Sunday, July 7, 2013

Advanced A7x



New album art is out for the upcoming release on August 27, 2013




Kicking off with some old school...
Been lots of rain of late here and it's been killing my astro time, so this line is appropriate, "Clouds swallow the moon and I'm alone"
http://youtu.be/acPmRPcEm30

To new... strap in for this ride!



and all the songs in between!




I didn't find this gem until much later, you're welcome!


Fuck, just one more!


but there just so many great songs, go forth with your new exposures to my favorite band, discover more and love them all!  See you again in August!

\m/ ♬ d(-_-)b ♬ \m/ That is all

Monday, June 24, 2013

Avenged Sevenfold for intermediates

and now I spread more A7x onto you!




Building off my last post, http://astromaphilli14.blogspot.com/2013/06/avenged-sevenfold-for-beginners.html I offer you some of the songs that really got me hooked into this band for good.  I'm talking about songs where I was just astounded at how deep the band is and how each song is just a gold mine of goodness!

First song is my bad-ass cowboy song



Second song is a great, straight up kick ass song, NSFW lang at the live show the boys!


Thirdly the boys kick out their best building, head-banging song which is arguably their best and comparable in style to a metal version of Stairway to Heaven


Ready for more? http://astromaphilli14.blogspot.com/2013/07/advanced-a7x.html

Friday, June 21, 2013

Avenged Sevenfold for beginners

I try to keep this blog mostly Astronomy related, but from time to time I will let some other interests bleed in.

I have tried to get several of my friends into my favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold.  Here's my hook to bait you into wanting more....

Avenged Sevenfold, often abbreviated A7X is a metal band formed in 1999 in California.  They have 5 albums with another coming out this year.

I heard this song on the radio first.



After playing it again and again and loving it I took the bait and the next song set the hook in my mouth.



next part: A7X for Intermediate

Mike

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) ephemeris for March, 2013

A nice chart for my home in central North Carolina for 6:30 local time


Home Longitude=78°West Latitude=+35°North Time zone=EST/EDT





















23h30m UT RA DE Magn. Elong. Phase Rise Culmination Set Astronomical Nautical Nautical Astronomical
2013-03-04 23h56m26.3s -18°26'10" 1 +17°56' +63°20' 8h14m 13h19m 18h28m -35° -29° -10° -15°
2013-03-05 0h02m52.3s -15°58'06" 0.9 +17°10' +63°00' 8h09m 13h22m 18h38m -35° -29° -08° -14°
2013-03-06 0h08m43.6s -13°25'21" 0.7 +16°29' +62°27' 8h04m 13h24m 18h48m -34° -28° -06° -12°
2013-03-07 0h13m58.0s -10°49'00" 0.6 +15°56' +61°43' 7h57m 13h25m 18h57m -33° -27° -04° -10°
2013-03-08 0h18m34.3s -08°10'22" 0.5 +15°30' +60°52' 7h50m 13h26m 18h53m -32° -26° -03° -09°
2013-03-09 0h22m32.0s -05°30'54" 0.5 +15°15' +59°58' 7h43m 13h26m 19h02m -31° -25° -01° -07°
2013-03-10 0h25m51.9s -02°52'04" 0.5 +15°09' +59°05' 8h35m 14h26m 20h10m -30° -24° +00° Az264° -06°
2013-03-11 0h28m36.0s -00°15'19" 0.6 +15°13' +58°15' 8h26m 14h25m 20h17m -28° -22° +01° Az266° -05°
2013-03-12 0h30m47.4s +02°18'08" 0.7 +15°27' +57°32' 8h18m 14h23m 20h23m -26° -20° +02° Az269° -04°
2013-03-13 0h32m29.7s +04°47'18" 0.9 +15°51' +56°55' 8h08m 14h21m 20h28m -24° -19° +03° Az271° -03°
2013-03-14 0h33m46.8s +07°11'32" 1.1 +16°22' +56°25' 7h59m 14h18m 20h33m -23° -17° +04° Az273° -02°
2013-03-15 0h34m42.8s +09°30'26" 1.2 +17°00' +56°00' 7h49m 14h15m 20h38m -21° -15° +04° Az276° -01°
2013-03-16 0h35m21.3s +11°43'53" 1.5 +17°44' +55°39' 7h39m 14h12m 20h42m -19° -13° +05° Az278° -01°
2013-03-17 0h35m45.4s +13°51'54" 1.7 +18°32' +55°21' 7h29m 14h09m 20h45m -17° -12° +05° Az281° -00°
2013-03-18 0h35m58.1s +15°54'39" 1.9 +19°24' +55°04' 7h19m 14h05m 20h48m -15° -10° +06° Az283° +00° Az288°
2013-03-19 0h36m01.6s +17°52'23" 2.1 +20°19' +54°48' 7h09m 14h01m 20h51m -13° -08° +06° Az285° +01° Az290°
2013-03-20 0h35m57.7s +19°45'22" 2.3 +21°15' +54°32' 6h59m 13h57m 20h53m -11° -06° +05° Az288° +00° Az293°
2013-03-21 0h35m48.2s +21°33'56" 2.6 +22°14' +54°16' 6h49m 13h53m 20h55m -09° -04° +06° Az291° +00° Az295°
2013-03-22 0h35m34.2s +23°18'22" 2.8 +23°13' +53°59' 6h38m 13h49m 20h58m -07° -02° +06° Az293° +01° Az297°
2013-03-23 0h35m16.6s +24°58'58" 3 +24°13' +53°42' 6h28m 13h45m 21h00m -06° -01° +06° Az295° +01° Az299°
2013-03-24 0h34m56.4s +26°36'01" 3.2 +25°13' +53°24' 6h18m 13h41m 21h02m -04° +01° Az58° +06° Az297° +01° Az301°
2013-03-25 0h34m34.1s +28°09'47" 3.4 +26°13' +53°05' 6h07m 13h36m 21h03m -03° +02° Az57° +06° Az299° +01° Az303°
2013-03-26 0h34m10.3s +29°40'31" 3.5 +27°13' +52°46' 5h57m 13h32m 21h05m -01° +03° Az56° +06° Az301° +01° Az305°
2013-03-27 0h33m45.3s +31°08'27" 3.7 +28°13' +52°27' 5h46m 13h28m 21h07m +00° Az51° +05° Az56° +06° Az303° +01° Az307°
2013-03-28 0h33m19.5s +32°33'47" 3.9 +29°13' +52°07' 5h35m 13h23m 21h09m +01° Az51° +06° Az55° +06° Az305° +01° Az309°
2013-03-29 0h32m53.1s +33°56'42" 4.1 +30°13' +51°47' 5h25m 13h19m 21h11m +03° Az50° +08° Az54° +06° Az306° +01° Az311°
2013-03-30 0h32m26.2s +35°17'25" 4.2 +31°12' +51°26' 5h14m 13h15m 21h14m +04° Az49° +09° Az53° +06° Az308° +02° Az312°

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

NGC 7810 & Crew with Asteroid ...

Back on 2012/11/10:



I was really just looking to test out the camera and off-axis guider.  The skies were clear, but I needed to dodge the trees and found this on the fly.  Turns out there was an asteroid that +Mike Rector helped me find as 771/Libera.

I put the image down for a while as I didn't get the time for fundamentals like calibration files and a good processing routine down.

Turns out there are more hidden gems in this image.

According to WikiSky and some of the UCAC3 catalogs in SkyCharts/CdC, some of the dimmer but still recognizable stars are mag 17.5 or dimmer or beyond.  I count at least 10 by quick count and according the CdC there are the following in this FOV:


Here's the full resoluion version to look at - http://www.astrobin.com/full/33398/B/?real=&mod=

This is the CdC chart with NGC and PGC catalogs

Click for larger version

or link to Interactive WikiSky chart:
http://goo.gl/99Bhs

Here's a full list of what may be visible in this photo:
Catalog RA DEC Type Name Magn.
PGC 00h02m11.03s +13°10'21.4" Gx 97 m: PGC:97
PGC 00h02m54.28s +13°01'13.6" Gx 215029 m: PGC:215029
PGC 00h01m55.54s +13°14'13.6" Gx 78 m: PGC:78
SAC 00h02m59.47s +13°02'30.6" Gx NGC 7810 m:13.00
SAC 00h01m59.46s +13°11'30.6" Gx NGC 7803 m:13.10
00h03m38.38s +13°14'06.2" As (771) Libera m: 13.5
NGC 00h03m05.48s +13°01'30.5" Gx NGC7810 m:14.00 sbr:13.74
NGC 00h02m05.46s +13°10'30.6" Gx NGC7803 m:14.00 sbr:13.74
PGC 00h02m01.41s +13°11'11.2" Gx NGC7803 m:14.08 PGC:101
PGC 00h03m00.65s +13°02'48.2" Gx NGC7810 m:14.28 PGC:163
PGC 00h02m07.35s +13°11'17.8" Gx 108 m:15.30 PGC:108
PGC 00h01m54.86s +13°13'09.2" Gx 89 m:15.90 PGC:89
PGC 00h02m26.69s +13°10'31.3" Gx 134 m:16.08 PGC:134
PGC 00h01m56.48s +13°11'17.1" Gx 92 m:16.78 PGC:92
PGC 00h02m33.83s +13°19'15.6" Gx 1426263 m:16.86 PGC:1426263
PGC 00h02m45.45s +12°57'59.2" Gx 73211 m:17.30 PGC:73211
PGC 00h03m06.31s +13°18'51.2" Gx 1426100 m:17.66 PGC:1426100
PGC 00h02m59.39s +13°09'29.7" Gx 1422500 m:17.76 PGC:1422500
PGC 00h01m19.61s +13°22'49.7" Gx 1427699 m:17.77 PGC:1427699
PGC 00h03m33.75s +13°10'16.1" Gx 1422807 m:17.84 PGC:1422807
PGC 00h01m50.32s +13°15'38.9" Gx 1424891 m:17.90 PGC:1424891
PGC 00h02m57.77s +12°59'35.1" Gx 215030 m:17.90 PGC:215030
PGC 00h01m32.42s +13°16'57.4" Gx 1425381 m:18.04 PGC:1425381
PGC 00h03m08.86s +13°13'17.6" Gx 1423969 m:18.18 PGC:1423969
PGC 00h01m49.45s +12°54'34.2" Gx 1417100 m:18.40 PGC:1417100

What's truly amazing is HOW many fine details are hidden in a 'quick' 30 minute exposure of a simple, boring area of the sky.

Trying to dig deeper on some galactic stats I found this site:
http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc78.htm#7803

Here the larger and brighter (closer?) galaxy, NGC7803 is estimated at 250 MILLION light-years distant.  Some of the other's I cannot find stats for.  Does this mean they are not measured???

Thanks for reading to the bottom, bonus candy for you!

Mike



Saturday, February 16, 2013

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Finally a respectable M81/M82



I had to try my budding DSLR skills again.  I had to, the moon was new, the weather is cold with low humidity and the seeing poor (aka no planets).

I fought the typical equipment issues and unforeseen weather, the weather didn't kill me too bad, just a bit.  Clouds came out of no where for 30min then went away.

I learned some things, such as how to tie a knot in your power connectors:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Plug-Extension-Cords-Together/

The UPS didn't protect the USB connectors from loosing sync, so I had to realign and then later I unplugged the focuser as the focus was soft, and ooops, that was the mount again not the focuser, so I gave up.

Sigh.  I'm learning that ISO1600 is less noisy but good signal over the 6400 I was using before.  Mixing ISO's isn't very good, I won't do that again.

Guiding could be better, but I was good for subs up to 5min.

I know I can do even better now that I have some good experience under my belt.  I also have the AC-adapter for the camera now too, so I can go hog-wild!!

Full res is here:
http://www.astrobin.com/32575/

Previous work with the 6" and NO experience here:
http://astromaphilli14.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-1st-light-with-new-setup-m81m82.html
I think I may have to sell the 6"!!!

Thanks for looking and reading!

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