Remote Video Astronomy
Practical solutions to questions when using video assisted Astronomy remotely
  • Home
  • RVA
  • Start Simple
  • Learn More
  • Expand
  • Downloads
  • Blog

Early to bed, Early to Rise

4/7/2017

1 Comment

 
Last night the moon was over half full, which made it good for viewing the moon but not for viewing Deep Sky Objects.  Looking at my SkySafari app on my iPhone, I noticed that the Moon would set about 3:40am and the Sun would rise about 6:40am.  And the weather report looked fairly clear for that time frame.  So I decided to get some viewing in despite the Moon … by avoiding it.  I set up my telescope in my backyard early in the evening and covered it.  I then set my alarm for 3:15am.
Picture
When I got up, I went out and uncovered my setup and started an alignment using my StarSense Auto Align process (it took about 4 minutes for it to align itself).  By the time I started viewing, the effects of the Moon were just about gone and the viewing was nice.

The following images are of some of the objects I got to see by avoiding the Moon.  I have provided some examples of different exposure times too.  I was using my Celestron 8” on a CG-5 mount and my MallinCam XT-828-II (i.e. Xterminator-II) with a MFR-5 focal reducer and no filters.  I used the Miloslick Mallincam Control software with the gain was set to 1 for my viewing session.

I have noticed that when I post my screen captures on the web, they don’t show up as well as I see them on my monitor next to my scope, or even inside where I keep my lights dim when viewing.  I normally do not like to perform any post processing after my viewing session, but I decided to try something that gives you a better feel for what I see when I am viewing.  I used the Windows 10 picture viewer to open each image, clicked Edit and then clicked on the magic wand under Enhance your photo.  This took less than 3 minutes to generate an enhanced version of each image that would give a better feel for how I saw them live (although this Enhance function does change the image detail some). I did not “play” with any of the Enhancement settings and just let it use the default enhancement method.  For the following images, the original screen capture is on the left and the simple enhanced image is on the right.  As I have said in another recent post, Video Astronomy is not about producing “picture perfect” images.  It is more a live experience similar to a visual viewing session using eyepieces, but you are using a Video Astronomy camera instead. 

Here is M51, the Whirlpool galaxy. Its Visual Magnitude is 8.01 and it is 28 Million light years away.  This is a 30 second exposure with the real time Histogram low-middle settings at 1-116. As I noted, the image on the left is the actual screen capture, and the image on the right is the simple enhanced image I generated after my viewing session to give you a better feel for what I experience during a Video Astronomy session.
Picture
Picture
​I then dropped the exposure time to 10 seconds and turned on real time stacking of 3 frames.  Thus the stacked image represents 3x10=30 seconds of information.  Since it is stacking three frames in real time, it updates the screen every 10 seconds using the last three 10 second images. The above 30 second exposure is smoother, while the stacked image below highlights some of the details.  This is the only time I used stacking during this viewing session. 
Picture
Picture

​Here is M13, the Hercules Cluster, using 5 second screen updates
.  Its Visual Magnitude is 5.78 and it is 23,000 light years away.
Picture
Picture
I increased the exposure from 5 seconds to 10 seconds which brought out even more stars.
Picture
Picture

​Here is M57, the Ring Nebula, using 5 second exposures.  Its Visual Magnitude is 8.8 and it is 1,400 light years away.
Picture
Picture
I again increased the exposure from 5 seconds to 10 seconds, which brought out even more detail.
Picture
Picture

​Next up was NCG6888, the Crescent Nebula, using 20 second updates. Its Visual Magnitude is 7.4 and it is 5,400 light years away. I had the real time Histogram low-middle settings at 15-96.
Picture
Picture

​Here is M27, the very familiar Dumbbell Nebula, using 10 second exposures. Its Visual Magnitude is 7.09 and it is 1,400 light years away. The real time Histogram was set at 23-119.
Picture
Picture
I increased the exposure to 20 seconds and adjusted the Histogram to 8-106 to see more detail.
Picture
Picture

​When you go to bed early, and rise early, your viewing session has a definite end…when the Sun comes up its over!  But I enjoyed the time I had.  I covered up my telescope, walked inside and went to bed (again).
1 Comment
Anthony Recascino
1/24/2018 10:43:06 am

Nice work! I have a Mallicam VSS myself.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Astronomy was my favorite hobby many years ago, but was gradually set aside due to work, family and life in general.  In recent years I resumed my hobby looking forward to using the new technology that is now available.  Then I discovered Video Astronomy.  Then I learned how to do it Remotely.  I wrote some books, and decided to set up this web site to continue to pass on what I learn.

    ​Jim Meadows

    Questions or comments?  Email me at:
    ​[email protected]

    NOTE: If you use Microsoft Edge and clicking on an Archives or Categories link below does not work, please try an alternate browser (e.g. Chrome).

    Archives

    February 2025
    August 2024
    April 2024
    February 2024
    October 2023
    June 2023
    September 2022
    May 2022
    May 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    Accessories
    AGc / AGm
    Articles By Others
    Astrophotography
    Auto Align
    Build
    Commentary
    DS10c
    DS2.3+
    DS26cTEC
    DS8300cTEC
    Eclipse
    Focal Reduction
    Hyperstar
    LHDR
    LPP
    Mallincam Micro
    MallinCam Netbook Kit
    MallinCamSky
    MallinCam X2 / XT
    MallinCam Xterminator
    Miloslick
    Mmec Software
    Permanent
    Pier
    Portable
    Pro Dob 2
    RASA
    RVA
    SkyBT
    SkyFi
    SkySafari
    SkyShed
    Software
    Solar Viewing
    Star Parties
    Starter Telescope
    Video Astronomy

    RSS Feed

Web Hosting by Domain.com