Archive for May, 2009

Saturn’s Moons Gather

Friday, May 15th, 2009
Saturn's Moons Gather

Saturn's Moons Gather

Hi all,

Well last night at my observatory in Yellow Springs we had some decent seeing, it wasn’t perfect, but better than we usually get here in the Midwest, it was coming and going every few minutes.

I attached my DMK fire-wire camera and Optec Filter Wheel to Ron Whiteheads C-11, and took some Prime focus shots of Saturn with 5 Moons gathered close by.

Saturn’s rings are very thin right now,  with very little light coming into the camera from them, so I had to turn the gain way up…to capture more signal to help get the 5 moons as well.  I provided a Negative Luminance image as well to help you see the moons especially Hyperion at Magnitude 14.19

Planetary  Image assembly- Saturn LRGB 05-14-09
Saturn DMK 21F04 Fire-wire Camera,
Optec LRGB 50mm filters,
PrimeFocus C-11, Captured as 1 minute AVI files
30 to 60 frames per sec
1400 Frames per Channel stacked in Registax 5, deconvolution in Maxim DL,
and final balance in Adobe.

I have some very nice close-ups as well, and will post them later when I finish processing them.

Saturn’s  rings and biggest moon Titan are easily visible in any small telescope with at least 30x power.   Saturn is straight over head in the constellation of Leo right now and will be easily visible for the next few months, so get your small telescope out of the closet and take a look.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Posted in "How to" Articles, Beautiful Night Sky! | 1 Comment »

Space Shuttle Atlantis goes for Hubble!

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

324527main_125_launch_226

Hi all,

Did you miss the Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch?  Watch the movie at the link below at NASA TV.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off successfully on Monday May 11, 2009.  Shuttle Atlantis  will have to catch up to and service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.  This is the final Hubble servicing mission.

NASA will be broadcasting the mission.

Find out more and watch the “Really Cool” Launch movie   http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Do you want to know when the ISS,  Hubble,  and or Shuttle will appear in the night sky above your town?   Go to this website and type in your zip code

http://www.heavens-above.com/

Enjoy!

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Posted in Beautiful Night Sky! | 1 Comment »

Waning Gibbous Moon

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
Waning Gibbous Moon © 2009 John Chumack

Waning Gibbous Moon © 2009 John Chumack

Hi All,

We are now past Full Moon and for the next few mornings you will see a Waning Gibbous Moon in the South-Southwestern part of the sky.

This is always a pretty site,  the moon against the blue morning sky around 7:00am.

I captured this with a simple point and shoot Sony Cybershot camera.

Enjoy!

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Posted in Beautiful Night Sky! | No Comments »

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower May 3 - 10, 2009

Friday, May 1st, 2009
Meteors and Dust Trail © 2009 John Chumack

Meteors and Dust Trail © 2009 John Chumack

Hi ALL,

Get ready for another great meteor shower…this one called the Eta Aquarids, as they appear to originate from the  South Eastern  sky in the Constellation of Aquarius.  These Meteors are actually the debri left over from Halley’s Comet.

Even though Comet Halley only visits the inner solar system once every 76 years,  it has shed enough dust particles in its orbit that once a year Earth passes through Comet Halley’s tail debri which brings this nice Meteor shower.  It is a very consistant  shower as you will often see as many as 60 meteors per hour, with long glowing trails.

You will see some meteors starting on the 3rd of May 2009 and maybe until the 10th of May.

The true peak of the shower comes on the morning of the 6th of May, 2009 .

You will need to get out of the city lights for best views, and this is also a very early morning shower,  3am until 6am will be the best time this year.

Once the bright moon sets at 4am, it will be much easier to see the meteors racing out of the southeastern sky, some of the meteors will be moving as fast as 150,000 mph as they hits the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up leaving long glowing trails.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Posted in Beautiful Night Sky! | No Comments »