ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

AMATEUR
ISSUE 03

THIS ISSU E’S DSO

PINW HEEL G A L A XY
M 10 1 A L SO IN
THIS ISSU E
OBSERVA TORY
BU IL D:
A great step by step
article, from a patch of
grass, to a fully working
observatory
-----------------------------------
PIER PRESSU RE
Step by step article
showing us how to erect
DA YSTA R SolaREDI
a pier for your mount.
.7A 80 m m REVIEW
Excellent Article
PL U S M U CH M ORE
OF THE SA M E!!!!
-----------------------------------
STEPHEN W . RA M SDEN
An EXCLUSIVE article for
Amateur Astrophotography Ezine

w w w .am ateu ras trophotography.com

 ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
AMATEUR

Welcome to issue 03 of
the Amateur Astro-photo- 4 Readers Images
graphy E-Magazine.
8 Pinwheel Galaxy
I hope you enjoyed the
first two issues. Issue 02 18 Guide to Drift Alignment
was published on the 22nd
of January, while writing 20 Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
issue 02 has received over 117,000 views world
wide. The ezine seems to be doing really well 24 Readers Solar Images
something I am very proud of, but none of this
would be possible if it were not for the members 26 ISS Transit by Hubert Drozdz
of the facebook group, our Flickr group and
bloggers the world over that have allowed their 29 Book Review
work to be published in the ezine.
32 Hills Observatory by Malcolm Dent
I really do apreciate everything you have all done
and all of your hard work. Thanks so much. 44 Photofisher by Kirk
50 Review of the Daystar SolaREDI.7a
Myself I am very much a novice in this field, but
now find astro-phototgraphy, much more of an 80mm by Stephen W. Ramsden
obsession than a hobby or past time.
54 Pier Project by Steve Bassett
Over the years I have produced several publica-
tions, some of which I sold and are still going 59 A view from my scope - Observation
today. I thought as there was not a single amateur Report
astro-photography magazine in the UK dedicated
to astro-photography alone that I could find, that PLUS MUCH MUCH MORE TOO
maybe I should change this. Website:
www.amateurastrophotography.com
My original plan was to eventually publish the
ezine as a bi-monthly publication, but it seems Email:
amateurastrophotography@yahoo.co.uk
that demand is calling for a monthly publication.
Something I am very happy with indeed. Flickr:
www.flickr.com/groups/2425230@N20/
I added a SUBSCRIBE button to the website just Twitter:
after publishing the 2nd issue, the ezine already @AmateurAstroMag
has over 24,000 subscribers and growing.
Facebook:
facebook.com/groups/174009916140731/
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Cover Image by Oliver Czernetz Cooling: Set to -15ºC default Focal Length: 530mm
Instrument Package Array: 4008 by 2672 (10.7 Mega pixels) (.53 metre)
CCD: SBIG STL-11000M FOV: 155.8 x 233.7 arc-mins F/Ratio: f5.0
QE: 50% Peak Filters: LRGB, Ha, SII & OIII and V Guiding: External
Full Well: ~50,000e- Anti Blooming Gate (ABG) Position Angle: 090º Mount: Paramount GT-1100S
Dark Current: 0.5 e-/pixel/sec. @ 0º C Telescope Optics
Pixel Size: 9um Square OTA: Takahashi FSQ Fluorite
Resolution: 3.5 arc-secs/pixel Optical Design: Petzval Apochromat Astrograph
Sensor: Frontlit Aperture: 106mm (0.1 metre)
 Readers Images
20140222-Mars 0313hrs

IR-RGB1000 frames each from 3000 @60fps.

Stacked in Autostakert2 (1.5 Drizzle), wavelets
in RegiStax 6 and aligned in PS2.

Camera: TIS DMK21 618 Mono

Scope: Celestron C8 with Tele Tele Vue Powermate x 2.5
Filters: Baader IRRGB
Mount: AZ EQ6-GT goto.

Yosemite Milkyway
This milkyway shot was taken in
Yosemite, during a recent event
hosted by Enrico
Camera :- Nikon D800
Lens :- Sigma 20mm f1.8
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
60999792@N06/
ISS over house by Dafydd Snelding
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dafyddsnelling/
Deer-Lick-Area-UCRC-color
I've managed to put RGB data in this image.
The data about the luminance are the same
but with about 60:60:60 min RGB gathered
with several different scopes and cameras.
The frame is not fully colorized (just up right
corner miss colors...) due to different camera
orientation and size. Anyway seems to be
quite nice... Enjoy.

Image by Giovanni Paglioli

http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrojohnny/

4
........................................................................................................................................................................
C/2011 L4 Panstarrs

14.5.2013 (22'39h)
Vixen ED 102/660
Canon EOS 500 D (mod.)
Exp. 7× 120 Sec.
Dark 5,Bias 5,Iso 800
Image by zlatko orbanić

Intergalactic Wanderer NGC2419

Image taken by Fred Herrmann of http://OwlMountainObservatory.com/

5
  is issue’s D SO
PINWH EEL GALAXY
The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier On August 24, 2011, a Type Ia supernova,
101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral SN 2011fe, was discovered in M101.
galaxy distanced 21 million light-years (six me- Pierre Méchain, the discoverer of Messier 101,
gaparsecs) away in the constellation Ursa Major, described it as a "nebula without star, very obsc-
first discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, ure and pretty large, 6' to 7' in diameter, between
1781, and communicated to Charles Messier the left hand of Bootes and the tail of the great
who verified its position for inclusion in the Mes- Bear.
sier Catalogue as one of its final entries.
William Herschel noted in 1784 that "(M101)in my
On February 28, 2006, NASA and the ESA rele- 7, 10, and 20-feet (focal length) reflectors showed
ased a very detailed image of the Pinwheel Gal- a mottled kind of nebulosity, which I shall call res-
axy, which was the largest and most detailed olvable; so that I expect my present telescope will,
image of a galaxy by Hubble Space Telescope perhaps, render the stars visible of which I suppo-
at the time. The image was composed from 51 se them to be composed.
individual exposures, plus some extra ground-
based photos. Image by zlatko orbanić
8 http://www.flickr.com/photos/orooro70/
Lord Rosse observed M101 in his 72-inch (diam-
eter) Newtonian reflector during the second half
of the 19th century. He was the first to make ext-
ensive note of the spiral structure and made sev-
eral sketches.
To observe the spiral structure in modern instru-
ments requires a fairly large instrument, very
dark skies, and a low power eye piece.
Structure and composition
Image by Anttler
This image was taken from my backyard 8"
telescope in Kalkaska Mi in April 2007. It is
a white light image, taken with a Canon
350D modified for astronomy use. (Anttler)
M101 is a relatively large galaxy compared to the
Milky Way. With a diameter of 170,000 light-
years it is seventy percent larger than the Milky
Way. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billi-
on solar masses, along with a small bulge of
about 3 billion solar masses.
Another remarkable property of this galaxy is its
huge and extremely bright H II regions, of which
a total of about 3,000 can be seen on photogra-
phs. H II regions usually accompany the enorm-
ous clouds of high density molecular hydrogen
gas contracting under their own gravitational
force where stars form. H II regions are ionized
by large numbers of extremely bright and hot
young stars.
The image (top right) of M101 combines data in
the infrared, visible, ultraviolet and x-rays from
four of NASAs space telescopes. This multi-spe
ctral view shows that both young and old stars
are evenly distributed along M101s tightly-wound
spiral arms.
Image by NASA
‘This image of the Pinwheel Galaxy,
or M101, combines data in the inf-
rared, visible, ultraviolet and x-rays from
four of NASAs space telescopes. This
multi-spectral view shows that both you-
ng and old stars are evenly distributed
along M101s tightly-wound spiral arms.
Such composite images allow astronom-
ers to see how features in one part of the spectr-
um match up with those seen in other parts. It is
like seeing with a regular camera, an ultraviolet
camera, night-vision goggles and X-Ray vision,
at once! The red colors in the image show infrar-
ed light, as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope.
The yellow component is visible light, observed
by the Hubble Space Telescope. Most of this
light comes from stars, and they trace the same
spiral structure as the dust lanes seen in the infr-
ared.
The blue areas are ultraviolet light, given out by
hot, young stars that formed about 1 million
years ago. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer
(GALEX) captured this component of the image.
Finally, the hottest areas are shown in purple,
where the Chandra X-ray observatory observed
the X-ray emission from exploded stars, million-
degree gas, and material colliding around black
holes.’
of M101. The amplification of these waves leads
to the compression of the interstellar hydrogen
gas, which then triggers strong star formation
activity.
9
Image by Steve Bassett of www.somptingastronomy.weebly.com

Image by Gareth Harding of http://www.flickr.com/photos/gareth-harding/

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (2012)
M51- is a Spiral Galaxy (common name:
The Whirlpool Galaxy) Located within the
constellation Canes Venatici, M51 is found
by following the eastern most star of the Big
Dipper, Eta Ursae Majoris (Alkaid), and
going 3.5° southeast.
Distance: 23 million light years from Earth,
38 million Light Years across (Companion
galaxy NGC5195 )
This is my 3rd try on this target in 3 years.
Taken: May 17 & 18, 2012
Telescope: AT8RC at f/8
Mount: G11 w/ Gemini II
Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -10C
Filter(s): IDAS LPS-P2-48
Luminance 36 x 5min. bin 1x1
Red 12 x 5min. bin 1x1
Green 12 x 5 min. bin 1x1
Blue 12 x 5 min. bin 1x1
Exposure Time: 6 hours
Image taken by Kirk
to see more of his outstanding images,
please go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirks_astrophotos/
Upload your images to our Flickr group here @
http://www.flickr.com/groups/2425230@N20/
11
 M42 Image by Oliver Czernetz

NEXT ISSUES DSO IS

The Tadpole Nebula IC 410

Please feel to upload your images to our Flickr group

flickr.com/groups/2425230@N20/

Image by Wes Schulstad
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100313280@N08/
Messier 20 - Trifid Nebula
(Re-imaged)
Messier 20 (NGC 6514) is also known
as the Trifid Nebula. Named for its th-
ree-lobed appearance, it is one of the
most famous objects in the sky.
It's an unusual combination of an
open cluster of stars, an emission ne-
bula, a reflection nebula, and a dark
nebula that divides the emission neb-
ula into three parts.
Imaged 27 August 2013 - Improved
seeing conditions from previous
Celestron CPC 9.25
Canon 7D Prime Focused
ISO 3200
Exp. 48 x 20sec in Deep Sky Stacker
LR4 Processing
 Astro Groups
Clubs
Associations
Galloway Astronomy Centre
Nr the U K s firs t Dark Sk y Park
Ou r fantas tic s k ies are perfect for you r ow n
as troim ag ing A STRONOM YFOR FU N
or u s e ou r equ ipm ent to tak e you r firs t s teps in W e firs t s tarted this g rou p w henw e decided
im ag ing w e needed m ore fu nand les s s eriou s nes s in
Contact - M ik e A lexander the A s tronom y w e do, after all, w e are ju s t
0 1988 50 0 594 am ateu rs w ith a pas s ionfor s tar g azing .
www.gallowayastro.com W e m et via Facebook , s tarted talk ing , g ot tog -
enquiries@gallowayastro.com ether for a M iniStar Party and lik e the BIG
........................................................................................................................
BA NG ...It s tarted offand BOOM , Here w e are!!.
W hich is how A s tronom y For Fu nbeg an.

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15
 A Basic Practical Guide to Drift Aligning an Equatorial Mount
Drift Alignment by Robert Vice (D.A.R.V) Method.
M. Sathyakumar Sharma
24-01-2014
I would always be dreaded by the thought of
drift aligning my equatorial mount because the
traditional method calls for observing the stars
drift over extended periods of time through a
cross hair reticule eyepiece. The method is not
entirely mine and mostly based on the DARV
method, but I have added a few pointers of my
own to the method.
Requirements for using this guide are;
- A telescope
- An Equatorial mount with GOTO functions or
Tracking motors at the very least.
- DSLR camera with Live View.
- Intervalometer.
The principles of drift alignment are the same
as described below:-
- Point the telescope (on the mount) towards
East or West to adjust Altitude.
- Point the telescope near the intersection of
the Celestial Equator and Meridian to adjust
the Azimuth.
I always used to have an issue with how to find
the intersection of the Celestial Equator and
Meridian? This question is likely to baffle any
beginner as these are terms not used on a
daily basis. Therefore the only thing the begin-
ner needs to know about these two terms are;
- The Celestial Equator is exactly 90 degrees
in angular separation from the North Celestial
Pole, or in case of Northern Hemisphere obse-
rvers it could be taken as the Polaris for all
practical purposes. For example, Bengaluru,
India has a latitude of 13 degrees on average,
which means the Celestial Equator will be 13 +
90 degrees = 103 degrees from the Northern
Horizon or 180 – 103 degrees = 77 degrees
upwards from the Southern horizon, or 13
degrees (latitude) Southwards from the Zenith
(exactly overhead).
18
- The Meridian is merely an imaginary line that runs
from North to South.
In the light polluted City areas it becomes increasin-
gly harder to find stars near the horizon or even
close to it. The haze and dust cover stars and make
them practically invisible. To make my task easier I
use SkEye, an android mobile planetarium app,
point it at the region of interest in the sky and then
execute a goto on the mount. Due to bad polar
alignment it only comes close, but not on target. A
mild search of the area using slow slew speed and
peering into the finder scope reveals the star.
- Position this star in the centre of a medium power
eyepiece, preferably a reticule eyepiece.
Replace the eyepiece with the DSLR and focus such
that it is visible and centred in the
viewfinder of the DSLR.
- Change the slew rate setting on the hand pad
controller of the mount to the lowest possible
setting, in the case of goto mounts, the speed is 1x
sidereal.
- Keep the ISO of the camera at 100 or 200, start
the exposure using an intervalometer, wait
for 5 seconds so that the star registers as a blob on
the sensor and then press and hold the
Right arrow key on the hand pad for the next 60
seconds. After 60 seconds, press the left
arrow key for a further 60 seconds. The point in
doing this procedure is simple. You are
moving the star East for 60 seconds to draw a line
on the sensor and then back again. If the polar alig-
nment is perfect, then the star must do just that.
Draw a line on the sensor.
However, more often the polar alignment is slightly
off due to several factors and the star, instead of
drawing a straight line, draws a wedge. Depending
on the direction of the wedgedrawn (up or down
explained later) we can determine the direction of
correction required.
The direction of correction for altitude correction
(when pointing telescope east or west) is
described below as Up or Down and for azimuth
correction (telescope pointing near celestial
equator) is East or West. This is merely for con-
venience. The wedge drawn by the star looks
like one in the photo below.
Figure above shows the general wedge shape
drawn the by the star. Note the bright spot which
indicates the beginning of the wedge. The line
starting with the bright spot is the onward line
andthe one without the spot is the return line. In
essence you are simply moving the star east or
west.
In the above case the return line is below the
onward line meaning that the mount was higher
than necessary. Loosen the T- bolts on the altit-
ude axis of the mount and lower the mount
slightly in altitude (i.e.; reduce the latitude
reading). It is ok to overshoot the intended mark
as it only shows that you are moving in the right
direction. It also implies that if you overshoot the
mark you just need to raise the mount in altitude
and not lower it. Note that the return line will
already be above the onward line if your initial
polar alignment is lower than necessary and
again you need to raise the mount and not lower
it. The above process is therefore reversible and
one does not have to worry much about the
direction the wedge takes, rather worry about
getting the wedge to not be a wedge and
become a straight line.
In the figure at the bottom left we see that the
bright spot is still above the return line even after
the adjustment has been made which clearly ind-
icates that the adjustment is correct. However it
also means a couple more minor adjustments
may be required.
The above figure shows the bright spot below the
return line which means that I have overshot the
required position. I am now aware that I need to
raise the mount only a little bit to achieve the re-
quired mark. Note that the length of the line each
direction represents the time that the hand pad
direction key was pressed. In the above case
each line was created in 60 seconds of exposure,
implying that each photo above has 2 minutes
worth of data in it. The longer the time you press
and hold the direction button, the longer the line
for the wedge will be and more accurate your
polar alignment.
The length of the line therefore clearly represents
the amount of time one can photograph the
object without it drifting off and creating trailed
image. For example, in the above case, the
“length” of the line is 60 seconds, and the two
lines separate roughly half way through the proc-
ess implying that one may achieve about 30 sec-
onds of imaging time for each exposure before
the starts trail. This is the reason why the wedge
has to become a straight line and the longer the
time it stays a straight line, the longer the image
can be taken without the need for guiding correc-
tions. Of course someone has truly said that the
best guided mount is one which requires minimal
guiding.
In the peviuos photo we can see that the
straight line condition is achieved which implies
that I can now have an unguided exposure of
the object for 1 full minute.

Having completed the accurate alignment in

altitude, repeat the same for azimuth correctio-
ns. The direction of the return line with respect
to the bright spot indicates which direction the
mount azimuth knobs need to be adjusted. If
the bright spot is above the return line the
mount is pointing west of the required position
and needs to be adjusted east and vice versa.
After corrections, the line should be straight as
shown below.

The line in the above photo is 1 minute each

way again implying that I can have 1 minute of
exposure without guiding. I then take another
exposure where I make necessary adjustments
to keep the line straight for full two minutes
each direction so that I may have 2 minutes of
unguided exposure as shown below.

Note: the bright spot and the return line

coincide.

Many thanks to sathya kumar Prasanna

for this very interesting and informative
article.
The hobby of Solar Astronomy is, by far, the
fastest growing area of interest for modern
astronomy enthusiasts. The current solar
maximum has revealed countless phenomena
to more amateur astronomers than any before
it. It seems every week there is some new
active region spitting out 2 million degree plus
flares or prominences and constant magnetic
ferocity to delight anyone with the interest to
get involved regardless of their skill level.
From a simple objective filter made of glass
or Mylar to the most complex air spaced
etalons or solid cleaved mica instruments,
the Sun has not disappointed anyone willing
to simply look at it safely in the last 18 months
or so.
This cycle is showing no signs of letting up
and is forecast to last into July or August of
2014 before calming it’s magnetic field lines
down for the 5 or 6 year rest period before
the next cycle begins.
Now is a great time to stare at the Sun.
(The Sun in Calcium K (393nm) through a Lunt Solar Systems setup)
The recent,mostly erroneous press about the
Sun’s magnetic field flipping (it is a months long
process not suitable for mass media soundbites)
to the travesty of recent reporting on “ a chunk
of the Sun is missing and heading right for us”
on a major news outlet starkly highlights the
almost universal lack of knowledge and education
on what our nearest star is and how it works.
I guarantee you that if you were to venture in to
your local big box discount store and ask 20
random people if they could tell you what the Sun
is made of and describe some of the things it
does, you would get 20 wrong answers. Even
asking if someone at Wally-‐
Wally- Mart could tell you
whether the Sun ORBITS AROUND US or not
will bring some very disappointing answers from
Joe or Jolene public.
This sounds like a ripe, target rich environment
for a major effort in Solar Astronomy outreach!
That was the case in 2008 when I founded the
Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project in Atlanta,
GA with one PST and a
CPC 9.25 with a (horribly
fuzzy) glass filter. I wanted
to do something in memory
of fellow veteran and air
traffic controller Charlie
Bates who, while having
nothing to do with
astronomy, was an
incredibly generous and
friendly person who would
give you the shirt off his
back-‐ literally-‐
. Charlie
had succumbed to the
many demons that face
people these days after the
tragic loss of his wife
(another friend, veteran and
ATC) to cancer.
21
I didn’t want him remembered asm“ that guy”
so I decided to highlight the great things he
had done for others in better times.
I setup my PST at the local Starbucks and….
the rest is history.
We are now, by far, the highest volume private
citizen’s astronomy outreach program on
Earth and we bring the Sun in multiple wavele-
ngths to hundreds of thousands of viewers
and imagers around the globe at over 250
events per year.
I was asked by my friend Steve Lindon to write
an article on solar imaging. In my typical“ get
on the soapbox” attitude that has endeared
me to so many…lol
I have decided to write a slightly different
article exclusively for Amateur Astrophotogra-
phy magazine.
Adding Solar Imaging Stations to
your Outreach Setup
In 2008, I decided to add live video to my
standard outreach setup for all of my public
and school solar outreach events. I did this
by purchasing several PGR Grasshopper
cameras and a golden key for ASTRO IIDC
which at the time was the only software out
there for the 24” iMacs that I use.
I am a Mac only astronomer with no plans
to change.
22 (three wavelength visible and imaging setup for outreach)
I made up an imaging station for Calcium K,
Hydrogen Alpha and white light imaging. I did so
in a fashion that they could all share the same
mount and be setup and torn down in a timely
manner by using a 3 way ADM mouting system
from Anthony Davoli.
This link shows a youtube video of the imaging
stations in action at a local school:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2R2P02b5Y
The introduction of this segment to my outreach
events completely revolutionized what I could
present to the public. There were many pleasant
and unexpected benefits from this approach and
I encourage you all to consider adding it to your
repertoire or taking your camera sand scopes
outside of the dome.
No longer were the people who could not see
different wavelengths clearly through our little
eyepieces and bino-‐ viewers exempt from enjoying
the Sun. They could simply lift up the glare
resistant blanket over the iMacs and enjoy
breathtaking views of the Sun like anyone else.
Many people who are not mobile enough to get
to the sometimes undesirably placed eyepieces
can now simply sit in a chair and watch three
computer screens. They can even take their own
movies or images through the capture software
and take them home on a USB drive if they are
so inclined!
 The greatest benefit so far has been to
handicapped students who were normally
excluded from this somewhat motor skills
dependent hobby. I can now advertise my
program to special needs classes all over
the country and include an entire segmentof
the population that were previously unable
to enjoy this great hobby.
that an entire community of rabid astronomers can.
I am asking for your help as fellow astronomers, f
or the good of the hobby and the future of mankind
-‐PLEASE take your equipment and set it up in
public, anywhere, and frequently to share the abs-
olutely brilliant wonders of our Universe with others
around you.
On June 22nd, 2014 we will be holding the first
inaugural International SUN-‐ day celebration.
Concerned peopleall over the world will be creati-
vely sharing the Sun in any way that they deem
appropriate with their local communities in a conc-
erted effort to popularize this wesome hobby.

I am personally inviting you, readers of Amateur

Astrophotography, to lead the way in this endeavor
by committing to setup and run your own outreach
event, big or small, in your towns an report your
efforts through our social media outlets. More
information can be found at
www.solarastronomy.org/sunday.html

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

(an exploding filament captured on the Sun by a 6th grader in 2013)

Readers, we all have a stable of fancy and

expensive imaging equipment or we probably
wouldn’t be reading this great magazine.
I have seen far, far too many people in this
hobby hide away all of their stuff in domes
rather than taking it out in public and sharing Stephen W. Ramsden is the founder and Director
it with the community. We all know the of The Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project,
direction that our world is going now and I www.solarastronomy.org
firmly believe, and have dedicated my life to The worlds highest volume astronomy outreach
the notion that science outreach in the program located in Atlanta, GA USA.
community and the popularizing of science in
general is THE best way possible to get us
back on track as a space faring civilization.
In my own state of Georgia here in the states,
we have a dismal 67% high school graduation
rate.
SIXTY SEVEN PERCENT!
I fear that your local communities are not much
better as I see the countless reports of political
and religious extremism ushering in a new
“ dark ages” for our planet.

Taking your passion for, and knowledge of,

science to your local community is of enormous
benefit to all in the community. No one person
alone can change the world by setting up a
telescope (since Galileo) but I guarantee you
23
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Readers Solar Images

NEW MOSAIQUE WITH 4 SOLAR IMAGE SUN H-ALPHA WITH CORONADO 60MM
Image by Michel Chretien DOUBLE STACK 290114
Image by Michel Chretien

Lunt Solar Systems LS-60THA-PT/B12FT

60mm H-Alpha Telescope - B1200 Pressure
Tuner & 2" Feathertouch Focuser.
Mounted on a Celestron CG5-GOTO & field
Tripod.
Images shot with an Imging Source
DMK31AU03.as.

This image was taken by John W ONeal II

To view more of his and others amazing

Solar Images by visiting the Facebook
Group www.fa
cebook.com/groups/solaractivity/

24
The Sun on February 3rd, 2014

Taken with a Canon T3i DSLR and TMB92L refractor with a white light filter, using the following
settings: f/5.5 1/2000 s and ISO 100. This is the result of 15 images stacked with Registax and
processed with Astra Image Pro and Adobe Photoshop CS6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The AR1967 of Feb. 4, color version. Image by Gabriel Corban

25
Image taken by Joel Tonyan. www.flickr.com/photos/tychosnose/
 ISS
TRANSIT
Sunny day, meadow, sound of cars located on
the nearby road, telescope, camera and me.
The tripod is set, the telescope with solar filter in
right place, the camera is attached. You can see
some people who look strange at me from the
distance.
The final countdown.
Suddenly came the right time and... I will tell you
everything from the beginning. After Venus tran-
sit across the disk of the Sun in June 2012 and
in anticipation of Mercury transit I decided to do
something so spectacular. I choose the ISS (Int-
ernational Space Station, ISS) transit. Encoura-
ged by the photos found in the Internet, I wanted
to "hunt down" the ISS transit across the solar
26
disk. It seemed to me that there shouldn’t be a
problem - you just need to know where and
when. Unfortunately, the reality was a little bit
different.
Preparing
At first I decided to find the necessary informa-
tion on the Web, and then to get in touch direc-
tly with someone who had taken similar pictures.
My questions referred to determining the time
and place of the phenomenon and the equipme-
nt used, including the optimal camera settings.
I used Calsky website (www.calsky.com) to find
the next ISS transit across the disk of the sun.
After completing the self-location and setting the
maximum distance from the center line of the
transit, I found information about accurate date,
time and place of the phenomenon, including
the map indicating the most convenient place
for observation. (taking pictures).
First attempt
I arrived at the right place, then set up the equi-
pment and installed the camera. I had the
Sky-Watcher paraboloidal mirror reflector (dia-
meter of 150mm and focal length of 750mm)
on an equatorial mount EQ3-2 and Canon EOS
450D digital camera. I put the Baader ND 5
(density of 5) filter film on the tube. You can
also use film with density 3.8 (not intended for
visual observation), to provide short exposure
times and lower sensivity (ISO) settings.
Increasing exposure time is unfortable because
the ISS transit takes only about one second
and you can’t see an approaching object on the
sky. I plugged in the camera remote control
cable so I had to only wait. I knew the exact
time of the occurence, but I forgot one simple
action – I didn’t check if my watch was correctly
set. I assumed that the error didn’t transcend
one minute. The only one thing I could do in this
situation was to look through the viewfinder and
start the sequence of images at the right time. I
was waiting and waiting.
I became a little bit impatient, because, accord-
ing to my watch, ISS should be seen about two
minutes earlier. I looked at my watch once again,
then back through the eyepiece and then…
the ISS passed. I didn’t get it. I was very disap-
pointed, so I packed my equipment and went
back home.
Second attempt
I planned the closest opportunity to photograph
the transit nearby, take look at forecasts on po-
pular weather services. Everything seemed very
optimistic. Unfortunately, forecasts do not alwa-
ys work. It was that day. I lost with the clouds.
The nature teaches man to be humble and pati-
ent. I didn’t give up. I thought that maybe “three
times a charm”.
Third attempt
The best place to observe was near my house
on that time. It seemed to be a beautiful day,
the sky was cloudless.
I packed my equipment, precisely set my watch
and went to the right place. It was about half an
hour to the transit. I installed my telescope on
the mount, put the camera body to focuser to
take pictures in focal point, then set the center
of the frame on the sun and started dual-axis
motor drives. Then I began focusing. It was not
simple because of not many (small-size) suns-
pots occurring. Then I decided to take a few
test shots .
I wanted to receive the best quality images, so
I decided to set RAW mode in my camera. As
you know, RAW files take up more space than
JPEG so the record on a memory card is slow-
er in this case. This was the reason of my sec-
ond failure. I pushed the right button on the
cable remote controller to start taking shots
when the phenomenon was to occur in a few
seconds.
After taking a few shots the camera began to
save data and, as you would expect at that
moment I saw the ISS passing across the disk
of sun. That failure motivated me even more to
complete the task.
Fourth attempt - the final
I performed steps automatically – I determined
the location and the time of phenomenon, che-
cked the weather forecast, looked at online sa-
tellite photos and looked out of the window to
be completely sure. Then I synchronized my
watch and packed the equipment. My conclus-
ion was that I needed less time to prepare for
each subsequent attempt. When I reached the
place, it was still a lot of time. You could enjoy
the beauty of the surrounding meadows and
fields.
I started preparing. Once again an automatism
worked – I had only a few words in my head:
tube, solar filter, mount, camera, focus, position,
motor drives, test shots. I remembered my exp-
erience at the third approach, so decided to
take a picture in JPEG format only. I expected
quick data saving, to take as many photos as
possible.
After the test shots I decided to take pictures
with exposure times of 1/3200s with ISO
setting of 400. I had minor problems because
there appeared some small clouds on the sky.
You could not see the sun two minutes before
transit.
27
Fortunately there was a 30-second break in the
clouds, exactly when the ISS flied across the
solar disk. I started taking series of images wit-
hin 2 seconds before transit. It worked that
time!
There was a lot of joy. On 16 July 2013 at
9:51:40.56 I registered the transit of Internatio-
nal Space Station (across the solar disk) locat-
ed 581.4 km above the Earth. I made it on three
photos. You can see overlapping frames on the
title page of this article. I didn’t suppose that
you could take photos like those, using typical
amateur equipment. It was worth trying many
times.

Summary and planes for the future

I hope I’ll take a picture of ISS transit across
the moon soon. I haven’t got such images in
my gallery yet, but it will change in the near
future, I think. I’m also considering recording TRANSIT OF VENUS
videos of transits. I intend to use a webcam
attached to a telescope in this case. I strongly
encourage you to take photos of ISS transits.
It isn’t a simple task, but I can guarantee
awesome excitement and satisfaction of taken
pictures.

Images and editorial by Hubert Dró żdż

www.hubertdrozdz.pl

................................................................................................................

TRANIST OF VENUS

Images and editorial by Hubert Dró żdż

www.hubertdrozdz.pl

................................................................................................................
Book
Reviews
Rob Gendlers fourth
Book – Current Conc-
epts in Astronomical
Image Processing –
is really one of a kind,
and the title says it
all.
Rob should be well
known within the Ast
ro Community, his
outstanding images
have been published
in many magazines
and books, he was
awarded the “Hubble Prize” in 2007. He was
featured in the PBS documentary “Seeing in
the Dark”, worked together with Rogelio Bern-
al Andreo on the Hubble 3D Imax Movie, and
is a “World Leader” in having features on the
APOD website (currently 96 times as I write
this).
For this Book, Rob managed to gather the
cream of the crop in Amateur Astrophotogra-
phy and Image Processing for this outstanding
Masterpiece, and so you will find various cha-
pters written by top names like Tony Hallas,
Ken Crawford, Jay GaBany, Babek Tafreshi,
Damian Peach, Adam Block, Johannes Sche-
dler, Rogelio Bernal Andreo and many others,
each one of them world-renowned in their par-
ticular area.
The book covers a wide range of topics like
HDR Processing, Color Intensifying, Narrowb-
and Imaging, Solar, Lunar and Planetary Ima-
ging, Earth & Sky Photography, and various
Deep Sky Imaging Workflows. The chapters
usually concentrate on a single Workflow or
Process, giving you TONS of useful tips to
improve your Astrophotography and Image
Processing Skills. Whatever you are looking
for: you’ll find it here, in one single book.
I especially like to point out two excellent cha-
pters written by Rob himself, covering the rar-
ely discussed area of Aesthetics and Compos-
ition, as well as Hybrid ImageProcessing, a Techni-
que that I use myself on nearly every Image I work
on.
Overall I can say that this extraordinary book will
soon be your best Pal once you started, and you’ll
come back to it over and over again. A must have!
Review by Oliver Czernetz
...........................................................................................................................
Great starting point for anyone in-
terested in starting up with astrop-
hotography. This book starts off
(as you'd expect) with the basics -
what to look for in a telescope,
then moves onto sections on how
to take photos with everything from
a digital compact, a webcam!, a dSLR then finally
an astronomical CCD camera.
Each section is further broken down into the same
subsections: what kind of photos you can take with
the particular type of camera, pros and cons of
using it, buying tips, how to take the photos and
finally how to process them.
This book is packed with excellent reference pho-
tos, and covers the basics of astrophotography in
a lot of detail, and finishes off with an extensive list
of links to appropriate software, astronomy links,
camera and telescope manufacturers, and books.
A must-buy for anyone considering taking photos
of the night sky. Be warned though, once you've
read it, you'll be outside on many a cold night!
Review by D. Graham
...........................................................................................................................
Great little book. For anyone
taking up astrophotography
as a hobby this book has
great advice on how to get
started. I can highly recomm-
end it.
Review by Alice Kay
Excellent little book for the
serious astronomer or the
beginner looking for informa-
tion on the night sky.
Review by David B
.............................................................................................................................
29
ZWO-ASI034MC
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The NEW ZWO ASI034MC is an excellent choice for an affordable
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imager that can also serve as a deep sky one shot colour
camera as well, you'll be better off with a ZWO ASI120
or a ASI130. If you want to replace a modified web-
cam or a cheaper planetary imager, the ZWO ASI034
is the right camera for you.

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not sure!)
Resolution: 728X512
M42X0.75 internal thread.

i
nforma ti on on this a ma zi
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 Hills Observatory
by Malcolm Dent

Groundbreaking for the pier. A work colleage is

making me a custom made
the new pier. I have dug a reasona-
Hills Observatory ble depth but hit solid clay
and rock. so the pier fixing
bolts will be raised a
I have decided to have a couple of inches higher on
go at a dome. Gasps I the observatory floor after
hear all around. I just dont the flooring is fiited. No
have the space for a roll great worries really better
roof. It will be a six sided that than a bad back trying
wooden framework below a to excavate another 6
6 foot dome. Dome conce- inches.
pts are still developing at
present fibreglass is the
preferred option. I have
taken some ideas from
many of the amateur domes
I have seen.
My view has somewhat im-
proved with an almost to the
horizon view to the south.

Below is a shot of the garden

where Hills Observatory is to be Everthing is nice and
built. I was quite lucky in the respect that huge level and now waiting
patio slabs have been laid previously and are the concrete pour.
level. I have removed 2 slabs for the hole for Hopefully this aftern-
oon! fingers crossed.

32
 What conservatories
were made for

When the weather is foul and the work still

needs to be done do I ‘don’ the wet weather
gear and wellies and slog it out like a true Brit,
NO WAY that is what conservatories were
made for I have spent a few hours glueing and
screwing the framework together in comfort.

Cladding
To my surprise the cladding arrived this morning
and not Saturday as arranged (not complaining).
So another chance to get on, 5 sides have been
done. Very simple to do just attatch the end
strips and slide the 300mm pieces in, therefore
aligning perfctly with the top that will soon
support the fixed ring. I have also battoned at
each 300mm intersection to provide additional
strenth and support.I am nearly ready for a
fellow society member Tony to measure up for
the steel door. He is the same chap who made
the door for the last observatory. The doorway in
will be on the left side nearest the fence (north
facing) this affords easy acces when scopes are
parked.

Framework
The wind was a bit fierce and luckily the rain
cleared to allow long enough for me and my
daughter to get the framing up. It gave her 40
minutes away from essay writing so I think she
didn't mind helping.

So what have we got I decided that the obse-

rvatory would be hexagonal in shape. I have
used 3" x 2" for the general structure and used
the same for the flooring, once. Not a bad
morning's work.

I had arranged to get a days golf in today but

the bad weather has left me a little behind
schedule.

I have the cladding coming tomorrow for the

exterior sides so todays job is to cut the batons
and to get rid of the rubbish.

33
 Insu lationand ooring
It has been a good week since anything has
been done. A few well deserved days off work
has allowed me to crack on. I have used
50mm Polystyrene insulation in the wall cava-
ties and under the floor as well as some secu-
rity measueres to give added protection. This
gave me the opportunity to install the cables
to the light fittings, switches and get the heater
cables and enough mains sockets for future
add ons!!
Dom e ring
Time well spent in
finishing off the inte-
rior. The pier base is
totally isolated from
the observatory and
my steel pier is curr-
ently under constru-
ction from Nathan a
welding tutor where
I work. I cant wait to
see it.
Probably the only tool I do not own is a router
and a fellow Breckland Astronomical Society
member Barry has lent me his. I have used
12mm external grade ply and carefully cut out
the ring that will fit to the top of the walls I built
a little jig and used a steel plate with a 4.5"
gap to give a consistent sizing of the pieces
cut. The castors will be mounted ontop of each
upright so distrubuting the load quite effectiv-
ely.
I have cut 10 pieces that will be glued and
screwed to give be a firm base ring on 24mm.
Haven't taken a pic of a pile of arc sections
but all they need is a sanding before constru-
ction.
Look ing Good
The base ring has been completed . Just a couple
of coats of protection before bolting into place.
As you can see the dome ring is nearly there.
A small upgrade to the jig had made the cutting
process smoother. This job really takes time as
each piece is glued and screwed and clamped.
I lost several clamps during the move so having to
make do.
Millimeter perfect on it's shape and looks fantastic
on to of the base ring giving me a 30mm clearance
for rotation. I was going to use the 6 castor's from
the previous roll off roof but they look just to darn
big and out of place. I know they will never be on
show externally just not happy with them.
THE DOOR.
A few days ago Tony our chairman from our
society Breckland Astronomical Society delivered
and installed the steel door. He had to make a
small alteration to the frame as it was just off
square. Fits like a glove and now has 2 coats of
red oxide primer. The inside has been painted
black and the front hopefully will have the first of
its gloss white coats to match the siding.
I received a text from Nathan to inform me the pier
is now ready for collection. Cant wait to see it and
get it up for a test run.
 e p ier
What phrase is it the kids are using these
days OMG. I think that sums it up.

Today I looked rather suspicious in the car

park at work doing what looked like a dodgy
deal from the back of 2 open car boots. Let
me put your minds at rest. I havent turned to
the dark side but I was collecting the custom
made pier made by a work colleague Nathan.

Taking us both to lift it in to my car I rushed it

home. I had to wait though till I got home that
evening to get it out from the dining room floor
and into position. I just had to know if it fits.

Oh My God it's huge. It's heavy and a hernier

later lifting it on, yes it fits perfectly onto 3 feet
of cured concrete. From the state of the wea-
ther forecast It may not be till next week until
I can get the scope attatched and do a polar
alignment. But for this minute I am one happy
man.

It will get several coats of primer and a nice

Glossy black finish before it takes up perma-
nent resisdence at the new Hills Observatory.

My sincere thanks Nathan for a fantastic job.

 e p ier
You know that feeling you get in the pit of your
stomach when you you are about to do someting
and you are not sure if it is going to work?
I had that feeeling. It was the first clear sky since
the pier was installed and I wanted to get the
mount fitted and do a polar alignment. From day
one when I dug the hole I had been relying on the
fact that I had found north accuratly.
When I poured the concrete and set the bolts that
hold the pier. The shape of the building was also
set the the north alignment give allow an easy
access when scopes are parked.
 e pier
So I cannot put it off any longer it was time to ctions. ( I was going to say erections but I wont)
carry out the mount attatch to the new top pla- Ha ha
te and level it to the pier. It was an agonising
45 minute wait to see polaris. Finally the wait
was over and I nervously I peered through the
finder scope and wow there she was right
there where it needed to be.Success I didnt
have any doubts at all what was all the worry-
ing about.
Dont know what all the fuss was about..........

Taking Shape Progress

Had a few hours this afternoon and with a few As you can see progress has been made today I
extra helping hands, thank you Katie and Erin have completed all the arc sections. Last piece to
for your assistance in holding things steady. I do is the shutter sections. There will be a hinged
have managed to get the two main arches in shutter piece at the bottom the will drop down when
place and level and temporarily secured with required, the sliding section will roll back to the
some batons. The image (right) gives a close backstop of the shutter opening there will be an
up of the secondary arch that will be cover in overlap to stop the ingress of water.
hardboard ready for the fibreglass, and of You will see what I mean when they are done..
course the upper arch will allow for the shutter
to run on a smooth and true path backand
forth. Hopefully I can get the rest of the arcs
cut and have myself a dome. If I say so mys-
elf this is looking fantastic. First light will be a
momentus occasion. I hope I am inspiring a
few to have a go too. You can do it I am not
an engineer and using just the normal dome-
stic tools in my back garden. Give me a shout
and send me a link to your ideas and constru-
 I have spent the day today making the shutter and
Slowly Slowly the the hinged door. The plan is to allow the door to
work progresses close into position and the shutter slide down over
As you can see I have managed to get the the top.
back panel on. I think it looks really good. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like ontop of the
Two gores also in place. These were much dome.
more difficult than I expected. I have studied
other designs and they suggest using wall pa
per to make a template. Easy enough I thoug-
ht until the wind took the first piece across the
road. The second piece tore itself away from
the pins holding it as another gust came along.
Only to find when I did get a template piece
and transferred it to the hardboard. Cut it out
really carefully BINGO it doesn't fit.

When you stretch the wall paper tight it stretc-

hes across the shortest distance not taking in
curvature the that thicker more solid hardboa-
rd needs. So I spent a great deal of time offeri-
ng up and clamping a piece and trimming it
until I have a good fit. Thankfully as the struct-
ure is square or round the template spun
around has cut the gores for the opposite side.
I also managed to finish the corner gore. This
one was really tricky as I can only clamp it from
one side. Needed an extra set of hands to hold
it in place against the rib so I could draw the
angle directly on to the panel. Well I am happy
with what I done today I think it looks really
good. What do you think?
Fibreglass.
The day had finally arrived. I was not looking fow-
ard to doing the fibreglass. Have read a great deal
and so many contradicting statements had left me
a little unsure as to whether I wanted to undertake
the task myself. A good conversation at work with
a colleague and I felt much better about doing it.
The plan really was going to be a little at a time.
So here we go. Started off a little shaky by trying to
press out the air bubbles to hard and spreading the
matting across the surface, I ripped that piece off
and tried again. Once you get used to what you are
trying to do it was plain sailing. Overall I am very
happy with what I have done. I give my thanks to
the guys at J.W Morris Mouldings for their help and
supply of a few gallons of resin.

Dome ready for Fibreglass

As you can see the dome is ready for the fibre-
glass. It has been a long slog to get to this part
especially as I have done everything myself,
the template making of the gores was someti-
mes difficult as I needed often more hands than
I currently own. Clamps help but the size often
required a little extra help to hold things in
place. Still I am very happy with the result so
37
far.
It has taken me two and a half days to give a
couple of coats of matting and to help with a
smoother finish I have laid the tissue paper
matting on top. This pic shows the first of two
coats of gel coat with the missing part at the
bottom as I have decided to add the skirt after
the dome is in position. There are a few lumps
and bumps that can be sanded back quite
easily. Looking good I think?

Up, Up and away

The time has come and that horrible feeling in my
stomach has returned. Have my measurements
been accurate enough has my routing beed steady
can I glue and screw a perfect circle. Will the fibre-
glass peel away the second we start to lift. Anyway
my two neighbours are here and it now or nothing.
Before I can get the dome raised I need to get I am going to look and feel so stupid after all the
the main roller wheels on and aligned. Quite a banging and noise they have had to put up with.
simple job. The not so easy job was to align
the lateral guide rollers to exactly 1800mm end 1...............2...............3.............. lift.
of wheel to wheel apart and aligning them cen-
trally to the structure so when the dome turns
all wheels are in contact with the inner part of
the ring. With these in place I waited for my
neighbour Mark to come home as he offered
to help raise the roof.
Just a few more things to do
I have the skirt in place. I used 4mm ply to give
a good strenth and supported also by two layers
of fibreglass, I will give at least one gel coat.

"Ordo Ab Chao"
Well folks the time has arrived the observatory is
complete. It has taken four and a half months of
hard work. The kids only recognise me from the
family pictures on the wall!!!!!
I also continued work on the main shutter, I A few friends have asked was it a tough project.
have added a bit of weight with 2 coats of fibr- Answer. No, not really the only difficult part has
eglass aswell as overlapping seams to go been not having a workshop to allow me to conti-
around the corners. nue working when the weather changed which it
did frequently. Covering and unplugging power
I also have fiitted the roller wheels. An ingenio- tools packing them away wasted time. I have
us idea that was made possible by a local com- learnt numerous new skills including routing,
pany. I have also fitted the front and backstops fibreglassing. Oh and the Maths required to work
for the main shutter and a long hook allows out all the dome sections I thought I had long
and simple opening mechanism without too since forgotten.
much fuss. My club www.brecklandastro.org.uk has asked me
to do a membership talk on the construction I am
Today also allowed me to add a few security looking forward to presenting.
features for which I wont go into detail but it
does stop the shutter being removed from the It has been a
outside as well as stooping gusts of wind to really great exp-
ripping it off. Bolts are also positioned to stop erience and the
unwanted rotation when not in use. title of this post
says I think I
And the inside of the dome got a coat of black have achieved
paint. My daughter has a few of those glow in Order From
the dark stars on her ceiling and has donated Chaos.
some for me to add to my ceiling when compl-
ete. If anyone has
I took a pile of scrap wood to the dump today any questions
and a chap next to me was dumping the cut please feel free
off carpet he had spare he kindly let me have to message me
it and that was laid this afternoon along wit a and I will be glad
good quality underlay. to offer any ass-
Now the shutters are in place I have installed istance.
the scopes, balanced and realigned them.
Numerous power supplies and leads have Many thanks to
been cable tidied. Malcolm Dent for allowing Amateur Astrophotogr-
aphy to publih these posts from his blog.
http://www.malcsastro.blogspot.co.uk/ 39
Pho to n sher
D EEPSPA C E PH OTOGRA PH Y
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................

Object: NGC281 – Pacman - 2013 *HST palette which is accomplished by combining

(HST Palette*) sub frames using three narrowband filters that ca-
pture light produced by glowing hydrogen (Ha),
NGC 281 is a Hydrogen Alpha rich emission oxygen (OIII) and sulfur (SII) present in the nebula.
nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia and Green is assigned to hydrogen, blue to oxygen and
is part of the Perseus Spiral Arm. Also in the red to the sulfur.
shot are the open cluster IC 1590 and the mu-
ltiple star HD 5005, plus several Bok globules. Acquisition Date: Between 10/1/2013 and
NGC281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula 10/3/2013
for its resemblance to the video game charac-
ter. Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -15°C
Telescope: Stellarvue SV105T (f/7)
- Other designations - IC 11 - Sharpless 184 Mount: Losmandy G11 with Gemini II
- Distance: 9500 light years Guidescope: 50mm finder/guider
- Radius: 48 light years Guide Camera: Orion SSAG

44
NGC7380 & The Wizard Nebula (2012) Mount: Losmandy G11 with Gemini II

NGC 7380 (also known as the Wizard Nebula Guidescope: 50mm finder/guider
or Sharpless 142 Sh2-142) is an open cluster
with associated nebulosity located in the con- Guide Camera: Orion SSAG
stellation of Cepheus. It is about 7200 light
years from earth. Filters:
-Hydrogen Alpha (Ha): 8 x 15min. (120min.)
This was done in the HST palette which is -Oxygen III (OIII): 5 x 15min (75min)
accomplished by combining sub frames using -Sulfur II (SII): 5 x 15min (75min)
three narrowband filters that capture light pro- Total Exposure: 270min. (4.5hr)
duced by glowing hydrogen (Ha), oxygen
(OIII) and sulfur (SII) present in the nebula. Limiting Magnitude: 5.1
Green is assigned to hydrogen, blue to oxyg-
en and red to the sulfur. Comments: Baader Planetarium RCC I Rowe
Coma Corrector used.
Acquisition Date: 10/21/2012
Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -12°C
Telescope: Orion 8-Inch f/3.9 Newtonian
Astrograph

45
Heart & Soul Nebulae (Mosaic) in HST*
Palette
This is a shot of IC1805 (The Heart Nebula –
also Sh2-190) and IC1848 (The Soul Nebula
– also Sh2-199, LBN 667). Located between
6150 light years for the Heart and 6550 light
years for the Soul nebula from earth, the co-
mplex is located in the Perseus Arm of the
Galaxy and can be observed in the constella-
tion Cassiopeia. Both objects are emission
nebula made of glowing gases and dark dust
lanes.
*HST palette is accomplished by combining
sub frames using three narrowband filters that
capture light produced by glowing hydrogen
(Ha), oxygen (OIII) and sulfur (SII) present in
the nebula. Green is assigned to hydrogen,
blue to oxygen and red to the sulfur.
46
Acquisition Date: Between 9/11/2012 and
9/16/2012
Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -12°C
Telescope: Canon 200mm F2.8 L ULTRASONIC
Mount: Losmandy G11 with Gemini II
Guidescope: ATLE80 80mm at f/4.8
Guide Camera: Orion SSAG with Televue
TRF2008 0.8x reducer
Filters:
Heart Nebula(IC1805)
-Hydrogen Alpha (Ha): 8 x 15min (120min)
-Oxygen III (OIII): 8 x 15min (120min)
-Sulfur II (SII): 9 x 20min (180min)
Total Exposure: 420min (7 hours)
Soul Nebula(IC1848)
-Hydrogen Alpha (Ha): 9 x 15min (135min)
-Oxygen III (OIII):12 x 15min (180min)
-Sulfur II (SII): 9 x 20min (180min)
Total Exposure: 495min (8.25 hours)
Total Acquisition Time: 915 minutes 15.25 hours
IC410 & IC405 in Auriga (HST Palette)
Object: IC410 & IC405 in Auriga
(HST Palette)
The Flaming Star Nebula (IC405) and the Ta-
dpoles (IC410) are two emission nebulae loc-
ated in the constellation of Auriga.
IC405 (also: The Flaming Star Nebula,
SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is approximately
1500 light years distant.
IC410 (The Tadpoles) Surrounds the open
start cluster NGC1893. It contains the “tadpo-
les”, which are artifacts created by stellar
winds and radiation emanated from the star
cluster.
Acquisition Date: Between 11/17/2012 and
11/19/2012
Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -12° C
Telescope: Canon 200mm F2.8 L ULTRASONIC
Lens
Filters:
-Hydrogen Alpha (Ha): 14 x 15min (210min)
-Oxygen III (OIII): 18 x 15min (270min)
-Sulfur II (SII): 12 x 20min (240min)
Total Exposure: 720min ( 12 hours)
Limiting Magnitude: 5.1
Comments:
Processed in Pixinsight 1.7 and Adobe Photoshop
CS5
To view more of Photonfisher’s amazing images
please go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirks_astrophotos/
All images and text by Kirk of Photonfisher.
47
 JUPITER

Seeing conditions were poor this evening but Processed another video from
managed to get a (rather noisy) image of the 19/1, Vixen Atlux 150mm
Jupiter with the shadow of Europa transitting ED Refractor with SPC900 web-
the planet. Was hoping to get a bit more time cam & x 3 Barlow. Various adjust-
with the imaging program but the weather has ments made in CS 5.1. Taken @
other ideas. David White 22.16. Tony Barton

Jupiter from 22/01/2014.

Sky-Watcher 200PDS on
HEQ5-PRO, Canon 550D
triggered using EOS utility
to reduce vibration, 30s
video stacked using Autos-
takkert 2, wavelet sharpened
in Registax 6 and finished
using Photoshop CS5.
Image by M.Sathya Kumar

Image by Randall Evans

This is the best 2000 of a 3000 frame shot

taken with an Xbox £7 webcam.

Image by Terry Hunter

Title Image Jupiter on September 22nd, 2013

48 Taken with a Celestron C6 SCT, 2x Barlow, and ASI120MC.
by Joel Tonyan
S olar
Every issue Amatuer Astrophotography
Ezine will be dedicating a few of it’s pages
to the Solar System and the readers
images that they have taken of the
planets within our Solar System.

Amateur Astrophotography Ezine hopes

that this is something that the readers

S y stem
will enjoy.

If you would like to your image published

please go to our Flickr Group and upload
your images.
www.flickr.com/groups/2425230@N20/

SATURN
by Willow2173
www.flickr.com/photos/willosphotos/

MOON
Taken this evening 12/11/13.
Straight focal shot through a
Skywatcher 127.
Image by John Mills
www.flickr.com/photos/
infernocolony/
Mars 2014-01-28 21:34 UT
CM 308.0°
Diameter : 8.6" equat
Location : Hong Kong, Sai Kung
Camera : DBK 21AS.04
Telescope : SCT 235mm F/10 + 5x = Focal
Lenght 2,350mm + 5x = F/50 11,750mm

Sun with sunspots 1968 & 1967

Nikon D7100 - Sigma 150-500mm -
Homemade filter
Image by Gareth Haring
www.flickr.com/photos/gareth-harding/

49
REVIEW O F TH E
DAYSTAR SolaREDI.7A 80 m m Sean brou g ht dow n the
m ons terific SR-127m m
J anu ary 20 14 s cope and the s leek ,
by Stephen W . Ram sden black SolaRedi80 m m
s cope for u s to try. This
Days tar filters ou t ofW arrens bu rg , M is s ou ri larg er s cope is als o being
(U SA ), g raciou s ly s u pplied the Charlie Bates s how narou nd the cou n-
Solar A s tronom yProject w ith a new SolaRedi try ina ps ychedelic, brain
80 m m .7A Hydrog en A lpha teles cope for a few w arping s pectral pattern
w eek s to u s e and review . that can be ordered as
anoption. Ithou g ht the
Firs t ofall, Ihope that this review is inform ative and nice pearl finis h onthis
u s efu lto the reader. The Charlie Bates Solar A s tro- w as beau tifu l, als o.
nom y Project (CBSA P) nonprofit 50 1c3 is inexis te- W e pu t both s copes on
nce for one reas ononly to s pread the s cience of a g rab and g o du alm o-
s olar as tronom y to s tu dents and the g eneralpu blic u nt and beg anou r obs -
throu g h ou treach events in the U nited States and erving .
s everal cou ntries arou nd the w orld. W e do not
s ell anything , w e do not pay any s alaries to anyone, I haven’t had any exp-
w e do not boos t ou r eg os throu g h s eek ing attenti- erience look ing throu g h
on, w e s im ply, and pas s ionately, believe that s hari- Days tar produ cts s ince
ng s cience is the qu ick es tand m os t effective w ay to pu rchas ing a SolaRedi w w w .days tarfilters .com
end political/relig iou s extrem is m and g etthe g lobal 60 m m in20 0 8 and then
com m u nity back ontrack tow ards interplanetary tak ing it back . I probably have m ore tim e beh-
and inters tellarexploration. ind the eyepiece ofCoronado and es pecially
L u nt s olar s copes thananyone onthe planet in
W e encou rag e and w elcom e you the reader to inve- the las t 6 years , s o m y opinionis bas ed onthis .
s tig ate, learn and s hare this aw es om e hobby w ith
you r com m u nity. W e als o pledg e to as s is t anyone
w ho w ants to s tart doing s olar as tronom y ou treach
w ith any m aterials or equ ipm ent that w e can.M ore
info can be fou nd at w w w .s olaras tronom y.org

Sean L eag u e of Days tar Filters pos ted a com m -

ent onou r Solar Chat! foru m abou t the 80 m m
SolaRedi. A fter s everal pos ts and a com m ent from
m e, the next thing Ik new , he and his lovely fiancée
actu ally s how ed u p inA tlanta w ith tw o Days tar s c-
opes in hand to g ive a com plete dem o at ou r local
teles cope s tore, The Cam era Bu g
( w w w .cam erabu g .com ). W hat a s u rpris e!

The inform ation onthe rig ht is from the Days tar

w ebs ite. W hoever does Days tar’s g raphics s ho-
u ld have their pay im m ediately tripled as they have
the bes t catalog u e and w ebs ite inthe bu s ines s !
50
The firs t thing Inoticed in both s copes w as that
the qu ality ofthe view s have increas ed L IG HT
YEA RS beyond w hat Ihad s eenbefore in their
produ cts . Iliterally s aid “ w ow ” onthe firs t look
throu g h the SR-127.
The SolaRedi 80 is cons tru cted ofa very lig ht
w eig ht 80 m m refractor, painted ina very lu xu riou s
s hiny black finis h. There is a fixed dew s hield aro=
u nd the objective and a very long tu be that leads
dow nto a s m all clam s hell, a finder s cope, a foc-
u s er that w illaccept 2 inch or 1.25 inch acces s or-
ies , a Days tar .7A heated s olid etalonand a .5X
focalredu cing 1.25 inch diag onal. The s cope is
very attractive and look s cool althou g h Ifeelthe
need to s cratch m y head at acom pany u s ing a
black OTA for a s olars cope....
The finder s cope has a w hite lig ht filter ins ide of
it to m ak e it u ltra-s afe for ou treach.
Is hou ld s ay thatI
really m is s the one g ood
thing abou t the las t s cope Ibou g htfrom Days tar
and that is the red anodized M oonlitefocu s er that
they u s ed to u s e.The focu s er on this new SolaR-
edi80 m m is a far cry from the qu ality of the M oo-
nlite. The finder s cope, w hile anorig inalidea, is
ridicu lou s ly cheap and pos itioned s o that it is ju s t
w aiting to be brok en off. A Televu e Sol-Searcher
w ou ld be a m u ch m ore dependable finder and w ay
cooler look ing .
The idea ofa w hite lig ht filtered finder s cope is
s om ething new . I’m not s u re that this m ak es it any
eas ier to find the Su nas it is com pletely black
u ntilyou happenu ponit inthe finder.It w as pretty
orig inal, thou g h.
The firs t thing Ithou g ht of w henIs aw this
s cope w as thatit look ed lik e a SolarChat! foru m
u s ers PST M od w ith a s nazzy paint job.Itook off
thatcrazy finder s cope and w ent to w ork vis u ally.
Now , s om ething you s hou ld k now abou t s olid
s paced etalons from Days tar they only w ork
at F30 and at a certain reg u lated tem peratu re.
You have to plu g ina 12 VoltDC pow er s u p-
ply into anAC ou tlet or u s e s om e other pow er
s ou rce inorder to heat u p the etalon.The F30
is achieved by a 4X pow erm ate or barlow ins -
ide the teles cope before the etalon.This m ak es
it im pos s ible to have a native view ofa fu ll
dis k s olar im ag e. Days tar g ets arou nd this by
u s ing a .5X focalredu cer bu ilt into the diag o-
nal.
Seem s lik e a lot of g las s and hu bbu b to g et a
fu lldis k s olar im ag e bu t w hen Ilook ed into the
eyepiece, it really look ed g ood. The s cope pro-
vided a very w elllit red dis k w ithou t any appr-
eciable g lare s how ing edg e featu res brig htly
and s om e s u rface detail. Exactly w hat one
w ou ld expect from a .7A H -Alpha s olar s cope.
The thing that w as really noticeable vis u ally in
this s cope w as thatthe etalon w as tu ned to de-
ad center of the H -Alpha w aveleng th w ithou t
any interactiononpart ofthe u s er. It can tak e
s everalm inu tes and s everalattem pts inchan-
g ing tem peratu res to g et an air s paced etalon
onband as g ood as this one w as rig ht from the
s tart. The Days tar filter had a k nob, w hich
cou ld be tu rned to s et the tem peratu re to the 83
deg F by tu rning it u ntil you felt the s top.You
cou ld als o heat or coolthe etalonat you r leis u -
re to g et the red and blu ew ing featu res availa-
ble inthe pres s u re ortilt tu ned m odels from
other vendors .
You cou ld s ee the s picu le ring arou nd the dis k
rig ht offthe bat and the Su ns pots penu m bra
w as eas ily s eenw ithou tany tu ning .This etalon
has anau tom atic heating and cooling s ys tem
that k eeps it perfectly onband.That w as a g reat
featu re.
The 127m m vers ionw as abou t a m illiontim es bet-
ter,bu t this 80 m m s cope held it’s ow nand it w as
eas y for pas s ers by to s ee the Su n’s prom inences
and s pots . It w as a nice view and abou t the s am e
vis u ally as w hat you cou ld g et from other vendors .
Ireplaced the focalredu cing diag onalw ith a s tan-
dard m odelto g et s om e F30 view s and itdidn’t
dis appoint. It g ave a decent clos e u p im ag e inline
w ith abou t w hat you w ou ld s ee inother s ing le etal-
ons copes at.7A.
Ithentook the s cope and s etu p m y Point G rey
Res earch G ras s hopper 5.0 M P cam era onit to s ee
w hat k ind of im ag ing cou ld be done w ith this s cope.
Seanadvis ed m e that the s cope is m ark eted forvis -
u alu s e bu t the w ebs ite has a banner u nder the s co-
pe’s pictu re that s ays “ M axim ized for both vis u al
and photog raphic s u cces s !!” .
I’m g oing to have to g o w ith Sean’s w ord onthis
one as the im ag ing res u lts w ere not very g ood.
The s cope s u ffered from a dis tinct lack ofcontras t ,
s trong New ton’s ring s at native focalleng th and
heavy vig netting w henim ag ed throu g h the diag onal
or at native focalleng th.
There w as not enou g h infocu s to im ag e w ith the
diag onal s o Ihad to add a s m allbarlow .Here are
s om e im ag es tak enthrou g h the s cope ontw o diff-
erent ou ting s .
W ith the focal redu cing diag onal and a1 .6 barlow
added to reach focu s
W ithou t the diag onal
TO P RIG HT:
and finally aprom inence im ag e focu s ed as w ell as
Icou ld g etit:
Now , let’s talk abou t the cas e!
This s cope cam e w ith a s u per nice hards hell
cas e,w ith rollers and precis ely cu t foam ins ide.
The cas e w as really nicely done and k u dos to
w ho ever decided to u s e thos e g reatlook ing
and du rable Pelicancas es . Iw is h every vendor
took the tim e to provide a room y,long las ting
and du rable cas e w ith their produ cts .
The Bottom Line
This s cope w as pretty cooland g ave a fu ll dis k
and u p clos e im ag e vis u ally of the Su nthat w as
rig ht onpar w ith the com petition.The etalontu ni-
ng m echanis m w as perfectly des ig ned and im pl-
em ented and the etalonw as excellent. The
s cope w as very lig ht w eig ht and eas y to handle
for ou treach events .
The finder s cope w as ,u h… ..s illy bu t “A” for eff-
ort. The focu s er w as abou t s tandard for today’s
m ark et inthat it lefta lot to be des ired bu t w ou ld
w ork fine vis u ally.Don’t eventhink abou t pu tting
a DSL R or binoview ers onit thou g h,it w ou ldn’t
hold. The cas e w as fantas tic and the literatu re
provided w ith the s cope w as top notch and w ell
des ig ned. The g raphics onthe catalog u e and
the inform ationins ide w as lik e a w ell-w ritten
book abou t the Su n.It w as really incredibly im p-
res s ive.
This teles cope had the look and feelof very att-
ractive PST m odded to a larg er apertu re and
g ave abou t the s am e view s as a com petitor’s
40 or 60 m m s cope. It w as u nu s able for im ag ing .
If this s cope w ere priced at $ 999 it w ou ld s ell
lik e hotcak es bu t at $ 3599 Idon’t think it w ou ld
be m y firs tchoice.You r m ileag e m ay vary and
overallIw elcom e com petitioninthe s olar s cope
m ark et. Questions? Contact m e at
s ram s den@ s olaras tronom y.org
Centaurus A
Centaurus A is a peculiar galaxy formed from
the collision of two galaxies billions of years
ago. Centaurus A was discovered by James
Dunlop in New South Wales, Australia in
1826. At a distance between 14 and 16
million light-years it is one of the closest
active star burst galaxies to us.
At its center is a supermassive black hole
with the mass of 55 million Suns. The energy
emitted from its core creates relativistic (½ C) jets
of high energy particles.
Centaurus A is also very active in the X-ray and
Radio wavelengths.
Imaged this morning (28th January 2014)
from Siding Springs, New South Wales, Australia.
Image and text from Fred Hermann.
53
 ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Pier Project
1. Location

I decided about a year ago that I wanted to try Use this website
and improve my astro imaging so as well as ( http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html) for determin-
an upgrade to an HEQ5 pro I also wanted to ing true North. You simply find the location of
try my hand at building and installing my own where your pier is going to be sited and put down
pier in the garden. I started by doing my home the marker. This gives you the longitude and latit-
work, numerous hours trawling the net for ide- ude co-ordinates. You then add another marker
as, methods, do’s and don’ts. The pier had to keeping the same longitude but increasing the lat-
be aesthetically pleasing as well as solid and itude a little towards the North. This gives a 2nd
functional. After I had an idea of what I’d like point that is exactly (true) North of you pier location.
to end up with the next task was location.

Unfortunately when the picture was taken we had

So here is my garden. It’s small and doesn’t a gazebo in the garden so I had to estimate the
have a great deal of space to play with. I nee- rough location indicated by the red marker. The
ded to place the pier in a position that would blue marker is true north which puts it roughly be-
give the best possible views whilst also not im- tween the 2 vent stacks on the roof circled in
peding on the garden too much. I decided to yellow.
go for an area roughly in the same place as
the red ball (yes I did put it there for the purpo-
se of the picture).

The garden provides views North, South and

West (East being blocked by the house) down
to around 20/30 degrees above the horizon.

It is important to ensure you know the directi-

on of true North. The more accurately you set
your pier to this the easier your polar alignme-
nt will be.

54
 ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The dimensions are
2. The Pier
Overall diameter = 236mm (this governed the di
Now the location and a rough direction were ameter of the top plate I had welded to the top of
set it was time to look at the pier itself. I wan- the post)
ted to have around 900mm to 1 meter above
ground and decided on around 500mm to 600m Overall height = 46mm
m below ground with a square plate on the
bottom encased in concrete. A quick design Centre hole diameter = 62mm
in MS paint and I ended up with this.
Disc thickness = 12mm

A commonly seen method for attaching disc to

the top plate of the pier is to raise the disc a few
inches above the top plate using threaded rod.
This then allows you to access the underside to
tighten and undo the hold down bolt of your mou-
nt and also allow levelling adjustments as shown
in the image below.

I was lucky enough to acquire some left over

pipe and some 13mm plating from work which
along with these drawings were given to the
fabricator to be cut and welded for which they
charged me £ 30.
Image by Tony King
I needed now to come up with a way of attach
ing the mount to the pier and found a few exa-
mples on the web that were using car brake Purely from an aesthetical point of view I wanted
discs. One of the sites listed the disc I would to try and avoid this although I don’t think it makes
need to take my HEQ5 perfectly. I found it on any difference in stability. To achieve it I had to
eBay for £ 10, turns out it was for a Skoda overcome 2 main issues. Firstly how was I going
Favorit. to gain access to the hold down bolt if it was
down inside the pipe? And secondly without the
threaded rod how was I going to level the top
plate?

55
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

scissor shovels and the customary garden

spade and fork. I know very little about gro-
und work but I do know one thing…….flint is
hard!! And when you are digging a hole in
ground that seems to be more flint than
earth it is pretty hard going! As it turns out
the combination of pick axe and garden
spade seemed to work best until I got down
deep and had to use a trowel to excavate
what the pick axe had loosened. It took the
best part of day to dig the hole but was kind
of satisfying (not to mention a relief) to see
it finished.

I put a small circular spirit level on top of the pier

and manipulated the whole thing until I was happy
it was level and managed to get it very close.

The second issue about levelling now need-

ed to be addressed however, having a perf-
ectly level pier is not essential and polar ali-
gnment can still be achieved so I was going
to be happy as long as I could get close to
level. I added some reinforcing bar to the
bottom of the hole and levelled them as best
as I could. Nothing technical just a hammer
and a spirit level checking in all directions.
Over time I expect the pier will go out of level as
Once I had them somewhere close I mixed
the ground moves but I’ll keep an eye on it worse
up a small bag of post-Crete and poured
case is that I’ll have to raise the disc up using
this into the bottom making sure it covered
threaded rod or perhaps add some shims but only
the bottom and buried the re-bar. I allowed
time will tell. I then had to mix and add the concr-
this to harden a little before trowelling it over
ete. In the end I used 16 bags of B&Q’s ready mix
again getting it as close to level as possible
concrete which was more than I had imagined
I also added some polythene sheeting which
needing and was very grateful for the loan of
I hoped would help with moisture. It was
cement mixer. We were fortunate enough to get
now time to carefully lower the pier in and
some prolonged good weather so I picked a day
allow it to sit on the re-bar. This forced the
and went for it with assistance from my wife.
still workable post-Crete around the side of
You may also notice that the tree at the back of
the bottom plate and formed a nice barrier
the garden has gone!!
(as far as I could tell) between the ground
and the plate. Possibly all a bit OTT but I
It was simply a case of pouring the concrete into
thought better that way as it was a simple
the hole whilst all the time checking the spirit level
thing to do.
on top to make sure there was no movement. I
56 finished the concrete around 100mm from the top
 ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

This left me with an idea of where to drill the hole

when the mount was removed. I measured the
thickness of the metal and added another strip of
tape. The pencil mark shows where I needed to
drill.

I drilled an 8mm hole through the disc and attach-

The next task was to add a small spigot to the ed an M8 threaded rod connector which is just
top of the disc for the azimuth adjustment high enough for the azimuth bolts to hit.
screws of the mount to work against. Although
I had made my map showing me where true
north was I decided it was far easier to attach
the mount and perform a polar alignment of it
to give me my true north position.

I cantered Polaris in the polar scope using the

altitude bolts but manually twisting the mount
in azimuth.

My thinking was that if Polaris was

centred in the scope cross hairs and I took
that as my true north direction I would have
enough azimuth adjustment in both directions
to properly polar align.
Tests using the azimuth screws showed that it
Once centred, I marked the mount outline with works perfectly and here is the finished pier with
electrical tape. mount and scope attached.
57
 ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
truly dark skies.
I hope this write up has provided some inspiration
and ideas to help get you started.

If anyone has questions or would like advice I can

be contacted via email at
steve_bassett@hotmail.com

A brililliant article. Many thanks to Steve Bassett

for the editorial and images.
For more of Steve’s work, please visit his website
http://somptingastronomy.weebly.com/

.................................................................................

Going forward I plan to add something to the

top when the mount is not attached possibly a
sun dial or a bird table just to give the post anot
her use. I may also fill the post with cement or
maybe just sand as it is possible to drop things
down inside the post and it may also fill with
water.

I have also added my first image taken using

this pier. For the first time I took 180sec
exposures which is pretty good for an ungui-
ded set up but I plan on trying 240sec next
time.
& get in touch

In conclusion I really enjoyed doing this proje-

ct and if anyone is considering having a go I
would say go for it. The stability that I get now
for both observing and imaging has improved
considerably my only wish is that I could take
it out into the field with me and use it under
A View from MyScope –
ObservationReport
This morning was the first time in a long time
that I had a chance to take the telescope out
and get some real good stargazing done.
Although I had work this morning, I got an
early start and got up at 4.30am. The target
this morning was Jupiter. I had recently purc-
hased a Philip SPC900 webcam and I was
keen to see how it performed. As well as the
webcam I also purchased a Revelation 5x
Barlow earlier in the year and this would be
the first proper opportunity I had to use it.
I had recently spent considerable time collim-
ating my telescope after discovering, I was
doing it wrong all last year. Although I think it
is still not quite right, I was pleased with the
results.
I have a new rule for this observing season:
Stick to one Target
Meaning don’t try and do too much in one
observing and imaging session, pick a target
and get some good footage / images of it.
Then spend some time observing.
It
Conwas an incredibly
d itions clear sky this morning,
with next to no wind. Ideal conditions for
imaging. However my dark skies time was
limited as dawn was approaching.
The timeprestraints that I had this morning
 e Setu
meant I did not do a polar alignment. I usually
find this is easiest at dusk when you can
make out the polar markings on the scope.
My main goal for this session was to image Jupiter
so, I set up my laptop running Sharpcap with the
Philips Webcam.
 e Setu p
As it had been a while since I got any meaningful
viewing in, I initially took it slow.
First I got my target lined up with the 25mm eyep-
iece. I was delighted to see how much detail I could
make out, The 4 moons were clearly visible and I
could make out the two main cloud bands.
I am not sure but I think the image was clearer than
pre collimation, I was pleased with this as it meant
my collimation was approaching being correct.
Although I did notice that the image might disappear
a little early in the eyepiece, I think this means that
my secondary mirror is not low enough in the tube.
Once I was happy that Jupiter was in the centre of
my view, I swapped out the eyepiece for the Philips
webcam. Once I had all lined up I had to play with
a few settings on sharpcap to get an image (maxed
out gain and exposure). I then centred the target on
the laptop screen and went about focusing. It was
at this point that I noticed my lack of polar alignm-
ent, as Jupiter had moved a great deal and was
almost out of my field of view in just a minute or two.
I was happy with the focus I had achieved and
decided to try and get an image of Jupiter with its
moons in the same shot. I took 2 minutes of footage
with only the gain and exposure set correctly for
Jupiter, then I took 2 minutes of footage with the
image over exposed to help bring out the moons.
My plan was to get two images and combine in post
processing.
Jupiter and the 4 Galilean Moons
59
From there I upped magnification and put in a
2x barlow. I was pleased with the video footage
I managed to obtain with this, focus looked
good as did the saturation and contrast.
Jupiter with Europa, IO and Ganymede
using a 2x barlow
Buoyed by the footage I got with the 2x barlow,
I decided to have a go at 5x barlow. Immediat-
ely I could tell that I was pushing my telescope
to the limit, but with a lot of effort and some
manual guiding I was able to get some footage
of Jupiter with reasonable quality.
There were times when I lost Jupiter in my
FOV, even once I had to start all over again
and start with a 25mm and move my way up
from 2x to 5x barlows.
Jupiter with a 5x barlow
(viewing Good)
My  ou ghts
Overall I was happy with the performance of
the new kit, The Philips webcam in particular
has a lot of options open up to it. I would like
to do a head to head with the MS webcam
some night.
The 5x barlow allowed a very close up image,
but unless viewing is excellent I think it might
just be to much. Might look at selling the 5x
and get a 3x. This I think would give me the
ideal cross between magnification and focus.
When operating at such high mags I will need to
spend some time on polar alignment.
My  ou ghts
Happy with the footage I got, I took a look and
could see Orion nebula, I spent some time looking
at it and back to my DSLR thinking “do I have time
to set all up”. I was glad I stuck to my rule as sett-
ing up for DSLR would have been too long. So I
decided on some old fashioned observing.
I first pointed the telescope at the Orion Nebula
and popped in a 25mm eyepiece. Even with the
sun coming up I was clearly able to make out the
nebula, I also tried it with a UHC filter, and for the
first time using this filter I really noticed a change,
it was an awful lot easier to make out the nebula
and a hint of colour could even be seen.
I could easily see the trapezium (4 stars at the ce-
ntre), I then decided to try the 6mm.
Again the 6mm showed great detail within the
cloud and I could easily discern the outline of the
nebula.
I the tried the UHC filter on the 6mm eyepiece but
was not happy with the image it produced, so rem-
oved it again.
At this point it was really starting to get light, so
one last target to have a look at was the Pleiades,
These always look magnificent and did not disap-
point again, Best viewed with the 25mm
It was now getting to bright to observe anything
meaningful but out of curiosity i decided to check
my polar alignment through the polar scope.
I was way out, so I did some adjustment to at
least being my declination back in line.
My next session I plan on trying out some deep
sky shots. I have not had an opportunity to use
the auto-guiding system I built during the summer,
so want to see how successful it is or not.
Just remember stick to the Rule.
STICK TO ONE TARGET !!!!!!!!
Images and editorial by Ronan of
www.viewfromascope.com
 A Supernova
was born!!!
M82 goes by the name the Cigar Galaxy from
the shape of the Galaxy long and thin, just like
a cigar. M82 is one of the closer galaxies to
Earth being just 12 million light years away from
us, and if you know where to look (Stellarium is
a great advantage here) it can be seen through
a pair of binoculars or a 3" scope.
It is very surprising that nobody noticed the
Supernova earlier by either professional astron-
omers or even amateur astrophotographers in
their back yard.
At it's discovery it was brighter than 12th magni-
tude, if somebody had only been looking, as it
was very obvious from the 16th of January at
13.9 magnitude, then 13.3 by the 17th and then
12.2 by the 19th.
This new supernova is currently named
PSN J09554214+6940260, it's a Type la expl-
osion.
In terms that everyone can understand, while
we here on Earth are going about our daily
routines, is the total destruction of a planet
sized star called a White Dwarf.
This planet sized star spent millennia gravitat-
ionally siphoning off gas from a near star. As
soon as the star reached it's ultimate limit of
1.4 times the mass of the Sun, it imploded
under it's own weight and heated up to billions
of degrees in temperature and burned up
explosively. A supernova was born.
Image by Malcolm Dent
61
 Supernova, M81 & M82. Image by Stewart Ledbury
Supernova in M82. Single 90
second exposure using a William
optics megrez 72 with a astro
modified canon 550D on a HEQ5
pro mount.

M82 Supernova 1-26-14

20140125-M82 SN2014J
Total 138min (HA combined to R only)
H-Alpha - 1x600sec, 1x300sec & 4x450sec (45min)
RG - 10x180sec
B - 11x180s
Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in PS2
Telescope: Celestron C8 (@f/6.3)
Camera: Atik 314L+ Mono
Filters: Baader H-Alpha 7nm, RGB Image taken by Willow
Mount: AZ EQ6-GT goto, PhD guided using Orion OAG & SSAG. www.flickr.com/photos/willosphotos/
 Unprocessed shot of SN 2014

SN 2014J is a Type Ia supern-

ova in Messier 82 (the 'Cigar Galaxy',
M82)

Taken With Nikon D7100

150-500mm Sigma Lens
No guiding

Image by Gareth Harding

M81 & M82

Image by
Chris Sinclair

M81 & M82

Image by
Tich Wykes
 M82 Supernova SN2014J Image by Andre van der Hoeven www.flickr.com/photos/avdhoeven/

Recently there was a supernova in M82,

the Cigar galaxy. Last 2 nights I could
NE X T ISSUE ’S D SO
.......................................................................................

image this supernova together with the

'sister' galaxy of M82, which is M81, aka
Bode's galaxy. In total I got 17.3 hours
of imagery for this one. I even detect
PLE IAD E S M 45
some IFN in the image from my very
light polluted (Bortle scale 7) location.

lum: 77x10 min

B,G: 6x10 min
R: 15x10 min

Scope: TEC140
Camera: QSI-583ws

Image by Kirk
www.flickr.com/photos/kirks_astrophotos/
64
 Wide Field
Astrophotography
Summer Milky Way Rise Memory image by VINCENT CHENG
Amateur Astrophotography need not cost any-
one the Earth. A DSLR, can produce some
amazing images. These days, even some
mobile phones are capable of so much more
than they were say, just five years ago.
With the correct location on a moonless night
it is amazing the quality of image that can easily
produced.
OK, mobile phones are great for some wide field
astrophotography, some aateur astrophotograp-
hers, even use them to take images through
their telescopes.
With the right lens and the correct exposure
time and DSLR settings, some images can even
capture some galaxies, again, given that the correct
settings are programmed into your DSLR first.
The next few pages are dedicated to wide field
astro photography. It is usually (when possible) to
focus your lens to infintiy, there are countless
explanations online how this is achieved and very
simple too.
Here are some camera settings that may help:-
· Manual mode
· Fixed exposure time (5,10,15,20 seconds or “Bulb”)
· No flash
· Widest aperture possible
· ISO 400 or higher (higher than 800 can be useful
for faint objects but will introduce more noise)
· Highest resolution picture mode possible
· Set white balance to daylight saving mode
65
...............................................................
Readers Im ag es
w ide eld
Orion from Alderney
Alderney has wonderful "dark
Skies" and this is a photo of
Orion taken from an area of the town
call "The Buttes".

Image taken by Neil Howard.

Moon and Saturn

Image taken by
Henry Weiland

Me and my set up
image by Chris Sinclair
.........................................................................................................................................................................

Andromeda Galaxy, The Milky Way and a bit of aurora

A heavily processed version of my Andromeda, Milky Way picture!
I like to play around every now and then too This amazing image
was takn by Mia Stålnacke. Check here Flickr page for more amazing
images http://www.flickr.com/photos/angrytheinch/

5am moon & Jupiter

image taken by
Dafydd Snelling

67
 Orion, Image taken by David White

Milky Way, France Image by

M45 Pleiades Image by Craig Chew-Moulding, Anna (www.eprisephoto.com)
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Loch More Star Trail

by Chris Sinclair

Perseids 12/08/13
Image by Gareth Harding

Lunar halo 25mm

Image by April Harper

69
 Painting with Light
Yet again a 'snapshot' taken in
a backyard, this time camera
balanced on a kids chair.

Image by John Mills

Jupiter and friends over Bothy

Image by Chris Sinclair

Image by Steve Walsh

9pm moon and Jupiter

9pm Moon and Jupiter taken on

18th Jan 2014
Balsamic Moon, 4% illuminated with Venus in tropical Capricorn. Image by Eva Young

VENUS OVER THE ROOF TOPS Image taken by Victoria Dewswith a Sony Cybershot
Orions Belt & Sword
WIDE FIELD
20 X 120 SECOND EXPOSURES AT ISO 1600 UNGUIDED

CALIBRATED WITH DARKS ONLY

CANON MODIFIED T3i WITH A CANON 75-300MM ZOOM LENS

THE LENS WAS AT 135MM @ F4.5

PROCESSING DONE IN STARKLABS NEBULOSITY 3

IMAGE BY RANDALL EVANS