The Suffolk Sky

Observation Log – July 9, 2010 – A Quick Look Through Cloudy Skies

Date: 7/9/2010
Time: 9:15 PM – 11:00 PM EDT
Scope: Stellarvue SV80BV FL: 750mm
Eye Pieces: 22mm Panoptic, 9mm Nagler, 7mm Nagler
Mount: Stellarvue M1 Grab and Go Alt-azimuth
Location:Backyard, Suffolk, VA
Weather: Warm and cloudy.
Moon: None

It was pretty warm and mostly cloudy. A few breaks in the clouds as they passed allowed some views of Venus and Saturn. Around 10:00 PM it cleared up a bit to allow me to look for a few Messier objects. I was able to view M3 and M94. I looked for M51 but was unable to find it.

Not really the best night for star gazing, but I just felt like getting outside and looking up for a bit. I did not have an observing plan, I just used the July Sky Map to locate a few objects.

Since the conditions were not really good for deep sky observing I am happy that I was able to find a few things. By 11:00 PM the clouds had pretty much taken over the sky so I called it a night.

From my observing notes:

Venus was low in the west. Very bright. The phase appears to be a little over half, approaching gibbous. It was easy to see the phase in the 22mm, 9mm, and 7mm.

Saturn was very nice in the 7mm. Shadow of rings across planet surface showing good contrast. Only one moon was visible – Titan. I was able to see the ring shadow and moon in all eye pieces but the views were the best in the 7mm Nagler.

Messier 3 (M3) – From the bright star Arcturus I slowly worked to the west with the 22mm Panoptic until I was able find the fuzzy globular cluster. I could not resolve any individual stars at 22mm, 9mm, or 7mm. Just a faint fuzzy object with a brighter core. Going to have to revisit on a night that is darker and more clear.

Messier 94 (M94) – I was very surprised to be able to find this. I scanned between the two stars that make up the constellation Canes Venatici with the 22mm Panoptic. Very faint, small, with a faint border around a bright core.

I spent a bit of time looking for M51 but was unable to find it.

First Images with the Orion StarShoot DSI II – 7/03-04/2010

Finally got the chance to try out the new to me Orion StarShoot Color Deep Sky Imager (DSI) II I picked up on Astromart Classifieds a while back. Saturday and Sunday night were both nice. Clear skies and cooler than it has been. A few clouds rolled by later on Sunday night, but still a great night.

For all images I used PHD for guiding, MaxIm DL Essentials for imaging with the DSI, and Deep Sky Stacker to stack the exposures.

On Saturday (7/3/2010) I set up to image through the Celestron 6″ SCT with a f/6.3 focal reducer while using the Astro-Tech 66ED to guide.

Early in the evening I used Venus to get the two scopes aligned and to test focus of the imaging camera and the guide camera.

After doing the two star alignment on the mount I used the polar align routine on the hand controller to make sure I had my alignment down. Not bad, had to make a few minor adjustments.

I then redid the two star alignment using Spica and Arcturus for my alignment stars and Antares, Deneb, Albireo, and Vega for my calibration stars.

The first target for the camera was the globular cluster Messier 4 (M4). It took some work to get the globular in focus, and I think I am still a little off – something I am going to have to work on a bit. The first set of images were over exposed, I changed the screen stretch to MaxVal and that fixed that. I ended up with 10 60 second exposures.

I then moved on the Messier (M80). I forced calibration in PHD after moving to each new object. I ended up with 10 decent 60 seconds exposures and stacked them to get the image below.

Messier 22 (M22) is a great globular cluster to observe visually and I think if I can increase my exposure times a bit it will be a great one to photograph as well. The image below is 12 60 seconds exposures stacked.

This one was not on my plan, but Mary Shannon had seen M57 at the SkyWatch on Friday night and wanted me to try to get a photo of it. Messier 57 (M57), also known as the Ring Nebula, turned out to be my favorite image of the night. My guiding was off, I think I have an issue with balance, but the 7 30 second exposures look pretty good stacked.

Sunday (7/4/2010) night was a bit warmer with a light breeze. I decided to image through the Astro-Tech 66ED with an Orion Skylight filter and use the Celestron 6″ SCT to guide. I just wanted to get a feel for the difference in imaging between the two scopes.

I went through the same alignment process as the night before. Again using Spica and Arcturus to align and Antares, Deneb, Albireo, and Vega for calibration. I did not do the polar alignment routine, the GOTOs to the calibration stars were pretty much dead on so I figured it was probably still in good alignment.

The first target was Messier 10 (M10). Here are 16 60 second exposures stacked.

Then on to one of my new favorites to observe Messier 20 (M20) the Trifid Nebula. It was hard to find in the camera at first, the nebula does not show up until you increase the exposures to 10 seconds or more, because of this it took some work to get it close to center. I ended up with 21 60 second exposures and I think it turned out great.

I still had a problem with guiding. It wanted to drift south and the guider could not keep up. Not sure if it is a polar alignment problem or a problem with balance. Going to have to look at this a bit more. The PHD test moves the mount fine E & W RA and N & S DEC so I think the guide pulses are being sent. Going to have to research this a bit more to figure it out.

Both the 6″ SCT and the AT66ED produced decent images with DSI. With the wider field it was easier to locate and center images in the AT66ED. I still need to work on fine tuning my focus but I am pretty happy with how the images turned out. I learned a lot about the camera, the scopes, and the process plus I really enjoyed taking them (that’s what really matters).

Observation Log – July 2, 2010 – BBAA Skywatch

Date: 7/2/2010
Time: 8:30 PM – 11:45 PM EDT
Scope: Stellarvue SV80BV FL: 750mm
Eye Pieces: 22mm Panoptic, 9mm Nagler
Mount: Stellarvue M1 Grab and Go Alt-azimuth
Location: Northwest River Park, Chesapeake, VA
Weather: Cool and clear, a little humidity. A few passing clouds after 11:00 PM.
Moon: None

The Back Bay Amateur Astronomy club holds a monthly event called Skywatch at the Northwest River Park in southern Chesapeake. Sandy and I have been out there before to just look but this is the first time I have taken my own scope.

I have been trying to learn to better navigate the sky without using the GOTO computers on my CG5 mounts. I don’t have my mobile power worked out yet anyway so I figured this would be a good opportunity to do some star hopping using just a Skymap and a red dot finder. If I got totally lost or was not able to view anything there would be others there to help me get back on track or if I got totally frustrated with it there would be a number of other scopes to look through.

Sandy, Mary Shannon, and I loaded up the Xterra with the SV80BV, the M1 mount, a cooler with a few bottles of water, a couple of camp chairs, and the bug repellent. We arrived at the observing site in the equestrian area of NWR park at about 8:00 PM and set up. I have one cigarette lighter plug in the cargo area of the Xterra so I used that to power the dew heater controller.

I got everything set up and we waited for the sun to go down. Venus and Saturn were the first targets visible well before the sky was even dark. After that I started searching out globular clusters.

We had a really good time. I did not take a count but I would guess there were between 10 and 15 scopes set up – ranging in size from my 80mm refractor to Kent’s monster 25″ dob (the views of M13 through that thing are INCREDIBLE). I learned a lot about navigating the sky. Mary Shannon had a great time learning about the different constellations and stars. Both Mary Shannon and Sandy enjoyed looking through Ted’s 18″ Dobsonian that was set up next to us.

The Skywatch event is open to the public and if you get a chance you should check one out – the schedule is here. We are already looking forward to the next one.

From my observing notes:

Venus was very easy to spot well before dark. Though the scope you could easily see the phase of the planet using both the 22mm and the 9mm eye pieces. The phase is very similar to the gibbious moon phase (somewhere between the quarter phase and gibbious phase) I am not sure if it is waxing or waning. Because of the brightness it was actually hard to observe this as the sky became darker.

Saturn was beautiful as always. The shadow of the rings across the planets surface was very easy to resolve. It was approximately 9:10 PM when we were viewing it so the sky was not yet completely dark. I was only able to resolve the moon Titan.

Below are my two quick sketches I made in my log book of the phase of Venus and the location of Saturn’s moon Titan.

A BBAA member walked by (sorry I do not remember who) and said that Albireo would look good through my scope. He showed me where to look, and he was right. Albireo is a double star, it is the head of the constellation Cygnus. The double contains one larger blue star and a smaller gold/yellow star.

Messier 4 (M4) Very faint but it was easy to find by centering on Antares and slowly moving the scope to the west using the 22mm. The 9mm brought out more detail of the bright core and was able to resolve individual stars around the core.

Messier 80 (M80) Was also fairly easy to find by centering on Antares and slowly moving the scope up to about half way between Antares and Acrab (Beta Scorpii) in constellation Scorpius. It has a bright core, but I could not resolve individual stars to the core. Also tried with the 7mm Nagler.

Messier 57 (M57), the Ring Nebula, is found in the constellation Lyra about halfway between the stars Sheliak and Sulafat. M57 resolved as a fuzzy bluish thick walled bubble with the 9mm.

Messier 20 (M20), the Trifid Nebula, and Messier 21 (M21), an open cluster. This was one of my favorite targets of the night. Both M20 and M21 could be seen in the same FOV of the 9mm Nagler. I was able to resolve the dark lanes that separate the Trifid Nebula.

Mizar and Alcor is another double found in the handle of the Big Dipper. Mizar is a large blue star and Alcor is a much smaller blue star.

I did not note any specific details about these clusters. Basically a BBAA member (Ted) was calling these off and I was going looking for them. Messier 10 (M10), Messier 11 (M11), Messier 22 (M22), and Messier 15 (M15)

Observation Log – Thursday, July 1, 2010

Date: 7/1/2010
Time: 9:15 PM – 11:00 PM EDT
Scope: Celestron C6-SGT and Astro-Tech AT66
Eye Pieces: 22mm Panoptic, 9mm Nagler, 7mm Nagler, 4mm Radian
Weather: Cool and clear
Moon: None

Alignment Stars: Arcturus and Spica
Calibration Stars: Antares, Deneb, and Altair

My observation plan was to observe a few globular clusters. I was looking for targets to possibly image over the weekend. The sky was very clear, I don’t think we have had skies this clear since early spring.

Since I had to get up early the next morning I did not get to spend as much time out as I would have liked. I spent most of the session observing M13 and M92. I also took a quick look at M4, M5, and M80.

From my observing notes:

Messier 13 (M13), the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, was the first on my list/plan. Was able to see the cluster with the 22mm Panoptic in the C6 and I was able to resolve individual stars on the outer area of the cluster. The heart of the cluster was fuzzy without detail. At 9mm I could resolve individual stars closer to the center of the cluster and the 7mm Nagler showed even greater detail of what appears to be 100s if not thousands of stars.

With the 7mm Nagler in the AT66 the view was similar to the 9mm in the C6. A wider area but good contrast and I was able to see individual stars close to the center of the globular. I tried the 4mm Radian but had a hard time focusing. The scope was pointing nearly straight up which caused the Crayford focuser on the AT66 to slip from the weight of the eye piece – no issued with 7mm Nagler (which is considerably lighter). There is a tension adjustment on the focuser but it requires a small allen wrench and I did not want to fiddle with it in the dark.

Messier 92 (M92) – With the 7mm in the C6 I was able to resolve individual stars. This globular cluster seems much more compact. More stars in a smaller area. Did not take up as much of the FOV in the 7mm eye piece as M13.

I got a quick view of M4, M5, and M80 with the 9mm Nagler and the C6. I did not spend the same amount of time on these that I did on M13 and M92. The one note that I did make about M4 was that it appeared to not contain as many stars as M13 and M92.

I had great views of each of these globulars and I think M4, M5, and M80 will be on my list of targets for imaging this weekend.

Before ending the session I took a quick look at Saturn. The planet was much lower in the sky, near the horizon, so I did not have the same issue with the 4mm Radian slipping in the AT66. I could easily resolve the ring shadow where it crossed the planet. The 4mm in the C6 also allowed me to see some good detail.

Observation Log – Saturday Evening, June 19, 2010

Date: 6/19/2010
Time: 9:30 PM – 11:30 PM EDT
Scope: Celestron C6-SGT and Astro-Tech AT66
Eye Pieces: 22mm Panoptic, 9mm Nagler, 25mm Plossl, 32mm Plossl
Weather: Warm, Humid, Few Passing Clouds, Breezy, Bright patio lights from neighbors
Moon: 1st Quarter

Alignment Stars: Spica and Arcturus
Calibration Stars: Vega and Antares

Did not really plan out my session. Even though I had a nap earlier in the day I was still kind of tired from being out in the morning, but I did not want to let the clear sky go to waste.

From my observing notes:

Messier 13 – The Great Cluster in Hercules – M13 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Hercules, I had to work a bit to get good focus using the 9mm in the C6. Once I was able to get focus it was very easy to resolve the individual stars outside of the clusters center. Also, able to resolve well with the 22mm. Focus was easier to obtain with the 22mm. While focusing on M13 with the 9mm Nagler I did notice a “mirror shift”, this is the first time I have experienced this in any of my scopes (not saying it has not happened before, this is just the first time I have noticed it).

I also observed M5, M10, M92, and M12. Messier 12 was the hardest of these to resolve.

Saturn looked very nice with the 9mm. The shadow of the planet’s rings were easily seen on the planet’s surface. The rings are still nearly edge on so there was no real detail to be seen. Three of Saturn’s moons were easily visible. I looked up the planet in Stellarium to figure out which moons we were seeing and they were Rhea, Tethys, and Titan. I am not very good a sketching but I did draw a small sketch of the moons locations so I could look it up.

The kids came out for a bit to look at Saturn , Mars, and the Moon. My son Johnathan stay out with me for most of the time I was out, which was cool since he is generally not into it.

We tried to look at M81 and M82 but both of these appeared as just smudges. M81 had a bright center but no detail and M82 showed no detail, just a smudge of faint light. I am not sure if it was because of the amount of light pollution or if these targets are just better suited for the 8″ scope. I have observed both of these with good detail in the 8″.

Around 11:30 we were over the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes so we called it a night.

The Leo Triplet – M65, M66, and NGC3628 – March 20, 2010

The Leo Triplet – M65, M66, and NGC3628 – March 20, 2010
Camera: Nikon D60 Prime Focus – ISO800
Scope: AT66ED
Focal Length: 400mm
Exposure: 14 x 2 minutes
Guided: No
Stacked with DeepSky Stacker 3.3.2

NGC3628 to the left, M65 top right, M66 bottom right.

M81 and M82 on March 20, 2010

Pretty nice night. Pretty clear, a few high thin clouds passing every once in a while, and the air was fairly still. The temperature was around 60 the whole time I was out. The seeing is generally much better when it is cool and crisp outside, but it sure was nice to be out with out having to wear ten layers.

Here is an image of M81 (in the center) and M82 (to the left) I took last night.

This image is a stack of 18 2 minute exposures at ISO800 with my Nikon D60 through my AstroTech 66ED.

The polar alignment routine on the Celestron GOTO is pretty slick. I do a manual rough polar alignment using the polar alignment scope in the mount, then I do the two star alignment with a calibration start, then use the polar alignment on the hand controller to get it dialed in, then reset to the indexes and do another 2 star align – even though this process takes a bit of time, you do end up with a pretty good polar alignment.

I took the time to get a good polar alignment, but did not feel like setting up the laptop and everything for the guide camera. I was not going to do any imaging at all, but since I did have a a pretty good alignment and it was clear, I decided to go ahead and attach the camera to the 66 and take some shots while I observed visually through the C8. The alignment was good enough that out of the 20 2 minute exposures I took, 18 of them were good enough to stack. Next time I will set up the autoguider and try for longer exposures.

I also took a few exposures of M66 and M65, but I have not finished stacking and processing them yet. I will probably post them in a few days.

First Guided Image – Flame Nebula and Horsehead Nebula – January 9, 2010

It was very, very, cold on Saturday night, but it was also very clear. I have been wanting to take some time to try out my new StarShoot Autoguider that I got for Christmas, and it is pretty cool. I still have somethings to learn about it but these are the first 5 minute exposures I have been able to take.

Since a few weeks ago I got my first views of the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) and the Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) I decide to try and get an image of this area through my AT66ED using my Nikon D60 at Prime focus and here is what I ended up with:

1/9/2010 – Suffolk, VA
Flame Nebula – NGC 2024
Horsehead Nebula – IC 434
Camera: Nikon D60 Prime Focus – ISO800
Scope: AT66ED
Focal Length: 400mm
Exposure: 7 x 5 minutes
Guided: PHD Guiding
Stacked with DeepSky Stacker 3.3.2

The flickr page for this image can be found here.

I think it turned out pretty good. You can still see some movement in the stars but compared to previous unguided exposures I think they look awesome. I took nine 5 minute exposures and 7 of them were good enough to stack, unguided I usually end up with about half of even my 2 minute exposures no good for stacking. I am looking forward to learning more about the guiding software and getting even longer exposures.

Tonight is suppose to be cool and clear also so I hope to get out and have another look around.

Friday was Cool and Fairly Clear, First Pics with the AT66ED

Observations from Friday, December 11, 2009

Friday night was very cold and fairly clear – just a few high thin clouds passing through every so often. I was out for a few hours and had the chance to take a few images with my new AT66ED scope that I picked up a month or so ago.

I was able to get scope pretty well aligned fairly quickly and then I was really just focusing on, well, getting decent focus with the my D60 through the scope. A few weeks ago I picked up a
Orion 12.5mm Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece. This was the first chance I had to try it out and it really helped in getting the goto aligned.

Besides just taking some time to observe, I was just trying to get a feel for taking images with the new scope. Here are a couple of the images I captured and I think these are some of the best I have done so far.

Check out the image I got of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. I actually took about 20 minutes worth of exposures but only 4 of the 2 minute exposures really came out well enough to stack. You can really start to see the dust lanes in our large neighbor. The satellite galaxies M110 and M32 are also both visible in this picture. I can’t wait to image this again.

Then the Pleiades or M45, this image could still use some work, but it is the first stack of images that I have taken of the star cluster where you can really start to see some of the blue nebulosity around the stars in the cluster. The Pleiades will definitely be a target of future observations and images.

Original sizes of the above pics can be found on my flickr page here.

I also spent some time visually observing M42 and several other targets in Orion, such as the Horse Head and Flame Nebula. I was able to make out both of these in the eyepiece but not with very much detail. Again more targets that I cannot wait to spend some more time on.

Mars rose in the east sometime after 11:00 or so and I spent a little time checking out the red planet. I will spend more time checking Mars out again.

Friday was a great night for star gazing. While I was out I also saw one really bright Geminid meteor streak overhead. The rest of the weekend has been cloudy and rainy.

Just a quick thanks to Flintstone Stargazing for the Quick DeepSky Stacker Tutorial, very helpful in setting things up to stack my images. I was not able to “Mosaic” mode for some reason, just showed streaks through the images, but in “Standard” mode I was able to produce the images above by following his other guidelines.

M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy – 4/27/2009

I took this image of M51 the Whirlpool Galaxy on 4/27/2009. It is a single 2 minute prime focus image.

I wish I had been able to get a few more. I took several other images that have things (satellites, meteors, plane, ???) streaking through them.

And here is another one, hard to see but the streak is just to the right of it.