Backyard Astronomy
Welcome!
This is a repository for some astrophotographic material and notes.
My mom bought me my first telescope, you guessed it, a department store 60mm.
Contrary to popular opinion these days, I think it was a great starter scope.
But I never really used it much except for terrestrial viewing until I met
Jerry Marsh in High School. Jerry came over and pointed my scope at Saturn
and I was hooked thereafter. Jerry had a big Dobsonian mounted Newtonian
reflector (I think) and we would spend evenings at his house sipping hot
chocolate and viewing the universe around us. To this
day I think astronomy consists of hot chocolate and a dark night. A telescope
is completely optional.
In 1990 I moved to Flagstaff. We have Lowell Observatory and the Naval Observatory
and we even have
a light pollution ordinance. (Flagstaff Lighting Code -- Division 10-08-002 of the
Land Development Code (LDC)) Living in such a great natural and astronomical-viewing
friendly city, I decided to sell the 60mm and upgrade. I like
terrestrial and planetary viewing the best so a refractor was the way to go for
me. I also knew that you can just start making out color at a 6" (152mm) aperture
so that was my minimum requirement. Anyone that has ever priced such a telescope
knows that, up until recently it has been cost prohibitive to most ordinary
citizens like unto myself. So now, over ten years later (2003) I picked a
Konus, "Konusky - 150 Motor" for less than $800 from
Digitec Optical,
whom I am sad to say, doesn't exist anymore on the web.
This is my astrophotography setup. (Picture taken with my free
DSCPro camera with a dark frame subtracted using BlackFrame.) It
starts with my Konus
150 and to this I attach Marnie's Nikon Coolpix 4300 with a
home-made universal camera adaptor. The camera is connected to a
monitor and a laptop running TheForce.
Pretty cool if you like gadgets but I have yet to have a successful session.
My first attempt on 1 August 2003 went as follows: I set up before dark but the
moon was still visible for a few minutes before it disappeared behind the
house. This was an opportunity to focus the camera and maybe get a picture.
At this point it is important to note that it is our Monsoon and it is
cloudy and/or raining every day. I tried to get an image for a few minutes, looked up -
clouds covering the moon. I waited until it was clear and tried again,
I either couldn't get it lined up right or couldn't get it in focus, looked up -
clouds covering the moon! Five times I went through this before the moon
disappeared behind the house. I still had a few hours before Mars made
its appearance so I kept fiddling with the setup. I discovered that the
camera doesn't output video when it is connected to a computer until you
connect with the software. No wonder I didn't get an image. I found a
bright star and focused using my home-made Hartmann mask and then tried
to get a picture. Snick...FFFFLLLLAAAASSSSHHHH..."shoot!" Except I didn't
say "shoot." I also noticed that the scope wasn't tracking. Try as I might,
I couldn't get my tracking micro-controller to work nor the flash to
stop working. Well, without the drive I was forced to focus on a neighbor's
porch light. No matter what I tried I got a flash, though I must say
that some of the images of the porch light turned out quite nice despite the flash.
The next day I sat down serious-like with the camera manual and made notes
on things like, turning off the flash and manual focus. Konus replaced or
repaired the motor controller under warranty in time for my star-party on
the 23rd. It rained that night until 10PM and all but three of us gave
up and went home. The three of us that remained were treated to a clear
sky after midnight and reasonably good seeing with Mars within four days
of it's closest approach. Sometimes tenacity pays off.
As I write this I have all the stuff ready for another [attempted] astrophotography
session. It's raining...
7 Sep. 2003 - Okay! Marnie is much better at this than I am. Though she didn't
have a remote shutter cable she painstakingly took what I consider our first
successful photos!
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Location: Flagstaff, AZ 7 Sep. 2003 9:00 PM Local (UT -7) Subject: M31 "Andromeda Galaxy" Telescope: Konus "Konusky 150" 6" Refractor Optics: Diagonal: None Eyepiece: None Filters: None Camera: Canon Rebel 2000 EOS Attached: Prime Focus Exposure: 4 Minutes (no cable release!) Photographer: Marnie Film: Imaging Process: Sam's Club 1hr Photo Scanned: HP ScanJet IIcx/T bmp to jpg using Lviewpro Conditions: Windy Nearly Full Moon ~65 F Periods of good seeing Commentary: Marnie didn't have a cable release yet so she held the shutter open for 4 minutes by hand. |
Location: Flagstaff, AZ 7 Sep. 2003 9:00 PM Local (UT -7) Subject: "The Moon" Telescope: Konus "Konusky 150" 6" Refractor Optics: Diagonal: None Eyepiece: None Filters: None Camera: Canon Rebel 2000 EOS Attached: Prime Focus Exposure: 1/1500 Seconds (no cable release!) Photographer: Marnie Film: Imaging Process: Sam's Club 1hr Photo Scanned: HP ScanJet IIcx/T bmp to jpg using Lviewpro Conditions: Windy ~65 F Periods of good seeing Commentary: |
Tips: (based on my limited experience or I read it "somewhere")
Dress warm.
Read this if you are new to the hobby: Advice for New Astronomers
Parfocal: I have a set of eypieces (4, 6, 9, 10, 15, 17, 25, 40mm) from different manufacturers
and I want them to be interchangeable without having to readjust the focus
(parfocal). You can buy a ring for each lens at about $8 a piece and set them
all so they maintain the same focus or I found that a 1 5/16" external snap ring
will serve the same purpose. If any of your barrels have an indent (to make
getting them out a pain) you can unscrew it, flip it over and screw it back in.
This way it no longer catches on the thumbscrews and allows you to use a collar
or snap ring to set them all parfocal. Start with the eyepiece that sits deepest
in the holder, probably your shortest focal length (in my case the Barlow and then the 4mm) and then try
each one and see how far you have to pull it out of the holder to get focus. That
is where you put the collar. That's it. Simple.
I mean it, dress warm. How warm you are is directly related to how much you'll enjoy the experience.
Deep Sky Objects: You don't have the Hubble. Don't expect the images you see in
the media. Not even close! Instead you get the reward of spending an hour trying
to find a dim blur at the edge of your visual detection which is more a relief to
the hour of frustration than actual "reward." I found it!!! If you want more out of
your scope
take your time once you have found something and study it. Allow your eye to
adjust and more detail will be revealed. What the Hubble sees is really there
and the thrill of seeing it for yourself is what drives most of us. The first
time someone sees Saturn they almost invariably say, "Wow, it's really out there."
There is an addage in astronomy circles that says dress as if it is 30 - 40 degrees
colder than it is. Dress warm.
Astronomical Links
Astronomy Picture of the Day
The Coconino Astronomical Society
Messier Object Index (graphical)
TheForce! Nikon CoolPix Control Software
If you have any questions or want to say "hi", you can email us at:
snmdurbin@earthlink.net
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