Experimenting at the Club's Observatory

 First off, it's been a while ... 

The last clear night that I was able to image was on October 3rd. So, apologies for taking so long between posts. The weather has been horrendous and travel for work forced me to miss the one clear night we had in November. I was super excited to see a clear forecast for Thursday night (December 14th). Our astronomy club has an imaging group, we're called the Tuesday Night Imagers. the leader of our group posted on the forum of our website that Tuesday would be Thursday this week. One advantage of winter is I can make it out to the observatory after work and get a few hours of imaging in and still get home at a reasonable time. 

We made our plans ahead of time. The plan was to try my personal camera, the ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro on the club's Celestron 14" Edge D Telescope. Our club has the 14" and a Tele Vue NP-101is mounted on an Astro Physics AP-1200 mount. We have an Atik 383L+ Color camera for the 14". A great camera, but it is an older CCD camera and is starting to show it's age. We are actively discussing what camera to get to replace it. We wish to stick with a One-Shot Color (OSC) camera for simplicity and convivence. Technically, my camera is a great match for the NP-101is but not for the 14". Even with the 0.7x focal reducer, the 14" has focal length of 2,738 mm. Therefore, my camera's small pixels result in a very over-sampled image scale with the 14". This is typically not desirable. However, we have seen some great results from similar setups and decided to give this a try. 

I got to the observatory around 5:30 pm. The observatory director, the leader of our imaging group, was unable to make it out to the observatory due to a last minute issue. Typically, the observatory director and another member of our group are the main operators of the telescope. The other telescope operator and I got the telescopes going. My camera on the 14" and the other telescope operator put his ZWO ASI1600MC-Pro on the NP-101. The observatory director and a couple of other members of our imaging group joined us via Zoom. 

The skies were not great. lots of high/thin clouds or haze especially towards the western horizon. Of course, that's exactly where we wanted to image. We wanted to get data on Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks which is near the bright star Vega. We tried for about an hour, but the data was not looking good. Autofocus was struggling and there was little signal from the comet. I have not tried to process the data from the 14" yet but the other telescope operator managed to get a nice image (especially considering the conditions). 

As it was also the peak of the Geminids meteor shower, we did try to get outside and see if we could see meteors. We saw about four or five. We also noticed skies were better towards the Southeast, where the constellation Orion was rising. We decided to give up on the comet and slew to the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33). We slewed to B33 and got both telescopes framed as best as we could. We were feeling the pressure to get imaging quickly, so we didn't rotate the camera or refine (manually) the relative pointing of the telescopes to one another, a disadvantage of two scopes on one mount. We dialed in our exposure settings, 120 sec subs at Gain 100 with an Offset of 50 for me and started collecting exposures. The results looked really good. The stars were nice and round. We imaged for little over an hour. It was a work night, skies weren't the best, and both of us had a pretty good drive home. This is the resulting image from the night's work. Pretty encouraging results!

The Horsehead Nebula (B33) from the BAA's Beaver Meadow Observatory on 12/14/2023.

Processing

There was a lot of conversation in our club's forum leading up to Thursday night and again afterwards regarding how to capture and process images with this scope/camera combination. We are lucky to have some talented imagers in the group, one in particular who is both very talented and technically knowledgeable. This person was a key participant in those discussions and I'm personally very grateful for his mentoring.

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-processing: All 34 images were examined in Blink, 2 were rejected. The remaining 32 images were calibrated, registered, and stacked in WBPP with 1X Drizzle integration, astrometric solution, and auto-crop enabled. 

Linear Post-processing: Gradient was removed with the GraXpert script (AI mode), initial deconvolution with BlurXT in Correct Only mode, color calibration SPCC, second deconvolution with BlurXT, noise reduction NoiseXT, and the image was made non-linear with HT. Non-linear Post processing: Stars were removed with StarXT. Stars: Saturation curve applied with CT and green noise removed with SCNR. Starless: Multiple iterations of CT were applied to increase brightness and contrast, Saturation was added with CT, green noise was removed with SCNR, and noise reduction was further reduced with NoiseXT. The image was sharpened with LHE at 3 different kernel sizes and MMT. Dark structure was enhanced with the DSE script and stars were screened back in with Pixel Math. No down sampling was performed. 

What is it?

The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) is a small dark nebula silhouetted against the emission nebula IC434. B33 resembles the profile of the head of a horse. It is a concentration of dust and non-luminous gas that blocks light of the nebula behind it. 

Annotated image of the Horsehead Nebula

How big is it?

This object has an angular distance of 6.0 x 4.0 arcminutes on the night sky. The object is 2.8 light-years (ly) across. 

How far is it?

It is located about 1,600 light-years (ly) from Earth in the Constellation of Orion.

How to find it?

It is located close to Alnitak, one of the 3 belt stars in Orion. This makes it easy to find. However, it is much easier to photograph than visually observe. To give you the best chance of success in visually observing it, use a large aperture telescope, use an H-beta nebula filter, and get to dark skies. It is tiny and it is essentially like trying to find a black fingerprint on a black tablecloth. Try to find the emission nebula IC 434 and look for the absence of the nebula. Photographically, this target shows up relatively easily and can be captured with and without the use of filters. 

Finder Chart for B33

Image Details:

Capture Date: 12/14/2023

Location: North Java, NY (BAA's Beaver Meadow Observatory

Telescope: Celestron 14" Edge HD w/0.7x Focal Reducer

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: N/A

Mount: Astro Physics AP-1200

Exposure: 32 exposures at 120 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each for a total exposure of 1 hour and 4 minutes.

Software: NINA, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

3rd Object from "Supernova Week" - M27

Messier 27 - The Dumbbell Nebula

The week of 05/21/2023 was a fantastic week for imaging. Not only did I capture multiple nights SN 2023ixf in M101 (click here) and The Iris Nebula (click here), I was also able to capture two other targets. On the night of 05/24/2023 (actually the morning of 05/25/2023) I imaged Messier 27, The Dumbbell Nebula after losing M101 to a tree somewhere around 1:30 AM. Sky conditions were very good, so I slewed to M27 and imaged until the end of Astronomical Dark (2:04 AM to 3:35 AM). 

An image of M27 captured on 05/25/2023. This target is quite small for my imaging setup, so the image is cropped in significantly. 

I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. After watching RC-Astro's Russ Croman on The Astro Imaging Channel (TAIC), I used his MTF Analyzer to analyze my setup. According to the tool, I'm slightly under-sampled and would benefit from using 2X drizzle integration. I tried it and I think it was worthwhile. M27 is a very small target for my set up (480 mm refractor with APS-C sensor). Therefore, the image presented here has been cropped in significantly. 

What is it?

Messier 27 is a planetary located in the constellation Vulpecula. M27 is the first Planetary Nebula ever discovered. A Planetary Nebula is an emission nebula formed from an expanding shell of ionized gas ejected by stars (like our Sun) too small to go supernova when they (stars) are late in their lives. A stellar remnant known as a White Dwarf is left behind and is responsible for ionizing the gas. M27 is a popular target for amateur astronomers as it is visible in binoculars and telescopes. 

How big is it?

It has an angular size of 8 x5.7 arcminutes on the night sky and has a diameter of about 3.2 light-years. 

How far is it?

The M27 is within the Milky Way at about 430 parsecs (pc) or 1,400 light-years (ly) from Earth.

How to find it?

M27 is a popular target for visual astronomers. A nebula filter (like a UHC or OIII filter) can really help make it pop visually. M27 is located within the Summer Triangle. 

Refer to the finder chart below. 

1. Find the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, & Altair).
2. Locate the star Albireo (the head of Cygnus the Swan).
3. Rough location method:
1. Using the finder Chart below, M27 is one vertex of an imaginary triangle with the other vertices Altair & Albireo. 
4. If you have dark enough skies to see the constellations Sagitta (actually looks like an arrow) and Vulpecula, you can use the finder chart below to refine the position of M27.

Finder chart for M27.

Image Details:

Capture Date:05/24/2023

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Explore Scientific ED80 Essential Series Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: None

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 60 exposures at 60 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each for a total exposure of 1 hour.

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

Chasin' SN 2023ixf in M 101

A star went BOOM!

About 21 million years ago in the galaxy Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, a star went boom. It really went boom. Specifically, a Core Collapse Supernova known as a Type II Supernova, one of the most energetic events in the Universe. This particular supernova was first observed on May 19, 2023, by Koichi Itagaki. The Zwicky Transient Facility confirmed the discovery and found an image of the supernova (much fainter) from two days before the discovery observation. 

A recent image of M 101 from before the supernova. 

Type II Supernova Facts

• This type of supernova occurs for stars at least 8 times more massive than our Sun and will leave behind a Neutron Star or Black Hole. 
• Supernovae can outshine their host galaxies, releasing as much energy in a single burst as our Sun will release in 10 billion years. 
• Many of the elements heavier than iron are created in this type of Supernovae.
• Supernovae produce a mind bogglingly large number of Neutrinos. In 10 seconds a core-collapse supernova will release 10⁵⁸ neutrinos.
• Supernovae can accelerate particle to at least 1000 times the energy of particles in the Large Hadron Collider. 

Good Timing

The timing of this event was favorable for observation by amateur astronomers in the northern hemisphere due to the following factors:

• M 101 is located just off the handle of the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major. 
• M 101 is a popular target for amateur astronomers, especially in the northern Hemisphere's spring, known to amateur astronomers as galaxy season. 
• M101 is high in the sky, making it favorable for observation. 
• Astronomically speaking, 21 million light years is "close" and therefore SN 2023ixf appears bright.

This event is for those of us located in the northern hemisphere, as M 101 is near the North Celestial Pole. Unfortunate news for our friends in the southern hemisphere. I don't feel too bad for them, as they have had their fair share of amazing events and amazing objects not accessible to those of us in the north.

A finder chart for finding M 101.

My Observations:

Night 1 - Sunday May 21, 2023:

My first shot at SN 2023ixf was Sunday May 21st. The forecast was calling for clear skies. Unfortunately, the forecast was also calling for dense smoke because of the wildfires in Alberta, Canada. I set up well before dark and hoped for the best. As it got dark, the stars were slow to appear. I could make out the crescent Moon near the horizon in the west and Venus was visible a little higher in the western sky. About 10 minutes before 10 pm, I could see Arcturus followed by a few stars in the Big Dipper. The smoke was definitely impacting the visibility of the stars. I decided to connect to my guide camera and see polar alignment was possible, and it was successful. Followed this up by slewing the telescope to the south, to an object close to where the Meridian and Celestial Equator (Dec = 0) for PHD2 guiding calibration. Again, this was successful. With both tasks successful completed, it was time to go for the supernova. I recently imaged M 101 at the end of April (click here). One of my sub exposures from that session was used to frame the target, this would capture the object in the same orientation, facilitating before and after comparisons. After slewing to M 101, rotating the camera to match the previous image, and performing an autofocus run, NINA started capturing the first image. SN 2023ixf was clearly visible in the resulting image, even though the galaxy details were subdued by the smoke. NINA continued to capture exposures, and SharpCap live stacked them. I don't have the writing skills to properly convey how exciting this was. 

Prior to starting the image session, I connected to an impromptu Zoom meeting with members of our local astronomy club, the Buffalo Astronomical Association (BAA). I was joined by our Observatory Director and a member from a sister club in Rochester, NY (who also belongs to our club). This person maintains a very useful website on supernovae (click here). It's a fantastic resource and I've used it for years before meeting him in person at our last club picnic. 

A total of 26 Images were captured from 10:07 PM to 11:17 PM, when the conditions degraded, and it no longer made sense to continue. Exposures were 120 sec each at a Gain of 100 with an Offset of 50. The images were captured on my Home Setup:

• Telescope: Explore Scientific Essential Series ED80 Air Spaced Triplet
• Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
• Filter: None
• Accessories: Pegasus Astro Pocket Power Box Advanced, ZWO EAF, ZWO ASI224MC, Explore Scientific Field Flattener, & Orion 50 mm Mini Guide Scope 
• Software: NINA, PHD2, SharpCap, & PixInsight

Single 120 sec exposure. A screenshot from the capture software NINA. Only a screen (display) stretch applied, no other processing. Look how bright the supernova is compared to the galaxy. 

The live stacked image from SharpCap. This is a a total of 26 exposures at 120 sec each for a total exposure of 52 minutes. The image was saved with the display stretch and the plug-in NoiseXTerminaror was applied in PixInsight to reduce the noise in the image.

The final processed image. A total of 22 exposures were used (the last 4 images captured were too severely degraded to use). The image was processed in PixInsight. 

Night 2 - Monday May 22, 2023: 

The forecast was calling for clear skies and dense smoke. I headed out to the Buffalo Astronomical Association's observatory (Beaver Meadow Observatory) for our weekly imaging group session. The group is called the Tuesday Night Imagers, but "Tuesday" can be pretty much any day of the week. This week it was Monday. I set up my ZWO ASI2600MC Pro on the club's Tele Vue NP-101is and another member setup his ZWO ASI1600MM Pro on the club's Celestron 14" Edge HD Telescope. Both scopes sit atop an Astro Physics AP1200 mount in our main observatory. The club's Observatory Director is the leader of the Tuesday Night group. He was traveling, so another member and I were running the session in his place. We made a couple of critical errors which will make getting anything off of the 14'" scope a challenge. The first issue is the OAG prism wasn't properly lined up with the imaging camera's sensor. This resulted in a prominent shadow in the corner of the exposures. Compounding this error, we took flats at Bin 1, which does not match our light frames taken at Bin 2. There may be a way to salvage the data, but that will have to wait for another day. 

In addition to running the Tuesday Night session in place of the group's leader, we had an unusually large turnout due to the excitement of the supernova. Unfortunately, the smoke was very dense. most left around 10:30 PM. The supernova was visible in exposures but hardly any detail of the galaxy. Two of us stayed behind to troubleshoot the shadow issue on the 14". We continued to take exposures. We experienced a brief window where the smoke was not so dense. We captured images in both scopes for about a half an hour. After which we shut everything down and went home. 

BAA members setting up outside the observatory to observe/image the Supernova.

The Moon and Venus

Another view of the Moon and Venus

The Moon and Venus over our (the BAA) newly acquired Sky shed Pod.

A photo of the screen showing a single 120 sec exposure of from the NP-101is when the smoke briefly cleared.  BAA Tuesday Night Imagers.

A photo of the screen showing a 120 sec exposure from the 14" Edge HD.

BAA Tuesday Night Imagers.

Processed image captured on the NP-101is. Image was processed in PixInsight. BAA Tuesday Night Imagers.

Night 3 - Wednesday May 24, 2023

Conditions were much better on Wednesday May 24th. My scope (Home Setup) was still setup from Monday Night. I imaged from dark until about 1:30 AM, when I lost this object to a tree. Unfortunately, after processing the image, I accidentally deleted the raw data while moving files to a backup hard drive, as the hard drive on my imaging computer was getting full. Needless to say, I'm not pleased with myself about this mistake! This image was made from a total of 85 exposures at 120 seconds / Gain 100 / Offset 50 each for a total exposure of 2.8 hours. Processing was done in PixInsight. 

Night 4 - Thursday May 25, 2023

Conditions were very good again on Thursday May 25, 2023. Another image from my home setup. I imaged from 9:52 PM until 1:27 AM. Conditions were good enough that I continued to image another target (while I slept) after losing M 101. That will be covered in a future post. As the Moon was getting brighter and setting later, I decided to back off on my exposure time from 120 seconds to 60 sec. This image was made from a total of 145 exposures at 60 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 for a total exposure of 2.4 hours.

Putting all together in a Movie/Animation

Starting with my image of M101 from 4/26 (before the Supernova), I Star Aligned the processed images from each night using PixInsight. Then cropped them with Dynamic Crop in PixInsight. Photoshop was used to add the markers, the text, and to create the animation. Each frame has a 2 second duration. I converted the animation from a GIF to a MP4 movie file. Hope you like the result.

So, What's Next?

SN 2023ixf will be visible for a few more weeks. It will slowly dim.  Will probably try and capture some more data if time and weather allow. Our Observatory Director and the person from the Rochester club that maintains the supernova website both provided me with information on how to determine the magnitude of the Supernova from my images. I intend to sit down and learn how to do this. When, not sure. When I do figure it out, I'll make another post or amend this one. 

Clear Skies!

Ernie

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy

 

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy - captured on 04/26/2023

What is it?

M101 is a very large, face-on spiral Galaxy also known as The Pinwheel located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is a Grand Design Spiral Galaxy. It's asymmetric shape and very well defined spiral arms are likely the result of gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies. It also has high levels of star formation, also likely caused by the same gravitational interactions. 

How big is it?

It has an angular size of 24 x 23 arcminutes on the night sky. It's about 170,000 light-years across (almost twice the size of our Milky Way Galaxy). It has about a trillion a contains the mass of about 100 billion solar masses.

How far is it?

M1010 is 7.1 Mega Parsecs (Mpc) or 23 million light-years (Mly) from Earth.

How to find it?

Even though M101 is fairly bright at magnitude 7.9. Unfortunately, due to its large angular size, it has a low surface brightness. Larger aperture and dark skies will help in finding and observing this object. 

Refer to the finder chart below. 

1. Find the Big Dipper
2. Find the star at the end of the handle (Alkaid)
3. Find the second star in the handle of the big dipper, Mizar, where the handle bends. Mizar is not labeled in the finder below. Side Note: See if you can see Mizar's fainter companion, Alcor. Alcor and Mizar are naked eye double star. 
4. Referring to the finder chart, draw an imaginary isosceles triangle with Alkaid and Mizar as the first two vertices of the triangle. M101 is the third vertex.

Finder chart for M101

Image Details:

Capture Date: 04/26/2023

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Explore Scientific ED80 Essential Series Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 124 exposures at 120 sec each / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C  for a total exposure of 4.13 hours

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight