Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Canon T2i (550D) First Light

After agonizing for several days over the Canon 60D vs. the 550D (T2i), I decided on the latter. Here's a first light image:
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/image/131753708/large

I think it's a terrific camera.

Bill Shaheen
Gold Canyon, AZ
USA

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Horsehead and Conventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom says that when shooting flat frames one should
not rotate the camera or in any way change the optics. I certainly
wouldn't argue with that but as an unexpected opportunity to image
the Horsehead came up the other night I just had to capture it in
all its glory. And, even though I had just put together a master flat
of 32 frames the previous morning, the one flaw I saw seemed to be on
the camera's filter. So, I took a shot and here's the result of 12 -
12 min. subs:

http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/image/107633162/large

Now, I'm not advocating this as a matter of practice. But, consider
that since I'm using a refractor and did not have a focal reducer in
the light path, the nearest optic after the camera and filter is the
telescope's objective, which is 3 ft. away.

At any rate, I think it turned out pretty well. Of course, the darks,
bias frames and chilly temperature (for me) didn't hurt.

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Adaptive Richardson-Lucy deconvolution demonstration

I've never been a big fan of altering images with photo-shopping techniques, other than an occasional mild sharpening and maybe contrast enhancement with a curve adjustment.

But there is one with a good deal of legitimacy - the Richardson-Lucy deconvolution algorithm -  a software method of enhancing images that was developed to correct the Hubble telescope's originally flawed optics. 

Here is a flashing comparison of an image taken last night before and after applying the algorithm (using ImagesPlus v3.82) -
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/image/124134321/original

Here is a still of the finished product:
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/image/124175541/large

Note that this is also the product of a nearly 2 year effort to image at close to 1 arc-second/pixel resolution (versus previous 1.4 as/p).

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Jupiter in HD

Up to now I've been using the venerable Philips SPC900NC webcam for imaging planets. At 640x480, it produces reasonably good images.

This video, however,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0CXFbIKbKU   was taken with the next generation of webcam - Logitech Webcam Pro9000, at 1200x1600. Although it has been downsampled to a more common 720p (1280x720) format, it's still not too shabby.

The imaging train consisted of a Televue 4x Powermate and an Orion Sirius 17mm Plossl eyepiece.

As a side note, I'm very impressed with the performance of the Celestron EdgeHD 9.25" and its ability to support insane magnifications. Earlier one morning, I observed Jupiter with the 4x Powermate and a 13mm EP for a mag of 552x and the image was excellent. This compares very favorably with a high-end APO refractor I once had.

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Attaching a video camera to a telescope

Being duly impressed with my new Sony video camera (HDR-CX150), I just had to
try it out at the telescope. Hand-holding the camera up to the eyepiece showed
possiblities so I immediately thought about how to attach the camera in a solid
fashion. After some research to determine the specs of the threaded front
(30mm), I shopped around for a step-up ring to mate to a standard 42mm T-ring.
When I couldn't locate one, Jim Henson at ScopeStuff suggested he could assemble
one.

Here is a picture of the set-up:
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/image/129357993/large
The eyepiece projection adapter houses a 17mm eyepiece.

And here is a brief clip to show the results:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WNtOGyxAd0

Of course the quality of the video is mainly determined by a number of factors
other than the means of connection (image quality, optics, procesing skills).
And the same could be achieved using a DSLR with live view. But, this new
adapter provides a solid, secure way to connect any T-thread device to an HD
video camera.

The product code at ScopeStuff is TTSH.

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Comet 103P - Hartley2

Details and link to video here:
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/image/129411756/large

The field of view is approx. 26.4 arc-minutes. So, this puppy was moving pretty
quickly - timespan was 1.5 hours.

By the way, with the new autoguiding set-up (Lodestar/Stellarvue 50mm Barlowed),
I'm getting an RMS of 0.42 arc-seconds. Compared to the Q-Guide (QHY5), the
Lodestar is *much* more sensitive, presents cleaner images and downloads a lot
faster, which seems to improve the responsiveness of sending corrections to the
mount. With the previous QHY5, PHD would exhibit delays.

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The power of resolving power (aperture rules - again)

It broke my heart to sell my TEC-APO140 (a premium 5.5 inch apochromatic refractor).  And I still recall a fellow amateur astronomer saying, "I'd take that scope to the grave".  (I nearly did when I told my wife I wanted anther telescope.)  But, numbers don't lie and I was after improved resolution and contrast in my deep sky images.  So, I decided I wanted the increased resolving power of the larger aperture 9.25 inch SCT over the 5.5 inch refractor.  Besides, the new Celestron EdgeHD series promised sharp stars across the entire field-of-view (FOV). And they delivered.

So, bracing myself for a complex conversion (new accessories, focuser, etc.),  I sold the TEC APO-140. The new owner says it provides better views of planets than his 12 inch Meade SCT. 

While imaging last night, it occured to me I could perform the below comparison, using an image taken of the Horsehead with the previous scope back in January.  Here is a side-by-side:
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/tecapo140_to_edgehd925_comparison

Here is the work to date using the new telescope:
http://www.pbase.com/wjshaheen/gallery/celestron_edgehd_925_and_the_sbig_st8300m

I feel the changeover was worth it.

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