Saturday, November 23, 2024
Astro Anarchy get published
After about three years without shooting new material from the night sky I'm finally back in business.
I had some health issues and after three operations I'm starting to be good as new again. I have also built a new imaging system, it took about two years to get it up and running.
I was really amazed about the amount of publicity my work got after I publish my first photos from the new setup. Here are some of the publication, couple of them are in finish only, sorry.
My TV-interview in live talk show, Arto Nyberg
You can see the show here: https://areena.yle.fi/1-70235645
PETA PIXEL
World's leading independent photography, videography, and imaging technology publication
"This Astrophotographer Captures the Universe Unlike Anyone Else"
JEREMY GRAY
You can read the article here:
MY MODERN MET
5 million visitors coming to our site each month, looking for articles on art, design, photography, architecture, science, technology, environmental issues, and more.
"Remarkable Astrophotography Captures the Sublime Beauty of Universe"
Jessica Stewart on November 11, 2024
You can read the article here:
AN INTERVIEW BY RADIO KALEVA
"Olemme kaikki supernovien lapsia"
"Olemme kaikki supernovien lapsia"
Haastattelun voi kuunnella täältä sivun lopusta:
https://www.kaleva.fi/olemme-kaikki-supernovien-lapsia-oululainen-tahtik/11396012
https://www.kaleva.fi/olemme-kaikki-supernovien-lapsia-oululainen-tahtik/11396012
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Kuva: Maiju Pohjanheimo
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Methuselah Nebula, MWP1, project finalized
Planetary Nebulae are like candy of the cosmos, small and colorful treats to the eye.
MWP1 is a Planetary Nebula in constellation Cygnus, the Swan, it's rarely imaged and now I know why.
This is a unusually old, unusually shaped and unusually large planetary nebula, it also was one of the most difficult targets I have captured so far.
When I saw the first 20 min. exposure, it looked like there is plenty of nothing in the frame, this is dim to an extreme. I have added full size 20 min sub frames of H-alpha and O-III at the end of this blog post so you can see yourself how much data there is.
MWP1, Methuselah Nebula
Click for a full size image
Click for a full size image
Photo is in natural color palette from the light emitted by an ionized hydrogen (H-alpha)
and an ionized oxygen (O-III)
MWP1 in O-III light only
Click for a full size image
The structure of MWP1 in light of an ionized oxygen (O-III)
INFO
This is one of the largest planetary nebulae known, it spans about 15 light-years. Based on its expansion rate the nebula has an age of 150 thousand years, a cosmic blink of an eye in the 10 billion year life of a sun-like star. But planetary nebulae represent a very brief final phase in stellar evolution, as the nebula's central star shrugs off its outer layers to become a hot white dwarf. In fact, planetary nebulae ordinarily only last for 10 to 20 thousand years.
The central star of the nebula is on of the hottest stars known. It's so hot that it's producing large amounts of X-rays
Source NASA APOD
Scale in the Sky
The white circle show the apparent size of the Moon in the same scale, this is a large object as a Planetary nebula. Moon has a angular dimension of 30 arcminutes, that's 0.5 degrees.
Animation
Technical details
Processing workflow
Image acquisition, MaximDL
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2, Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics, Celestron EDGE 14" with 0.7 Focal reducer
Mount, MesuMount Mark II
Cameras, Imaging camera Apogee Alta U9000M and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and SXV-AO Active Optics @ 5hz
filters, Astrodon 5nm H-alpha and 3nm O-III
Total exposure time 24h
H-alpha, 21 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 8 h
O-III, 48x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 16h
A single, full size, 20 min H-alpha and O-III exposure
Click for a full scale image.
Both images below are jpg photos of a single full size, 20 min. FIT-format 16 bit image.
Photos are calibrated with darks and bias corrected flats and are heavily stretched to show even a hint of the actual nebula.
H-alpha
O-III
Sunday, October 20, 2024
A start of the new imaging project, MWP1, the Methuselah Nebula
MWP1 ( Motch-Werner-Pakull 1, PN G080.3-10.4, PK 080-10.1) is a very old, dim and diffused planetary nebula in constellation Cygnus, the Swan. It's one of the largest planetary nebula known, it spans about 15 light years of space. The apparent size in the sky is 15.52 x 13,13 arcminutes. (Full moon has a diameter of 30 arcminutes) The estimated age of the nebula is 150.000 years.
MWP1 is a very usually shaped, unusually large, and unusually old, planetary nebulae. The progenitor star is also one of the hottest stars known, so hot it is producing large amounts of X-rays. There are not very many photos out of this difficult target.
This is a start of the imaging project with my new imaging system. So far I have shot 15 hours of light from an ionized oxygen, O-III. I'll shoot two other emission lines, H-alpha and S-II, when ever the weather allows it. The triple ionized oxygen emits blueish light, in this image the O-III emission is colorized to blue. I can produce a real three band color image after I have collected enough light for ionized hydrogen and sulfur.
MWP1, the Methuselah Nebula
Click for a large image
MWP1 planetary nebula in light of an ionized oxygen only.Technical details
Processing workflow
Image acquisition, MaximDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics, Celestron EDGE 14" with 0.7 Focal reducer
Mount, MesuMount Mark II
Cameras, Imaging camera Apogee Alta U9000M and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and SXV-AO Active Optics @ 5hz
filters, Astrodon 3nm O-III
Total exposure time
O-III, 45x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 15h
A single full scale 20 min O-III exposure
Click for a full scale image.
Friday, October 18, 2024
NOCTURNE EXIHIBITION
First exhibition for a while, this time in my home town Oulu.
A new Art Gallery, AudioGalleria, has it's second exhibition build around my photos.
The exhibition starts at Saturday19.10 with opening party at 18.00 - 20.00, you all are welcome to enjoy my cosmic nature photographs and complimentary sparkling wine!
Ps.
At Fathers day, Sunday 10.11 at 16.00 I will give a public presentation about my work in Valvesali at down town Oulu. All fathers and other guests are welcome.
After the dry lecture we serve complimentary sparkling wine in nearby AudioGalleria.
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
WR 134, The Rising Phoenix
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This is the second light for my new imaging setup, the first light image can be seen HERE
For years I have wanted to shoot a long focal length photo of this amazing mass ejecting star in constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Past five years I have done short focal length imaging with camera optics, now it's time to get closer.
I spent several clear nights to capture light emitted by an ionized elements in this gas formation. (H-alpha, S-II and O-III) For compositional reasons I ended up to a two panel mosaic image. Total exposure time is 23h.
When processing the final image I couldn't be noticing how much this formation looked like a mystical creature, the Phoenix Bird. I rarely use any other than official catalog numbers as a name of my photos but this time I simply had to name this composition to "Rising Phoenix".
When art meets science, the results can be beautiful. It can become something more than either of them on their own can ever be.
WR 134 as a Rising Phoenix
Click for a large image, 2500x1300 pixels photo shows the WR 134 like never seen before.
The photo is in mapped colors from an ionized elements, H-alpha=green, S-II=red and O-III=blue, Original resolution is 12.000 x 7000 pixelsA Closer Look
Click for a large image
RISING PHOENIX PAREIDOLIA
Click for a large image
This image shows how I see the Phoenix Bird in this image
Info about the WR 134
WR 134 is a variable Wolf-Rayet star located around 6,000 light years away from us in the constellation of Cygnus. It's surrounded by a faint bubble of glowing ionized oxygen, blown out by the intense radiation and fast solar wind from the star. The star has five times the radius of the sun and it's 400,000 times more luminous.
My Wide Field Photo of the Area
Click for a large image, ~2500x2000 pixels
WR 134 can be seen just up left from the center, at right from the middle lays the Tulip Nebula,
Sh2-101. I took this narrowband photo with Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens @ full open.
The camera was a Apogee Alta U16 with an Astrodon narrowband filter set, exposure time around 10h. This is a one frame image. Note, the "noise" in the background is not a noise, there are millions of stars
This photo is a part of very large mosaic image,
can you find the WR 134 from THIS massive panorama of Northern Milky Way
WR 134, the Rising Phoenix in visual spectrum
Click for a large image, ~2500x1300 pixels
The photo is in visual colors from an ionized elements, H-alpha=red, S-II=red and O-III=blue
A Starless Image of WR 134 Animated
Click for a large image
An Animation about emission layers
Click for a large image
Click for a large image
In this animation the blue O-III channel can be seen alone without other two emission lines in image, H-alpha and S-II, and in a last frame, without other stars but WR134 visible
Technical details
Processing workflow
Image acquisition, MaximDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics, Celestron EDGE 14" with 0.7 Focal reducer
Mount, MesuMount Mark II
Cameras, Imaging camera Apogee Alta U9000M and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and SXV-AO Active Optics @ 5hz
filters, Astrodon 5nm H-alpha, 3nm S-II and 3nm O-III
Total exposure time 23h
H-alpha, 15 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 5 h
O-III, 45x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 15h
S-II, 9 x 1200 s. binned 2x2 = 3h
A single, full scale, 20 min O-III exposure
Click for a full scale image.
This is a dim target, 1200s O-III exposure doesn't show much about the O-III formation around the star WR 134.
This is one of the test shots after the collimation procedure. Exposure time is 1200s with 3nm O-III filter. Image is calibrated with Dark Frame and Bias corrected Flat Frame. Target is WR 134 in Cygnus. Stars are pinpoint from corner to corner. Optical analysis of this frame can be found at end of THIS blogpost
PS,
Terminator Arrives from the Future
My wife saw the new photo and pointed out, that the blue formation looks like an electric bubble used for a time traveling, as seen in a Terminator movies.
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Wednesday, October 9, 2024
FIRST LIGHT FOR MY NEW IMAGING SETUP
After a couple of years I'm able to publish a bran new photo!
This is a first light to my new imaging setup, it took couple of years to get it up and running.
I selected a relatively bright target since I wanted to test the system as soon as possible. The Pelican Nebula in constellation Cygnus, the Swan, is my first target.
The new system has a focal length of 2730mm with a massive 0.7 focal reducer for the Celestron EDGE 14" telescope. The new camera has 12 micron pixel size and it gives me an image scale of 0.91 arc seconds/pixel. (That's perfect for my seeing conditions.) The field of view spans 46.1 x 46.1 arcminutes of sky. (For a scale, Full Moon covers 30x30 arcminutes of sky)
The native resolution of the Apogee Alta U9000M camera is 3056x3056 pixels. I'm using a stacking method that doubles the measures by using the "Drizzle" while imaging. The final image is then 6112x6112 pixels.
Only five hours of light from an ionized hydrogen (H-alpha) is used for this photo. Other two color channels, O-III and S-II, are borrowed from my older long focal length photo of this target taken with Celestron EDGE 11" telescope.
Pelican Nebula
Click the photo to see a 2000x2000 pixel version
Click the image to see a full size version
This photo is in mapped colors from light from an ionized elements, hydrogen = green, sulfur=red and oxygen=blue. (H-alpha, S-II and O-III)
A Full Size H-alpha Frame
Click the image to see a full size version, 3056x3056 pixels
Click the image to see a full size version, 3056x3056 pixels
This is a stretched stack of fifteen 20min. calibrated H-alpha frames. Collimation wasn't perfect at the time so some oval stars can be seen in lower right corner. Now the collimation is under one arcseconds and the whole frame has pinpoint stars from corner to corner. (It's a large CCD, diagonal is 52mm) Optical analysis at end of this blog post,
Herbig-Haro Objects
Herbig–Haro (HH) objects are bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars. They are formed when narrow jets of partially ionized gas ejected by stars collide with nearby clouds of gas and dust at several hundred kilometers per second. Herbig–Haro objects are commonly found in star-forming regions. (Source, Wikipedia)
I have labeled Herbig-Haro Objects in this closeup from my photo.
Technical details
Processing workflow
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics
Celestron EDGE 14" with 0.7 Focal reducer
Mount
MesuMount Mark II
Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U9000M and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and SXV-AO Active Optics @ 6hz
Astrodon filters,
5nm H-alpha 3nm S-II and 3nm O-III
Total exposure time
H-alpha, 15 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 5 h (Data from new setup)
O-III, 3x 1200 s, binned 2x2 = 1h (Older data with 11" Celestron EDGE)
S-II, 3 x 1200 s. binned 2x2 = 1h (Older data with 11" Celestron EDGE
Saturday, September 28, 2024
NEW SETUP FOR MY ASTRONOMICAL NATURE IMAGING WORK
I haven't publish much new images in past two three years since I have had some health problems. Now I'm good as new and can start working again. Past two years I have been slowly building a new imaging platform. I have done some shorter focal length work past six years, now it's time to go closer again.
OPTICS
System is build around Celestron EDGE 14" telescope, I selected this scope due to its light gathering capacity, 356mm diameter and 3910mm native focal length (This very large and heavy 0.7 Reducer is especially made for the EDGE 14") One main difference to normal Celestron EDGE telescope is that I have added a secondary mirror focuser (by Optec) to get rid of a mirror flop. It can be a problem, especially with a heavy mirror. Bottom line, this scope has an excellent optical quality. There is some optical analysis and a single full scale 20min frame at end of this post.
In future I can add a "HyperStar system" to replace secondary mirror and use this telescope as a fast f2 astrograph.
Secondary mirror focuser, Note a curved vane for the flat power/data cable, no diffraction spikes!
The focuser is made all aluminium, it's really robust and easy to collimate.
The focuser is made all aluminium, it's really robust and easy to collimate.
MOUNT
I ended up to a MESU Mount MARK II since it has 100kg capacity at imaging work with a periodic error less than 4 arcseconds peak-to-peak, impressive numbers indeed. It also has zero lash back due to its friction drive system. One of the nice features is the 80mm diameter channel for all of the cords, trough the Ra and Dec axes, no more dragging cords!
The pillar I ordered with the mount is bended knee pillar type, no meridian flip is needed and telescope can track whole sky without stopping. The pillar came in easy to handle parts and assembly was very straight forward, the assembled pillar is very rigid under the weight of heavy telescope, counter weights and accessories.
Mesu mount is absolute beautiful engineering work. Support from manufacture is also very good. I had some minor problems with settings at first but they get solved in no time after we went it trough with remote connection, while on site. Bottom line, money wise this mount is a real bargain, if compared its features to any other brand or model of mount.
Bended Knee Pillar angle at my location 65 degree North.
Counter weights are stainless steal weight lifting weights. (~35kg)
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CAMERA
The Main camera is a "new" Apogee Alta U9000M with Apogee Filter wheel. It's a second hand camera originally used for the microscopic work and it looks like a bran new, There wasn't any mechanical shutter but I moved a shutter from my old Apogee Alta U16 to this new camera. (My old camera died to an old age)
The camera has 12 micron pixels, it's a perfect match to this optical configuration giving an image scale of 0.91 arcseconds per pixel. The full image spans 46.1 x 46.1 arcminutes of sky. (One degree is 60 arcminutes and Full Moon spans around 30 arcminutes of sky)
INSTRUMENT ROTATOR
At first time I have added an instrument rotator to the imaging path. I haven't use any rotator earlier since there is always some flexure.
The Wanderer Astro Rotator Pro has absolute zero flexure by the manufacture. I was very skeptical to this since if it moves, it will flex. It turned out, that there is a patented system based on neodymium magnets around the light path holding everything tightly together when rotator moves.
After measuring carefully everything with the CCD-inspector software from test exposures under the starfield I can say, it really has no flexures at all. It's only 18 mm thick and fit to my limited back focus nicely. The rotator can handle flawlessly all the heavy load I have placed behind it.
ACTIVE OPTIC UNIT
Maybe an overkill but I have added an active optics unit to the light path. It's SXV-AO from Starlight Xpress UK.
I have had really good experiences doing long focal length imaging with AO unit during the years. It doesn't correct the actual seeing so much but it corrects every small or big error from heat bubbles and vibrations from heavy traffic, wind, etc. and it does that really really fast.
It's as easy to use as any OAG, especially after I had an instrument rotator. With 14" scope, I can guide around 10 HZ by using mag 11 guide star. The MESU Mount is really good but there is lots of mass to move when guiding corrections are made. With AO there is just a small refracting glass element to move instead of telescope and heavy accessories.
DATA & POWER BOX
An other new accessory is power and data box from Wanderer Astro. It makes the system less chaotic with all the data and power cords. Also controlling power and data connections can be done remotely in one software. It can handle nearly 20 amp at peak power.
DEW BUSTER
There is also my old Dew Buster installed to the telescope. it can keep the temperature just little over the dew point, this prevent the heat current. Raising warm air inside the tube will ruin the image, if heater is even slightly too warm.
FAN
I added a 70 mm computer fan to the telescopes air went to reduce the cool down time. There is an air filter in the went to prevent the dust getting inside the OTA. I can control the fan speed by the Power Box software.
QHY POLEMASTER
This is a new addition too, I was amazed how easy it was to use. Polar align took maybe 15 min and it's easy to redo at any time needed. here is a REVIEW about this little helper,
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Telescope elements labeled
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QHY Polemaster, lens cover removed and ready for the action.
LENS COVER
As a last item here is a lens cover for Celestron EDGE 14" telescope. It's a simple and a must accessory to prevent dust in the collector lens. How ever, in my case there is a secondary mirror focuser sticking out and it prevents to use the standard Celestron aluminium cover over the telescope.
I solved the problem by cutting a circular hole in the lens cover. After that, I bought a steel bowl from local market ( it was just 5 € or about 5 $) I sprayed it matt black and glued it to the cover with an elastic, rubber like, superglue.
A steel bowl glued over the hole in the lens cover.
AN UPDATE, 09.10.2024,
THE FIRST LIGHT IMAGE
THE FIRST LIGHT IMAGE
Click for a full size image, ~2000x2000 pixels
https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2024/10/first-light-for-my-new-imaging-setup.html
OPTICAL ANALYSIS FROM THE CCDINSPECTOR APP
The optical collimation is as good as I get it in my seeing conditions and the optical tube hold it perfectly since the main mirror is always locked down and focusing is done with the Optec Secondary Mirror Focuser only.
This is a 3D-plot of field curvature from the CCDInspector app of Celestron Edge 14" with 0.7 Focal Reducer and Apogee Alta U9000M with 12 micron pixels. This configuration produce a very flat field and stars are sharp from edge to edge in the whole field. This is impressive especially since the CCD in Alta U9000M is so large, about 37x37mm.
A single full scale 20 min O-III exposure used for the optical analysis
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