Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Uranus and 4 moons on 2008.10.15

Observation logs

















With Labels

Large View

Object: Uranus

Planet
Origin:ObservationManager - SolarSystem Catalog 1.0
ObserverMichael A. Phillips Mr.
SiteHome
Begin2008-10-15 um 22:30:00-05:00
End2008-10-15 um 23:15:00-05:00
Seeing3 (fair)
OpticsC8i
EyepiecePowerMate (V=812.8)
FilterAstronomik LRGB Color
CameraDMK21AF04
Sitzung2008-10-15 um 22:30:00-05:00
Visual impression

  • Much easier to find as it's apparent size is larger. Visually it's more grayish-green than Neptune. After processing I found that Neptune and Uranus are very similar in color, photographically at least. RGB exposures are 1s and same Gain settings as Neptune 3min capture time per channel and resulted in about 174 frames per channel, best 100 used (estimate) Moons are at f/25 still, and were 4sec at full gain and 50% gamma

References

Sessions: 2008-10-15 um 18:45:00-05:00

Begin:2008-10-15 um 18:45:00-05:00
End:2008-10-15 um 23:30:00-05:00
Weather:Forecast called for S 4/5 and T 3/5 Actual S: 4-6 T: 2-3/5
Equipment:I used: Ubuntu 8.04 Linux and custom coriander 8" Celestron C8i SCT DMK 21AF04 2.5x PowerMate Astronomik LRGB filters True Tek Color Filter Wheel with visu diag Since the 3 day stretch of good seeing in early Sept, I have used the T61 Also used WinXP and IC Capture with the TrueTek Hand Controller for > 1sec exposures
Comments:To get Uranus and Neptune I had to move exposures beyond 1 second. Currently the custom coriander 1.0.0 does not support exposures beyond 1 second. Even at 1sec and 3.25fps I was unable to get usable data. As quickly as I could I switched to WinXP and IC Capture for camera control. A reboot and install of drivers burned some time, but a valuable lesson in prepareness. I did try to leverage previous whitebalance exercises on Jupiter for Uranus and Neptune. I found tracking and alignment horrible, but since finding 6-7mag planets isn't easy, I decided not to re-align. More and deeper exposures would have helped the moon shots.
>> Observations <<

Observer: Michael A. Phillips Mr.

>> Observations <<

Site: Home

Longitude:35.682°
Latitude:-78.743°
Timezone:UT-300 min
>> Observations <<

Optics: C8i

Type:SCT
Vendor:Celestron
Aperture:203.0 mm
Focal length:2032.0 mm
>> Observations <<

Eyepiece: PowerMate

Vendor:TeleVue
Focal length:2.5 mm
>> Observations <<

Filter: Astronomik LRGB

Typ:Color
>> Observations <<

CCD Camera: DMK21AF04

Vendor:The Image Source
Pixel:640x480
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Astronomy - Solar System - Uranus




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Friday, November 7, 2008

Luna - Albategnius crater 2008.10.08

Observation logs
















With labels

Large view


Object: Moon

Moon
Origin:ObservationManager - SolarSystem Catalog 1.0
ObserverMichael A. Phillips Mr.
SiteHome
Begin2008-10-07 um 19:50:00-05:00
End2008-10-07 um 20:00:00-05:00
OpticsC8i
EyepiecePowerMate (V=812.8)
FilterAstronomik LRGB Color
CameraDMK21AF04
Sitzung2008-10-07 um 19:50:00-05:00
Visual impression

  • Albategnius crater and nearby area were of visual interest without prior planning. This always makes it hard to find out what you photographed after the fact. I wanted to get a nice mosaic together, but it didn't work out that well. I picked the main crater for now.

References

Sessions: 2008-10-07 um 19:50:00-05:00

Begin:2008-10-07 um 19:50:00-05:00
End:2008-10-07 um 20:40:00-05:00
Weather:Haze and thin clouds S: 8/10 T: 1/5
Equipment:I used: Ubuntu 8.04 Linux and custom coriander 8" Celestron C8i SCT DMK 21AF04 2.5x PowerMate Astronomik LRGB filters True Tek Color Filter Wheel with visu diag
Comments:Not a night I'd normally be going out as a slow moving cold front was moving in and brought a great amount of humidity and haze. Seeing forecast was good so I eyeballed the skies near Jupiter and decided to take a stab at it, especially with an attempt at an Io transit too. (Missed that)
>> Observations <<

Observer: Michael A. Phillips Mr.

>> Observations <<

Site: Home

Longitude:35.682°
Latitude:-78.743°
Timezone:UT-300 min
>> Observations <<

Optics: C8i

Type:SCT
Vendor:Celestron
Aperture:203.0 mm
Focal length:2032.0 mm
>> Observations <<

Eyepiece: PowerMate

Vendor:TeleVue
Focal length:2.5 mm
>> Observations <<

Filter: Astronomik LRGB

Typ:Color
>> Observations <<

CCD Camera: DMK21AF04

Vendor:The Image Source
Pixel:640x480
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Astronomy - Solar System - Lunar Gallery




A collection of all my Lunar Photos
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Jupiter 2008-10-01
















Full Size

Labels

Object: Jupiter

Planet
Origin:ObservationManager - SolarSystem Catalog 1.0
ObserverMichael A. Phillips Mr.
SiteHome
Begin2008-09-30 um 20:30:00-05:00
End2008-09-30 um 21:40:00-05:00
Seeing3 (fair)
OpticsC8i
EyepiecePowerMate (V=812.8)
FilterAstronomik LRGB Color
CameraDMK21AF04
Sitzung2008-09-30 um 20:30:00-05:00
Visual impression

  • Transit of Io. Poor seeing, but a good 45min+ time lapse imaging session shows the spot where Io is/should be.

References

Sessions: 2008-09-30 um 20:22:00-05:00

Begin:2008-09-30 um 20:22:00-05:00
End:2008-09-30 um 22:00:00-05:00
Weather:Forecast called for clouds. Surprisingly it cleared near dusk and stayed clear until a line of STRONG T-storms came in at 3am the same night. Seeing was avg or below 4-5/10 T: 3/5
Equipment: I used: Ubuntu 8.04 Linux and custom coriander 8" Celestron C8i SCT DMK 21AF04 2.5x PowerMate Astronomik LRGB filters True Tek Color Filter Wheel with visu diag
>> Observations <<

Observer: Michael A. Phillips Mr.

>> Observations <<

Site: Home

Longitude:35.682°
Latitude:-78.743°
Timezone:UT-300 min
>> Observations <<

Optics: C8i

Type:SCT
Vendor:Celestron
Aperture:203.0 mm
Focal length:2032.0 mm
>> Observations <<

Eyepiece: PowerMate

Vendor:TeleVue
Focal length:2.5 mm
>> Observations <<

Filter: Astronomik LRGB

Typ:Color
>> Observations <<

CCD Camera: DMK21AF04

Vendor:The Image Source
Pixel:640x480
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M31 - Andromeda Galaxy via piggyback

Observation logs










Object: M31

Galaxy in And
Alias: NGC224, Andromeda Galaxy

RA: 0h 42m 44s
Dec: 41° 16' 06"
Size:178.0′ × 178.0′
m(vis):4.5 mag
Origin:ObservationManager - Messier Catalog 1.0
ObserverMichael A. Phillips Mr.
SiteHome
Begin2008-10-26 um 20:20:00-05:00
End2008-10-26 um 23:30:00-05:00
Seeing4 (bad)
OpticsTamron
LensZoom
CameraCanon XTI
Sitzung2008-10-26 um 20:20:00-05:00
Visual impression

  • Good visual check on main core area. Also showed well in a single 4 min exposure.
  • Visual rating: Simple conspicuous object in the eyepiece

References

Sessions: 2008-10-26 um 20:20:00-05:00

Begin:2008-10-26 um 20:20:00-05:00
End:2008-10-26 um 23:30:00-05:00
Weather:Clear, good transparency and no moon. Seeing was below avg.
Equipment:Canon XTi with Tamron zoom lens piggybacked on the C8i, MaxDSLR on WinXP T43 driven via RDP from inside the house
Comments:1st attempt at full remote setup. I found a tracking was good after a 2 iter 2 star eq align: Az: 00' 21" Alt: 06' 03" Good for 4+ min piggybacked exposures! No network coverage in the garage forced me to setup a quick, ad-hoc x-over network between WinXP and Linux. Static addressing on both ends and FAST transfers! :P
>> Observations <<

Observer: Michael A. Phillips Mr.

>> Observations <<

Site: Home

Longitude:35.682°
Latitude:-78.743°
Timezone:UT-300 min
>> Observations <<

Optics: Tamron

Type:zoom SLR lens
Aperture:50.0 mm
Focal length:200.0 mm
>> Observations <<

Lens: Zoom

Vendor:Tamron
Focal length factor:200.0 mm
>> Observations <<

CCD Camera: Canon XTI

Vendor:Canon
Pixel:3888x2592
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Astronomy - Deep Sky - Galaxies




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