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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.)

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 collection
Be sure to click the image to see it in full scale! (2400 x 2000 pixels and 4,5 MB)

All images are in mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
An Original blog post of The Cepheus project can be seen HERE.


Small images clockwise, starting from the top left 
  1. Cave Nebula, a closeup: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/12/the-cave-nebula_9.html
  2. Cave Nebula, a wide field shot: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/01/sh2-155-cave-nebula-reprocessed.html
  3. Sharpless 140: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/02/dim-and-large-nebula-in-cepheus.html
  4. Sharpless 129: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2013/12/a-start-of-new-project-cepheus-mosaic.html
  5. Elephant's Trunk Nebula: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/12/elephants-trunk-nebula-reprocessed.html
  6. IC 1396: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/10/ic-1396-home-of-elephants-trunk-nebula.html
  7. Sharpless 132, a wide field shot: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/02/sh2-132-project-finalized.html
  8. Sharpless 132, a closeup: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2013/10/the-second-image-of-autumn-season-2013.html
  9. The Wizard Nebula: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/07/sh2-142-wizard-nebula-reprocessed.html
  10. Sharpless 157http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/03/sh2-157-reprocessed.html
  11. 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. 


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)









Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Three wide field projects, three constellations


Yesterday I published a large mosaic of Cepheus. I have done two other large mosaics from two other Constellations, Auriga and Cygnus. In this blog post I show all three at the same time. 


18-panels mosaic of the constellation Cygnus
Click for a large image, Note. 2300x1500 pixels and 3,5MB

Mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Total exposure time around 120 hours. Buy a photographic print from HERE

A blog post about this photo with more info and images:


12-panels mosaic of  the Constellation Auriga
Click for a large image, Note. 2000x1000 pixels and 2,5MB

Mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Total exposure time around 70 hours. Buy a photographic print from HERE

A blog post about this photo with more info and images:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/03/auriga-panorama-gets-bigger-12-panels.html


10-panels mosaic of the constellation Cepheus
Click for a large image, Note. 2900x1700 pixels and 6,6MB

Mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Total exposure time around  92 hours. Buy a photographic print from HERE

A blog post about this photo with more info and images:
http://www.astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2014/01/a-grande-finale-of-cepheus-project.html

(I have done many smaller mosaic images but only the very large ones are listed here.)