Jan 252015
 
IMG_0196_ABE_Annotated

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 Annotated 1/24/2015 from Norris Lake, TN. Canon 6D, 70mm f/2.8, 6 seconds @ ISO 3200

 

IMG_0196_ABE

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2, 1/24/2015 from Norris Lake, TN Canon 6D, 70mm f/2.8, 6 seconds @ ISO 3200

 

IMG_0193

Star Party with Knox Observers, ORION, and SMAS members. 1/24/2015, from Norris Lake, TN.  Looking towards Orion rising in the East.

 

Jan 102015
 
Comet-LovejoyIMG_9899_r

Animation of Comet Lovejoy over a span of about 60 minutes. Canon 6D, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 30sec exposures.

 

Luminance Animation of Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

Luminance Animation of Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

 

Comet Lovejoy 2014 Q2 – January 10th 2015, Atlas EQ-G Mount, Stellavue SVQ100 (100mm f/5.8 APO), Apogee U8300 CCD, 5x3min each L,R,G,B filters. (Clinton, TN)

 

 

Jan 032015
 
Double-Cluster_25P

The Double Cluster – Caldwell 14 Open Clusters NGC 869 & 884 Canon 6D, ISO 1600, 60 seconds Canon 70-200 f/2.8 @ f/2.8 Tracking on Atlas EQ-G Cherry Springs Dark Sky Park, PA

 

A widefield shot of the famous Double Cluster from Sept 17th 2014 at Cherry Springs State Park.  The Double Cluster is in Perseus but is in close proximity to Cassiopeia.

 

Double_Cluster_25P_Annotated

Annotated Double Cluster

Oct 262014
 

I began work on a tri-color Hubble Pallet image during the summer of 2014 but due to weather and other obligations did not capture much in the way of Oxygen [O III] and Sulfur [S II] emission data for the mosaic project so am leaving it as a monochrome image using only the Hydrogen Alpha emission line data.

Cygnus Mosaic in Hydrogen Alpha Emission Line FSQ-106ED Apogee U16 CCD Baader 7nm Ha Filter AP900GTO Mount 6x20min Exposure Campmeeting Observatory, Sewickley, PA

Cygnus Mosaic in Hydrogen Alpha Emission Line
FSQ-106ED
Apogee U16 CCD
Baader 7nm Ha Filter
AP900GTO Mount
6x20min Exposure
Campmeeting Observatory, Sewickley, PA

Cygnus Mosaic – Annotated

Aug 272014
 
Cherry Springs panorama from the northern side of the overnight astronomy field

Cherry Springs panorama from the northern side of the overnight astronomy field

 

Cherry Springs

Cherry Springs

Monday night was my first visit to a dark site; or at least my first visit since catching the astronomy bug.  Upon arriving at Cherry Springs after the 4 hour drive I noticed there were quite a few people  still hanging around after the Black Forest Star Party which was held over the weekend.  According to some of the other amateur astronomers, the weekend star party was a bust.

We found a vacant spot to setup our tents right next to one of the RV style power outlet posts scattered throughout the observing fields.  I can’t stress how wonderful it is to have power provided  on the field for the astrophotographically inclined!

The grounds were well kept and the main bathrooms much nicer than expected.  The surrounding area is gorgeous for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

 

Untracked 30 Second Exposure

Untracked 30 Second Exposure

As nice as the park was, the show obviously didn’t start until the sun went down.  The Milky Way was more prominent before astronomical twilight than I’m used to seeing here in the PGH region after astronomical twilight; even at the Greene County site.  By 10:00pm it was gorgeous and I snapped a quick 3o second shot on a tripod and marveled that the dark lanes extending out from the Rho Ophiuchi / Antares region were clearly visible in a short exposure so close to the horizon.

Seeing the sky like this puts everything in a different perspective.

Yes, it’s depressing being back in light polluted Pittsburgh but I’m really glad I finally made it out to Cherry Springs after all this time.

I had plans to shoot some other objects but due to poor planning and setup of my tent I couldn’t take some of the deep southern objects I was hoping for.  I settled for 5.5 hours of exposure time on NGC 7023:  The Iris Nebula.  I have shot the Iris before but was never totally happy.  I’m still not quite satisfied but it’s certainly better than what I’ve gotten around here.

4 minute Exposure Canon 6D 200mm f/2.8 Tracking, Unguided

4 minute Exposure
Canon 6D
200mm f/2.8
Tracking, Unguided

NGC-7023-LRGB-Combine-V2

NGC 7023 Atlas EQ-G Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 – 100mm f/5.8 Quadruplet Apogee Ascent A694 CCD 5.5 Hours Total LRGB Exposure

 

The Iris Nebula, also NGC 7023 and Caldwell 4, is a bright reflection nebula and Caldwell object in the constellation Cepheus. NGC 7023 is actually the cluster within the nebula, LBN 487, and the nebula is lit by a magnitude +7 star, SAO 19158.[1] It shines at magnitude +6.8. It is located near the Mira-type variable star T Cephei, and near the bright magnitude +3.23 variable star Beta Cephei (Alphirk). It lies 1,300 light-years away and is six light-years across.[2]

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Jul 072014
 

It’s that time of year when Cygnus rises high over head and displays a multitude of nebulous treasure.  This mosaic is only a portion of the Cygnus constellation but represents a large patch of sky almost 9 x 9 degrees.  This is only a test framing as I create a game plan for a summer long imaging project.  For a sense of scale, I have included a gibbous moon which was not part of the original image as well as a full scale crop of the Crescent Nebula, bottom right, to show the full size scale of the original 83 megapixel image.

Mosaic_12

Cygnus Mosaic in Hydrogen Alpha FSQ-106ED Apogee U16 AP900GTO Baader Ha Narrowband Filter 9x20min total exposure

 

 

Jun 012014
 

Three AAAP members were preset at the Greene County Observing Site Saturday night.  It turned out to be a pretty decent night.

Crescent-Moon-Jupiter

Crescent Moon with Earth Shine and Jupiter

Greene-County-Light-Pollution-South

Greene County Site Looking South at the Summer Milky Way. Light pollution is more prominent here now than in past years.

 

Additional Information:

The area around the Greene County Observing Site has seen a lot of new industry construction; most of it related to the Marcellus Shale boom.  Take a look at the Google Map view of all the new light sources that weren’t there 3 years ago.  About 70% are from the last year alone.  #1 is one of the brightest lights seen in the above Southern Milky Way shot.

Greene County