Well last night was supposed to be very hopeful for observing. I had some HAA friends/regulars come over to do some observing on my driveway. I had the 12in LB out and my AP setup ready to go. There was a really nice turn out with three cars, a few extra scopes and 6 amateur astronomers (including me). Unfortunately we only had about about an hours worth of viewing before unexpected clouds developed over us. Even with the shortened observing session, we still enjoyed ourselves with great stories, cookies and hot chocolate.

IC405 and IC410

I managed to get this image of a faint HA region in Auriga (IC410 and IC405 flaming star nebula). I was very happy with the nebulosity that I was able to squeeze out of this considering I only had 4×4 minute frames (16min) with my unmodded camera and the celestron UHC/LPR filter. This filter is great!!! and I think it (or something similar) is a must have for unmodded cameras. I have tried this region without the filter and the red portions barely show and end up looking more of a dark burgandy colour. Originally I was hoping to get about 1.5 hrs of this target last night. Hopefully I will have more opportunities before it starts to set behind our tall trees.

KerryLH

Click here or on the blog entry title to read a recent letter to Mike Jefferson and John Gauvreau remembering the late Norman Green.

It’s that time of year again when you are asked to go outside and count how many stars you can see from your location. Don’t panic – you don’t have to count the entire sky (that would keep one busy for a while – unless its cloudy).

Globe At Night is a program where you count as many stars as you can see in the constellation Orion and report to their website. This is an annual program to track how skies are brightening over the years with increasing urbanization and light pollution. It’s been estimated that more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities.

This is a simple observing program but provides useful information which in turn can be used to help promote policies to preserve dark skies. It is sponsored by GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) and NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Observatory). It is international in scope. Last year more than 8000 observations were reported from more than 60 countries.

To make determining the limiting magnitude of your skies easier, the website has some charts . You simply match the number of stars you can see in Orion with one of the charts and it tells you how dark your skies are. Print yourself a copy of the charts, take them outside, and begin counting. If you have one, you can optionally use your Unihedron Sky Quality Meter to take a reading.

You’ll also need to know the date and time of your observation, along with your location. Your latitude and longitude which, if you don’t know it, can be found using a GPS or websites such as MapQuest or Google Maps. Or you could use a topographic map – and even city or provincial road maps. The more accurate the better.

Once you have your count and determined the limiting magnitude of your sky that night, go to their website and report your result. You’ll need at least Windows 2000 with a current version of Flash viewer to be able to enter your results. Internet Explorer 6 or later and Firefox worked for me.

It’s a quick and fun observing project and doesn’t require setting up telescopes or standing out in the cold for long hours. However if you’re feeling ambitious, you can even collect data from multiple sites.

The program runs between Feb 25 and Mar 8. Have fun!

Well after mid month, thankfully we’ve been getting more clear sky opportunities. So I have had about 4 occasions where I was able to get out and image. The conditions weren’t perfect… poor seeing and transparency, but that has never stopped me in the past 🙂

NGC2903 is a little Galaxy in Leo. I couldn’t see this one in my 6in SCT when it was low in the eastern sky. I imaged this target over two separate nights. Once just after the first quarter moon, then Saturday night before the waning gibbous rose. I combined the results in Deep Sky Stacker. 3min exposures totaling 3 hrs ISO 800, C6 SCT, ASGT mount, Canon 40D unmodded.

Last night wasn’t perfect either there were thin wisps of cirrus, but mainly in the northern sky. Looking at the satellite and profiles I figured I’d get a few hour in before the clouds rolled in and the moon rose. The Rosette was a target that I was going to skip this year but ended up changing my mind especially since I have seen some really nice pics in the past. I was really happy with the nebulosity that was picked up with the help of the Celestron LPR/UHC filter. This image is comprised of 3min exposures totaling 1.5hrs, ISO800, Equinox 80mm, ASGT mount, Canon 40D unmodded.

Larger Sizes: http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1154&g2_imageViewsIndex=2

KerryLH

Click here or on the blog entry title to view a larger version of my collage of 3 images from the lunar eclipse of Feb. 20, 2008.

Well, I wasn’t able to join the rest of the gang at Binbrook as I was up in Collingwood at Blue Mountain for the week. I did manage to get out for the eclipse though (and despite the extreme cold – managed to convince some of my family to come out of the warmth and watch also). I imaged using a Canon EOS 40D with a 50-500mm zoom lens. I watched the eclipse from the start (before 9:00pm) until just before totality at which time clouds rolled over – as such I wasn’t able to image the complete eclipse – but got fairly close.

Our HAA members were true to form, braving cold and ice, to set up numerous scopes, binoculars and other equipment, at the Binbrook alternate site.

I was impressed by the clear skies and view of Orion even from my car
as I drove to Binbrook. Unfortunately I could not be there early… as i had another meeting to attend, but when I arrived, the eclipse was about 3/4 total, and there was a convenient parking spot for my car in the front row.

I arrived to find about 14 cars and as many scopes set up in the field adjacent to the parking lot. All the regulars were there, as well as more than a dozen guests who came to see the eclipse first-hand, so to speak.

As has been mentioned, the eclipse is great to see with just about any equipment, including just your unaided vision, but the prospect of an hour of comparative dark skies during such a full-moon-induced clear spell was irresistible to me.

John provided not only an excellent pair of binoculars on a parallelogram so anyone could see the view, but also a keen commentary on what to look for at each stage of the eclipse. He pointed out that there’s a strip of the moon between the partial part and the total part which actually looks bluish, due to the earths ozone layer absorbing the red light from the direct illumination of the sun.

Deeper into the Earth’s umbra, the moon looks reddish, lit by sunsets from all parts of the world at the same time.
I thought about the sun’s elevation below the horizon… as seen from the moon, even the sun which just disappears behind one side of the earth is only 2 degrees (like the view of a sunset 8 minutes old) below the horizon on the other side.

So indeed the perimeter of the earth must look spectacular from the moon when the earth eclipses the moon.

I wondered why we don’t have any cameras on the moon for just such an occasion. I seem to recall the next x-prize is for landing a rover on the moon and driving it around. With any luck they will put an upward facing camera (with appropriate shielding from the sun) on it, and we can have an earthcam vantage point.

I brought my trusty Sky Quality Meter (SQM) and took a reading on arrival. The zenith at 9:45 PM was registering 19.50 (magnitudes per square arcsecond) which is actually not so good. Shining straight at the moon registered 19.01.

Even with the moon eclipsed, the zenith still read 19.75, so I would have to say that even the eclipsed moon, the light reflecting from the snow covered ground, and the residual sky-glow of surrounding communities still added up to about an extra magnitude, as we usually get about 20.5 at Binbrook on dark nights.

I set up the GWS as the eclipse wore on, hoping to catch a glimpse of a few Deep Sky Objects during totality. In particular, I wanted to view M49, but Saturn would also be out and was worth the drive just for that.

Several members had goto scopes set up, and were tracking nicely.
I saw M79, a globular close to the horizon, in Heather’s scope.
M42 had the appearance of a dark nebula in front of a bright nebula.

Jim recorded a video of the moon during the approach to totality.
He also crafted an excellent warm-up tent, with a gas heater and a supply of tim-bits, under the hatch of his minivan. Anyone who was feeling the cold could duck in there for a few minutes and emerge re-energized and toasty warm.

Several members took still photos of the moon from various equipment. Looking forward to viewing their galleries in the next few days.

While the moon was eclipsed, we also were able to tour the sky. Saturn was ideally positioned, and showed 3 tiny sharp moons close-in to the planet, and perhaps 2 more far out. In the FFI with a 13 mm Ethos eyepiece, I could, (once told to look) make out the 3 moons.
Its kind of neat being able to look all around in the eyepiece and see the rest of the sky.
In the GWS I could also see the 3 moons, with a 26 mm 4000 series eyepiece and a “Big Barlow” – Effectively also a 13 mm eyepiece.

Once the moon came out of the umbra, the background brightened up and i could no longer make out the closest of Saturn’s moons in the GWS, but still could see it in the FFI… (I need to clean the GWS mirrors, it’s true).
Saturn was only about 4 degrees from the moon by then, and some moonlight was shining into the GWS and reflecting off the dust on my mirrors, but that’s another story.

My toes were getting pretty cold towards midnight.
It’s true all the advice about dressing warmly. I had on summer clothes and a decent coat, and my boots were safely at home,
but I maintained circulation, literally and figuratively, by making numerous trips to different scopes and sampling the views.

We packed up at about 11:45 PM and reconvened at Tim Hortons on Nebo Road. Excellent conversation and discussions persisted well past 1:30 AM, which is part of the reason HAA is such a great club.

Images By KerryLH

As you can see, I ran out of heat before the end and unfortunately stopped imaging before it was totally over. It was just soooo cold and I couldn’t bare to snap another frame.
Link to the large version: http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1135&g2_imageViewsIndex=3

I think I captured that occultation star… am I right?

THe entire gang.. wait a minute where did everyone go???

Wow look at all the stars… totality just ending

Images by Don Pullen
(My first attempt at AP with the Canon 40D so be gentle with the comments.)

Eclipse under way

Orion Belt stars with nebula through 100mm f/5 achro scope and Canon 40D at prime focus, 30 sec exposure at ISO 200.

Another group shot. 40D Night portrait mode, 50mm f1.8 lens.

Hopefully some more later once I figure out how to process the other images I captured.

Holy Cow, was it COLD out there! But Holy Cow, what clear skies, and what an eclipse! Despite the cold, I managed to drag my butt out to my townhouse complex parking lot, set up my rig, and snap half-second exposures every 5 minutes from 10-ish PM thru 11:15 PM, at f/4 through my Tamron 300 mm lens and Digital Rebel.

This image is just one of many. More images to follow, as I get more time in coming days to process them.

Due to a waxing moon with an 81% illuminated disk transiting at 9:01pm I waited until midnight to start my observing session on Saturday night (Sunday morning). I wanted to try to avoid the worst of the moon’s glare if at all possible.

Unfortunately there was a trade-off with this scenario: a couple of interesting objects I had planned to observe in Lepus disappeared behind the roof of my house and behind a very “mature” tree. I was surprised to see Orion dip so low towards the western horizon.

It was quite cold again and worse, ice was adhering to the patio stones in quite a stubborn fashion. I got (another) workout trying to remove it.

The first object I observed was the “Clown” or “Eskimo” Nebula (NGC 2392)in Gemini. The Clown is a planetary nebula, where a dying star that is running out of nuclear fuel sheds its outer layers into space. In the March edition of Sky & Telescope Timothy Beers writes that certain “intermediate” types of planetary nebulas are thought to be responsible for dispersing elements into space and eventually these elements “make their way into the next stellar generation. As stars form, evolve, and die, they cook light elements into heavier ones – including those we need for life.” Something to think about as I observed NGC 2392. I could not make out the layered shapes that make it look like an Eskimo with a fur parka hood or a clown’s face. I could see the layers but not distinctly. Back in early December on one of the first nights I had the telescope out I observed this object and I saw more detail.

I had better luck with another planetary: NGC 3242 or “The Ghost of Jupiter”. The nebulosity seemed larger and brighter than with the Clown. The broken-spiral shapes (layers) remind me somewhat of the child’s toy “Spirograph”, but looking as if you made a messed up one.

The moon was still pretty high up so I passed on trying to view any Messier objects. I mean, why torture yourself, the bitter cold is bad enough. “I Want To See (Things)!!!” as Joan Crawford exhorted in an old episode of Night Gallery (a very young Steven Spielberg’s first directing gig). But I digress.

Scrolling through the Celestron’s database through to Variable Stars I keyed in R Leonis. R Leonis is a Mira-type pulsating variable in Leo. It’s magnitude ranges from 5.8 to 10. To me it has a distinctly orange cast. Quite bright. One can keep checking in on this star to see if it is getting brighter or is dropping in brightness. I have not tried to determine the magnitude of variable stars before, but I might start.

Next stop was V Hydrae, a carbon star. I could not find this star on the telescope’s database so I keyed in the coordinates for Right Ascension (10h 51.6m) and Declination (-21 degrees 15′) on the telescopes hand-set under the Go-To RA/Dec. utility and the Celestron slewed right to it. This star looked like an intensely red little point of light over towards the southwestern horizon. According to the “Celestial Sampler” by Sue French V Hydrae is “a dying red-giant star ready to form a planetary nebula”. So perhaps in a thousand years this object will look more like the Clown nebula than the bright little red light it is now.

One of the objects I missed by starting so late was R Leporis or Hind’s Crimson Star, another carbon star and a variable to boot, in Lepus. Maybe next time.

I observed Saturn (how can one ignore Saturn?) again. This time I could see Titan at around 3:00 o’clock at a fair distance from the planet, and then closer to the planet another bright moon, probably Rhea. Again closer to the planet I could just see another speck of light, which turned out later to be Dione. That was all I could see, not as good as Monday when I saw 5 moons.

I ended the observing session with M40, a Messier object that is actually a double star. I put very high power on this double and I still could not split it. There seemed to be a orangey-yellow star extremely tight in to a bluish white star. Nice colours. Can anyone let me know why a double star is a Messier object? Did it look like a comet to Messier?

I hope I have some energy left for observing the Lunar Eclipse at Binbrook, weather permitting. The SCT is not ideal for observing a lunar eclipse. Hopefully I’ll re-energize by Wednesday night.

I finally scored the combination of GWS, Saturn above the horizon, and no fog at the same time.

Unfortunately, i had 2 equipment failures, both related to dead batteries. My red dot finder and my equatorial platform both ran out of gas.

It did not take long to align the scope. I finally decided to label the struts and cans, so that i can reconstruct it again the same way. It will be an interesting experiment to see how far out of alignment it is on restoration. The laser is spreading out due to dirt on the secondary. It’s time for a cleaning.

My friend was there when i arrived, and he helped me lift the base of the GWS from the car. He did not want to stick around while i assembled the whole scope and aligned it, but i was keen to show him Saturn.
I whipped out the GWS finder-scope (a Nexstar 3.5) and first lined it up on the moon to focus it. At that point i discovered the lack of the red dot finder.

(It turns out that home depot is selling ‘tea lights’ powered by LEDs that use the same cr2032 batteries as the red dot finder. For $2.99 you get 2 lights and 4 batteries. I highly recommend them.)
Especially if you keep them with your scope instead of in the living room.

He was impressed by the view of the moon. I failed to align the scope sufficiently to show Saturn. Turns out it was just as well… the 25 mm eyepiece on the finder-scope can render Saturn as not much more than a yellow oblong dot. He would have been disappointed.

I was not disappointed once i finished aligning the GWS and put the 26 mm into it. Saturn came out reasonably crisp and with distinguishable gaps between planet and rings. I could not discern the Cassini division however. I could see 3 moons to the right and 2 or 3 to the left depending on whether one was a star…

My configuration of Cartes De Ciel does not show Saturn’s moons, so i will have to wait on that one. I made a sketch of what i saw for future reference.

I then put in the ‘Big Barlow’ and replaced the 26 mm meade. Saturn dutifully doubled in size. At this point i realized the platform was no longer tracking, and established it was not simply that i had left it on ‘moon speed’… the batteries need charging. I thought about running an extension cord to it and charging it, but decided to carry on.

The 7-21 mm zoom eyepiece was next. I put it on the ‘Big Barlow’ to see what i could see. The zoom eyepiece is not a very high quality gadget, and it made the image worse than the 26+Barlow, even when set to 21 mm. At 7 mm, i could not see the space between planet and rings anymore.
(I guess that works out to 1829/3.5 = 522x magnification)
Without the platform i had to constantly readjust the position of the scope to get Saturn back into view.

It was remarkably cold: just touching the scope to re-point it at Saturn was hurting my fingers… and i even put on gloves at one point. The scope was cold to the touch, and my water actually started to freeze towards the end. (In all fairness, it was in my car overnight too). It was -11.5 degrees according to the thermometer in my car.

The moon in the sky is the bane of all messier hunters (except those seeking M45, i think). It washed out the sky so bad that i could, with difficulty, barely see the stars in Virgo which are connected by lines in the constellation diagrams, but no more than those. The finder-scope, on the other hand, shows more stars than the pocket sky atlas, further complicating star hopping. Directing the GWS into the realm of the galaxies, i expected to see something faint and fuzzy to start with, but the uniform glow of the sky was too much for me. Even M51 failed to show up. I knew i was going to have to wait for the moon to bow out.

Then, dreaded frost started appearing. At 1 AM i had had enough. It took a while to carefully repack the scope and close up the car. I need to get some frost busters going for next time.

However, i did establish that Virgo will be visible during the lunar eclipse and that i can scoop M49 then. And the Big Barlow does not significantly degrade the view through the 26 mm.

I tried focusing on Spica to see how good the seeing was. It resolved to a small disk, with a sparkle that made it look like it was on fire. Unlike mars which i have seen on some occasions to be quite ‘alive’ these flames were only about 1/3 the size of the disk, so i would have to say the seeing was pretty good tonight. Saturn also looked steady.

Someday i will learn not to seek Messier objects while the near-full moon is up, but i had waited too long through cloudy nights to pass up this opportunity. Astronomy is excellent exercise.