More rambling later, on to my Internal dialogue:
I started imaging at 10pm, I should have 6.5 hrs of data to check. Yay!
Wait, I have been checking each image as it comes through every 15 min, I don't need to check them again.
I should check them again *checks them* Hrmm, how do I only have 4.5 hrs of data *scratches head*
Oh, right, I had it focus every so often and that takes time. I also threw out 5 frames as my guider occasionally loses its mind for a second and ruins a 15 min frame, and I paused at 2 am for a bit as I put the slide off roof back on, ok, makes sense.
Waiiiiitt ..... is 900seconds REALLY 15 min *looks skeptically at clock and giant countdown timer on imaging software* ok, fine, time is still time.
I need sleep.
I really need to adjust my polar alignment again, I have some overall drift even with guiding ... not tonight, during next bright moon when I can't image *remembers that I have said this every single time I have imaged for the past year and never remembers to actually do this come full moon, puts into calendar*
Yay, new sub just came through *instantly checks it as I have every single frame that has come in since 10pm* Yay, pretty. Stars look good. No airplane in the frame. Yippee.
Want to sleep. Is it sunrise yet? No? Dangit. I mean, Yay, more imaging time. But dangit, I am tired.
Ok, forecast is supposed to be good for next 3-4 nights. Stay on target whole time? *does internal calculations about total exposure time for each filter* Yeah, stay on target. If I lose about as many hours for focus and other tasks as tonight I should have 30hrs of data by the end of the week, that should be a nice picture.
Definitely too tired, giving up for the night, and by that I mean I will definitely be spending the next hour doing calibration and shut down tasks and wiping down the electronics cause the dew is bad. So I can sleep in an hour. Yay. *goes back to the observatory, gets some calibration frames going, transfers files from the night to the network drive, dries off what needs to be and closes up dome.*
So, yeah, that is roughly how my brain works when working non-stop all night. Data last night looked decent and tonight's session is currently going and looking even better than last nights. I should have ~13 hours of Hydrogen-Alpha data on the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) after this evening with, hopefully, 3 more nights ahead of me. Here's to clear skies ahead!
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/science-technology/article35431416.html
Some kind words about Staunton River State Park, one of the newest IDA Dark Sky Parks, by the N.C. Museum of Natural...
Posted by International Dark-Sky Association on Monday, September 21, 2015
I did some initial comparisons using Messier 16, the Eagle Nebula, the last evening out. The skies there were lovely (Sky Quality Meter (SQM) reading of 21.08 that night) and we were doing a public observing night as well, which gave an opportunity to introduce imaging and astronomy to adults and kids alike. I decided on 10 min exposures for all 4 filters and refocused between each filter with the Moonight Focuser. This time around I did not do a whole lot to compare, as I wanted to get onto my proper imaging for the night as it was the light night of the Star Party and the skies were so great, so I will do much better testing soon with many more #s and calculations, and exposure times.
To start, here is the setup and details for these comparisons:
Imaging scope: Orion EON80ED
Camera: Atik 314L+
Filters: Astronomik Ha 12nm, Astronomik OIII 12nm, Astrodon Ha 3nm, Astrodon OIII 3nm
Exposure time: 600s
bin: 1
Calibration: Darks and Flats
Location: Staunton River State Park, Virginia
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21.08
Date: 25 November 2014
To start off, Hydrogen-Alpha 600 second single sub, unstretched comparison
At first glance, the stars appear slightly larger in the 12nm as well as the overall background levels are higher (mean pixel stat value of 709 vs 540), although with a single unstretched sub it is hard to tell whether there is will be a noticeable difference in the nebulosity and overall image but it does appear as if there is more in the image already. With that said, on to stretching.
For the stretches I used only levels and curves and as opposed to doing identical stretches with the levels on both (which would have resulted with a much brighter/washed out image with the 12nm due to the extra light let in), I adjusted the levels to keep the background of both images comparable and any curves I used, I did identically on both. I determined this would be the fairest way to compare the final results in the filters.
After the stretches, the difference is very noticeable. While the physical size of the stars is similar (with the 12nm only being slightly larger), the brightness of the stars (especially the fainter stars) is noticeably less. Stretching to similar overall background levels brings out much more nebulosity in the 3nm filter vs the 12nm even though the exposure times were identical. The amount of nebulosity that is shown in a single 10 min exposure without having to do extreme stretching and risk introducing extra noise and without having to worry about stars bloating was just amazing.
I really wanted to see just how much was in there by having cut all the other wavelengths out so I did an inverted image comparison for a portion of the image where I removed the stars and used ONLY levels to do a linear stretch. Here is the result:
The difference in contrast and extent of nebulosity between the two filters was quite impressive on this single exposure. While I cannot fault the Astronomik 12nm filter as I have gotten great results out of it, the narrower passband of the Astrodon 3nm just shows the advantages of going narrower.
I also did the same comparisons with the OIII filters, here are those images:
The initial star difference in the single unstretched sub is the main thing that is noticeable in this comparison, now on to the stretch:
The comparison shows similar effects as the Ha: slightly smaller, although comparable, star size but with a noticeable difference in brightness for fainter stars creating the appearance of a less dense star field and increasing the nebulosity to star contrast, lower overall background light levels which allow for a higher nebulosity to background ration through. The result is more nebulosity, more contrast, and smaller-appearing/less bright. stars.
While I need to do more extensive comparisons, I am really impressed so far. I realize that the 3nm Ha filter will also cut out the NII line that the 12nm filter will allow through, which might be a reason to use the wider passband filter on certain targets. However, the advantages of the 3nm over the 12nm, despite the price jump, make it well worthwhile.
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Core Stack |
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Long Exposure Stack |
I started with a process of the core stack. I didn't focus on stretching it too much as I was just going for the detail in the core as the other stack would cover all the rest of the detail. A few levels, curves, and the enhance dust lanes action from my set and here is the final core stretch:
I just spent a week down at Olly Penrice's astronomy mecca in Southern France. Crazy me drove down with all of my gear (the whole trip both ways and what driving we did during the day down there totaled 2100 miles!) and much to Olly's amusement set up my "portable" kit on his pad, desktop computer and all.
It was an absolutely gorgeous week and I got somewhere around 46.5 hrs of data total on 5 separate targets plus a few Milky Way shots with my DSLR on a tripod as I sat and watched the meteor shower and enjoyed the clear summer evenings. I do have some meteor widefields I have yet to stack and process as well as some more Milky Way shots, but here is the one I have done that I like the most.
I started on vdb126 as I love dark nebula regions and rarely image them. I did this for part of the first night and then moved on. It needed (and still does) some more data, but I had other priorities for most of the imaging time and just wanted something to show for this region.
Over the next 6 nights I worked on the remaining targets depending on where they were along the southern horizon, the slowly increasing moon, and how much data I had gotten on them yet. Here are the images I got over the week. I have a little more integrating and work to do on a few of them, but they are mostly processed.
Helix Nebula (LHaRGB):
Cocoon Nebula (LHaRGB):
Trifid Nebula (LRGB):
NGC 6559 (LRGB):
All were taken with my Orion EON80ED scope, Atik 314L+ camera, and Astronomik Filters while being piggybacked on my CPC800XLT on a wedge. More integration time details are available on my website although some of the time on the Helix I have stacked with a few other subs I got at a star party a while back which added to the 46.5 hour total from this week by 4 hrs making 50.5hrs for these 5 images. Could not have been a more perfect astrophotography week by my standards and it was nice to get the scope out and running again as it has just been collecting dust for the past 5 months or so as other things have taken priority. Well worth the year it took to book, plan, and actually get down to these amazing dark skies for a whole week of nothing but astrophotography by night and touring around the wonderful little towns in the area, hiking, and shopping during the day!
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vdb14 |
The all-too-familiar Horsehead Nebula. I hadn't imaged this since I first began astrophotography and thought it about time I hit it again. I wanted to get the depth and detail that Hydrogen-alpha provided but also not lose the blue reflection nebaul below the HH. As always in this region, keeping Alnitak (off frame to left) from ruining the photo is always a fun challenge. I think I managed to succeed fairly well with this final result.
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Horsehead Nebula
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I also decided I wanted to try out a few more planetary nebulas. I only got one managed with out few clear nights but it provided enough of a challenge. I shot it in narrowband so have no star colors, something which I would like to eventually remedy, but the depth and detail of the Owl Nebula itself made me happy. This is an easy nebula to have washed out and not get any of the inner detail/stars. It was a processing challenge to keep that and bring out the rarely seen outer OIII halo, but I am always up for a challenge (even if I do not always succeed). Here was the final result, although I do wish to revisit this in RGB to add some star colors and perhaps better nebula color as well.
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M97 - Owl Nebula
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M106 |
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Mars - 29 Mar 2012 |
Note: These tests are done on my actual imaging system, not an "ideal" test setup. I find it hard to find results on average setups as "tests" are generally done on apochromatic scopes and very high-end equipment. That is why I like to share my test results on my modest equipment. These are not "scientific" and are done just as I state. I do them for others who have modest setups and would like to find results on setups similar to their own.
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Exposure:
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M (Manual)
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Roll wheel on top left of camera
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ISO:
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400
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Press “ISO” button on left of preview screen, turn roll bar in front of shutter/on-off button
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Image Quality:
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NEF (RAW)
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MENU->Shooting Menu->Image Quality
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Shutter trigger:
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Quick-Response Remote
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Two places: Shooting Menu->Remote control mode->Quick Response Remote, Secondary roll wheel on top left of camera->remote picture
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Shutter Speed:
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BULB
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Right thumb roll bar
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As soon as they finish uploading, the image will be available on my website under the Nebula section and a Zoomable to 1:1 version so you can see more details is located HERE. Currently only the Ha channel is located on the links. I will update this once the uploads are complete.
The pure exhaustion of the travel day was enough to make anyone climb into a cozy bed and sleep for days.
Not this time.
26 hrs since I woke for the travel from my home in England to Orlando, Florida for the NASATweetup I attempted to lie down to sleep for a few hours before a group of us met to carpool to Kennedy Space Center. 3 alarms and a wake up call were scheduled just to make sure I didn't oversleep. None would be needed. Every half hour on the dot my subconscious woke me to double check that I hadn't overslept and missed my chance to be a part of history. At 0400 I gave in to my subconscious and began preparing for the day. 3 cameras, 1 HD video camera, multiple lenses, laptop computer, smart phone, and the dream a grown adult still holds on to like a child all to meet ....
...Atlantis.
A nice pre-dawn drive from Orlando on 7 July for the 1st day of the Tweetup. We arrive at the press credential building to get our Tweetup IDs and walk out into the soup of Florida. 110% humidity and feels like you are swimming instead of walking. A gorgeous sunrise over Kennedy Space Center as we drive towards the VAB and the Countdown Clock. Gorgeous due to the iridescent red and orange sun-rayvery large backlighting the dark clouds billowing on the horizon - an ominous sign for the launch tomorrow but that won't deter us. We press on, make our way to the Twent (Tweetup tent) with a few obligatory stops to get shots of Atlantis on the pad, the VAB, and the Countdown Clock.
The Tweetup begins.
Introductions by the 150 tweeps each one more impressive than the last. Man these are some smart people.
In walk two astronauts (Mike Massimino & Doug Wheelock) and, as only can in a group like this, they are mobbed like celebrities for autographs and photos. They are there for the upcoming program of Sesame Street to interact with Elmo. Yes, I get to meet Elmo! I think my little girl is the most excited about this particular part of the program at her age.
Our favorite red monster was getting ready for the live taping and as the time til air neared we hear Elmo yell at us all to "SIT DOWN!!!" ... kinda amusing to get yelled at by a Sesame Street character.
Elmo's interview with the astronauts was amusing - he was quite the smart-ass and it provided more than one good laugh in the Tweetup tent. Q&A time rolled around and I had promised Audrey I would ask Elmo something for her so I raised my hand and got to ask my question,
"My 2 yr old Audrey wants to know what your favorite planet is" ...
Elmo: "The Milky Way BABY!" nudges Massimino "That's a planet right?"
Massimino: (through unbridled laughter) "close enough Elmo".
Elmo: "Astronaut Mike, is Mars a planet?"
"Yes, Elmo, Mars is a planet"
"Then ... Mars BABY"
The whole room was cracking up. Go Elmo!
After Elmo had to leave we got to have Q&A time with the astronauts. I especially enjoyed Doug Wheelock (on Twitter @Astro_Wheels) speaking to us. His enthusiasm for space and his honesty was refreshing. As he talked about looking back onto Earth while working in space and how distracting Earth can be because of its beauty so they look forward to orbital sunset only to realize that with city lights, auroras, etc the Earth is just as distracting at night as it is during the day. He also told us about his experience with Soyuz and how "Coming home in the Soyuz is like getting in a barrel to go over Nigra Falls, but before you go over they light it on fire". It really gave us a sense of what the experience was like.
Then the monsoon hit. I do not say that too lightly. They had to cut the live video feed that was going on and power everything down for all the lightning in the area and our tent started to flood around the edges. The rain was so loud you could not hear the speakers anymore so eventually they all gave up rather than screaming. After a while it died down enough for us to all hurry over to the cafeteria for a quick lunch before the KSC tour.
Now when I say KSC tour I don't mean your everyday, go-buy-a-ticket-at-the-Visitor-Center tour, I mean we got THE TOUR. My bus headed straight out to the launchpad. Yes, THE launchpad where Atlantis was sitting, poised for her rocket ride into space the following day. It was time for the RSS (rotating service structure) Retraction and we got front row seats. We arrived to Atlantis still all safely hidden away inside the RSS. Protected & Sheltered. As we stand in the field next to her we slowly begin to see her emerge. A wingtip, now a wing, "I think I can see her side!" someone enthusiastically hollers, soon we can indeed make out the oh so familiar shape as her cocoon is drawn away. The RSS finishes its retraction and there sits Atlantis. We all take our photos and don't want to leave. @Astro_Wheels shows up for a few more photos with us and we are all told we have to go. NOOOO! Ok, a few more minutes as they see the pleading faces of 150 adults who all of a sudden (again) are acting like kids who don't want to leave the playground. They take a quick group shot of us with Atlantis in the background (although it was haphazard and not organized so some people (ahem ... me and a bunch others) were jammed in the back with no chance of being seen by the camera) but was a nice thought. We finally get shuffled back onto the buses and ours heads over to the Saturn V building.
The Saturn V building was part of the everyday tour and as such was beyond packed with people. After getting elbowed by more than a few I decided my cameras weren't safe and went outside to sit for the 15 minutes we had left there and just relax. Wow - hadn't gotten a chance to sit and relax since we arrived. It was kinda nice. The rain started again.
It was getting late in the afternoon but we still had one more stop: the VAB. For those of you who have ever seen a photo of Kennedy Space Center, the Vehicle Assembly Building is the HUGE building where they, as one would expect, assemble the Shuttle onto the ET and SRBs. When I say huge, I mean that at one point, this building was the largest by volume in the WORLD. It still stands as 4th largest (a few of the Asian mega-skyrises are larger now) but this building is still, by far, the largest building I have ever seen. Not only is it tall, it is a giant rectangle so the volume is just massive (129,428,000 cubic feet). When you first even near KSC by road you see it dozens of miles away, and even once you are through the gates and you think you are close, you still drive another 15 minutes until you are there. Its just that big. It was amazing to stand in it, no workers around (say for the one showing us the building) no parts or shuttles around as the Space Shuttle is no more. A giant empty shell. Makes you wonder when they will be using this building again . . . hopefully soon.
We all go to exit the VAB and are finished for the day, say for one problem: we are locked in. Its 6pm and apparently security forgot that we were touring in there and locked it all up to go home for the day. Not the worst place to be stuck but we were all tired from such an amazing day and kinda ready to go to our hotels and crash for the night. They eventually showed back up after a few calls and then the keycard and pin device weren't unlocking the first set of gates to let us out after they came in. SNAP! Another security guard showed up and tossed the first their keys through the gate and thankfully we were free :)
What a day!
Despite the forecasts and NASA's odds (70% chance of a scrub) I was bound and determined to be positive. It WAS going to launch. Then we all get back to the hotel and see that a tropical storm warning was called and headed this way. SNAP! Oh well, we still decide that we will be positive and decide on a 230am departure from the hotel. We wanted to beat the traffic to KSC or at least make sure that we were there for the 5am entry we were allowed.
Launch Day: As I begin the drive I realize that we left WELL early enough. Nobody else was on the road yet. A few rain showers on the earlier part of the drive and then ... the clouds part, rain stops, & we see stars. Atlantis shines in the distance, like a beacon through the storm. The massive VAB sits like a shadowy guardian brother waiting to protect it's offspring should the need arise. The view driving in was awe-inspriting in and of itself. The criss-crossing spotlights on Atlantis could be seen nearly from Orlando, especially when they reflected off of the scattered clouds that remained. We got to the badging office at 330am. Yup - NO traffic for us on the way out. We decide to have an impromptu tail-gate there at the badging office until 5. Someone put some tunes on and we all hung out and chatted, laughed, and hoped that the weather would continue to improve.
We hurry in once we are allowed and go to the turn basin to set up our tripods. Media has taken most of the space up, but there are some spots left so we pick out where we want, leave the tripods and head in for the morning program of the NASATweetup.
14 years later, technology has advanced, time has moved on. I pursued my dream of being an astronaut for a while - I attended and graduated from the US Air Force Academy in those pursuits. Dreams rarely play out the way you hope and the years have certainly dampened my pursuit of that particular dream although I still desperately would love to go into space I now have a family and am traveling and living around the world with the military. I got out of the Air Force and am now an amateur astronomer/astrophotographer and mother. The former keeping my head in the stars and the latter keeping me firmly planted on Earth. NASA has changed and the shuttle is nearing the end of its magnificent life. One last Shuttle launch. Atlantis flies once more. STS-135 is set to take off on July 8, 2011 and I cannot express how much I wanted to see the Shuttle launch one more time. The past 14 years have kept me busy and unable to return to the Florida coast for this despite many attempts to do so.
NASA has embraced the social media craze that has engulfed our society. They now hold Tweetups where they invite a fortunate few followers from Twitter to attend once-in-a-lifetime events held at various NASA facilities throughout the country. VIP tours, talks from engineers, scientists, astronauts, behind the scenes first-hand looks at the inner workings of NASA. In short, the best 2 days ever for a Space geek like me! I heard about these shortly after I joined Twitter and began applying for the launch ones as well as the ones held at Johnson Space Center. I was living in Texas at the time and had planned to go see Mission Control before we moved regardless but fate intervened and accepted me to the STS-132 JSC Tweetup. I have blogged about that experience and still get giddy when I remember it or look at my pictures. Sitting in the chair of the Flight Director for the Apollo missions, getting to see astronauts train in the NBL ... SQUEEE!!! :) I was never one of the fortunate ones, however, picked to see a launch from the Press Box and get the inside tour of Kennedy. As the Shuttle's lifespan comes to a close it has gained popularity and each Tweetup got more and more applicants. We were down to the final launch. I had moved to England again with the Air Force so being able to drive over to see it regardless became difficult. I applied for the Tweetup regardless as well as for tickets for the launch. Why not, right? The odds were not in my favor but I had to do it anyways. Despite telling myself that I should not get my hopes up, I did. So when I got the rejection letter for tickets I was a bit bummed. Then the day for Tweetup selections came and went and not only did I not get an acceptance email, I got NO email whatsoever. They send out at least rejection letters regardless so I was beginning to think my application didn't go through - I was a bit upset but went ahead and sent them a message inquiring, just in case.
A response via Twitter raised my hopes again: "You're on the waiting list for #NASATweetup. We'll look into where the email might have gone." Not accepted, but not rejected!!! 5500 people applied. Only 150 got the invite with another 150 being Wait-listed. Odds were still not great, but I had made the first cut!!! A week came and went with me following all the excitement of those selected and trying to join in - this was an exciting event whether I got to be there or not! As the #s of original invitees creeped up I realized that it was not looking good. I resigned to the fact that I wouldnt be going to the Tweetup but was going to still be excited about the launch, follow those who were going, and enjoy the last launch of the Space Shuttle.
I go out to an afternoon date with my husband while my daughter is in nursery school since he has a random Friday off. Enjoyable afternoon - nice lunch and good movie. All thoughts of NASATweetup are temporarily gone .... until I get home and check my email. This is staring at me from my inbox:
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photo credit: Nathan Bergey |
and finally my Elephant Trunk in HST-mapped narrowband (SII, Ha, OIII). Total integration time: 10hrs (2:6:2), (I had a couple of hours of Ha from a week or two ago that I added in to this weekends data):
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Also, according to Ron Wodaski's "The New CCD Astronomy", pg 244:
"The sole purpose of a bias frame is to allow you to use dark frames whose exposure time does not match the light frame exposure time. If you always take dark frames with the same exposure as your light frames, you do not need to take bias frames" ....
Since I don't use scaled darks this explains my results and I am officially ignoring all the contradictory and argumentative (& some downright rude) comments I have been getting to this question on my astronomy forums.