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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Late March impromptu Observation Session

29 March 2011

Last evening was a decent night for some telescope time, but responsibilities of work prevented any such activities...and besides, it was chilly.

Tonight, it's a bit warmer, still chilly, but I really want to set up a scope. Chicago Astronomers Bill and Steve will join me for some late winter-early spring target spotting, including:

Saturn, The Pleiades & Beehive star clusters and the Orion Nebula.

We will set up by 8:00 pm somewhere around the Adler area and I'll lug out the C11 and test/tweak some things.

If free or in the area, stop by, say hi and take a peek.


--------------

UPDATE:

I'm leaving the C11 home and bringing out the C5 due to the possibility of high clouds. Tomorrow looks like a much better night and better for the C11.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

FINAL UPDATE:

Scrubbed.

High clouds have moved in and we decided to re-schedule for tomorrow night, which looks like a better evening for viewing.

Sorry kids.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Although it's sunny out now, it could be deceiving for a evening's observation session tonight.

If clear, we are a go.

By 6:60 or so, I'll make the call.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The Chicago Astronomers get clear skies for Wednesday, 30 March 2011

We are a solid go...!

The Chicago clear sky clock is a deep blue and weather maps look good for tonight.

We will set up by the Adler area by 8pm and stay till about 10pm or so.

Stop by and share the skies with us on this early cool spring session.

[RobbW]

I hope all goes well for the CA crew tonight. Unfortunately, I will not be able to join y'all as I'm on a surprise trip to New Orleans! Good luck and clear skies!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Robb...

Fat Tuesday is done with.

But...cool anyway!

You must regale me with the story we I see you.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A cold time out with stars and friends

The day had us some bright sunshine, but when the Sun went down...so did the temps.

Brrr...it was cold.

But, we still set up our equipment. Bill brought his newer 6" Newt on a alt/az mount and Steve brought along a 12v LCD monitor and electronic Bushnell eyepiece. With me busy with the C11, we paired up the electronics to the Newt ...

A little difficult time was had focusing in on Saturn at first, so a stationary object used...

Here are two lampshades in a distant apt...

With things aligned, Saturn made a good image on the screen and banding along with the ring transit was nicely observed...

The winds shook the OTA something awful, but under better conditions, this set-up will be a nice addition to our star parties.

During our session, a extremely bright Iriduim flare was scheduled with another following almost immediately. 21 degrees high and due north, it was to be a -7 mag event. Very bright. I notified the crew and visitors when my alarm went off five minutes before.

Events like this are stressful and always a nervous time for me if I'm the one announcing it. If it fails to deliver...well......

But right on time, the satellite lit up nicely. I crudely aimed to camera to capture it....

But a new visitor and friend took a much superior image of it and will send it to me soon. Along with a second Iridium flare following...there were also two dimmer objects pretty much following the same trajectory. Unknown what they were. But the flares were a crowd pleaser and exciting....

We targeted this evening: Saturn, Orion Nebula, Plaides, Beehive, Sirius and Alcor and Mizar.

From left to right: Myself, Moe, Allison, Marianne, Steve and Bill.

Allison brought the crew some tasty treats and we all had a fun time...despite the cold.

Warmer times ahead.

[RobbW]

I'll have to get more info on that 12V LCD monitor. I could use something like that for my setup to. I picked a couple new accessories over the past month in preparation for the new observing season. I have an Orion Starshoot Solar System Color Image IV and a new set of William Optic binoviewers. I can't wait to share my new toys with the crew! An LCD monitor would be great for my imager.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Robb,

The monitor is a nice addition.

The Bushnell electronic eyepiece that Steve has is a simple b/w with low resolution. He got it for pennies, for kicks and for a first test, performed well. It will be good for lunar sharing while others wait their turn - it on the finder scope while kicking up the magnification on the main tube.

I suspect that the mm mag of the eyepiece is around 17mm.

Stuff like this was only a dream when i was a kid...

[Paulie pchris00]

I'm impressed with he electronic eyepiece/LCD monitor set-up too. Maybe not the best for serious astronomy, but good to occupy a crowd at a busy star party.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

It is a cool accessory and a welcomed part of the Chicago Astronomer arsenal.

[RobbW]

Hey Paulie if you want to see some of the cool stuff people are doing with video astronomy, you should check out nightskiesnetwork.com. From what I've seen and read, video astronomy (VA) is great for public outreach. People can see a lot more than they could through an eyepiece. It's much more impressive (a lot more like the pictures they've seen of celestial objects). I've been trying to build my VA arsenal but I just don't have the funds for the really god stuff (i.e. MallinCam). The color imager I recently purchased is supposed to be good for the planets and Luna but not for DSOs. I'm trying to find a way to mod my imager to make it more sensitive to the faint fuzzies!

[sfmoe]

So I'm not sure what happened to my email but I figure I can just post the pics here


Iridium Flare

Shot taken with a Nikon D700 with an Nikkor 80-200 2.8 lens
ISO 400
Aperture: 7.1
Shutter just under 20seconds





Iriduim flare by SFMoe, on Flickr


Star Gazers
and for fun
sigma 24-70 2.8
iso 400
aperture: 18
shutter 15seconsd


star gazers by SFMoe, on Flickr

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Moe...!

I'm glad you made it over to the Chicago Astronomer and posted the slick pic of the Iridium flare you took.

I hope that that session was the last cold one for quite a while and hope you become a regular of our gatherings. If you wish, let me know if you want to be included in the Chicago Astronomer email notification list and you'll be in the know.

Can you share with us the details on the shoot? (camera, ISO, lens etc....) It will help with others taking similar shots.

Great shots.

[hillimolly]

hey joe when is the next star party huh

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Hillary,

Wednesday, the 6th of April for the second Chicago Park Dist/Chicago Astronomer joint session....

astronomer.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Annoucements&action=display&thread=3090

[sfmoe]

Apr 3, 2011 20:15:09 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Moe...!

I'm glad you made it over to the Chicago Astronomer and posted the slick pic of the Iridium flare you took.

I hope that that session was the last cold one for quite a while and hope you become a regular of our gatherings. If you wish, let me know if you want to be included in the Chicago Astronomer email notification list and you'll be in the know.

Yes please add me to the list ... is it a set schedule or pretty much at the whim of the weather... or both ?

Apr 3, 2011 20:15:09 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Can you share with us the details on the shoot? (camera, ISO, lens etc....) It will help with others taking similar shots.

Great shots.

I edited the original post with the info

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Moe,

I'm a fan of the time exposure and my regular visitors have come to tolerate it.

I ask for so little....

On the Iridum, how much zoom did you use...and was the Iridium already in flare when you started? Or did you focus on where I was pointing the laser? (it was pretty right on and an unusually bright and long lasting event.)

The Chicago Astronomer sessions are dependent on three factors:

• Weather
  
• Time
  
• Motivation
  

And when all three jive...it's a sweet thing.

Keep an eye out on the Twitter, email and Chicago Astronomer Forum updates for our activities.

[sfmoe]

Apr 3, 2011 21:26:55 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Moe,

I'm a fan of the time exposure and my regular visitors have come to tolerate it.

I ask for so little....

On the Iridum, how much zoom did you use...and was the Iridium already in flare when you started? Or did you focus on where I was pointing the laser? (it was pretty right on and an unusually bright and long lasting event.)

The Chicago Astronomer sessions are dependent on three factors:

• Weather
  
• Time
  
• Motivation
  

And when all three jive...it's a sweet thing.

Keep an eye out on the Twitter, email and Chicago Astronomer Forum updates for our activities.

I focused on where you were pointing with the laser and just waited with the lens zoomed out to 80mm, that way I had a higher chance of catching the flare. I had the camera on bulb so I just clicked when it started and left the shutter open till it stopped. I cropped closer on post.

[patrickm]

Sweet photo! Nice work.

[Paulie pchris00]

Patrick, your 500th post! Welcome to the 500 club!