Friday, December 7, 2012
From the bottom of my Soul
New imaging project, IC 1848, the Soul Nebula. This season I have worked with a longer focal length instrument, my old Meade LX200 12". This image shows a detail from a much large Nebula complex.
Soul Nebula detail
In constellation Cassiopeia
Image in Mapped colors, Red=S-II, Green=H-alpha and Blue=O-III
Click for a large image.
Soul Nebula (Sharpless 2-199, LBN 667) is emission nebulae in Cassiopeia at a distance of 7500 light years. The object is more commonly called by the cluster designation IC1848.
This complex is the eastern neighbor of IC1805 (Heart Nebula) and the two are often mentioned together as the "Heart and Soul".
Image in visual colors, combined from light emitted by the ionized elements, H-a, S-III and O-III
Click for a large image.
A mosaic
I have shot an other detail from this nebula complex back in 2009. This new and older detail are overlapping, so I was able to do a two frame mosaic out of them.
A two frame mosaic of the Soul Nebula in mapped colors.
Click for a large image.
Mosaic in visual colors.
Click for a large image.
Soul Nebula in wide field format
Area of interest is marked as a white rectangle. More info about this image HERE.
Click for a large image.
Image is showing both, the Heart and the Soul Nebulae. More info about this image in HERE.
Click for a large image.
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
24x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 8h
Narrowband cahnnels for ionized Oxygen and Sulfur are taken from an older wide field image seen above.
Melotte 15, a closeup
I published the imaging project of Melotte 15 few days ago. This time I made a closeup images out of the same material.
The heart of the Heart, Mel 15
Image is in visual colors, combined from light emitted by the ionized elements, H-a, S-III and O-III
Click for a large image.
The interesting structure in the center of the image is a giant area of hydrogen gas that is caused to glow by the intense ultraviolet radiation from the massive stars of the Melotte 15 star cluster.
Dust and gas clouds are twisted by the pressure of the intense radiation, the solar wind.
This formation is estimated to be 7,500 light years away from Earth, North is up.
Image in Mapped colors, Red=S-II, Green=H-alpha and Blue=O-III
Click for a large image.
Orientation in IC 1805, the Heart Nebula
The area of interest is marked as a white rectangle.
A 100% closeup
Not a bad resolution for an old Meade LX200 12" telescope. Seeing wasn't very good at the time, FWHM varied between 3,5 to 4,5. A light, 50% weighted deconvolution was added to stacked image, it lowered the FWHM value down to ~2.9
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
45 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 15h
Narrowband cahnnels for ionized Oxygen and Sulfur are taken from an older wide field image seen above.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Sharpless 112 (Sh2-112)
Yesterday, before the clouds rolled in, I got four hours of light emitted by the ionized hydrogen (H-alpha) for this target. I started this project back in 2010 but for some reason never finalized it. Total exposure time is now nine hours.
Sharpless 112
An emission nebula in constellation Cygnus
Sharpless 112 is an emission nebula in Cygnus at distance ~5500 light years.
Not a very bright one, there are lots of dim background nebulosity but my 7h of exposures for H-a is not enough to show it well.
Image in mapped colors from the light emitted by ionized elements.
Red=Sulfur, Green=Hydrogen and Blue=Oxygen.
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
21 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 7h
3 x 1200s exposures for the O-III, emission of ionized Oxygen = 1h
3 x 1200s exposures for the S-II, emission of ionized Sulfur = 1h
Monday, December 3, 2012
Melotte 15 in IC 1805, project finalized
After struggling several nights with malfunctioning devices, in freezing -20 centigrade wind, I managed to collect enough data to finalize my Melotte 15 project. (I did lost skin from my finger tips, while fixing various problems out there...)
The heart of the Heart
Melotte 15 (Mel 15) Total exposures 45x1200s = 15h
Be sure to click for a full size image!
Buy a photographic print from HERE
Buy a photographic print from HERE
The interesting structure in the center of the image is a giant area of hydrogen gas that is caused to glow by the intense ultraviolet radiation from the massive stars of the Melotte 15 star cluster.
Dust and gas clouds are twisted by the pressure of the intense radiation, the solar wind.
This formation is estimated to be 7,500 light years away from Earth, North is up.
An experimental starless image to show the actual nebula better.
A closeup of Melotte 15 in mapped colors
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements.
R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15% Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
Buy a photographic print from HERE
A two frame panorama of IC 1805 and Mel 15
A two frame panorama of IC 1805 and Melotte 15.
Be sure to click for a full size image!
Orientation of the mosaic in the IC 1805
Buy a photographic print from HERE
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
45 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 15h
Narrowband cahnnels for ionized Oxygen and Sulfur are taken from an older wide field image seen above.
Ps.
Here is the panoramic image in visual colors from the narrowband data.
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements, R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15%Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
Buy a photographic print from HERE
Sunday, December 2, 2012
A cosmic fertilization
IC 410, in Auriga
Ra 05h 22m 39s Dec -33° 31′ 01″
HST-palette, (HST=Hubble Space Telescope) from the emission of ionized elements,
R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Emission nebula IC 410 and an open cluster, NGC1893, inside it are located in constellation Auriga about 12.000 light years from my home town Oulu, Finland. The cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across, sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster NGC 1893.
"Cosmic tadpoles" are potentially sites of ongoing star formation, they are about 10 light-years long.
Emission from sulfur atoms is shown in red, hydrogen atoms in green, and oxygen in blue hues in this false-color, narrow band composite image above.
A closeup
A closeup about "tadpoles"
An experimental starless version
Image in visual colors
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements, R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15%Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
Orientation
A study about the apparent scale in a sky
Note. an apparent size of the Moon is marked in the images
Note. an apparent size of the Moon is marked in the images
An experimental study about the 3D-structure
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
15 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 5h
6 x 1200s exposures for the O-III, emission of ionized Oxygen = 2h
4 x 1200s exposures for the S-II, emission of ionized Sulfur = 1h 20min.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Melotte 15 in IC 1805
A new imaging project from the last night, Merlotte 15, the heart of the Heart nebula.
Image shows now just the emission of Hydrogen, H-alpha. I'll shoot other emission channels for the color image soon. 20 x 1200s frames, =6h 40min.
The heart of the Heart
Melotte 15 (Mel 15)
6h 40min. H-alpha light, image spans about 30 arch minutes vertically. (the angular size of the moon is ~30 arch miutes = 0,5 degrees)
The open cluster centered in this image is known as Melotte 15 . Melotte 15 is embedded within a central portion of the much larger glowing nebula identified as IC 1805.
The interesting structure in the center of the image is a giant area of hydrogen gas that is caused to glow by the intense ultraviolet radiation from the massive stars of the Melotte 15 star cluster.
Dust and gas clouds are twisted by the pressure of the intense radiation, the solar wind.
This formation is estimated to be 7,500 light years away from Earth, North is up.
A starless version
This experimental image shows the actual nebula without stars.
A closeup
Orientation image
The area of interest is marked in this older wide field HST-palette image.
A study about the scale in the sky
Click for a large image
An apparent size of the Moon is marked in the images as a scale.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
A Zoom in animation about the Veil nebula
I have done several studies about the apparent scale of several objects, to show, how large they really are in the sky. My older studies can be seen HERE (Just scroll down a bit, at the end of the page, click "Older posts" to see more.) I have imaged same targets with several focal lengths, form 200mm up to 3000mm, this time I made an animated GIF out of my material.
Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant in Cygnus
An animated zoom in series, from a four to about a 0,4 degrees field of view
Note. A size of the Moon is marked as a white circle, at the center of the images.
The apparent size of the Moon is ~30', that's equal to 0,5 degrees.
Images used in this animation can be seen here:
http://www.astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/11/veil-nebula-collection-as-poster.html
Monday, November 26, 2012
IC 5146
This is a start of the imaging project. I shot 9 x 1200 s. (3h) H-alpha light for this emission nebula. IC 5146 , the Cocoon Nebula, is a star formation area and locates in constellation Cygnus at distance of about 4000 light years. There is a reflection component but due to narrowband technique used, it's not visible in this Hydrogen emission image. I'll shoot other cahnnels, S-II and O-III, for this later.
IC 5146, the Cocoon Nebula
In constellation Cygnus
Image shows the emission of ionized Hydrogen
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
9 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 3h
Sunday, November 25, 2012
An experimental 3D-animation of the IC 410
Since the Weather doesn't support new images, I'm publishing some experimental work here.
I have tested a new method to publish my 3D-images as a form of Lenticular prints.
For this technique to work, I need series of images from different angles, in this case 24 images are needed.
Lenticular printing is actually an old technique but in past few years it has become much more sophisticated.
The results can be stunning visually, image plane disappears and object floats in and outside of the frame.
Since astronomical objects are too far away, no real parallax can be imaged. Doe to that, I have developed a method to turn my images to various 3D-formats. My work flow is based on scientific data from the object, distance and the source of ionization are usually known. The different types of the nebulae has typical structures, pillar like formations must point to the source of ionization, the radiation pressure forms kind of hollow area, inside of the nebula, around newly born stars, dark nebulae must be at front of the emission ones to show, etc... rest of the missing information is then replaced with an artistic vision.
The whole process is pretty much like sculpting!
The IC 410 in Auriga as an animation
Only real elements from the original 2D-image are used for the animation
NOTE! Let the animation load, ~5MB
This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
2D-image of IC 410
A study about the apparen scale in the sky
Second animatio, Flying in and out
NOTE! Let the animation load, ~5MB
This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Exhibition, Gallery Kallio Kunsthalle, Helsinki
Three of my works can be seen in an "Energy" exhibition, in a small art gallery, Kallio Kunsthalle, at Helsinki.
Exhibition opening 2.11.2012 klo 18:00-21:00.
2.11.-2.12.2012 (Toinen Linja 31, Kallio, Helsinki)
Images about the exhibition
Images by Petri Saarikko
Three large photographs of mine at left. Images from left to right,
IC 1396, Pelican nebula closeup and the constellation Cygnus.
IC 1396, Pelican nebula closeup and the constellation Cygnus.
At background, closeup images of the Pelican nebula and the IC 1396.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Veil Nebula collection as a poster
I started this Autumn season by shooting the Veil Nebula Supernova remnant. The Veil Nebula is very large and low surface brightness object in the constellation Cygnus, at distance of about 1400 light years.
Even though I used every single clear moment, all I got is three separate images. I was planning to shoot couple of two panel mosaics but the weather up here was very much against my plans.
Veil nebula collection, HST-palette
Large image, 1900x1500 pixels and 3MB
Large image, 1900x1500 pixels and 3MB
Image collection in HST-palette (Named after a palette used by the Hubble Space Telescope.)
Ionized elements are mapped to color channels, Red =Sulfur, Green=Hydrogen and Blue=Oxygen.
Veil nebula collection, visual colors
Large image, 1900x1500 pixels and 3MB
Image collection in visual spectrum. Ionized elements are mapped to match visual light, Red=(Hydrogen + Sulfur 20%), Green =Oxygen and Blue=(Oxygen + Hydrogen 15% to compensate missing H-beta light)
At bottom middle, a wide field image of the Veil nebula SNR. There are white rectangles to mark locations of the closeup images around and image is labeled.
Note. the apparent size of the Moon is marked as a circle in a wide field image at the bottom center.
Note. the apparent size of the Moon is marked as a circle in a wide field image at the bottom center.
Images used for this collection
- At upper left, IC 1340 with Meade LX200 12": http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/10/ic-1340-project-finalized.html
- Upper right, the Pickering's Triangle with Meade LX200 12": http://www.astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/11/pickerings-triangle-project-finalized.html
- Bottom left, Eastern part of the veil. Shot at 2007 with 80mm refractor.
- Bottom middle, the veil nebula wide field with a Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/03/veil-nebula-reprocessed-with-some-new.html
- Bottom right, the Witch's Broom with Meade LX200 12": http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/11/witchs-broom-nebula.html
A 3D-experiment and a study about the scale in the sky
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