Monday, February 10, 2014
All my images from the Spring season 2014
This is a small collection of my images, shot at Spring 2014. There are not many images and new ones aren't coming anytime soon, since my main telescope system has toasted beyond any repair. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out, how to restore my observatory to an imaging condition with a very limited assets.
I managed to get some really rare images though. I think, that both supernova remnant images, Sharpless 221 and G65.3+5.7 SNR, are the first three band color images, showing the whole remnant, in the world! If someone is able to find other images, I'm very interested to hear about it. Both SNR images are kind of long projects. Exposure time for the G65.3+5.7 SNR 38 hours and for the Sharpless 221 was 33 hours, with the planetary nebula Sharpless 216, 58 hours. (Image at the bottom of the poster.)
Main work for the season was the large, ten panels mosaic of the constellation Cepheus. Every pane is shot three times to have a narrow band color composition. Total exposure time was 92 hours, it includes shots from six different years.
All images from the Spring season -14 are shot with the Canon EF200mm f1.8 camera lens (full open), QHY9 a cooled astronomical camera and the Baader narrowband filters, H-a, S-II and O-III.
All my images from the Spring season 2014 as a poster
Click to see at full scale, 1600x2600 and 5MB
Images are in Natural color palette from the emission of ionized elements,
R=Hydrogen + Sulfur, G=Oxygen and B=Oxygen + Hydrogen.
Ps.
All my astronomical photos can be seen HERE.
Monday, February 3, 2014
A zoom in series of the Sharpless 132
Now and then I have published some zoom in series of various objects imaged by me.
The purpose is to show the apparent scale in the sky. Beside that, this series shows nicely the fractal nature of our universe. Series are possible to make, since I have shot many objects with various focal lengths.
Like this one is shot with 200mm, 300mm and ~2000mm focal lengths. Images are from my large mosaic image of the constellation Cepheus.
The Sharpless 132 (Sh2-132), a study about the scale in the sky
Note. A circle, size of the Moon, in the images as a scale. (An apparent scale of the Moon is 0,5 degrees, or 30 arc minutes.)
Note. A circle, size of the Moon, in the images as a scale. (An apparent scale of the Moon is 0,5 degrees, or 30 arc minutes.)
All images are in Mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements,
R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Orientation in constellation Cepheus
An orientation in constellation Cepheus. The mosaic image covers an area of ~18x10 dgrees.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
A poster format collection from the Cepheus project
In this collection of my images, the objects shown in a large mosaic of the constellation Cepheus, are collected together. There are indicator lines to show the actual location of object in a large context. As can be seen, I have shot many objects in various focal lengths.
The Cepheus project was my last published image before the major break down of my imaging equipment.
The Cepheus project was my last published image before the major break down of my imaging equipment.
The Cepheus collection
Be sure to click the image to see it in full scale! (2400 x 2000 pixels and 4,5 MB)
An Original blog post of The Cepheus project can be seen HERE.
Small images clockwise, starting from the top left
- Cave Nebula, a closeup: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/12/the-cave-nebula_9.html
- Cave Nebula, a wide field shot: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/01/sh2-155-cave-nebula-reprocessed.html
- Sharpless 140: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/02/dim-and-large-nebula-in-cepheus.html
- Sharpless 129: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2013/12/a-start-of-new-project-cepheus-mosaic.html
- Elephant's Trunk Nebula: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/12/elephants-trunk-nebula-reprocessed.html
- IC 1396: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/10/ic-1396-home-of-elephants-trunk-nebula.html
- Sharpless 132, a wide field shot: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/02/sh2-132-project-finalized.html
- Sharpless 132, a closeup: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2013/10/the-second-image-of-autumn-season-2013.html
- The Wizard Nebula: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/07/sh2-142-wizard-nebula-reprocessed.html
- Sharpless 157: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/03/sh2-157-reprocessed.html
- Bubble Nebula: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/03/bubble-nebula-reprocessed.html
Friday, January 31, 2014
It's over, I cant do my loved astronomical imaging anymore
Sad news, my old Meade LX200 GPS 12" telescope gave up and died.
Two nights ago, when I was imaging, my telescope stopped tracking and gave an error message "Motor Stalled".
It turned to be a fatal problem, the control board of Ra motor was fried. There is no way to fix it myself, the board has several layers and lots of microscopic components. This is a very old scope and it has been under a heavy usage in a very extreme weather conditions. Replacement parts are very hard to find, since this telescope is not manufactured any more. Even if I managed to have needed parts, it'll take the rest of the season to put all up and running again.
This instrument has been way below my level as an astronomical photographer for a years. Lots of desperate looking DIY solutions was used to make this old scope work as a some kind of imaging platform. I really need a new mount and a better optics.
I can't afford to buy any new instruments, it looks like my days are over now. I'm not going to buy any second rate stuff, I'll rather be without, than start fighting against constant malfunctions ones again. I have spent countless hours outside, soldering some bad connectors, in a freezing wind and a bellow -20 centigrade temperatures to fix my scope, not any more.
The only way to solve this is trying to find a sponsor. It won't be easy and it might never happen.
An update, February 02. 2014
After a careful study of damages in my scope, I found out, that not only the Ra motor controller card was toasted. Also the motherboard, Ra motor and its encoder are burned and partly smelted too. This means, that the whole system is beyond repair, least with any reasonable costs.
After a careful study of damages in my scope, I found out, that not only the Ra motor controller card was toasted. Also the motherboard, Ra motor and its encoder are burned and partly smelted too. This means, that the whole system is beyond repair, least with any reasonable costs.
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Images, taken with this deceased scope can be seen HERE.
A collection of images with the Meade LX200 GPS 12" telescope, Baader narrowband filters and the QHY9 astronomical camera
(Be sure to click the image to see it in full scale)
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