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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Telescopic Observations _ Members' observations

Posted by: Stu Mar 4 2009, 11:46 PM

Gorgeous clear night in Kendal tonight, the Moon looked spectacular in my 4.5" scope. Took some pix, didn't turn out too bad...



Saturn looked really nice too, with at least 3 of the "other" moons visible. smile.gif

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Mar 5 2009, 12:24 AM

QUOTE
Members' observations, Things we see through our humble 'scopes...


Stu, I assume you mean when the telescope is pointed at the sky.

Posted by: nprev Mar 5 2009, 01:37 AM

laugh.gif ...okay, Dan, that made my wife draw the shades...

Nice pic, Stu. Was that an eyepiece shot, or did you mount a cam at the objective?

(Sigh.) I gotta drag my Celestron 8 out to the Mojave when I have time...the light pollution in LA just plain sucks.

Posted by: Stu Mar 5 2009, 06:32 AM

That was a good ol' fashioned hold-the-camera-up-to-the-eyepiece-and-breathe-in-to-try-to-keep-it-still-while-taking-the-pic shot smile.gif

Posted by: Thu Mar 5 2009, 04:01 PM

QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 5 2009, 01:32 PM) *
That was a good ol' fashioned hold-the-camera-up-to-the-eyepiece-and-breathe-in-to-try-to-keep-it-still-while-taking-the-pic shot smile.gif

In my case, I found it easier to hold the camcorder up to the eyepiece, record a movie to be captured to the PC later then use a frame grabber to extract the best images. The camcorder's zoom could also be used for some extra magnification smile.gif

Posted by: Stu Mar 5 2009, 09:00 PM

More shots from tonight...

http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/more-moonshots

Especially pleased with the second one smile.gif

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Mar 5 2009, 10:06 PM

I've also found that a good digital SLR one a tripod with a 200mm or 300mm lens can take some amazing images. Be sure and set it for the highest resolution so that if necessary you can crop in closer and still have a decent image. You just need to watch for lens flare on a long lens with something as bright as the full moon.

Posted by: dburt Mar 5 2009, 11:01 PM

QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 5 2009, 02:00 PM) *
...Especially pleased with the second one smile.gif

Yes, if you look at that one closely, it even shows the shadow of a famous lunar fault (Rupes Recta or "Straight Wall") to the right of the terminator in the center. Nice work capturing that handheld.

--- HDP Don


Posted by: dvandorn Mar 6 2009, 02:37 AM

And it's dawn at Fra Mauro, Bonpland and Parry... smile.gif

-the other Doug

Posted by: hendric Mar 6 2009, 06:18 PM

QUOTE (nprev @ Mar 4 2009, 07:37 PM) *
(Sigh.) I gotta drag my Celestron 8 out to the Mojave when I have time...the light pollution in LA just plain sucks.


The Moon and the planets cut through light pollution fairly well. I run a quarterly "star party" in my neighborhood, and people are constantly amazed by what they can see on the moon. It's a quite pretty object!

Posted by: nprev Mar 6 2009, 08:12 PM

Yeah, I can always pick up Venus & Jupiter, and Mars at opposition, anyhow. Saturn is usually a challenge to find from here, though, esp. because the constellations are pretty much invisible in the damned ugly ubiquitous orange sodium skyglow.

I gotta get a job in Tucson. There's a town that knows how to minimize light pollution! (Enlightened self-interest due to the proximity of Kitt Peak, of course...)

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 7 2009, 08:04 AM

Well I have to admit I've bought my first refractor to view Mars back in 1976... Nowadays I've upgraded to an 18cm refractor and Jupiter is my favorite target wink.gif
Although a large Dobson is the instrument to watch DeepSky objects, I plan to go for a Refractor "Kometensucher" of 20.3 cm ...

Posted by: Gladstoner Mar 7 2009, 08:36 AM

.

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 16 2009, 06:47 PM

For those who're interested, check out how Saturn's rings will show up the coming months...
http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html


Posted by: ngunn Mar 16 2009, 10:06 PM

That is interesting. From here we get to see the unlit side of the rings for a month or so (not that I will be able to observe it). I had been wondering if that would happen.

BTW just been out with my tiny telescope to check if Titan is still there: it is. smile.gif

Posted by: ynyralmaen Mar 16 2009, 11:42 PM

Titan was there the other night too... I should have posted a report here to save you the bother of checking. smile.gif I spotted Rhea too that night, but no rings around it... must be because they're almost exactly side-on too! tongue.gif

As we're on things we can see in the sky, there should be a nice pass of ISS and shuttle for much of Europe tomorrow (Tuesday) evening prior to their docking, around 19:10 UT from the UK.

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 24 2009, 05:52 PM

For those enjoying tracking man-made satellites wink.gif

http://www.castor2.ca/


Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 26 2009, 06:10 PM

remarkable what these guys did: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5005022/Teens-capture-images-of-space-with-56-camera-and-balloon.html

Posted by: Stu Mar 26 2009, 06:49 PM

My fingers are crossed for a clear sky at 8pm when I should be able to see Discovery and ISS flying through sky together... then it's just a case of sit back and wait for the UFO reports to come flooding in...

In the meantime, just a bit of fun... ISS compared to some well-known and well-loved spacecraft wink.gif

http://www.subtire.com/show/?n=487177935.jpg

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 27 2009, 09:13 AM

Observations of ISS and satellites using a 80 centimeters telescope:
http://www.tracking-station.de/images/images.html

courtesy
http://www.tracking-station.de/

Posted by: Stu Mar 27 2009, 09:36 AM

Cripes! They're good! ohmy.gif

Managed to catch a glimpse of Discovery thru my binocs last night as it sped thru a gap in the cloud, but missed ISS.

Posted by: Stu Apr 3 2009, 09:50 PM

My astro society's IYA MOONWATCH went really well here in Kendal tonight... smile.gif

http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/1010


Posted by: Stu Nov 28 2009, 05:58 AM

The Moon as photographed thru my humble 4.5" scope last night, at our very succesful MoonWatch...

http://twitpic.com/r9tx8

Report here: http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/eddington-as-moonwatch-success

Posted by: Stu Nov 30 2009, 06:37 PM

Well, the rain has finally stopped, and there's a GORGEOUS clear sky tonight, with the terminator of the almost-Full Moon in the absolutely PERFECT place to help me find the crater named after Sir Arthur Eddington, the astrophysicist who was born in Kendal...

http://twitpic.com/rlu0a/full

Hoping for even better views later when my 'scope has cooled down, and when the crater comes more fully into view...

Update: taDAH! http://twitpic.com/rn0t3/full

Posted by: DDAVIS Dec 2 2009, 09:19 PM

Among my favorite memories of telescopic observations:

Seeing Mars and Saturn in 1971 with a large telescope being used by the USGS in Flagstaff. I was with Charles Capen and Gerard De Vaucouleurs. Mars was near closest approach, and De Vaucouleurs was refining his sketches of Mars which were later published in Sky and Telescope. The seeing was quite good and I later made my own drawing of Mars. Then we looked at Saturn, and it was gorgeous, looking like a sharper version of the Stephen Larson photo showing the wide open rings that was for years the best photo of Saturn. In the 80's I was with some astronomy buffs with telescopes, and while I was looking through a 10 inch with a wide field I heard several people cry out just as I saw the bright meteor they were reacting to zip through the field of view! It looked like multiple parallel dazzling white streaks leaving trails that briefly glowed red then a soft turquoise as they were distorted into a fading wavy path. Iin 2003, I was invited to look at Mars through the Mt Wilson 60 inch. We also saw Triton next to Neptune. When we later saw the Orion nebula, the sight ranks with my all time revelatory visions. One could see the brightest part of the magenta pink nebula visually as well as the usually seen greenish central regions. Later I rented time on the scope and looked at various nebulae and Saturn. In moments of good seeing the Encke gap in ring A could be seen as a delicate fine arc. Some observational drawings:

http://www.mssimmons.com/mw/dondavis.htm

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 2 2009, 09:30 PM

My fave astronomical observation was probably naked eye - standing in Red Square with Venus over the Historical Museum and Mars hanging above the Kremlin.

Phil

Posted by: Stu Dec 2 2009, 09:46 PM

Three experiences spring to mind...

My first sighting of Halley's Comet. Bonfire Night, 1985 - I was standing on a school playing field, with fireworks whizzing and banging behind me and on both sides, the air stinking of the smoke from bonfires, and the sky tinted and tainted orange by the light and glowing sparks rising from the fires. I had been scanning the sky for days, looking for Halley, without any success... then I spotted it, little more than an out of focus star but there. I'd been waiting to see Halley's Comet for 16 years, and finally I was looking at it...

Seeing Comet Hale Bopp from the centre of Castlerigg Stone Circle at Keswick. Leaning against one of the ancient standing stones I watched Hale Bopp rising up from behind the mountains opposite, its twin tails looking like searchlights beaming into the sky. Just glorious. I shiver now, remembering it.

And finally, the huge aurora I saw in 2001 (I think it was, I'd have to check). It was such a huge auroral storm that it literally filled the entire sky with great flapping cloaks and sails of red, and the auroral arc passed over the UK so the northern lights became the 'southern lights'. I watched the display for around 5 hours, standing in the shadow of Cockermouth Castle, with the waters of the rover glowing bright red as they reflected the aurora raging above. Standing there, feeling like an ant on the deck of a ship, staring up at huge sails of red, all I could do was laugh..

The Universe charges us for witnessing sights like this - eclipses and meteor showers missed, comets shining another part of the sky, etc etc. But now and again she rewards us.

Astronomy. Gotta love it. smile.gif

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 2 2009, 10:09 PM

QUOTE (Phil Stooke @ Dec 2 2009, 10:30 PM) *
My fave astronomical observation was probably naked eye

It comes to mind one time I was working installing a radar station at a peak in the southern Spain. We were the whole time working inside a building and one day we left the site very late at night. When we went out of the building, wow! There were no cities nearby, no light pollution at all, and the sky was really, REALLY dark. ... and milliards of stars! What a view!

Posted by: ngunn Dec 2 2009, 10:26 PM

QUOTE (Tesheiner @ Dec 2 2009, 10:09 PM) *
milliards of stars! What a view!


I agree there's nothing to beat that. I am lucky to have spent some time at high altitudes in remote parts of Peru. It seems closer to being in outer space than at sea level. The stars are stupendous and unblinking. There is also the deep royal blue of the daytime sky and the large drops of afternoon rain that fall with the violence of meteorites.

Posted by: nprev Dec 3 2009, 01:43 AM

Best view I ever had was at -40C on a clear night in western Montana. NO twinkling...none at all. The air was as still as frozen glass. I really do think that the view from orbit on the nightside of Earth could have hardly been better.

Best Saturn observation I've ever experienced, even though it was through a cheap department-store refractor. (Had to be VERY careful to hold my breath near the objective; the water vapor would freeze instantly on any surface!)

Posted by: bkellysky Dec 5 2009, 02:22 PM

I photographed Mars through my 8-inch dobsonian telescope using a hand-held Canon A-40. It's posted at the spaceweather.com photo site:
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Bob-Kelly-mars-12-04-2009-IMG_0533-cropped_1259931452.jpg
The north polar cap (and its cloud cover?) are visible. The cap really stands out when observing by eye. The entire planet is so bright that the views had more detail as the morning twilight increased.
Check it out now, as the cap will decrease during the month.

Posted by: bkellysky Dec 15 2009, 01:57 AM

Check out Neptune in the same field as Jupiter this month!

 

Posted by: ugordan Dec 15 2009, 09:08 AM

For a sufficiently large FOV you can fit even more in smile.gif

Posted by: bkellysky Dec 16 2009, 02:11 AM

QUOTE (ugordan @ Dec 15 2009, 04:08 AM) *
For a sufficiently large FOV you can fit even more in smile.gif

Now I have a minute to add some details to my previous post.
The picture is a simulation of a 5 degree field from the Solar System Simulator. My camera isn't sensitive enough to get deep enough to get Neptune!
We did get a quick look at Neptune early Saturday night in a couple of scopes. It wasn't hard to see, but at that time even the surrounding the stars looked a bit planetary, so it was not obvious that it was different than the surrounding stars. I could convince myself it was blueish, but it may have been light blue or we may have been just expecting it to be a different color than the surrounding stars, since I hear it's hard to see color in telescope observations of Neptune.
I hope other people will try to spy Neptune as Galileo did 400 years ago!

bob

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Dec 23 2009, 02:00 PM

I managed to see Neptune yesterday for the first time, thanks to neighboring Jupiter. I'm not sure I would have been able to find it had it not been so close to something bright (Jupiter) since Neptune is only about 11 degrees above the horizon from where I live. It's gradually getting higher in the sky though so I know of some people who saw it for the first time this year or in the past 1-2 years.

Since Neptune was low in the sky and my scope isn't very big (15 cm) I didn't see any color. I also don't think I saw Neptune as a disk but this was difficult to tell due to Neptune's low altitude above the horizon.

Posted by: scalbers Dec 23 2009, 09:19 PM

QUOTE (bkellysky @ Dec 15 2009, 01:57 AM) *
Check out Neptune in the same field as Jupiter this month!

As Bob noted Galileo made a similar observation (same time of year) back in 1612-1613.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v287/n5780/abs/287311a0.html

In reference (2) I had suggested the possibility of this type of pre-discovery observation (my 1979 Sky and Telescope article on mutual planetary occultations). I could see them still in a low power field of view in my 6" scope at 35x on Christmas Eve. I also looked at 86x.

Afterwards the moon (our planetary satellite) looked very nice at a 90 degree phase angle "encounter".

Posted by: helvick Dec 31 2009, 07:44 PM


Not taken with a telescope but just a Nikon D40x with a 200mm telephoto - the weather (finally) cleared up a bit here and I really wanted to catch the New Year\Blue Moon Eclipse.


Posted by: scalbers Dec 31 2009, 07:57 PM

Nice photo, though I've always liked the volcanic/smoky type of blue moon...

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/07jul_bluemoon.htm

http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/bluemoonstories.html

Posted by: Stu Dec 31 2009, 08:06 PM

Nice view from here in Kendal, too...

http://twitpic.com/w2pf1

Report with pics: http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/ending-the-year-with-an-eclipse

Posted by: PhilCo126 Jan 6 2010, 11:28 AM

Nice views of the red planet and those images show what amateur-astronomers can do nowadays.
Moreover, very patient amateur-astronomers with scopes equiped with CCDs have been able to confirm the transits of exo-planets (e.g. TrES-1 in constellation Lyra by Belgian Tonny Vanmunster and HD209458 in constellation Pegasus by Finland's Nyrola obs).
I jus wondered if any of the UMSF amateur-astronomers are involved in any (Pro-Am) transit photometry search surveys?

Posted by: Stu Jan 30 2010, 07:07 PM

Not a telescopic observation, but a gorgeous view of Mars shining above Kendal Castle earlier this evening...


Posted by: ngunn Feb 1 2010, 11:06 AM

This one is a telescopic observation - but not by a member. My friend and colleague Brian Woosnam has kindly given his permission for me to post it. Hope you like it as much as I do.

 

Posted by: Tesheiner Feb 1 2010, 12:03 PM

Absolutely! cool.gif

Posted by: ngunn Feb 1 2010, 12:33 PM

It's safe to remove the dark specs Tesheiner, that's a night-time scene - and B. W. is real. smile.gif
http://www.manastro.co.uk/nwgas/llandrillo/committee.htm

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Aug 12 2010, 05:31 AM

I guess a 300mm lens could be considered a telescope.

Here are a couple of shots of the setting new moon tonight taken roughly two minutes apart, which was just enough time to run around the corner for a lower horizon as the moon dropped below my neighbor's fence. Note the irregular shape to the crescent limb caused by the cooling atmospheric layers settling down for the night. Both images 1/8 sec at f6.3, shot @ ISO 1000


 

Posted by: Stu Sep 16 2010, 07:13 PM

Ok, so they're not as detailed or as colourful as SDO's Sun portraits, but I thought thsee weren't bad for a budget digital camera held up to the eyepiece of a borrowed Coronado PST...





Taken today, approx 15.00 BST

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Sep 16 2010, 10:36 PM

"Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun,
but mama, that's where the fun is ..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg8cDmi7-U8

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Sep 16 2010, 10:37 PM

But seriously Stu, those are awesome.

Posted by: Hungry4info Sep 16 2010, 11:40 PM

Interesting! Are the features we see around the sun real? Or an atrifact of the camera/telescope?

Posted by: Stu Sep 17 2010, 02:18 AM

QUOTE (Hungry4info @ Sep 17 2010, 12:40 AM) *
Interesting! Are the features we see around the sun real? Or an atrifact of the camera/telescope?


Oh, they're real, that's why I took the photos. I was amazed they showed up so clearly.

Posted by: Hungry4info Sep 17 2010, 02:47 AM

I am inspired ohmy.gif

Posted by: bkellysky Sep 19 2010, 02:40 AM

A photo of Jupiter and Uranus. Hand-held Canon Rebel XS 2 seconds with ISO 800 F5.6 through an 8-inch dobsonian with a 50mm OPT wide view eyepiece. Gives an approximation of what people can see through a telescope.
Jupiter and Uranus are less than a degree apart now, so they can fit together in a wide-field eyepiece.

The enclosed photo is cropped from the larger photo at my Heads UP! blog at bkellysky.wordpress.com, which has a bit more commentary.
bob


 

Posted by: ugordan Sep 19 2010, 11:07 AM

Neat. You can really see Uranus's blue-green color is contrasted to the yellowish Galileans, while all are similarly bright.

Posted by: bkellysky Sep 19 2010, 12:06 PM

QUOTE (ugordan @ Sep 19 2010, 06:07 AM) *
Neat. You can really see Uranus's blue-green color is contrasted to the yellowish Galileans, while all are similarly bright.

Yes, I was surprised how blue Uranus looked in the photo when I moved it to my computer. The color was not obvious to me when looking through the scope, even at high power. Although, Uranus did look different - more substantial - than the stars in the same area.

PS> Love those solar photos, Stu. There are so many different kinds of solar scopes, and they are pricey, but the views are amazing. I'd like to figure out which is the most versatile of them as a future birthday present!

bob

Posted by: Stu Sep 19 2010, 12:28 PM

I'm facing SUCH a dilemma re this solar scope.. I can see now why people get addicted to solar observing - there's literally something new to see EVERY time you look at the Sun, some new prominence, or detail on the surface, and that thrill of looking at our own friendly neighbourhood star and seeing it in all its fiery glory and beauty is just incredible... but yep, they are pricey, and with the current economic climate here in the UK (chilly with 1000% chance of frostbite next month) I can't really justify going out and buying one. But I want one soooooooo bad!! laugh.gif

Re Uranus - I spotted it myself the other night, with my trusty 4.5" Tasco, and I was quite taken back by how beautiful its subtle green-blue colour was as I looked at it, so very different to the stars beyond it. It looked, literally, other-worldly. Very impressed, and even a little moved, I have to be honest.

Posted by: ilbasso Sep 19 2010, 09:25 PM

Uranus is quite easily seen to be something other than a star even in 20x80 binoculars. I had the Galilean satellites in nice crisp focus, but that pesky bluish star north of Jupiter just wouldn't come into as sharp a point. (Funny, you don't look bluish!)

Posted by: Sunspot Sep 25 2010, 09:22 AM

Has anyone else been observing Jupiter? Had a look last night through my 4.5" reflector, not great seeing and had to observe over the roof of the house, but the red spot was quite obvious, more so than other times due to disappearance of the south equatorial belt, the colours are VERY subtle though - also the shadow of Io clearly visible.

Posted by: Lunik9 Sep 25 2010, 10:29 AM

Indeed, the giant planet Jupiter is at opposition and is closest to Earth since 1963 ( next closest opposition will be 2022 ).
We observe the disc at 50 arcseconds apparent diameter with magnitude -2.9 ( very bright indeed ).
A 15 cm refractor clearly shows the North & South Equatorial Belts: http://www.mvas-ny.org/HowObsPlanets.htm#Jupiter
Moreover our favorite gas giant is in conjunction with the planet Uranus ( 5 times further away at magnitude +5.7 )

Posted by: Lunik9 Oct 9 2010, 08:01 PM

Check for shadow & transit of Jupiter's moons in this weekend: . O ...
http://www.jgiesen.de/JovianMoons/index.htm
http://sky.maplevalleywa.com/jupiter.html

Also visible = comet Hartley 2 near double cluster NGC 869 & NGC 884 in constellation Perseus

Posted by: Stu Oct 9 2010, 08:52 PM

The comet is leaving the "Double Cluster" behind now...


Posted by: ZLD Oct 9 2010, 09:35 PM

http://imgur.com/Ugdtt.png

Hand held Canon A540 through a 12.5mm lens on a Monolux 700mm telescope. Processed with Jasc PSP9.



http://imgur.com/6VI7R.png

Hand held Casio FC100 through a 6mm lens on a Monolux 700mm telescope. Processed with Jasc PSP9.

Posted by: bkellysky Nov 4 2010, 01:53 AM

See my photo of a thin crescent Venus in the 'brightness of Venus' section and at
http://bkellysky.wordpress.com/

bob

Posted by: bkellysky Nov 12 2010, 02:28 AM

A co-worker lent me an adapter for connecting my Canon Rebel XS camera to my eight-inch dobsonian reflecting telescope. I used it to take the photos of crescent Venus and tonight I used it to shoot Jupiter and Uranus. In the past, I've mostly held the camera up to the eyepiece to get enlarged photos of the planets.
The photos are cropped, no other processing.
Details, and a larger photo of Jupiter and its four moons at http://bkellysky.wordpress.com/

all the best,
bob

 

Posted by: Lunik9 Nov 12 2010, 11:54 AM

The Jupiter image clearly shows that the South Equatorial Belt (SEB) has disappeared. The SEB disappears every 15 to 20 years for unknown reasons.
However the last SEB fading & revival only dates 3 years back.
The largest planet in the solar system is the most satisfying object for small telescope users wink.gif

Posted by: bkellysky Nov 12 2010, 12:07 PM

....as I found this morning, when I couldn't get Saturn into focus in the camera.

bob

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Nov 12 2010, 08:14 PM

Uranus is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus. Though it is visible to the naked eye like the five classical planets, it was never recognized as a planet by ancient observers because of its dimness and slow orbit.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Nov 12 2010, 08:42 PM

Ah yes, the 'planet that dare not speak its name'.

Phil

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