Archive for the ‘“How to” Articles’ Category

Spotless Sun – Deep Solar Minimum Continues

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Spotless Sun - Deep Solar Minimum © John Chumack

Spotless Sun - Deep Solar Minimum © John Chumack

Hi all,

I realized that I had not paid much attention to the Sun the last couple of years, due the the countless days of Blank Sun….sunspots are far and few between.

The last stretch went like 52 days straight no spots, prior to that stretch we went 72 days no sunspots……and so on…We are well into cycle 24, but very few spots have appeared since the start of the new solar cycle.

Finally I had some time at lunch today to dust off my 6″ Cave reflector & solar Filter…to try to take a quick shot of the blank sun for 2009.

It is a 1/2000 of a second exposure with a Canon Rebel XSi @ ISO 400.

It came out okay, even showing some nice limb darkening.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

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Webcams & Jupiter Images Compared

Monday, August 31st, 2009
Webcam Jupiter Images Compared

Webcam Jupiter Images Compared

Hi All,

Here is a set of Jupiter images taken one right after the other using 3 different webcams,and a 2x Barlow lens on my 10″ SCT in my backyard in Dayton, Ohio.

The DMK image seems much bigger, but that is only because of my C-T adapter on the DMK, it actually puts the barlow lens about 2 inches in front of the CMOS chip, which gives a larger image scale.

Now the seeing was not great, actually pretty poor, but I was able to extract some information out of each Jupiter image under the same conditions.

Now the SPC900CN(operating at 640×480) and the Toucam Pro2(operating at 640×480) are both single shot color cameras made by Philips.

The DMK 21AF04 is a Monochrome camera(operating at 800×600), so I had to take 3 images thru RGB filters and combine them to get a single color image.

The Philips 900 ($81.00)camera was not as good as the Toucam pro2($169.00) or the DMK 21AF04 monochrome($450), there was a lot more noise in the 900 which made it difficult to make out fine detail.

The Toucam pro 2 did a good job considering the seeing conditions, which still gave an acceptable image with okay detail.. this is a great camera if you just want to take a quick color shot, no muss no fuss!

The DMK being a Monochrome camera requires a lot more work, you have to take 3 images, one in each, Red, Green, & Blue Filters and in rapid succession to prevent blur from Jupiter’s quick rotation. Then combine them in software to get a single true color image.

Is all this extra work worth the extra detail seen?

Yes, definitely its worth the detail,…If want to see the finest details possible in the cloud tops, including any new features…its a must!

Considering our seeing in the Midwest we are lucky to get what I have in the current image….

And Yes, The Wesley Impact Scar on Jupiter is still visible..it is quite long and thin now. Seeing was so poor(average for the Midwest) that I did not even notice it when I was looking at Jupiter and capturing the AVI data that night, but I noticed it after processing the avi file in Registax.

Now the difference in the cost for each also shows the difference in quality as well.

If you want the best go with the DMK, if you can’t afford the DMK, go look for a used Toucam Pro 2, its hard to beat as a low cost single shot color camera.

The old adage “you get what you pay for” just may hold true here, as well as you get what you put into it, all that work and time.

Disclaimer—I don’t work for or represent any of these companies, I just bought & own all three cameras over the years…and decided to try to compare them for image quality.

I hope this was useful for anyone looking to do planetary imaging.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

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Delta Aquarids & Persied Meteor Showers for 2009

Monday, August 3rd, 2009
Delta Aquarid Meteor 2009

Delta Aquarid Meteor 2009

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Hi All,

The Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower is on going, and the Perseid Meteor shower is starting shortly.

Here is a shot from my NorthEast sky video camera, mounted in my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio,USA.

The still image is of a Very Bright Southern Delta Aquarid Meteor which is very rare to see them this bright, most of the Southern Delta’s are rather dim, and usually only have about a ZHR of 20, that is Meteors per hour.

I captured several Southern Delta Aquarids Meteors throughout the night.

The shower typically runs from July 12 until August 19, and the peak already occurred on the 28th of July 2009.

They appear to come out of Aquarius in the South Eastern sky heading North .   Start looking for stragglers after 10:00pm until 5:30 am.

The upcoming  Persied Meteor shower….

While the camera was going from 1:00am until 6:00am, I picked up another 15 Persied meteors, the rates are picking up nightly.

Even though the moonlight will prevent us from seeing all but the Brightest meteors, this premier summer meteor shower is known to produce many bright ones, so it is still worth watching.

ZHR will likely be around 60 to 100 meteors per hour, as this is a fairly reliable shower. The shower typically runs July 17th to August 24th.

This years Peak is expected on the Morning of the 12th of August 2009.

Look  North East  toward the constellation of Perseus starting at 10:00pm  and continue to watch until 5:30 am.

I’ll continue monitoring and capturing the showers and fill you in on the results.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

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Jupiter Impact Site Movie July 28, 2009

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Jupiter Impact Site 07-28-09 07:59 U.T

Here is a photo of Jupiter with Impact Mark “closeup” from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio.

A link is below for  the rotation Movie in color as well, it really cool!

There was an incredible amount of work that went into this Movie,

I captured over 51,820 useable video frames
Each full color RGB set had at least 3900 frames,

Running thru all the separate RGB channels thru Registax was an all day & night affair.

But now I have a piece of Jupiter history in Movie format, plus many very nice still images of the impact Site.

I captured images starting about 2:00am and ran until 4:30 am E.ST. on
07-28-09
Basically 2.5 hours of rotation compressed to about 10 seconds,

From my backyard Observatory in Dayton, Ohio USA, using A DMK 21AF04 Fire-wire Camera with 2x Barlow, Optec Filter Wheel, attached to a Meade 10″(3150mm FL) SCT Telescope.

DMK IC Capture software,
Maxim DL for aligning, and Adobe PS for processing, Windows movie maker for WMV file.

The Impact Mark is now spreading out, it is at least three times the size it was at discovery, and it appears darker and easier to see.

Get out your small scopes to witness a piece of History, get a peek at the comet impact mark before it is gone.

Here is a link to the Movie….Linked via Youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CKouoeyHhw

Best Regards,

John Chumack

Galactic Images

http://www.galacticimages.com

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Lyrid Meteor Shower June 14-16, 2009

Thursday, June 4th, 2009
A Meteor Zips thru the Night Sky © 2009 John Chumack

A Meteor Zips thru the Night Sky © 2009 John Chumack

Hi All,

Get ready for another Meteor shower, this one called the Lyrids.  Lyrids appear to radiate out of the Constellation of Lyra.  Look East – North East around Midnight, you will see Lyra around 45 degrees above the Eastern Horizon,  just above or west of the Constellation of Cygnus the Swan or Northern Cross.

The Lyrids do not produce large numbers of Meteors, but it is worth watching. You may see around 10 meteors per hour on the night of the peak Monday the 15th of June.  A few meteors may be visible before those dates as well.  They occasional produce some bright ones too!

Get a Lawn Chair, a blanket, a cup of Coffee or Hot Chocolate, and  try to find a dark location away from the city lights.

Telescopes are not needed to see meteor showers.

All you need to see the Lyrid Meteor Shower are your eyes!

A last quarter Moon will be rising around 2:00am and this will like diminish the view and the number of meteors that will be visible.  So enjoy the view while it lasts.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

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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

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“Capturing a Comet”

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

“How to Capture a Comet”
by John Chumack
You can capture comets with either a film single-lens reflex (SLR) camera or a digital SLR camera and camera lens, too, but if you just want to see the comet visually, skip to the link below. For a recent image, I used a Canon Rebel XSi digital SLR with a Canon 75–300mm lens set to 280mm. I set the focal length at f/5.6 and the ISO at 400. I took four 4-minute exposures and combined (stacked) them to make, essentially, a 16-minute image.

If you don’t have a 280mm lens, don’t worry. I captured Comets a 28mm and 70mm lenses as well. Many comets are large, so it can look good through a “normal” lens.

For my images, I use a tracking (motor-driven) telescope mount. Again, if you don’t have a tracking mount, use the basic “camera on a tripod” method. Shoot the comet from a dark site away from city lights for best results. Make sure your camera is mounted solidly on the tripod.

Set your camera to “bulb” or “manual,” and set the film or DSLR speed to ISO 800 or ISO 1600. Set the lens’ f-stop to f/4 or lower. Focus the lens to infinity, or simply focus on a bright star. If you are using an autofocus lens, turn the “Auto Focus” setting off. Auto focus will not work properly with night sky shots anyway. That’s why it’s best to focus manually on a bright star. Once you have focused, don’t touch the lens. Carefully point the camera toward the comet.

Don’t know where the comet is? You’ll find an interactive chart at Astronomy.com’s StarDome.

Use a cable release or a self-timer to start the exposure. Avoid touching the camera. Vibrations will blur the image. Now take ten 30-second exposures of the comet. If you get star trails (stars that look like lines), lower each exposure time to 20 seconds and take 15 shots instead.

Film users develop and scan your negatives. DSLR users can just transfer the images to your computer. Next, find and use free image-stacking software like Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, or Registax (Google them) to create your own 5-minute exposure.

Stack all of the images using the stars as your reference point. If the stars appear too faint, use the comet’s nucleus instead. Once you combine the exposures into one image, you can do the final level and color adjustments in your favorite image-processing program.

Congratulations! You have just captured a piece of astronomical history — a once-in-a-lifetime view of a Comet that you can share with friends and family members.

Here is the link to the tutorial I wrote for Astronomy Magazine for capturing Comet Lulin back in Feb. 2009

http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2009/02/27/you-too-can-photograph-comet-lulin.aspx

Below is my shot of Comet Lulin captured with a Canon Rebel Xsi & 280 mm lens.

Comet Lulin 02-25-09 U.T.

Comet Lulin captured with 280mm lens

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