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[dcbrown73]

Reason I asked, I know someone with his own observatory and he placed the scope on a very thick pad.

I bet that organization provides for some great learning experiences.

We do! Actually we do monthly lectures from some of the worlds top scientist and it's completely free and open to the public!

Actually, just last Tuesday we had Dr. Daniel Wolf Savin. He gave a great lectures about Chemistry in the Cosmos.

Here are the details:

Dr. Daniel Wolf Savin - senior research scientist from the Astrophysics Laboratory at Columbia University - A Brief History of Chemistry in the Cosmos

Come travel down the cosmic chemical pathway from the Big Bang to the formation of stars and to life as we know it. Our chemical studies have advanced understanding how the first stars formed and how the raw materials needed for life were first synthesized. Join me as I hop, skip, and jump my way across cosmic time and explain key chemical processes along the way.

Daniel Wolf Savin received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University, working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He was a post-doctoral research physicist at the Space Sciences Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley. From there he moved to the Astrophysics Laboratory at Columbia University, where he is now a senior research scientist. His research career began in the area of atomic laboratory astrophysics but has since expanded to include molecular laboratory astrophysics, plasma laboratory astrophysics, and solar physics. Dr. Savin was a driving force behind the recent creation of the Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) of the American Astronomical Society and currently serves as the LAD Secretary. He has authored or co-authored over 170 publications and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Next October and again. Completely free and open to the public...

A peek into the future of astronomy, from LSST to Urban Science | Dr. Federica Bianco, Research Scientist at NYU CUSP, the Center for Urban Science and Progress, and in the NYU CCPP Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics.

I will talk about LSST, the largest astronomical survey ever planned, which starting in 2022 will image the entire southern hemisphere sky once every 3 nights to depth and spatial resolution that approach that of the Hubble Space Telescope, and about Urban Science, an emerging discipline where we use astronomical techniques to image and study city lightscapes to study the sociology, ecology, and economy of the city microcosm.

Dr. Bianco studies lightcurves, time series of light, in astronomy, with applications in stellar evolution, cosmology, and solar system science, and in the urban environment at the CUSP urban observatory, where the study of urban lightcurves enables sociological, ecological, economical inference.

She is the co-chair of the LSST Transients and Variable Stars Collaboration: a group of over 170 scientists who are preparing to optimally exploit the revolutionary LSST survey for transient science and to assure that the survey design is suitable to support the study of the transient sky.

This talk is appropriate for High Scool and above audiences with enough included to also engage advanced members.

Of course, we are open to the public (and free) every Wednesday for viewing through our telescopes providing the weather / skies are clear.

 

[bkisel]

R.I.P.

Found on today's "puppy" hike alongside an access road leading into PA Game Lands #37... [Grouse?]
.

 

[geek]

Harvest day at Gouveia Vineyards in Wallingford, CT.

Free labor but fun.
Seyval and Cayuga.

 

[ibglowin]

Nice Fall rain yesterday around dusk.

 

[dcbrown73]

I've haven't done much Astrophotography in a while, but I'm starting to get back into the swing of it. It was brought on by the Connecticut Star Party (CSP) that happen last weekend. Great weekend!

This is the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) It exists in the sky between Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis, and Pegasus.

All the images used to create this image was taken between September 15th and September 23rd. I have a lot more data to add to the image, but I was having trouble merging the luminance images after I processed them. It was blowing out the RGB and Ha images. So there is more detail to be had.

This images consists of 36 of the 60 images total images taken. (all except the Luminance)

The images are taken in monochrome using filters that only filter a specific band of light though. That is with the exception of a luminance filter which is clear and allows all light through. These are mostly used for detail while the others are used for adding color back.


All at 1x1 binning
(9) Red @ 300 seconds
(9) Green @ 300 seconds
(9) Blue @ 300 seconds
(9) Ha @ 300 seconds (for those that don't know, Ha stands for Hydrogen Alpha)
--Not included yet--
(24) Luminance @ 300 seconds

I have a total of five hours of data, but this only has three hours.

 

[Kraffty]

David, so far over my head but just stunning!
Mike

 

[ceeaton]

R.I.P.

Found on today's "puppy" hike alongside an access road leading into PA Game Lands #37... [Grouse?]
.

Bill, I don't see too many "leftovers". Must have been a snack for whatever consumed the critter. Those feathers are useful for tying nymphs. Pheasant tails are especially useful (not sure about grouse, look better suited for wet files or wings on some of the classic dry files).

 

[ibglowin]

Bisti Badlands North East, NM

 

[NCWC]

Relaxing affter a crushing 5,000 lbs

 

[bkisel]

... Astrophotography...

So that's not what you see, with regard to color, when you look through a telescope?

 

[jswordy]

R.I.P.

Found on today's "puppy" hike alongside an access road leading into PA Game Lands #37... [Grouse?]
.

Looks like owl feathers to me, the rounded tips are a typical giveaway. That's why they are soundless when they fly.

 

[dcbrown73]

So that's not what you see, with regard to color, when you look through a telescope?

Not that clear. Actually some things are not visible to the eye. The only way you can get enough photons for them to become visible is using long exposures photographs like I did above. (as noted, three hours worth in that image alone)

For instance, the Horsehead Nebula is visible to the naked eye, but only though a large telescope and in very dark skies. It's never visible in the suburbs that I've ever seen.

This is the horsehead Nebula. (this is not my image, whoever took this is far better than I am at this)

 

[bkisel]

Not that clear. Actually some things are not visible to the eye. The only way you can get enough photons for them to become visible is using long exposures photographs like I did above. (as noted, three hours worth in that image alone)

For instance, the Horsehead Nebula is visible to the naked eye, but only though a large telescope and in very dark skies. It's never visible in the suburbs that I've ever seen.

This is the horsehead Nebula. (this is not my image, whoever took this is far better than I am at this)

So for photos with that long an exposure you'd need some pretty sophisticated equipment to compensate for the earth's rotation, right? I would guess that just that tracking mechanism cost a pretty penny.

 

[bkisel]

Looks like owl feathers to me, the rounded tips are a typical giveaway. That's why they are soundless when they fly.

Could be. I had no clue myself so I asked a friend and Grouse was her guess. I thought I'd go with that and someone here would know definitively.

 

[dcbrown73]

So for photos with that long an exposure you'd need some pretty sophisticated equipment to compensate for the earth's rotation, right? I would guess that just that tracking mechanism cost a pretty penny.

Yep. We use computerized equatorial telescope mounts. Basic decent ones start around $800, the really good ones that can carry large heavy telescopes and extremely tight alignments can shoot up well over $10k and in some cases over $50k or more.

They are very cool too. They will use precision stepper motors, with high precision encoders controlling high end worm gears. These worm gears can have errors in them, so they use PEC (Periodic error correction) error correction recording that can adjust in real-time to keep perfect alignment on the object the telescope is looking at even when an error in the worm gear is reached. (some even more than 0.05 arch seconds)

If you look at both images I posted. Those are very long exposure images, yet the stars in them are pinpoint accurate. Even the slight vibrations of the mount / telescope can make the stars into teardrop shapes which is never good.

 

[jswordy]

Could be. I had no clue myself so I asked a friend and Grouse was her guess. I thought I'd go with that and someone here would know definitively.

I'm guessing of course, but it looked right. The rounded and fluffy soft edges are what makes them fly silently. They are frequently confused with redtail hawk feathers around here.

I have been out on my farm at night many times and heard an owl hoot, then a minute later heard a hoot from the opposite end of the pasture I was in. Same owl. Had flown over me to check me out.

I have a couple owl wings at the house and a bunch of the feathers I have collected over the years.

Top pic: Owl

Bottom pic: Grouse

 

[bkisel]

I'm guessing of course, but it looked right. The rounded and fluffy soft edges are what makes them fly silently. They are frequently confused with redtail hawk feathers around here.

I have been out on my farm at night many times and heard an owl hoot, then a minute later heard a hoot from the opposite end of the pasture I was in. Same owl. Had flown over me to check me out.

I have a couple owl wings at the house and a bunch of the feathers I have collected over the years.

Top pic: Owl

Bottom pic: Grouse

I was going to pick up one of the feathers but decided against it what with today's sometimes insane statutes, rules, regulations and laws. I was afraid that if caught with one of those feathers I'd be hung upside down and tickled to death with the feather.

 

[Boatboy24]

I was afraid that if caught with one of those feathers I'd be hung upside down and tickled to death with the feather.

Yep, sounds like PA.

 

[bkisel]

Sunrise over the hood...
.

 

[bkisel]

I was in Sayre, PA yesterday getting my wife's car its 24K mile servicing. I like going for walks so rather than just sitting and waiting I took a jaunt through the neighborhood. Something about the burls on this tree caught my attention so I decided to snap a photo to post here...
.