Enterprise Astronomy
~Deep Space Images by Annie Morris~
I clearly do not blog often. I might have a whim every few years, but that's likely to be it. Enjoy the few I have written:
STS-135 NASA Tweetup. The Final launch.
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.
To be honest, I was too excited to really pay attention to anything that happened that morning say for a few things. Here they are:
Seth Green, actor and space enthusiast, makes an appearance and plays Bear McCreary's new song for NASA "Fanfare for STS-135". Seth played it for us (1st time played for anyone) while we watched the astronauts getting strapped into Atlantis. It was a very powerful and moving song. Thanks Seth & Bear!Bob Crippen, astronaut on STS-1, popped in to talk to us. He got choked up talking about the shuttle program ending and had to stop for a minute to compose himself. It really showed us what this program means to not only current astronauts and NASA employees, but everyone who has ever flown on it. He gave a very good talk, although apparently has something against photos and autographs as he refused everyone's requests and rushed out after he spoke.
A couple quotes I wrote down from other morning talks:
-Astronaut Tony Antonelli on viewing Earth from space: "I wondered why we don't treat ourselves more neighborly."
-NASA Depute Administrator Lori Garver, "This isn't the beginning of the end, it is the end of what was our beginning.
The weather was our nemesis on launch day. NASA went ahead and tanked but the head weather person came to talk to us and pretty much said that we weren't going to launch, although she personally was still hoping for a clearing. Over 1 million people on the Space Coast all had their fingers crossed that the clearing skies we saw beginning before dawn and were still continuing after sunrise would stay and the tropical storm stayed far enough away that the 20 mile "no rain" radius would be met. We made it to the 9 minute hold and it kept going back and forth. Weather was "GO" to cheers, weather was "NO GO" to boos, multiple times. As we looked out of the tent we were seeing clouds, but also blue skies. My spirits were lifted. I had a good feeling. About 10 minutes before the 9 minute hold came to an end and we all headed out to our tripods. A slight altercation occurred over tripod spot "saving" from weeks before via a stick but I won't get into that TOO much as this is a positive thread - but if "Mr $12000 lens who thinks he is better than anyone else and a stick in the ground actually held his spot" is reading this I will say this: I hope your camera jammed during launch" ... anywho, I found a new spot for my tripod as I wasn't going to waste my time on him and some nice tweeps made room for the few of us who got bumped by him. I got my camera and video camera set up as the 9 minute hold ended (although afterwards I realized I forgot to switch back to RAW shooting after the morning twent shooting on jpg...oops) and we all breathed a sigh of relief as most weather scrubs occur in that hold. Maybe we were actually going to get to see the launch! Less than a minute someone yells out. There were no speakers there near the countdown clock and as we were in front of it a ways it was getting frustrating not knowing what the countdown was at. At 31 seconds someone yells "there's a hold, problem with something" ... NOOOOO!!!! Were they seriously going to scrub the launch at 31 seconds?!
It turns out it was more of a pause for dramatic effect (a sensor wasn't reading something and they just had to visually confirm). "Countdown has resumed" ... 30 ... 20 ... we were counting in our heads since we still weren't completely sure what the count was until 10, 9, 8 - we hear some people by the countdown clock start yelling. We ALL join in at "5, 4 ..." I have started my camera and video at 5 and glance through the viewfinder just to make sure I am framed. I see the smoke starting to billow so I leave the camera to take the photos I programmed it to and turn to watch it with my own eyes. "3, 2, 1 ... LIFTOFF" I watch Atlantis start to rise as momentum from the rockets build and as it clears the tower the light from the SRBs are so bright it is almost like looking into the sun. For seconds we just see it, until the sound-wave hits us. When it hit us, it HIT us. Cameras shook, you feel your entire insides rumbling and Atlantis is full speed heading towards the heavens. A beautiful roll and she heads for the cloud deck. Blue skies peek through the clouds, welcoming Atlantis to the skies as we all cheer Atlantis and her crew of 4 on their way to the International Space Station.
The entire crowd, whether it be Tweetup attendees, dignitaries, astronauts, or media were all cheering and a good portion were crying - overcome with the emotion of the moment. We all just watched the final Space Shuttle lift off so beautifully. A site that no human will get to see again. The end of an era and hopefully the beginning of a new one. It is hard enough to describe a launch to someone who has never seen one live. It is so much more powerful and emotional than watching it on tv. You are not only watching it, you are feeling it, you are the launch. Add to it the weight of this event and it really is beyond words. I have had to wait for a few days to even come up with how to express this and still cannot adequately describe what I still feel when thinking of the launch or looking at my photos.
Amazing is a completely inadequate word. It is truly beyond any explanation.
note: all photos in this blog were taken by me (except the ones of me - I gave my camera to someone for those) at the NASATweetup and STS-135 launch of the Shuttle Atlantis. © All rights reserved. If you would like to use a photo posted here please contact me first.
Somewhere between a dream and reality .... Atlantis
January 12, 1997: 15 year old me is sitting in the wee hours of the morning with my family on the grass in Florida staring at a platform lit up by spot lights. The excitement builds with each reducing number in a countdown and I watch as 7 astronauts live out my dream: to go up into space. 3, 2, 1, LIFTOFF of the Shuttle Atlantis. STS-81 turns the dark night into an eery green daylight. Getting to actually watch the shuttle launch is an experience I have never forgotten and still nearly brings me to tears just thinking about it. I dug out our vehicle placard and some photos we took of the launch (and me on the tour - I am the goofy one in the hat in the center). Glad I saved the placard from way back then!
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 |
Summer project
Have you ever wanted to image for 8.5 days? I don't mean take a vacation and take a photo sometime throughout each day - I mean 8.5 days, 200+ hours, of cumulative exposure time for one photo. This is what I am currently in the midst of. I don't even want to add in set up, acquisition, focusing, tear down into the mix else I might faint from the amount of time I am working on this one shot.
The goal: a high resolution narrowband mosaic of the Pelican and North American Nebulas.
I am using my Atik 314L+ ccd camera and my Orion EON80ED scope to (hopefully) make a very high resolution large mosaic of the region. By my calculations and progress so far each filter will have 20 panels. I am currently half-way through the Ha, which I am shooting 10x1200s subs, binned 1x1 for each of those panels.
My thinking? Well, summers here in England have very short nights and I realized that combined with the infamous cloudy and rainy weather here I would be lucky to finish more than just a couple objects during the summer months. I was beginning the season with just a Ha shot of the main portion of the Pelican when I had this brilliant plan. Why not avoid frustration over having to drag out each image and plan that into the summer? Do a mosaic of the region, which with my small chip was the only way to image it anyways, and therefore when I do have clear nights, even though incredibly short on darkness, I already have all the planning done and just have to center on the next panel and off I go. Halfway through the first filter's panels I am wondering if I was completely insane when I set my mind out to do this! The 10 panels I currently have are roughly 77 inches square in size and so large I have to cut it down to 1/4 size just to load to Flickr and not hit their size maximums!!! No, I will not be printing a 10 foot poster of the final project, but the resolution for even a (what a normal person would consider) large print should be fantastic.
I still have the rest of the summer and beginning of fall until my targets rotate away for a few months so I am hoping that the remaining 167 hours are as promising as the first 33 were!
Eastern Veil and building an image
And here is the final result. 10.67 hrs total integration time (SII: 8x1200, 2x2)(OIII: 8x1200, 2x2)(Ha: 16x1200, 1x1).
Iris Nebula
I have been wanting to do some dark nebula imaging for a while, but had read about how difficult processing would be for such images so I held off for a while until I had the means to do longer subs. Now that I have an autoguider my sub length is sufficient so I had a go at NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula. These were imaged using a borrowed Newtonian astrograph from a dark sky location.
LRGB image integration time is: 234:60:60:60
Calibrated and stacked in Maxim DL and Processed using Annie's Astro Action in Photoshop CS2
Processing did take a bit more work than normal LRGB images, but using multiple layers I was able to get some good depth in the dust and was able to pull out some nice color (at least in my opinion)
I am very happy with how it turned out and am looking forward to doing some more dark nebulous areas in the future.
For now, I am moving on to a multi-night narrowband project . . . more to come soon
