Author Archives: Carol

Messier Marathon at Slooh

Posted on by July 20, 2021

Well I did it! 17 March 2018 – a night to remember

  • I have become an astronomer member at Slooh and am able to reserve slots with objects of my choice on the Slooh telescopes which are situated on the Canary Islands and in Chile.
  • Slooh members were given the challenge to do a Messier Marathon over the course of one night! – we had to target all 110 deepsky objects in Charles Messier’s catalogue. The targets were divided between members and Slooh. Members are able to take images of all the objects on which the telescopes are focussed at any given time whether you reserved the slot or not. Then came the downloading and processing of all 110 images.
    The template was provided by Slooh, originally designed by Andrew Dumbleton and modified by Paul Cox.
    Processing: some sharpening here and there where stars were really “runny”, some filters on the open clusters to give a more varied appearance and finally cropping to fit into the tiny boxes.
    The quality on some of the shots are an indication of the high wind gusts that the domes had to withstand on the night.
    The very best yet also the worst image is M30. It was touch and go or we would not have been able to complete the entire catalogue. M30 was just 3° (I think) above the horison and our one and only chance to get the image.
    This has not been a walk in the park challenge but so rewarding. I can’t believe I’ve completed a Messier Marathon.
    Note to my deep sky mentor, Auke Slotegraaf – at least I did not try to sketch these 😉 but then it would have earned me an Astronomical Society of Southern Africa Certificate – that’s for sure!

 

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

Posted on by August 30, 2019

The LSST – what big eyes you have
As the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood said, all the better to see you my dear

Halfway between first brick and first light the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is under construction in Cerro Pachón, Chile and on completion will be like no other. Its 3-ton camera will be the largest digital instrument ever built for ground-based astronomy and will take pictures fast enough to capture the entire southern sky every three nights.  According to Andy Connolly, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington and Team Leader for LSST Simulations, the Hubble Space Telescope would need 120 years to image an equivalent area of sky. The combination of a 3,200 mega-pixel camera sensor array, a powerful supercomputer, a sophisticated data processing and distribution network, the massive telescope promises to cast light on mysteries fundamental to our understanding of the Universe. From the distant signatures of dark energy to the dangers of near-earth asteroids and everything in between, the LSST will capture it all. Three central considerations dictated the design: that it be wide, fast, and deep. The telescope with its 8.4-metre primary mirror will take images that cover 49 times the area of the Moon in a single exposure.

The word ‘synoptic’ comes from the Greek ‘synopsis’ and refers to looking at all aspects of something. With its unprecedented collection of more than 800 panoramic images each night it will, over a decade of operations, collect tens of petabytes of data, building up the deepest and widest image of the Universe. First light is expected in 2019. Once operational everyone will be able to share in the excitement and discoveries with planned activities for education and public outreach.

My personal thanks to Prof. Matie Hoffman for the heads-up

Photo
2015-LSST llus: An artist’s concept of the LSST facilities building
Mirror: The LSST primary/tertiary mirror successfully cast, August 2008
Image Credit: Todd Mason, Mason Productions Inc. / LSST Corporation

Smartphone Moon Photography

Posted on by July 20, 2021

I’ve been doing my fullmoon shots with my camera and 400mm lens on a tripod for some time now.

Then along came Slooh with the #supermoon- challenge which inspired me to go out for a few nights in a row to capture the waxing Moon.

I thought, what if I attach my cellphone to my telescope? This is when the real fun began. I’ve been able to push to a 6mm eyepiece but you have to be really quick if you have no tracker on your scope like me It’s quite tricky.

First I identify the area that I want to shoot – then focus the telescope with cellphone attached. I bought one of those adaptable cellphone holders. A word of caution – cellphones slip easily if you’re not careful. When I’m happy with the adjustment of the cellphone holder and focus is ok, I nudge my telesope so that the area to be shot is just outside of the field of view. As the area moves into view I take shots with a feather light tap on the cellphone screen. Then it’s to my computer to sort the blurry ones from the not so blurry ones! If your telescope has a tracker, things will be much easier but then you’re most probably already doing astro photography for real 🙂

Someone suggested that I should try to zoom in more but believe me, it will get really tricky if you are already using a high powered eyepiece because the motion of the Moon becomes intensified. Others advised that I should use continuous shooting. One could experiment with this but I have had no luck up to now. My cellphone’s camera seems to adjust focus and my continuous shots have all been very blurry.

Each cellphone is obviously different. The camera’s auto setting will most probably not give the best result. With some of my shots I even tried the “beauty” setting . So just play around with what you’ve got and try all your modes and exposure settings. The holders come in different sizes so make sure the dimensions will fit your phone. Read reviews on the different makes of holders before you buy. Some guys in my astronomy group have printed their own holders on a 3D printer.

Instead of going into a slump after the supermoon adventure, I will continue seeking interesting formations on the Moon. Eventually my plan is to do sketches of the images that I captured during this challenge.

Cosmic Reconciliation * Hemelruim Versoening

Posted on by January 15, 2020

For the past decade or so I have been part of an astronomy group, the Orion Observation Group. Our main mission is to inspire others to look and appreciate the night sky.We were invited by the Afrikaanse Taalmonument (Afrikaans Language Monument) which is affiliated to the South African Department of Arts and Culture to host their popular summer season Stargazing Picnics. Once a month we set up our gear to give the public a chance to experience the night sky through our telescopes.Give and Take: Through the years my participation at the Taalmonument in Paarl, has made me much more aware of our country’s cultural diversity and so I aimed to contribute towards building a bridge between South African culture and Astronomy. I decided that a good way of achieving this would be to choose themes for our Stargazing evenings that would not only inspire budding astromers but budding artists, writers, poets and performers in any genre.

Our themes aren’t just chosen at random. First of all I scrutinize the date to see whether it coïncides with a specific astronomical event. I scour the library’s bookshelves and internet for star-related material suitable for specific dates like Valentine’s or New Year’s day. Finding new themes has been almost just as much fun as stargazing. If I find inspiration in the title of a book, in song lyrics, poetry or art, I contact the author. Most are very appreciative and give me their blessing. Some just ignore me and then I have to resume my search.So far no-one has been rude! Afrikaans is a colourful language and lends itself well to slight twisting and tweeking of the original.By now I have a file of themes with lots of memories of every Stargazing Picnic at the Taalmonument.

Initially I had something completely different lined up for 16 Dec 2017 when it dawned on me that this was a very special South African holiday: the Day of Reconciliation/Versoeningsdag. Back to the drawing board.

Hemelruim/Constellations sort of jumped off the computer screen and into my lap. When I read the synopsis I knew I had found the most perfect theme. The play “Constellations” by Nick Payne was adapted by well-known South African director, Nico Scheepers. The Afrikaans text was a triumph and “Hemelruim” staged sold-out performances at Aardklop, the KKNK and Fugard Theatre.

Reviews read: Hemelruim was an amazing theatre experience on a galactic scale
It’s about one relationship,infinite possibilities,free will and friendship; it’s also about quantum multiverse theory, love, and honey

Nico Scheepers revealed: I tried to make the characters as real as possible as people, whichever universe they’re in, because I think it is a core soul that echoes throughout all these parallel universes, with intent and choice painted over that

The theme for the Stargazing Picnic at the Taal Monument on 16 December 2017 will be:
Hemelruim Versoening/ Cosmic Reconciliation

With this I hope I can inspired more South Africans to reconcile and bring parallel universes together and most of all to inspire others to look at the stars.

Thanks to Nico Scheepers for this wonderful inspiration.
https://www.theatrescenecpt.co.za/single-post/2017/04/26/Spotlight-The-inspiration-and-talent-behind-Hemelruim