learn. Now granted that I had problems using Meade's Envisage capture and processing software in the beginning, I hope to not encounter the same issues with this new software. I would probably have to learn its in and outs, but that's a given. I will give this CCD a test run this weekend and will be posting the outcomes of how the CCD and the software compares to the Meade DSI I C. Do I intend to keep this new CCD? Only time will tell. I will never part with the Meade DSI due to its relative simplicity in capturing images. The Orion adds a new step as it does not automatically stack the images (see below for details). Also since it has, on spec twice the FOV of the Meade I might just use this new cam to get better wider field shots with the 102GT. Cam also features thermoelectric cooling (TEC) cooling, so I am hoping electronic noise would be even less than in the Meade, which does not have an active cooling system.

Orion StarShoot Deep-Space CCD Color Imaging Camera Specifications

• Sony® ExView HAD™ ICX259AK color CCD sensor
• 1/3" CCD sensor size
• 6.50µm (H) × 6.25µm (V) pixel size
• 752 x 582 pixel array (437,664 total pixels)
• Single shot color image
• .002 sec to 9.3 hrs exposure range
• 16-bit A/D conversion
• 12V thermoelectric cooling
• Removable IR filter
• USB 2 interface to computer 

"Two different views of M42, the great nebula in Orion: top view 6x20 sec exposure with the Meade DSI I C; bottom view 40x20 sec exposure with the Orion SSDSIii, both 1st time imaging pics from suburban skies. Note that images are NOT to scale"

 Fast forward to the third week of January. I started writing this blog last week with the hopes that I would have time to give it a test run on the MLK long weekend. Weather was not very cooperative and the moon was only slightly past full (full moon was on Wed), but I did finally get out under light polluted skies to try out the new CCD. Firstly MaxIm DL was quite easy to use. I printed out parts of the online manual for the CCD, and made a cheat sheet for focusing, image capture, dark subtraction that I could take out into the field and not have to worry about lugging out the paper manual. That helped tremendously. I spent a total of 45 minutes under the stars last night trying out the CCD. I had my usual setup, Celestron NexStar 102GT, my camping chair, the HP Laptop and the Orion SSDSIII. As per nom, I screwed on the 0.5x Orion focal reducer and the Orion SkyGlow filter (I generally find that this is required as the sky fogs really quickly and I get an ugly reddish background when I image from suburbia without this filter). Here are my thought's and notes on this CCD after using it for a quick test run:

• MaxIm DL is easy to use and more user intuitive than Meade's Envisage. There are different windows for stretching the histogram and for camera controls.
• The CCD's focal point was very, very close to the limit of my scopes backfocus, with the 0.5x reducer and SkyGlow filter screwed in. Will try imaging without the diagonal, although the CCD might not come to focus as in the Meade DSI.
• I did not have any problems doing 20 second subs, other than the occasional blurred image from the mount working to center the object.
• I could not get natural color images of M42. The images I took all had the annoying green/blue cast and the color balance is all out of whack. I could not get rid of it in PS (see final combined image above). Anyone has any ideas please let me know. This was not a problem in the Meade DSI (also in the image above for comparison).
• The software does not automatically stack the images for you. I found it to be an annoyance and an inconvinience as you won't know if you are getting good stacks unless you do the pre-processing stack in the field (and this is a very involved process better suited to indoor work as you have to open all images and then select two stars to counter field rotation, a problem with alt-az GOTO mounts...hence the Meade DSI will be a better "field" CCD)
• The FOV is definately bigger in this CCD, but not by much. Image scale is identical.
• Noise seems to be very minimal, even without TEC cooling running so images are less grainy than the Meade's.
• Due to its heft, one has to be careful when putting the cam, into the diagonal as it will cause the scope to sag and you will lose your object in the FOV. The Meade DSI by contrast weights next to nothing

So in summary, until I can figure out how to get rid of the annoying color balance issue, the Meade DSI I C will still be my "quick'ish" "point and shoot" CCD as it automates most of the functions and give very natural color images, even with the Orion SkyGlow filter screwed in. As stated earlier my plan for this CCD was to do deep sky imaging from suburbia on the brighter objects. I need to figure out if it is some setting that can be changed that will allow for more natural colors, or if I have to leave the filter out (not an option for nebulae as the sky glow will kill my subs). Till then....clear skies. I hope to be doing some dark sky imaging this coming weekend since the moon will be out of the way.......and hopefully more testing.

Imaging from the burbs......how I deal with poor skies and whiteouts.....

This series of blogs, which I proposed to write frequently late last year fell by the wayside sometime in Oct. Since it is the new year, I figured I should resurrect this sleeping project of mine. The problem I have had with this blog was the poor quality images I was getting (i.e. grainy with heaps of electronic noise). This came from mostly imaging with my Meade DSI I C, which has no active cooling and has a much smaller chip than my new CCD cam, the Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II. I am hoping to get a series of test shots this coming weekend (i.e. tomorrow) and see how we go from there. Should this camera work well, I am planning to do more suburban imaging as that is where I spend most of my time observing anyways when I cannot get out to the darker Malibu or Pinos skies, which during good months is a measly two times.

So yes starting this week, look out for this new series of blogs.  This will alternate with my "Blast from the Past" blogs (only two more to go). This new "Imaging from the Burbs" series will be short update blogs to showcase what I have accomplished with my meager astro-imaging setup (Celestron NexStar 102GT {or with the Celestron Travelscope 70}, Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II {in place of my most used Meade DSI I C}, 0.5x focal reducer and Orion Sky Glow light pollution filter) from the suburbs of west Los Angeles and to show what can be accomplished with minimal equipment and light polluted skies. My immediate plans are to improve my astrophotography by shooting heaps more and getting even more intimately familliar with the software, post processing and image stacking. I may also try imaging with different  different filters, such as the DGM Optic's NPB (Narrow Pass Band) filter or even the Celestron/Baader OIII filter to stack with images taken with just the broadband filters.

Due to the sky conditions (mostly still from where I live as opposed to slightly windy to super windy conditions at Malibu and Pinos), I found that I could push the exposures as long as 30 seconds without having the stars trail in my images using the 102 GT on alt az GOTO NexStar Mount. Most times I stick between 15 and 21 seconds and this seems to be the sweet spot. For brighter starlike objects such as stars and smaller planetary nebulae, I tend to go even lower and use between 8 and 11 seconds exposure, and then take multiple images to stack. Exposing it for too long washes out the nice colors of these smaller planetaries. For the wider field Celestron 70 Travelscope, I find I can go as high as 45 seconds, so that is even better.

Also for now, I find myself taking anywhere between just three to six images. I know this is not ideal for fainter fare, but Autostar Envisage seems to start making weird calls with anything above that. With the new CCD cam, I hope to take more stacks and see if that improves the signal to noise ratio, since it uses a different capture software, the much used MaxIm DL.

Someday I hope to image with a larger scope and possibly with a GOTO EQ mount, but for now this is the best I can do with what equipment I have. I have shot quite a number of objects of all classes, open clusters, globular clusters, planetaries, emission and reflection nebulae, supernova remnants and galaxies, so I am slowly coming to terms with what works best for different classes of objects.

One of the most important steps in getting the most out of your images is in post-processing. Photoshop is a very powerful tool and I am also still learning the intricacies of getting the most data out of my images. I generally used levels to determine the darkest and lightest points in the images, then use curves to stretch the histogram, before using the dropper tool to darken the background. Also with most of the longer exposures, I find I generally have to use an averaged dark frames for dark subtraction to remove electronic noise. Still having issues with hot colored pixels (hopefully this gets solved with the Orion CCD....if this is the case, I will try to use the Orion for suburban imaging).

So till I get some preliminary data...this is it from me for this blog...

A new year a new you......thanks 2013 you have been a good year.....

"M17 The Swan Nebula in Sagittarius"

A little bit late in putting this blog out, but as they say better late than never. Since I made a list of astro resolutions last year, and that pretty much kept me on schedule, I figure I should do one every year so I don't lose sight of the bigger picture. 2013 was good to me in terms of astro. I made great strides in many aspects of my hobby, not just acquiring new/old gear, but also transitioning from a purely visual astronomer to an beginner astro-imager. In fact I got so immersed with this new aspect of the hobby, I acquired a second CCD camera (Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II, which has approximately double the size of the Meade DSI I's chip) just over the new year to see if I can push further the boundaries of what can be imaged with my limited astro imaging gear (and to get better images of my faves, pictured here). I might at some stage decide to splurge on a better and more precise EQ mount (i.e. iOptron SmartEQ Portable GOTO mount) for my wide field imaging scopes, but as of now, I will stick with my NexStar 102GT alt az GOTO mount (this is still a big question mark as I am first and foremost a visual astronomer so I might just decide to go with a Meade 16" Lightbridge instead......but then again that is dependant on the CFO of the family ;).

"M42 The Great Nebula in Orion"

So to review what I achieved in 2013:

"M13 The Great Hercules Globular Cluster"

• My 1st resolution of 2013 was to use my big scope more. Tried as much as I did, due to our current living arrangement and a shared garage that is not lockable, this scope was just too big and bulky to use on a regular basis (too much carrying of heavy components up and down two flights of stairs). I ended up getting rid of my 10" dob and replacing it with a used Celestron C8 OTA (very comparable in terms of DSO brightness and resolution. I actually compared them on similar objects from my light polluted playground and the difference was very subtle if at all detectable). I now use my biggest scope on a more regular basis as I can carry everything in one sitting (C8 on Vixen PortaMount), so resolution one was met.
• My second resolution was to plan my observing runs better. I did have a plan of attack for each session. It helped greatly to use my iPod Touch notepad function for this, especially for my imaging sessions.
• I did not adhere to my sketch at least 5 new objects at every session. I did start off the year sketching a fair bit, but ended up getting deep into imaging so that tapered off. I might still do the odd sketch here and there if fancy takes me, but for now I am going to concentrate on imaging full on.
• I hit my target of doing more equipment reviews and writing them up...and I must confess that I enjoy this tremendously. Not sure if that is feasible this year as I put a cap on buying equipment, with the exception of smallish gear such as accessories.
• Since I replaced my biggest scope with an 8" SCT, I did succeed in trying out a SCT....and I am pleased to report that I like SCT's. Did not like the focal reducer field flatterner for visual so I might have to imvest in a good wide field 2" eyepiece at some stage.
• This year was severely lacking in the good scope deals. The best deals I got were floors stocks at Orion (got a 130mm f/5 Orion Star Seeker II OTA for cheap. Costco had a 90GT NexStar for $179 this year in place of their 102GT from last year for $199 last year, and I missed out on this deal as I waited too long).
• I blogged heaps this year. As I observed more too, there was more to talk about, and hope to continue the trend this year.
• I am also happy to report that I used ALL my scopes this year, including my most recent addition, a nice red Edmund Astroscan. Still my most used scope is the 102GT as I use it almost exclusively for imaging. I also tried out the Travelscope 70mm for wide field imaging and it worked fine.
• I used my Meade DSI I color every opportunity I had and have pretty much mastered most, if not all of its functions in the Meade Envisage capture software. I also spent heaps of time learning the intricacies of post image processing with Adobe Photoshop and applied dark subtraction to most of my images. Next stop more faint DSO's and master the Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II CCD cam.
• I failed in my final 2013 resolution. I did observe the moon and planets....but still did not observe as much as I should have.

With that in mind, here is my list of new year astro resolutions for 2014:

"M57 The Ring Nebula in Lyra, my all time fave planetary nebula"

• Use my bigger scopes for visual from suburbia so I get out even more and not just once or twice a month.
• Fully use all my existing equipment and refrain from buying new gear this year. I need to fully immerse myself in all the gear I have right now, which is more than enough.
• For visual, try not to avoid open clusters as I generally find them boring.
• Focus more on imaging. I know I know I am selling out and not doing visual as much as I should, but the feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment that comes with pulling out those faint wisps of nebulosity, or the spiral arms cannot be described. That means seeking out and trying fainter fare and experimenting with filters, trying to master more imaging tricks and testing out my new Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II. Also doing more wide field imaging with the Travelscope 70mm.
• Try to get better shallow sky images. I really have to invest time in imaging the moon and the planets at high mag.
• Try a Mak......

So there you have it.....my astro resolutions for 2014

Postcards from Malibu...my X Mas prezzie to myself for X Mas 2013 23rd of December and new years 30th of December 2013

 "NGC 436: ET/Strongman Cluster in Cassiopea"

Okay so this post is a couple of weeks late. Don't know if it was the holidays or something. I did heaps of observing and imaging but for some strange reason did not have the inspiration to put it to paper (or blog ;). I started my prose with this : "X Mas a time of peace, a time of joyous celebrations. Also a time for reflection and family togetherness. I must confess that I have taken many things for granted. I have a beautiful family who loves me and who would stick by me through thick or thin. I have everything I could possibly wish for and more". And that was it. Got stuck is writers hell. Now I am back in work mode and the brain juices seem to be flowing again...

 "NGC 663: Open cluster in Cassiopea"

Anyway X mas and New Years hols have come and gone and I had a wonderfully relaxing holiday with my family. We did all come down with the flu and then bronchitis, which sucked (still recovering from it!) but overall it was a good holiday. We did do some fun stuff like visiting the San Diego Zoo, as well as checking out some playgrounds close to where we live in Culver City (the Marina Del Rey playground is fantastic for kids!!!!). We also caught up on some new movies like Frozen (great Disney flick for kidults!), as well as the Matt Damon flick Elysium (which was great too).

But this particular year end holiday was especially memorable for stargazing, because I got my fill of ancient starlight over the holidays, two shots of Malibu to be precise this holiday season. Once on the eve of the eve of X Mas, and the other on the eve of the eve of the eve (so many eve's) of the new year.  Funny thing though is that I observed from two different spots in Malibu, from our usual Solstice Canyon site, and also on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean about a mile up from where our site is (recommended to me by some friendly neighbourhood cops who told me of this site, which has unobstructed views of the southwestern sky...Canopus was easily visible above the horizon). The latter is a popular stopping spot as it has a rather wide dirt patch that you can drive your car right up. Most people there were sightseers, and some curious onlookers.  I ran an imprompto "sidewalk" astronomy session where I showed them Jupiter and his moons, the Orion Nebula, and Pleiades, the Seven Sisters through my Astroscan (on my car bonnet no less).

 "M46 and NGC 2438 Planetary in Puppis"

Got some great imaging and visual observing in too over both the sessions. The only bummer was the strong gale force Santa Ana winds on both nights, which made it very difficult for any imaging (but very pleasant for observing as it was nice and balmy). I managed to sneak a few pics here (Managed to shoot some open clusters in Cassiopea, Puppis and the Flame Nebula in Orion. Tried for the Running Man again as well as the Horsehead but was not successful) and there between gusty conditions on the first session (from Solstice Canyon) on the 23rd of December, but the 30th was a bust (from the bluff overlooking the ocean).  Other than me getting exasperated at not being able to image everything I wanted that was on my "to do" list (missed out on NGC 2903 in Leo, NGC 2359 in Canis Major, as well as some dimmer fare which I am still not sure if they are doable since they are located at pretty southerly declinations NGC 1365 and NGC 1097 in Fornax and NGC 1300 in Eridanus), I had a great time panning around in my Astroscan (great wide field scope by the way, but hard to aim at stuff without a finder, even at low mag), as well as checking out some of the springtime galaxies like NGC 2903 in Leo, M81/82 in Ursa Major, as well as the big bear planetary M97, the Owl Nebula.

 "M47 open cluster in Puppis"

The visual highlights of my session was seeing the Rosette Nebula in the 102GT, as well as NGC 2359 (Thor's Helmet) in Canis Major. Both required the use of a nebula filter ( I used my DGM NPB filter). Rosette was not visible without the filter, while Thor's Helmet. The helmet shape could only be discerned with the filter in place. The latter is an easy object from oz in my 10", and its helmet shape is easily visible even without a filter.

 "NGC 2024: Flame/Tanktracks nebula in Orion"

So all in all I had a great X Mas and NewYear's holiday. I gave myself the best gift an astronomer could get nice, clear and transparent dark skies and my own personal "deep sky postcards", taken during the festive season all by myself.