In The Mood for a South Polar Dance - 23/5/2015 (Processed stills into video)
Imaged at Karalee Rocks, ~50km East of Southern Cross. Three galaxies rotating around the South Polar sky - The Large and Small Magellanic clouds at bottom and our own Milky Way. Created with Microsoft Movie Maker from 148 DSLR images
Rigel - Beta Orionis 3/12/2010
DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 5 Images ISO 800, 30 Sec, 0 DARK, 10 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Imaged at a Dark Sky site near Wagin This 'Standard mode' stack shows the full image field and comet movement. A cropped version shows this better. Also see two other variants that use 'Comet Mode' stacking to track the comet and 'Comet + Star Mode' that is a hybrid of both. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 3 Images in 'Standard Mode', ISO 800, 300 Sec, 16 DARK, 37 BIAS, 37 FLATS, post processed by Adobe Photshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, NO filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 5C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Scorpio Rising in the East with 8 Day moonlit foreground - 12/4/1981
Exposure 5mins unguided on 12/4/1981 at 20:50 AWST. Kodak Ektachrome 400 Transparencies, Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with f/1.4 50mm lens at f/4. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 10/10/2011.
Shot Through the Heart - Antares - Alpha Scorpii - with Satellite trail - 3/11/2010 (Processed JPEG)
Antares is commonly known as the "Heart of the Scorpion" due to its prominent location within the constellation Scorpio. By pure chance a satellite has passed right in front of Antares creating an interesting image. Single JPEG image at ISO-800 of 15 Sec duration and with no in-camera Dark. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener, Hutech LPS-P2 light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Lowell South Polar View - 9/10/2015 (Processed stack into video sequence)
South Polar view at Perth Observatory's 24" Lowell Dome Video created from 206 stills in Microsoft Movie Maker Star trails element: DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 100% of 205 Images (Max, Noalign), Canon 60D, Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm at 11mm, ISO 3200 @ 10 Sec, 0 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2015
Betelgeuse - Beta Orionis - 7/12/2010
DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 60% of 6 Images ISO 800, 30 Sec, 5 DARK, 7 BIAS, 0 FLATS Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
South Polar Sky - 22/3/2015 (Processed stills into Video)
Image captured at Perth Observatory Photo taken from the Lowell Dome's outside walkway Created from 77xStill images using Microsoft Movie Maker (25 Sec, 18mm f/4, ISO 1600, Canon 400D 18-200mm Lens)
Messier M4 -NGC6121 - Globular Cluster, NGC6144 Globular cluster and Antares - 4/3/2012
Antares is the red star to the left and M4 the globular cluster to the right. Also visble top left of centre is a fainter globular cluster NGC6144. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 85% of 16 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 32 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 17C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Antares - Alpha Scorpii - 3/11/2010 (Processed JPEG) Antares is commonly known as the "Heart of the Scorpion" due to its prominent location within the constellation Scorpio. A "Red Giant" star, clearly red to the naked eye and often mistaken for Mars due to its brightness and colour. Single in-camera JPEG 10sec at ISO-800 with no darks, no field flattener, with a light polution filter. Things to note are the red and blue hot pixels due to lack of dark processing and image noise due to lack of image stacking. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener, Hutech LPS-P2 light pollution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Lowell's South Polar View - 9/10/2015 (Re-processed stack into video sequence)
South Polar star trails at Perth Observatory's 24" Lowell Dome - with some cloud progressing NW to SE during the ~40min sequence, presented in video format. Re-processed to add caption for Iridium Satellite
Canopus - Alpha Carinae - 28/12/2010 (Processed stack - cropped)
Canopus is the 2nd brightest star in the night sky and very prominent in southern skies. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 70% of 9 Images ISO 800, 120 Sec, 6 DARK, 12 BIAS, 7 FLATS, 7 DARK FLATS Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
South Polar Star Trails - 30/11/2013 (Processed stack)
Imaged at dark sky site of Kwolyin, WA Some intermittent cloud is the cause of the incomplete 5 1/2 hour trails Created using Microsoft Movie Maker 2012 using 171 x 120 second Images (9:13p - 2:56a) Canon 400D DSLR with standard 18-55mm IS at 18mm f/4.5, ISO 800, 120Sec, Ambient 16-13C. Mounted on INCA camera tripod, untracked.
Double Star - Albireo - Beta Cygni 25/09/2010 (Processed)
One of the first images, cropped and colour adjusted by Adobe Photoshop CS5. Taken through the Apogee 80 on the SkyWatcher NEQ6 mount, sidereal tracking but unguided for 30sec @ISO 800 in-camera JPEG with no in-camera dark and with no light pollution filter or field flattener. Things to note in the processed image are the level of noise in the background and hot red and blue pixels. The cropping has avoided the spherical aberration from the outer edges of the original image but shows via the stars that it was not quite focused. Despite the poor focus, the cropped image shows the separation of the binary star more clearly and the colour difference between them. Also see original unprocessed image. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Unguided. (Prime focus)
IC434 Horsehead Nebula near Star Alnitak - 14/11/2010 (Reprocessed RAW stack)
I revisited this stack of images in early 2012 and reprocessed it with the benefit of a bit more post-processing experience. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 5 Images ISO 800 180 Sec, 2 DARK, 3 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5. Things to note are that the image is more balanced with less noise evident compared to my original processing. I tried to ensure that the background sky (from skyglow) was not too bright and the central portion not over-exposed by paying more attention to stretching the mid-tones rather than squashing the whole range as I had done initially. However, the nebulisty is poorly shown mainly due to a lack of light frames and has consequently been streched too far. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Lowell's South Polar View 2 - 10/10/2015 (Processed stills into video)
South Polar star trails at Perth Observatory's 24" Lowell Dome - with some cloud progressing W to E during the ~120min sequence. (Full sequence with heavier initial and lighter mid-late clouds, presented in video sequence). Ambient ~16C
Antares (also NGC6144 Globular Cluster) - 30/3/2011 (Cropped processed stack) DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 5 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 6 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Messier M42 within Orion's Sword - late 1978
No notes kept, so presumably this is an untracked image, centred on M42 in the sword of Orion. This is probably my first deep sky object attempt uising a telescope at prime focus and using Kodak Tri-X ASA 400 film. I recall my aim was to see if the nebulosity was easily recorded, which it is, however I was naive about how easy it would then be to manually track objects as the next step! The film had been stored poorly over the years and contains many scratches and dust spots. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 20/09/2012. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5. Camera Zenit-E 35mm SLR on 8" f/6 Newtonian at prime focus, exposure unkown with Kodak Tri-X 400ASA film.
Double Star - Albireo - Beta Cygni 25/09/2010 (Original)
One of the first images, as it came out of the camera, through the Apogee 80 on the SkyWatcher NEQ6 mount, sidereal tracking but unguided for 30sec @ISO 800 in-camera JPEG with no in-camera dark and with no light pollution filter or field flattener. Things to note are the reddish brown background caused by light pollution, not quite focused and spherical aberration at the outer third and corners of the image. It however shows the separation of the binary star and the colour difference between them. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Unguided. (Prime focus)
IC434 Horsehead Nebula near Star Alnitak - 14/11/2010 (Processed RAW stack)
First attempt at this famous object. Also see 2012 reprocessed version. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 5 Images ISO 800 180 Sec, 2 DARK, 3 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS3. Things to note are the high level of noise and the surreal colour effects as I struggled with post processing at this stage with insufficient light gathered against the skyglow. Nevertheless I had captured this object with an 80mm refractor in suburban skies, which I was quite pleased by. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Star Trails over Perth Observatory's Astrograph Dome - 21/10/2013 (Processed stack into Video)
The South celestial pole is evident here looking south over Perth Observatory's oldest, but still operable, telescope dubbed the 'Astrograph' as its role was star, asteroid and comet mapping from the early 1900's until about 1990. Some light cloud during capture, aircraft and the unexpected light at the dome late in the sequence meant this didn't turn out as I'd hoped and bias and dark frame post processing has not worked to remove hot pixels as expected. The rising moon did illuminate the dome as hoped however. Canon EFS 18-55mm Lens at 18mm and f/6.7 in manual focus mode, Hoya HMC UV(c) filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~14C. Inca fixed Camera tripod. Canon TC-80N3 'clone' intervalometer for image sequence capture. No guiding.
Imaged at a Dark Sky site near Wagin This 'Standard mode' cropped stack shows the comet movement more clearly. An uncropped version shows the full image field. Also see two other variants that use 'Comet Mode' stacking to track the comet and 'Comet + Star Mode' that is a hybrid of both. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 3 Images in 'Standard Mode', ISO 800, 300 Sec, 16 DARK, 37 BIAS, 37 FLATS, post processed by Adobe Photshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, NO filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 5C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Star Trails - around the Constallation Crucis (The Southern Cross) 20/11/1979
Exposure 60 mins at 01:45 AM 20/11/1979, Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies, 35mm SLR, 50mm Lens at f/4. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 19/04/2009. Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with 50mm f/1.4 lens piggbacked on Telescope - Self made f/6 8" Newtonian on German EQ mount from parts from Astro Optical Supplies (NSW). Ambient ??C not recorded. Not guided in order to produce star trails.
Double Star - Albireo - Beta Cygni 3/11/2010 (Processed JPEG)
A second attempt with LPS filter and to focus correctly compared to 25/09/2010 attempt. Cropped and colour adjusted by Adobe Photoshop CS5. Taken through the Apogee 80 on the SkyWatcher NEQ6 mount,guided for 10sec @ISO 800 in-camera single JPEG with no in-camera dark,no field flattener, but with a light pollution filter. Things to note in the processed image are the level of noise in the background and hot red and blue pixels. The cropping has avoided the spherical aberration from the outer edges of the original image and shows via the stars that it was much better focused than 25/9/2010 attempt. The cropped image shows the separation of the binary star more clearly and the colour difference between them. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener, Hutech LPS-P2 light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
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