Space Coast living has a unique benfit: we get to watch missile launches. They are always different and always impressive. Even though we're 20 miles south of Cape Canaveral we got a great view of the Delta 4 night launch on Dec-05. A great rumble really topped it off. The Delta 4 vehicle carried a WGS 3 satellite to geosynchronous orbit.
For this picture I attached a Canon 40D DSLR to my table top camera tracking mount to keep the stars from trailing during the long exposures. The missile trail was captured with a 4 minute exposure. ImagesPlus was used for most of the image processing. The constellation lines were added with Photoshop to make it easier to see the apparent path of the missile through the sky.
Delta 4 Slices the Night Sky
Milky Way Star Clouds
A few weeks ago my wife and I were visiting family in rural Iowa. The population is pretty thin in this farming area so they have fairly dark skies. I was fortunate to have a couple of clear nights and took this picture on that second night. The picture is looking across a hayfield to the south with the Milky Way arcing up into the sky. Sagittarius is near the horizon, with stars of Scutum, Aquila, Sagitta, Serpens and Ophiuchus visible. Many Messier objects are also visible.
This image is a stack of 25 one minute exposures taken with a Canon 40D. I used a Canon 17-85 EF-S zoom lens set to the 17mm position (28mm equivalent). That gave me a very wide field of view. Star tracking was done with a small unguided tabletop GEM with a battery powered RA drive motor attached. I carried all this equipment with me on the airplane. It kept the TSA inspectors busy. Processing was done with ImagesPlus and Photoshop.
M33 Pinwheel Galaxy
M33 is commonly called the Pinwheel Galaxy in Triangulum. The reason is obvious! It’s 2.5 million light year distance is actually pretty close for a galaxy and it’s quite large in the sky. Unfortunately, even though it’s larger than a full moon, it’s difficult to view due to its very low surface brightness. Viewed with a C8 from my house it’s barely visible. If you’re in fairly dark skies give it a try though. It’s nearly overhead in the early AM right now but it’s moving to the late evening skies quickly.
For this image I combined 34 subs of 2-minutes each for a total exposure time of 68 minutes. I used a Canon 40D DSLR with the Televue NP101is 4” refractor. Guiding was done with an M8C CCD camera through an ETX-90. Image capture and most of the processing was done with ImagesPlus with a little help from Photoshop.
M27 Dumbbell Nebula
This is a picture I took of planetary nebula M27, the Dumbell Nebula, a few hours after the night-time launch of Discovery. The cloulds blew away after the launch to provide me with a very clear sky. I really enjoy the color and symmetry of planetaries. The image is a stack of fourteen 2-minute subs for a total exposure of 28 minutes. It was taken with an unmodified Canon 40D DSLR through a Televue NP101is refractor. Guiding was done with a Starlight Xpress M8C through an ETX90.
Banner Design
I want to combine some of the features of Ron's entry with some right-sized lettering to make the banner. After all, the logo won't stand alone, unless we are making T-shirts (not a bad idea). Here's a rough draft of a banner format:
...Phil
Sept 4th Apollo Moon Party
Save the date, Friday Sept 4th 2009! For a special Apollo Landing Site Moon Party immediately following the NEW Space and Astronomy Public Lecture Series hosted by Dr. Fiorella Terenzi.
http://www.brevardcc.edu/astrolectures
What: Apollo Landing Site Moon Party (full moon)
Who: BAS/MAS/SAS
Set-up Time: 7:00pm
Moon Party: 8:30-10:30
Location: BCC Cocoa Planetarium & Observatory
Refreshments will be served
Lecture Info:
Sept. 4 '09 "Moon, Mars, and the Stars: The Constellation Program and the Future of Space Exploration". Panelists: Robert D. Cabana, NASA KSC Director and Astronaut; Russell Romanella, Director, International Space and Spacecraft Processing Directorate, NASA KSC; Jon Cowart, Manager Exploration Systems, NASA KSC.
My Final Idea
Please compare the 2 I've posted - and then "create your own" to present @ the next meeting. We need to vote on one to include on the banner we'll be having made.
Thanx
SGR
July 3rd Rain Fest
WOW - clouds everywhere - and there at the last ~ some were "leaking!"
7 scopeshow'd up at the Space Coast Stadium - and 6 set up. (There was ONE real smart astronomer among us!!! lol)
THANX TO ALL WHO CAME OUT - 'your effort was appreciated!'
Website updates
Hi, All:
Tricia, thanks for setting this up - it should be a great way to for everyone to be more involved. I've done some minor updates to the website www.mlbastro.org, including adding a link to this site.
Hello all ... I got sign'p up, now if I can only figure this all out ... (ha,ha)
Great Meeting Friday evening - and "Congrats to Trish" on winning the Copy Scope door prise!!! We all hope for a progress report next meeting on how your doing putting it together!!!
I stopped by Barrier Island this morning and talk'd to Donna. We're all set for the November Star Gaze
July 3rd MAS/BAS Star Party
What: Solar/Star Party @ Space Coast Stadium (free)
When: Friday July 3rd 2009
Time: 3:00pm - 11:00pm
Where: Space Coast Stadium Directions click here
Who: MAS/BAS/CFAS
What to bring: chairs, bug spray, red flashlights, MAS business cards, friends, family
MAS along with BAS and CFAS are hosting a star studded event at the Space Coast Stadium. It will be a night of baseball, fireworks and most important - STARS!
The Brevard Manatees are playing Daytona at the Space Coast Stadium, admission to the game is free for all members of MAS, SAS, BAS, and CFAS.
Brevard Astronomical Society
MAS is closely tied with the Brevard Astronomical Society. We do joint Star Parties, and Join Observing Sessions.
Brevard Astronomical Society website: http://www.brevardastro.org/
Student Astronomical Society @ FIT
SAS is a FIT student lead organization for amateur astronomy.
From the SAS Website:
SAS is a registered club at Florida Tech and the only requirement for membership is that you must be a current Florida Tech student. The club operates during the Fall and Spring semesters, but is not operational during the Summer semesters. Normally we will have one group meeting every week followed by an observing period outside at the Big Slab Observatory (BSO). Students with interesting pictures, stories, telescopes, or anything else related to astronomy are encouraged to bring these along to show and tell at the meetings.
The Student Astronomical Society (SAS) meets jointly with the Melbourne Astronomical Society on the 4th Friday of the Month in the 2nd Floor Conference Room, at 7pm
Currently, SAS is hosting one star party every semester! The location of the star party can change depending on what we have planned for that night, but it will normally be on campus or at one of the nearby beaches. SAS star parties can include anything from lunar eclipses to planetary observing or even meteor showers.
Their website is here: http://activities.fit.edu/sas/index.html
Their current projects are:
Solar System Scale Model
This is SAS's current primary project. We are working on creating a scale model of the solar system on campus. This will include a representation of the Sun (located on the Residence Quad) and the now eight planets (with Neptune located near Harris Village).
We are now working on creating a proposal to submit and present to the University. This will inlcude budget and design, among other information.
Telescope Restoration
SAS just restored a 16" telescope! It's huge and works great for viewing stars. Come to the BSO after the meetings and we'll hopefully have a clear night to set it up.
Meetings 4th Friday of Every Month
MAS meets @ Florida Institute of Technology in the Physical Sciences building, on the second floor in the conference room - directly across from the elevator.
Any person interested in Amateur Astronomy is invited to come out and join us.
We discuss current astronomy news, star parties, and upcoming events/projects.
We are closely tied with the Student Astronomical Society and the Brevard Astronomical Society.
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