First photograph taken through the C-14 at Hector J Robinson Observatory.
Camera EOS X1i Image was a 20 second 15.1 megapixel JPG at 800 iso. Some post color processing. No dark frames, no noise reduction by the Canon, no stacking.
I can improve on this. This was just a first photo and is not really using any intermediate or advanced techniques used by astronomers to improve an image.
Conditions 22 degrees F outside.
Seeing condition. I really didn't do a survey to judge. There was a clear sky with clouds threatening on the horizon. I thought they would arrive, but the bowl of clear sky stayed open long enough for a hour and 30 minutes until I was finally cold enough and the battery in the camera started to wear out, ending the impromptu photo session.
Visually this is a pretty easy target. It was easy for me to see 6 stars in the core of the nebula through the C-14 using a 40mm before taking this photo.
I didn't focus as carefully at the beginning using the "live view" 10x power feature. The camera could have been focused a little better.
There was some free play or backlash on the mount RA. The mount and counterweights were so well balanced the camera shutter would cause shaking in the mount and play in the backlash if I very gently pushed the camera and back of the telescope away from the mount. if I pulled the rear gently toward the mount with a very few light pull when triggering the camera, the shutter didn't cause any backlash movement. If this is backlash, it might be cured for East side meridian side (when the telescope is on the east side), by moving the counterweights a little close to the mount making the telescope perhaps a little more heavy by perhaps a pound or so. It's to well balanced.
Other adjustments with the backlash, well if this is what is really happening, I'll leave those thoughts to those with more expertise in the group.
This was a long night by the way. Sometimes the nights are longer than you think when you're having fun. I had a friend named Greg O from the club who I was able to talk with. He and I had a great time discussing the mount and photo session and how to improve the performance of the photos or what to try while I was taking them. Amazingly as I look back I found out we were talking about this for over 2 hours. At that time I thought I was at the observatory for maybe an hour to 90 minutes. Time seems to fly by when you're having fun.
The interesting thing about this is the first 30 photos were mostly junky but I didn't realize it until much later. Some of the photos were obviously blurred with movement happening at the mount, but I didn't know the extent of the ruined snapshots fully until reviewing them later. The lesson learned here, is it's a good idea to have a laptop or desktop setup and download some photos or view them on a laptop if you can while imaging. This will perhaps show you at that moment what is going on.
Because we were in a hurry, and it was getting colder and colder, at least that's how it felt at that time, I didn't slow down and review the photos enough or edit and delete any of them at that time.
It's almost amazing how lucky I was to get the first photo and not have it blur much worse.
Later we had more photos turn out once we had figured out how to get around potential backlash problems in the mount. The mount is going to be tweaked and the setup tweaked according to George K in our club.
Note: I'm only using first names and last initials to describe club members involved at this time because I not having them proofread my posts at this time and this is after all just a perspective of one of the guys working as a volunteer at the observatory from time to time.
Added to blog for Astronomy
I'm a member of the FAAC Astronomy Club. We provide technical aid for the Hector J Robinson Observatory in Lincoln Park Michigan.
The original observatory was refurbished in 2009 thanks to the help of Dr. Timothy Dey who had a vision to reopen and fix up the observatory and Leo McMaster who is a middle school teacher at the middle school. We have new equipment installed at the observatory thanks to a grant from Toshiba and more info can be found here an on other sites on the net.
STUDYING DECAY PROFILE I'm just a guy with a little digital camera. Taking a few quick photos once in a while. I work in Detroit, live near Detroit. Detroit area, easy to slam I suppose. I'm focusing on decay, but not trying to make this a Detroit is all bad blog. However there's a heck of a lot that is messed up in Detroit. So most like to get out and never look back. Those who stay or try to help, are faced with huge and often overwhelming problems. Massive growth and now massive decline followed with a lot of crime and poverty.
First photograph taken through the C-14 at Hector J Robinson Observatory.
ReplyDeleteCamera EOS X1i
Image was a 20 second 15.1 megapixel JPG at 800 iso.
Some post color processing.
No dark frames, no noise reduction by the Canon, no stacking.
I can improve on this. This was just a first photo and is not really using any intermediate or advanced techniques used by astronomers to improve an image.
Conditions 22 degrees F outside.
Seeing condition. I really didn't do a survey to judge. There was a clear sky with clouds threatening on the horizon. I thought they would arrive, but the bowl of clear sky stayed open long enough for a hour and 30 minutes until I was finally cold enough and the battery in the camera started to wear out, ending the impromptu photo session.
Visually this is a pretty easy target. It was easy for me to see 6 stars in the core of the nebula through the C-14 using a 40mm before taking this photo.
ReplyDeleteI didn't focus as carefully at the beginning using the "live view" 10x power feature. The camera could have been focused a little better.
There was some free play or backlash on the mount RA. The mount and counterweights were so well balanced the camera shutter would cause shaking in the mount and play in the backlash if I very gently pushed the camera and back of the telescope away from the mount. if I pulled the rear gently toward the mount with a very few light pull when triggering the camera, the shutter didn't cause any backlash movement. If this is backlash, it might be cured for East side meridian side (when the telescope is on the east side), by moving the counterweights a little close to the mount making the telescope perhaps a little more heavy by perhaps a pound or so. It's to well balanced.
Other adjustments with the backlash, well if this is what is really happening, I'll leave those thoughts to those with more expertise in the group.
This was a long night by the way. Sometimes the nights are longer than you think when you're having fun. I had a friend named Greg O from the club who I was able to talk with. He and I had a great time discussing the mount and photo session and how to improve the performance of the photos or what to try while I was taking them. Amazingly as I look back I found out we were talking about this for over 2 hours. At that time I thought I was at the observatory for maybe an hour to 90 minutes. Time seems to fly by when you're having fun.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing about this is the first 30 photos were mostly junky but I didn't realize it until much later. Some of the photos were obviously blurred with movement happening at the mount, but I didn't know the extent of the ruined snapshots fully until reviewing them later. The lesson learned here, is it's a good idea to have a laptop or desktop setup and download some photos or view them on a laptop if you can while imaging. This will perhaps show you at that moment what is going on.
Because we were in a hurry, and it was getting colder and colder, at least that's how it felt at that time, I didn't slow down and review the photos enough or edit and delete any of them at that time.
It's almost amazing how lucky I was to get the first photo and not have it blur much worse.
Later we had more photos turn out once we had figured out how to get around potential backlash problems in the mount. The mount is going to be tweaked and the setup tweaked according to George K in our club.
Note: I'm only using first names and last initials to describe club members involved at this time because I not having them proofread my posts at this time and this is after all just a perspective of one of the guys working as a volunteer at the observatory from time to time.