[AZ-Observing] Antennas Observing and Imaging Report - M78
- From: Mike Wiles <mikewilesaz@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: AZ-Observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:00:31 -0700
Hello all,
I've attached for your viewing pleasure and critique my latest image which
contains M78. As an admitted lover of really dusty astronomical targets
this nebula complex delivers greatly. This past weekend at the Antennas
was among the most memorable that I've had since rejoining this wonderful
hobby/obsession. On Thursday night a wind from hell came out of the north
and pretty much shut down observing and imaging for the night. As has been
my experience with the Antennas though - patience and perseverance were
richly rewarded on Friday and Saturday. I awoke Friday morning to a
wonderful sunrise and crispy clear blue skies.
As the day progressed it became more and more clear that this was shaping
up to be a special night indeed. With Venus on the meridian and the Sun
still sitting some 35º above the horizon, I was able to log my first
daytime observation of Venus. Lynn Blackburn and I expended significant
energy trying to follow it up with a daytime Jupiter observation that ended
without a confirmed sighting. As astronomical twilight approached, Mercury
remained visible right down to the horizon indicating that again it was
going to be a wonderful night. We attempted to split Sirius B on Friday
night as well but were unsuccessful in that attempt. I spent a good amount
of time watching a PHD autoguiding graph that was as flat as a George
Washington EKG and got more and more excited watching the images roll off
of the camera. I spent the first half of the night shooting frames on M78
and the last half shooting frames on M81/M82.
Saturday netted us a trip to the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge for some
exploration and hiking over some terrain that can only be described as
moon-like. It's hostile terrain and requires a vehicle with decent ground
clearance - but KOFA remains one of the most underrated destinations in
Arizona. It never fails to leave me utterly amazed with the scenery and
the experience. Throughout the day, Chris Hanrahan and I discussed often
how the skies were shaping up to be another excellent night for observing
and that it would just require a little patience waiting for the moon to
set at about 10pm. Though not quite as transparent and still as the
previous evening it was still well above average.
We again logged daytime observations of Venus and daytime not-servations of
Jupiter. Using the twilight to our advantage Sirius B was obvious and
easily split in the 15" Obsession at 154x. Yet another common challenge
object was notched in my observing belt. Chris, Lynn and I spent the
better part of the evening trying to notch another challenge object - the
Leo I dwarf galaxy. Transparency and darkness proved to be the required
ingredients here. We made several attempts throughout the evening that
proved to be unsuccessful or inconclusive. Even with the moon just a few
degrees above the western horizon and Leo approaching the meridian I wasn't
able to glimpse the target. Once the moon went beneath the horizon I was
able to see and hold the galaxy with averted vision. It filled the central
20% of the field in a 13mm Ethos and the 15" Obsession in a 3x2 elongation
running east/west.
If the skies are even half as cooperative for the upcoming Messier Marathon
at the nearby Hovatter Airstrip next month, I predict it'll be among the
most memorable of marathons. I hope to see a lot of old and new friends
there.
Here's a link to my image of M78 <http://astrobin.com/full/6110/?mod=none>
I shot this through my new Explore Scientific ED127CF refractor mounted on
my recently Hypertuned Celestron CGE mount. I shot the images with a
QHY8PRO color CCD camera. I shot 26 subexposures of 10 minutes each for a
total integration time of 4.33 hours. Maxim DL was used for capture,
calibration and stacking of the combined image. All post-processing was
done in Photoshop CS5. I could have used more integration time to knock
down the noise in the image a little more - but overall I'm pretty happy
with the image. Comments and critique are welcomed.
Mike
--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please
send personal replies to the author, not the list.
Other related posts:
