Yesterday evening presented me with a wonderful chance to photograph Venus and Jupiter as they both slowly made their way towards the western horizon. The shot below was a 1/3 second exposure taken using a 70mm focal length at ISO 100 with an f/stop of 5.6. I adjusted the white balance to shaded and set the quality mode to RAW. The image was then post processed by adjusting the white balance and applying a soft focus effect in Photoshop.
Once I had taken a good number of exposures through the a200, I thought it would be interesting to sketch the two planets through the 25×100 Strathspey binoculars. My intention here was to combine the two sketches into one final wide field image just as you can see below. The 25×100s don’t offer the best observational capabilities when viewing planets, but the final sketch offers a little more depth than the actual photograph above. I hope you enjoy both.
Tags: Callisto, DSLR, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Jupiter, Photoshop, Strathspey 25x100, Venus, X1 Sgr
Posted in Astro Art, Astrophotography, Observing | 4 Comments »
Tuesday morning’s off-track observing session left me a little disappointed but it hadn’t diminished my determination to nail down M44 and M67 in Cancer as well as M76 and NGC 1499 (The California Nebula) in Perseus. As Tuesday’s unsettled sky wavered in and out of clear spells and overcast gloom, I slowly felt any chance of another observing session slipping away; how wrong could I be?
Well, a lot as it so happens! As I glanced out of the window for the final time late on Tuesday night I saw that the clouds had all but drifted away and large patches of clear sky had managed to break through. Taking a chance, I waited till the constellation Cancer had cleared the roof tops and then headed out at 01:30 UT early on Wednesday morning.
Unlike my previous session I decided to use the 10×50 Bresser bins to find my quarry rather than the hefty Strathspey 25×100s. Moving out into the middle of the back yard I turned to the south east where I could see the mighty Leo rising into the sky. Moving slightly to the west of Leo I began scanning the sky for Cancer unaided. It was a little hard to make out against the orange haze being cast up by the local light pollution, but I eventually found Acubens and Al Tarf, the two stars that make up the lower portion of the constellation. Moving up from here I could just about see Asellus Borealis, and by using a little averted vision I then managed to make out Asellus Australis. This was the important part of my search as I knew finding these two stars would lead me to M44, The Beehive Cluster.
Reaching for my 10×50 bins I tracked back across my original path in the sky and star hopped my way to The Beehive. It really was a fantastic sight and well worth the effort. The cluster itself showed up as a myriad of glowing stars that traced out an almost spherical shape in the sky. A beautiful DSO and one that I’m sure I’ll get around to sketching very soon. Unfortunately a small blanket of cloud slowly drifted over Cancer forcing me to temporarily postpone my search for the smaller cluster M67.
Instead I turned my attention to Collinder 70, otherwise known as Orion’s Belt. Now, I didn’t have a clue that this was an open cluster of stars until I read one of The Rev Aaron’s posts over at Caffeinated Astronomy. This is a truly amazing Deep Sky Object on a par with the Pleiades and is really best viewed through binoculars so you can truly savor it’s delights. From here I moved up Orion to Collinder 69, the group of stars that form Orion’s head. This open cluster doesn’t offer the same WOW factor as Collinder 70, but it’s a beautiful little cluster all the same.
By this point the clouds over Cancer had been swept away eastwards and I could resume my search for the open cluster M67. Having found Acubens, the search for this Messier object was quite easy and in no time at all I was gazing upon this distant DSO. Now this open cluster was a lot smaller and a lot fainter, but was observable none the less.
By about 02:03 UT I decided to turn my attention to Perseus and that’s when something very bright exploded in the sky above me. This actually made me physically jump, but It lasted all of two to three seconds and was then gone. I never actually saw what is was, but I’m sure I heard a crackling or hissing sound that vanished with the light. My best guess is that it was a meteorite fireball, but I can’t be sure because I didn’t actually observe it (more’s the pity).
Feeling a little bewildered I returned to Perseus and began ambling over the constellation towards the location of NGC 1499. Gazing through the 10×50s just above Xi Persei I could make out a rich star field but unfortunately no nebulosity. To be honest I wasn’t expecting to see that much detail but it was still a worth while view.
M76 or The little Dumbbell Nebula as it is also affectionately known was the final stop on my short list and try as I might I couldn’t locate this DSO. It was only later on once I was back inside that I queried the exact location of M76 in Stellarium. I could have kicked myself, I was trying to find M76 around the locality of Tau Persei instead of Phi Persei!
Having no luck with M76 I ended my session by rambling over the north western sky. First up was the stunning Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869 and NGC 884) which I have neglected over the last month or so. From here I worked my way down to the beautiful and often over looked open cluster M34. Finally I let the binoculars land on the small and elusive M33 or The Triangulum Galaxy as it is also known. I always find that this galaxy varies in brightness, something which I have put down to it’s position in my light polluted skies.
As I prepared to call time on my session I took in an unaided view of Saturn rising from the south east into the early morning sky. After spending a few moments taking in the distant but bright point of light of this planetary marvel I turned just in time to catch of small, faint meteorite pay me a ‘flying visit’ as it glanced the handle of Ursa Major and disappeared in to the east. Bidding farewell to my fleeting astral visitor I decided to wrap things up at around 02:30 UT and head indoors to warm up.
Tags: Acubens, Al Tarf, Asellus Australis, Asellus Borealis, Bresser 10x50, Cancer, Collinder 69, Collinder 70, Fireball, Galaxies, Leo, M33, M34, M44, M67, M76, Meteorite, NGC 1499, NGC 869, NGC 884, Orion, Perseus, Phi Persei, Saturn, Stellarium, Tau Persei, The Beehive Cluster, The California Nebula, The Little Dumbbell Nebula, The Triangulum Galaxy, Triangulum, Ursa Major, Xi Persei
Posted in Observing | 1 Comment »
Inspired by my short lunar jaunt over as well as around the lava flows and craters of the Mare Imbrium last week, I thought it would be fun to produce a 3d map in Blender. Unlike the MOLA (Mars Orbilter Laser Altimeter) data that you can easily lay your hands on for producing renders in Blender and Terragen, no such lunar data is available for download as far as I am aware. This meant I was forced to improvise using a NASA photograph that I processed in Photoshop and then used to generate a height map in blender. It’s not 100% precise, but it’s a good enough facsimle so that the major landmarks can still be made out. Anyway, it was fun to produce and perhaps it might even be of some use.
Tags: Blender, Mare Imbrium, Moon
Posted in Astro Art | 4 Comments »
The skies were clear, the seeing was good but some how my observing session early on Tuesday morning quickly became undone. I headed outside at 01:30 UT and set up the tripod and mounted the 25×100 bins. My session, I decided, was going to be split between the constellations Perseus and Cancer; the sole intention here was to grab a few Messier objects to add to the list as well as take a closer look at the double star Eta Perseii and NGC 1499 (The California Nebula).
The first hurdle that became apparent was the position of Perseus. Riding high in the sky I realized that observing was going to be difficult. Not a problem if your a scope user, but if your using bins then be prepared for some major neck strain! I was simply left with two choices: try to observe Perseus at this position or give up - I chose the latter. Reluctantly I moved on to my next target: the constellation of Cancer.
Turning the binoculars south east I began hunting down Cancer but soon found myself sinking in the nebulous orange miasma that light pollution produces. Here I was looking for M44: The Beehive Cluster or Praesepe as it is also known. I was also set on observing M67, a condensed open cluster that can be found near the star Acubens. The only problem was that Cancer was playing hide and seek with me. I could easily make out the top of Leo as it slowly rose out of the east, but try as I might, Cancer just eluded me.
Looking on the positive side of the session, I had an impressive view of the heavens with The Pleiades, The Hyades and The Orion Nebula easily visible with the naked eye while the constellations Auriga, Taurus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Draco, Ursa Major, Leo and Orion were all on show and looking stunning. To add to this, at 02:00 UT I also managed to catch Saturn climbing over the roof tops which is always a pleasing sight, however, my 25×100 bins don’t resolve any real detail on the planet itself, so I was content just to gaze at it unaided.
By 02:45 UT I packed up and headed for the warmth of my bed. I was disappointed with my lack of success with Perseus and Cancer, but putting that aside I did enjoy the chance to be back out star gazing. The lack of observing flexibility has got me thinking about investing in a new telescope, but I’ve not decided anything firm yet. For the moment It’s really just a case of wait and see.
Tags: Acubens, Andromeda, Auriga, Cancer, Cassiopeia, Collinder 50, Draco, Eta Perseii, Leo, M42, M44, M45, M67, M76, Orion, Praesepe, Saturn, Taurus, The Beehive Cluster, The Hyades, The Orion Nebula, The Pleiades, Ursa Major
Posted in Observing | 3 Comments »
