Astro Nerd -

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Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (2009/11/2)
Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is now in a 50km-high orbit around the Moon and has been able to resolve Apollo 17 hardware. The image shows the descent stage left on the Moon's surface by Jack Schmitt's and Gene Cernan's Lunar Module. Even the flag they planted is just visible.

Click to enlarge

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First Moon Image (2009/10/26)
What do all budding novice astrophotographers take their first image of?

The Moon!

I managed to get some scope time last night, I didn't need to polar align or connect anything. Just me, the EQ6, the 80ED and the 20D.

Snapped off about 15 shots at different speeds and got a couple of really nice detailed images with Mare Tranquillitatis & Serenitatis as the main two large dark spots and some really nice prominant shadows on craters Hipperarchus and Albategnius in the middle of the picture.

Sharpened and removed the colour in Photoshop CS3.

Click to enlarge

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Remote Scopes (2009/10/22)
So I have the latest edition of Starry Night delivered and an article in there on remote telescopes takes me by surprise!

I had no idea that it was possible to use massive and expensive scopes all around the world, one of which is free.

Bradford Robotic Telescope (BRT) is a completely free remote telescope that anyone with an internet connection and web browser can use. Just a quick sign up process and away you go.

You select what to look at, either pre-defined locations or your own co-ordinates, choose which filter, how long you want the exposure and what telescope to use. It's that simple.

The telescopes are on top of Mount Teide in Tenerife and you have a choice of 3 to use:

* Constellation - for large field of view shots.
* Cluster - sensitive enough to show background stars in an image of the moon
* Galaxy - 14 inch aperture, use with galaxies, planets, nebs and the moon.

Here is my first attempt using the 14inch, I used the wrong filter (OIII) and over cooked the exposure at 160000ms!

Click to enlarge

I've uploaded the image here with details.

At least I can still image when all I seem to have at the moment is cloudy skies.

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In other news... (2009/10/16)
It seems's that the Haydron Collider may be sabotaging itself, according to two physicists the so called God Particle is coming back in time and stopping the collider before it can create a version of itself.

The news hit the New York Times:
"the hypothesized Higgs Boson... might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveller who goes back in time to kill his grandfather."

The two physicists reckon that the American Congress closed the doors on funding their own version in '93' and why the great LHC switch on last year also failed!

With the possibility of Earth swallowing black holes and time travelling particles this machine sounds like its shaping up to be the most important and expensive experiment ever conceived.

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Test Drive Time (2009/10/9)
So last night I get everything out about 21:30, unlike the last time with just the scope and a camera tripod, it was all out and connected up.

I live close to a city centre and an industrial estate so it's fairly light polluted, I found it very hard to see Polaris in the Polar Scope, let alone line it up accurately. It was nearly a full moon too but still !! The red light inside the polar scope also didn't help but made it worse, once that was on I couldn't see any stars !!!

After a couple of hours I had lined up 2 bright stars in Cassey and 2 in Ursa Major, Polaris was somewhere through the EP !

I then added my scopes (piggy backed) and weights to balance it. Then spun the RA back to line up the above stars again.

After that I wired it all up:

Laptop -> Synscan Controller -> Mount
Laptop -> QHY5 -> Mount

I left my new Canon 20d off for my first go as I didn't think I would get around to taking any images.... I was right !

Turning everything on and opening PHD and SN5 I thought I was set.... however I couldn't get anything from the QHY5, PHD wasn't showing anything, I had the settings to 'On Camera' and a 1 sec exposure. I saw nothing, just lines going across the screen.. However if I move this in a dark room and then to a light room it whites out so the actual camera must be OK.

Everything was getting wet with dew, the laptop, scope, mount and the foam in the cases.. Guess I'm going to need to invest in some dew heating strips, I never thought it was going to be that bad!

As soon as I was about to slew to my first target... clouds formed up and that was the end of that for the rest of the night !!

So not the best start, but at least it is a start and I don't mind it went badly, it gives me a starting point.

I posted my nights experience on the StarGazers Lounge forum here to see what help I could get.!

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Clouds and Light Pollution (2009/10/7)
I haven't updated the blog since Kelling Heath as I've not been able to get out into the night and test my equipment. Too many clouds and at the moment and a school that's being built has flood lights on most of the night clogging up the night sky !

I don't really want to travel away from home just yet as when I do get everything out it will be the first time. So I need to be near a wireless access point..... Just in case I need to hit the forums!

I have however got myself connected up with the EQ6 and a second hand laptop from Ebay. I also bought a second hand copy of The sky6 and Starry Night Pro 5. I wasn't sure which one would suit my needs so I got both.

Using the EQASCOM drivers I'm now able to move the mount to anywhere I click in the programs. They were both very easy to setup.

Currently I prefer The Sky as it feels and works better. However Starry Night Pro 5 does look good so I can't take anything away from that! I will review the software at some point from a beginners point of view, including all the free ones too.

To add to my collection of Astro equipment I can now add a Canon 20D :) Also bought from Ebay !!!

The next clear night I will be out..... Light pollution allowing !

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Kelling Heath Star Party (2009/9/19)
Well I'm back from the Star Party at Kelling Heath and not only was it great to see some of the telescopes and the setups people were using, I also won a Celestron #8 light yellow filter in the raffle which I was pleased about.

The day started off with a talk from Bob Mizon of CfDS who gave a great talk on 'Ten Objects to see in a Light Polluted Area'. It was good to hear and see that some of the great sights of space will still be visible from where I live including:

- NGC 7331 Galaxy
- M31 (Andromeda) Galaxy
- Gamma Andromedae
- VY Canis Majoris
- Beta Canum Venaticorum
- The Wristwatch in Camelopardalis
- NGC 457 an open star cluster that he described as an Owl but myself and my wife though it looked more like Wall-e !!

The second talk that I was most looking forward to was 'Basic Astrophotography'. However this was a major let down as it wasn't so much "Basic", as it was a show and tell by the host of all the pictures he's been able to take with his kit that cost thousands upon thousands of pounds. Don't get me wrong the pictures were amazing but it was hardly basic. But nevermind.

Then we went on a journey around the site to look at all the scopes people had setup. This bit was great. I was glad to see that my HEQ6 mount was the star of the show with most people using it. There were plenty of home made dobs and some trully amazing kits including a caravan that had it's own dome observatory on top!!

The day was then finished off with a raffle with the main prize of a signed original print by Patrick Moore of the Moon. I however won a Celestron #8 light yellow filter which after reading about can beused for Moon shots.

As we were leaving the clouds rolled in and it felt really damp, I'm hoping that it cleared enough later for the people to see.

All in all a great day, everyone was nice who we spoke to and even the Mrs wasn't totally bored !

My only regret that I'm kicking myself for was not bringing, of all things, a camera..

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