Thursday, September 3, 2015
Something new! My first light from The Deep Sky West (DSW) remote observatory
The imaging season, up here 65N, hasn't start yet. I have had a wonderful opportunity to use couple of remote telescopes. One in Canary islands and the other in New Mexico. I'll publish more images from both telescopes soon.
The first photo published is from Deep Sky West observatory. It's taken under a very dark sky. Unlike in my current light polluted location, it's now possible to image broadband targets, like galaxies, reflection nebulae and dark nebulae! HERE is some more info about the Deep sky West Observatory
LDN 1250 & 1251
Closeups
Click for a large image
Galaxy behind the dust
An experimental starless photo of LDN 1250 & 1251 as an animation
INFO
Image contains objects LDN 1251, LBN 558, PGC 69472, PGC 166755
This low mass star forming region in Cepheus is an extended cloud of gas and dust. There are two galaxies visible in the image. At most left middle lays magnitude 15.5 galaxy PGC 69472, angular dimensions are
2.1 x 1.6 arcminutes. Galaxy PGC 166755 At middle left shines at magnitude 16 and has size of 1.3 x 0.6 arcminutes.
Technical details
Processing workflow
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 33% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics
Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII
Mount
Astro-Physics Mach1AP GTO with GTOCP3
Cameras and filters
QSI683WSG
Astrodon Luminance Tru-Balance E-Series Gen
Astrodon Red Tru-Balance E-Series Gen 2
Astrodon Green Tru-Balance E-Series Gen 2
Astrodon Blue Tru-Balance E-Series Gen 2
Exposure times
Luminance, 26 x 900s = 6.5h
Red = 14 x 900s = 3.5h
Green = 14 x 900s = 3.5h
Blue = 14 x 900s = 3.5h
Total 17h
A single calibrated and stretched 15 min. Luminance frame as it comes from the camera
Click for a large image
Monday, August 3, 2015
A large collection of my experimental 3D-astronomy as a movie
This is an experimental test with a 3D-conversion of my astronomical image. Only real elements from the original images are used, there is nothing added but the estimated volumetric information!
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data, deduction and an artistic impression.
A deep deep space
A HD video, ~11 min.
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data, deduction and an artistic impression.
A HD video, ~11 min.
Original movie is in HD 1080p resolution.
Please, click the Youtube logo at lower right to see this video in Youtube.
In youtube, click the Gear symbol, at lower right in Youtube window, and select the Quality to 1080p.
Then watch the video in full screen for the best viewing experience.
Then watch the video in full screen for the best viewing experience.
Info about the technique used
Due to huge distances, real parallax can't be imaged in most of the astronomical objects.
I have developed an experimental technique to convert my astropics to a artificial volumetric models.
My 3-D experiments are a mixture of science and an artistic impression. I collect distance and other information before I do my 3-D conversion. Usually there are known stars, coursing the ionization, so I can place them at right relative distance. If I know a distance to the nebula, I can fine tune distances of the stars so, that right amount of stars are front and behind of the object.
I use a “rule of thumb” method for stars: brighter is closer, but if a real distance is known, I'm using that. Many 3-D shapes can be figured out just by looking carefully the structures in nebula, such as dark nebulae must be at front of the emission nebulae in order to show up etc...
The general structure of many star forming regions is very same, there is a group of young stars, as an open cluster inside of the nebula. The stellar wind from the stars is then blowing the gas away around the cluster and forming a kind of cavitation – or a hole — around it. The pillar-like formations in the nebula must point to a source of stellar wind, for the same reason.
How accurate the final model is, depends how much I have known and guessed right. The motivation to make those 3-D-studies is just to show, that objects in the images are not like paintings on the canvas but really three dimensional objects floating in the three dimensional space. This generally adds a new dimension to my hobby as an astronomical imager.
Friday, July 31, 2015
An experimental 3D-study of an emission nebula Melotte 15
This is an experimental test with a 3D-conversion of my astronomical image. Only real elements from the original image are used, there is nothing added but the estimated volumetric information!
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data, deduction and an artistic impression.
My original photo of the Melotte 15 in IC 1805
click for a large image
A blog post about this photo, with the technical details, can be seen HERE
An animated GIF
Video 1
Video 2
Info about the technique used
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data, deduction and an artistic impression.
My original photo of the Melotte 15 in IC 1805
click for a large image
An animated GIF
Video 1
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD720p resolution.
Video 2
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD720p resolution.
Info about the technique used
Due to huge distances, real parallax can't be imaged in most of the astronomical objects.
I have developed an experimental technique to convert my astropics to a artificial volumetric models.
My 3-D experiments are a mixture of science and an artistic impression. I collect distance and other information before I do my 3-D conversion. Usually there are known stars, coursing the ionization, so I can place them at right relative distance. If I know a distance to the nebula, I can fine tune distances of the stars so, that right amount of stars are front and behind of the object.
I use a “rule of thumb” method for stars: brighter is closer, but if a real distance is known, I'm using that. Many 3-D shapes can be figured out just by looking carefully the structures in nebula, such as dark nebulae must be at front of the emission nebulae in order to show up etc...
The general structure of many star forming regions is very same, there is a group of young stars, as an open cluster inside of the nebula. The stellar wind from the stars is then blowing the gas away around the cluster and forming a kind of cavitation – or a hole — around it. The pillar-like formations in the nebula must point to a source of stellar wind, for the same reason.
How accurate the final model is, depends how much I have known and guessed right. The motivation to make those 3-D-studies is just to show, that objects in the images are not like paintings on the canvas but really three dimensional objects floating in the three dimensional space. This generally adds a new dimension to my hobby as an astronomical imager.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
An experimental 3D-study of an emission nebula IC 410
This is an experimental test with a 3D-conversion of my astronomical image. Only real elements from the original image are used, there is nothing added but the estimated volumetric information!
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data, deduction and an artistic impression.
My original photo of the IC 410
click for a large image
A blog post about this photo, with the technical details, can be seen HERE
An animated GIF
A flythrough video
A flyby video
A study about the general structure of the IC 410
All pillar like formations are pointing to a source of ionization, the open cluster NGC 1893 at the heart of the IC 410. There are some more dense areas in a gas, able to resist the radiation pressure from young star cluster. Those dense areas, at tip of the pillars, are also potential places for the formations of the new stars. A radiation pressure (solar wind) from the cluster NGC 1893 is forming a hollow space inside a gas cloud, it can be seen in my 3D-studies too.
Stereo images of the IC 410
Parallel and Cross vision stereo pairs. An anaglyph Red/Cyan image (Red/Cyan eyeglasses are needed)
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2015/02/a-3d-study-of-ic-410-as-free-view.html
A Cross vision stereo pair as a sample, other formats behind the link above.
Info about the technique used
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data, deduction and an artistic impression.
My original photo of the IC 410
click for a large image
An animated GIF
A flythrough video
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD720p resolution.
¨A flyby video
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD720p resolution.
A study about the general structure of the IC 410
Stereo images of the IC 410
Parallel and Cross vision stereo pairs. An anaglyph Red/Cyan image (Red/Cyan eyeglasses are needed)
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2015/02/a-3d-study-of-ic-410-as-free-view.html
Info about the technique used
For as long as I have captured images of celestial objects, I have always seen
them three-dimensionally in my head. Over time I realized that we actually have
enough scientific information to build a coarse skeleton model of the nebula itself.
The scientific information makes my visions much more accurate, and the 3-D technique I have developed enables me to share those beautiful visions with others.
How accurate my 3-D-visions are depends on how much accurate information I have and how well I implement it.
Also, many different estimates are needed for the 3-D model. The final 3-D-image is always an appraised simulation of reality based on known scientific facts, deduction, and some artistic creativity
Also, many different estimates are needed for the 3-D model. The final 3-D-image is always an appraised simulation of reality based on known scientific facts, deduction, and some artistic creativity
on top of everything else.
After I have collected all the necessary scientific information about my target,
I start my 3-D conversion using the stars in the image. Usually there is a recognizable star cluster which is responsible for ionizing the nebula. We don’t need to
know its absolute location since we know its relative location. Stars ionizing the
nebula have to be very close to the nebula structure itself. I usually divide up the
rest of the stars by their apparent brightness, which can then be used as an indicator of their distances, brighter being closer. If true star distances are available
I use them, but most of the time my rule of thumb is sufficient.
By using a scientific estimate of the distance of the Milky Way object, I can
By using a scientific estimate of the distance of the Milky Way object, I can
then locate the correct number of stars in front of it and behind it.
Emission nebulae are not lit up directly by starlight; they are usually way too
large for that. Rather, stellar radiation ionizes elements within the gas cloud. So it
is the nebula itself that is glowing, at the characteristic wavelengths of each ionized element. (The principle is very much the same as in fluorescent tubes.) I use
this information for my 3-D model. The thickness of the nebula can be estimated
from its brightness, since the whole volume of gas is glowing, brighter means
thicker. By this means, forms of the nebula can be turned to a real 3-D shape.
Nebulae are also more or less transparent, so we can see both sides of it at the
same time, and this makes model-making a little easier since not much is hidden.
The local stellar wind, from the star cluster inside the nebula, shapes the
nebula by blowing away the gas around the star cluster. The stellar wind usually
forms a kind of cavity in the nebulosity. The same stellar wind also initiates the
further collapse of the gas cloud and the birth of the second generation of stars
in the nebula. The collapsing gas can resist the stellar wind and produces pillar like formations which must point to a cluster.
Ionized oxygen (O-III) glows with a bluish light, and since oxygen needs a lot
of energy to ionize it, this can only be achieved relatively close to the star cluster
in the nebula. I use this information to position the O-III area (the bluish glow) at
the correct distance relative to the heart of the nebula.
Many other small indicators can be found by carefully studying the image
itself. For example, if there is a dark nebula in the image, it must be located in
front of the emission nebula, otherwise we can’t see it.
Explosions in space are more or less symmetrical, due to that, most of the supernova remnants and planetary nebulae mainly has a ball like appearance .
Explosions in space are more or less symmetrical, due to that, most of the supernova remnants and planetary nebulae mainly has a ball like appearance .
Using the known data in this way I build a kind of skeleton model of the
nebula. Then the artistic part is mixed with the scientific and logical elements,
and after that the rest is very much like creating a sculpture on a cosmic scale
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