SA-200 Diffraction Grating (31 Oct 2023)

 Solar System, Spectrum, Uranus  No Responses »
Nov 032023
 

I was lucky enough to get permission to assist a local STEMM student with a science fair project. The project involved spectroscopy and I was able to put my filter wheel mounted Star Analyzer 200 to good use. I was able to get images of stars in each major spectroscopic class. I was also able to get the spectrum of Uranus as a system capability test. I use the RSpec software program to process the spectra. Although I use a monochrome camera, the package is capable of synthesizing a color spectrum once it is calibrated. That is what is displayed under the spectrum profile chart.

A class A star has very prominent hydrogen absorption features in its spectrum. This makes it a good target for calibrating a spectrographic system. Elements in a star’s atmosphere absorb specific frequencies of light which are unique to the element. This is why we see a dip in the light’s intensity at that point. The dips in this spectrum, indicated by the blue lines, are due to hydrogen absorbing the light. This set of frequencies are known as the hydrogen Balmer series.

Menkalinan – Class A star

I also took an image of Uranus just to see what the SA-200 was capable of. The blue lines in this instance identify the frequencies of light that methane would absorb. As you can see there are significant dips in the spectrum at those frequencies.

Uranus

This is the image of Uranus that was processed by RSpec to produce the profile chart. The brightest spot is Uranus and the brightest streak to the right of Uranus is its spectrum. The other 4 obvious spots are magnitude 10 background stars.

Uranus [D2:1x5s]

 Posted by at 15:21

Jupiter (04 Sep 2023)

 Jupiter, Planet, Solar System  No Responses »
Sep 042023
 

The PTO is still set up for planetary imaging. I was able to wait out the clouds and got some shots of Jupiter early this morning. The planet is currently in the constellation Ares and transits around 0445 CDT which puts it high overhead at dawn. At 1600 CDT today, the planet will halt its forward motion and appear to start backing up in the sky. This retrograde motion is an illusion due to the Earth’s and Jupiter’s locations in the solar system and their relative motions.

Jupiter
[(V) L:1684×1.2ms; R:1411×2.04ms; G:1391×1.7ms; B:1388×2.5ms]

The image is, as indicated, a full LRGB image. The jet stream forecast was for good upper level conditions and the fine detail in the cloud tops show that to be the case.

 Posted by at 22:37

Sun (02 Aug 2023)

 Solar System, Sun  No Responses »
Aug 072023
 

I am testing a new scope/camera/reducer combination in anticipation of live streaming the upcoming partial solar eclipse in October. The camera used for this image is very low resolution (640×480) so the image will not hold up to any zooming but, I think, it will be fine for streaming. Since this was just a test, I was not too concerned about centering the Sun in the FOV, hence the offset to the upper left.

Sun (Ha:1800×2.06ms)

This was taken on the 2nd of Aug using my H-alpha scope, so we are observing the Sun’s chromosphere. Visible in that layer are a couple of dark filaments as well as several bright plages. There are also a couple of small prominences standing out from the left limb and several obvious sunspots.

 Posted by at 12:55

2023 MU2 – Here it comes. (24 Jun 2023)

 Minor Planet, Solar System  No Responses »
Jun 252023
 

Many of you will have no doubt heard of the “HOUSE SIZED ASTEROID HEADING TOWARDS EARTH !!!”.

Well, there is one that will pass by the Earth this afternoon (25 Jun 2023) at 1819 CDT. JPL estimates the size, on average, to be 5 meters in diameter (16.4 feet). My van is 20′ feet long so it must be a really small house. However, it will get no closer than 134,788 miles away. That is a about 60% the distance to the Moon. It is traveling at a speed of 10,107 mph. That speed, and its proximity to the Earth, is evident in the animation below.

 

The asteroid orbits the Sun in 490.9 days. As you can see in the orbit diagram, it spends most of its time in between Earth and Mars but crosses inside Earth’s orbit for about 2 months.

2023 MU2’s orbit.
(Graphic courtesy of the JPL Small-Body Database Browser)

At the time, from our point of view, the asteroid was traversing the constellation Scutum (The Shield). This location puts it crossing into some of the denser star clouds of the Milky Way. This is why there are so many stars in the background.

The animation is composed of forty-five cropped 120 second exposures. They were taken on the evening of the 24th.

 Posted by at 14:22

Sun (18 Apr 2023)

 Solar System, Sun  No Responses »
Apr 202023
 

I am starting to prepare for next year’s total solar eclipse. This means refreshing my memory on the procedures and set up of my mobile telescopes, mounts and cameras.

I took this image using one of my very first webcams: a TIS DMK21AU04. The camera is long out of production but as you can see, this one still works. It has a very low resolution of 640×480 and that is very obvious in this picture. I have much higher resolution cameras, but I think this will be fine to live stream the eclipse given the chance. It is also much easier to set up and configure. The telescope is my Hydrogen-Alpha telescope which allows us to view the thin layer of the Sun’s atmosphere known as the chromosphere.

Sun (HA:225×0.2ms)

You can see several dark thin thread-like filaments in the image. This is solar material being held off the surface by magnetic fields and because it is above the surface it is cooler and thus darker. The patchy bright areas are locations of increased magnetic strength known as plage.

 Posted by at 15:08
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