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Deep Sky Evening 10 November 2012

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Dec 082012

Jared Cassidy provided the 8 inch f/10 Schmidt Cassegrain and atlas mount to aide Jeff Delmas in obtaining the two color and one black and white shot, M42 and M43, the great Orion Nebula in the sword of Orion, and the Crab Nebula near the tip of one of Taurus the Bull’s Horns were captured in color, and NGC 891, the edge on galaxy in Andromeda was captured in black and white. Jeff Delmas operated the SBIG CCD camera and Frank Schenck and Jeff Delmas did the image processing with SBIG software.

17 November 2012 Great night for Astrophotography

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Dec 082012

Jeff Delmas images and processes Barnard 33, The Famous “Horse Head” Nebula just off of Alnitak in Orion’s Belt in color and the nebula that surrounds it IC 434 with 21 inch f/4 Newtonian Reflector and the SBIG CCD camera and processed it with SBIG software.

Frank Schenck also captured this picture of Ganymede and Jupiter with the Celestron 16 inch f/11.25 Schmidt Cassegrain Reflector with his planetary video camera and processed with Registax 6.

Three More Pictures From SBIG, Two Color, One Black and White

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Jul 142012

The First Color Picture is Messier 57, the Ring Nebula in Lyra, color made with the SBIG camera and SBIG RGB combine software, operated by Doug Horacek; the second photo is of Albireo the Blue and Gold Double Star at the head of Cygnus the Swan (comment, add Double Stars as a section on the BLOG), the color photograph captured by the SBIG camera and processed with SBIG RGB combine software, operated by Doug Horacek. The Black and White Antares and its White Dwarf Companion Picture was processed by Doug Horacek using Hard Planetary Smooth, Hard Planetary Sharpen, and DDP filter utilities from the SBIG software. John Callahan and Frank Schenck assited in image processing. Jeff Delmas did the photography on the evening of 6 July 2012 with the SBIG camera and Jared Cassidy’s eight inch f/10 Schmidt Cassegrain, a Meade telescope on an Orion Atlas Mount.

Here are two More Shots from our SBIG Camera from 22 June 2012

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Jul 112012

Here are two more images taken with John Callahan’s 4 1/2 inch refractor and our new SBIG camera, these are black and white raw images taken by Jeff Delmas. The top picture is the Veil Nebula, NGC 6960, the southwest branch and star 24 Cygnii in Cygnus the Swan or the “Northern Cross”. The Bottom Picture is Messier 101 the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major the “Big Bear” or “Big Dipper”.

Three August Observing Events

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Jun 232012

Saturday evening starting after program and regular observing 10 P.M. until 2:00 A.M., 11-12 August (peak evening according to Sky & Telescope, note change of date), at the VBAS field watch the Persied Meteor Shower, the Moon will be a waning crescent, estimated between 110 and 90 meteors per hour, a great evening for observing meteors given the weather holds. Come join us for a great display of the bright Persied Meteor Shower.

Target Date: Tuesday evening, 14 August, Saturn, Mars, and Spica conjunction – call Doug Horacek at 256 772-6788 will serve pizza and root beer at Doug’s Condo. Bring binoculars and scopes with a wide field of view – will start at 6:00 P.M. to set up. Event happens at dusk and a little beyond. Alternate bad viewing dates due to weather are Monday evening 13 August, or Wednesday evening 15 August.

Target Date: Tuesday evening, 21 August, Grouping of Saturn, Mars, Spica, and the Moon at the Space and Rocket Center, event occurs at dusk and a little beyond, stay posted for more details.

Early Notice: For early risers, the Beehive Cluster (M44), Venus and the Moon will be very close together in the sky at around 4:00 A.M. on the morning of 12 September, Wednesday Morning, the only morning this happens, well worth getting up to see.

Venus Transit Tuesday Evening 5 June 2012

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Jun 092012

Frank Schenk captured some video of the Venus Transit betwee 19:40 and 19:45 CDT, 0:40 and 0:45 on the 6 June 2012 UT caught Venus near a Sun Spot Group Cantina 68, sunspot number is from the Cantina Obseratory in Italy, no NOAA number was referenced the next day. Frank obtained this shot with Doug Horacek’s 3.5 inch 90mm Orion Refractor, Doug moved the scope Frank took the video. These pictures were obtained just before the Sun set.

“The Cigar Galaxy” Messier 82 in the “Big Bear” (Big Dipper)

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May 112012

This is a photograph of Messier 82, the “Cigar Galaxy”, the irregular galaxy in Ursa Major or “The Big Bear”, also the “Big Dipper” taken with the Swanson 21 inch by Jeff Delmas who did the video and Doug Horacek did the post processing. The video was obtained with the Stellacam II with 8 seconds per frame. Taken on the evening of 28 April 2012 at 22:00 CDT or 3:00 U.T. on 29 April 2012.

Supernova 2012aw in barred spiral galaxy Messier 95 in Leo

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May 112012

Our 21 inch captured the recent supernova in Messier 95, Jeff Delmas did the video and Doug Horacek did the post processing. The supernova is right in the center right of the bright part of the galaxy. The video was from the Stellacam II and the Swanson 21 inch. Taken on the evening of 28 April 2012 at 21:30 CDT or 2:30 UT on 29 April 2012.

Saturn with 21 Inch and StellacamII 28 April 2012

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May 112012

This picture of Saturn was taken with a 3X barlow and one neutral density filter and one yellow filter. Taken on the evening of 28 April 2012 23:30 CDT or 4:30 UT on the 29 April 2012. Jeff Delmas took the Video Frank Schenck did most of the post processing and Doug Horacek put the finishing touches with gamma, histogram, brightness and contrast.

Copeland’s Septet from 11 March 2011

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Apr 302012

Here is Copeland’s Septet from 11 March 2011, faint galaxies, the field of view showed 9 of 11 faint galaxies, some as dim as 13 or 14 magnitude. This group of galaxies is 480 million light years away. It is located near star 92 in the constellation Leo above the tail of the lion, Zosma and Chertan, and Denebola.

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