Cosmic Impressions

Just click on images to see enlarged versions



"New" 04-04-08 My spring trip to Fort McKavett was one of the best times I've had!  Not only did I have great friends to visit with, but Friday night was the best imaging sessions I've ever had. This trip I was making an attempt to image galaxies.   M-104, otherwise known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is one of my favorite objects to view through my 20" Obsession.  I've attempted to image this galaxy at my house in Santa Fe Texas but the light polution severly limited my ability to obtain a suitable image for posting.  Combining dark skies and calm winds at the fort, this was a special night to remember.   Click on image to see larger version and details.

 



10-29-07  With the beautful weather lately, I decided to image Comet 17P/Holmes.  I've been hearing all the chatter in my astronomy club (JSCAS) and throughout the astronomical community and was excited to find some time to observe and image  this exciting event.  We've had 5-6 days of perfect weather and didn't expect a change but about the time of sunset, smoke filled clouds started to move in from Galveston way.  To my surprise, those clouds obscured my view up till around 10:00 pm.  By that time, the comet was high enough to observe and image.  What a beautiful object!!  I have both a "Visual" view image and an "Enhanced" view image.  Click on image to see both versions and details.

 

M27

10-12-07  Imaged on my fall trip to Fort McKavett,  M27 otherwise known as The Dumbbell Nebula, was a complete surprise!  Like the spring trip, we were rewarded by clear skies most of the time,  but the wind was a killer for imaging.  Knowing how bad the wind was I just starting taking exposures of only 20 secs due to wind gusts upwards to 10-15 mph.  Out of 60+ subframes, I actually found that 8  were half way stackable.  Due to the short exposure time & lack of confidence that anything would turn out, no dark frames were taken.  Low and behold, I was able to  process something presentable.   Click on image to see larger version and details.

 



03-16-07  My spring trip to Fort McKavett was an especially interesting this time around.  Two words,."New Camper!!".  The most important factor was that the telescope fit in the camper's storage.    Even though we had great weather every night (up to about midnight), I was able to image only one night out of four due to wind.  This was my first image of B-33, otherwise know as the Horsehead Nebula.  Actually, I was more impressed with the blue reflection nebula NGC 2023.

Click to see Larger Image

10-20-06 My semi-annual trip to Fort McKavett was enjoyable as always.  Due to 5-10 mph winds buffering  my scope, I was able to keep only 20 out of 55 shots of  NGC 7293, better known as the Helix Nebula.  Not too much to look at in my scope, but photographically, very stunning.

Click to see Larger Image

9-20-06 Wiped the dust off my telescope, camera, and all the other "stuff" to do some imaging since it's been forever since I've seen some sustainable clear weather here and got a shot of one of my favorite objects...The Swan Nebula (M17).  Don't forget to check out the core of this beauty!

Click to see Larger Image

 1-30-06 2nd Light with my new Canon 20D Capturing The Great Nebula in Orion.

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 10 KB))

 1-29-06 It never fails.  Get a new astronomy toy and the clouds move in for a week.  Finally, some clear skies for about an 2 hours tonight!  I finally got to do some imaging tonight with my new Canon 20D hooked to my 20" Obsession scope.  After getting aligned and my autoguide a'guiding I started testing my new setup.  I shot some quick 30 sec shots of m42 & m43(of course) for my first light.  After about 10 shots or so the clouds moved in.  Anyway, I started processing some of the images and noticed something strange....even spooky.  Some of the experienced astroimagers probably have seen this before but it was new to me.  I zoomed in on the Trapezium region and noticed what appeared to be a man embedded to the right of the Trapezium with his back to me looking over his left shoulder into the sky!  And... I think he's necked!!!!  I know ya'll think I've lost it but look for yourself!  I'm calling this the "Necked Man Nebula"

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 10 KB))

 2005 Mars Opposition.  Click on the image of Mars on the left to see several images made with my 20" Obsession Telescope, Toucam Pro II and Tom Osypowski Aluminum Dual Axis Equatorial Platform. 

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 10 KB))

3-21-04 - The last night at Spring trip to Fort McKavett. All by myself with bats flying around my head, I obtain this shot of Jupiter. I tried to process this shot with the goal of how it actually appears visually (less processing) through my scope with excellent seeing conditions. Transparency was 9/10 but the seeing was around 5/10. 20" Obsession @ f/20 with ToUcam Pro II webcam.

Click to see big picture (622x473 pixels; 987 KB))

3-20-04 - Animation of Jupiter, Ganymede, and Europa. Animation has 39 frames, each frame consisting of over 400 frames aligned, processed, and stacked with Registax. Seeing started out good (around 6-7/10). As night progressed, seeing decreased and wind increased as illustrated in animation. 20" Obsession @ f/10 with ToUcam webcam.

Click to see big picture (449x304 pixels; 8 KB))

3-19-04 Saturn taken at 2004 spring trip to Fort McKavett. 20"Obsession @ f/10, ToUcam Pro II webcam, seeing 6/10.

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 9 KB))

3-19-04 - My first pic of the face of Jupiter showing the Great Red Spot with my current setup. Taken at the 2004 spring trip to Fort McKavett. 20" Obsession, f/10 ToUcam Pro II webcam, seeing 5/10.

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 21 KB))

3-6-04 - Wow!!! It's amazing how much detail can be seen when the seeing gets better. This is an f/20 shot using the ToUcam pro II with 20" Obsession. 475 out of 535 frames processed with Registax2. Considered the "boring" side of Jupiter, this was anything but boring last night. Seeing was 7/10, Transparency was 5/10.

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 9 KB))

3-6-04 - Jupiter and Io at f/10. I finally got some clear weather to shoot in. Seeing was good (7/10) but shooting through a persistant cloud (transparency 5/10) that just seem to hang over my house was challenging. Also, the full moon was about 7.8 degrees from Jupiter. I began to see what the ToUcam Pro II and my 20" Obsession combination could really do. Cloud knots, white ovals and blue festoons galore! Just unbelievable!!! I used all 792 frames stacked with Registax2.

Click to see big picture (322x262 pixels; 70 KB))

02-26-04 - My first attempt at animation. Very short, I admit but it has potential!!! I didn't realize that I had enough shots that evening to create one but after seeing Randy Brewer's fine work, I thought I would try. 20" Obsession @ f/10, ToUcam Pro II seeing 3/10.

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 7 KB))

02-26-04 - This was the first image of Jupiter I've taken with my new ToUcam Pro II, 20" Obsession at f/10. Seeing was about 3/10. Notice Io to the left and Europa and it's shadow on the right side. 57 frames hand picked from 481 frames stacked and processed using Registax 2.

Click to see big picture (600x450 pixels; 60 KB))

02-26-04- This was the first Image using my new ToUcam Pro II webcam. I just pointed it at the moon in broad daylight to align the finder and get it ready for viewing that night. Mirror was still warm and image was swimming all over the place. I did not know what crater this was at first but a nice gentleman named John from the Yahoo Obsession User Group Forum correctly identified this crater as Piccolomini.

Click to see big picture (393x217 pixels; 5 KB))

1-19-04 - This is probably the highest resolution of Saturn to date for me. This was on a night that the seeing was about 6/10. Taken at f/20 with 20" Obsession with surveillance camera recordered to Sony Digital Camcorder then converted to AVI file to be processed in Registax 2

Click to see big picture (314x450 pixels; 10 KB))

1-19-04 - With the light gathering power of the 20" scope, some nebulosity can be detected on the video screen when recording the Trapezium. Taken at f/10 with surveillance camera recorded using a Sony Digital 8 camcorder downloaded as a AVI file then processed with Registax 2

Click to see big picture (608x338 pixels; 11 KB))

12-07-03 - This is a Tri-color stacked image taken with my 20" Obsession at f/10 with a cheap surveillance camera I bought at EPO. I captured the images with my Sony Digital 8 Video Cam then downloaded them as an AVI file to my computer for processing with Registax 2. The camera uses a 1/2" ccd chip which gives a much larger field of view than a webcam.

Click to see big picture (404x270 pixels; 11 KB))

12-7-03 First Image taken with 20" Obsession, "Electric Screwdriver" Equatorial Platform, B/W surveillance camera setup. Recorded to a Sony Digital 8 camcorder, downloaded to an AVI file for processing with Registax 2.

Click to go to larger image

08/27/03- Mars taken via Eyepiece projection through 20" Obsession using an Olympus C-3020Z Digital Camera

Click to see big picture (168x182 pixels; 4 KB))

08-26-03- Mars using 20" Obsession and Quickcam Pro 4000. Images stacked and processed using Registax 2

Click to see big picture (283x194 pixels; 5 KB))

04-05-02- First Image of Jupiter with 20" Obsession. Eyepiece Projection using my Olympus C-3030Z Digital camera.

Click to see big picture (382x450 pixels; 20 KB))

3-30-02- M42 & M43 - Olympus C-3030Z digital camera mounted to 11x80 Binoculars Eyepiece Projection on an EQ Platform.

Click to see big picture (375x450 pixels; 21 KB))

03-30-02 - Moon taken with a 4 1/4" Reflector. 14 individual shots stiched together. Images taken with an old camcorder and using a Snappy video capture device to down load pics to computer.

Click to see big picture (262x261 pixels; 4 KB))

04-14-99: My first planet shot of Venus taken with my Dad's digital camera via eyepiece projection with a 4 1/4" homemade Newtonian Telescope.
 
Click for Santa Fe, Texas Forecast Images Copyright 1999-2008 by Glenn Schaeffer

Updated on February  2nd 2008
Click for Santa Fe, Texas Forecast