Images were taken with a Peltier Cooled Modified Canon 450D (XSi).
Telescope used for imaging was an Astro-Tech 6" f/9 Ritchey-Chrétien astrograph at prime. The Astro Tech RC and ED80 refractor guide scope were mounted on an Orion Atlas EQ-G mount. The EQMOD ASCOM driver was used to drive the mount directly via an EQDIR interface module.
Equipment used:
DSLR Modification Service: I am selling and converting Canon 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 1000D & 1100D DSLR cameras for astro imaging. CLICK HERE for details.
During the 10 night stay at Cherry Springs, we had a mix of clear skies and clouds and fortunately we missed any heavy rains from the hurricane that affected the eastern part of the state. Many BFSP attendees left the star party on Saturday because of worries about what was happening at home. By Sunday afternoon, most had left the field. Here is a panorama of the nearly empty field at 3:00 pm on Sunday; scroll to the right to see entire image:
>>>>>>>Scroll Right for full 360 degree panorama>>>>>>>
Sunday and Monday nights after the star party we had very good transparency. Me and John O'Hara confirmed 7.3 visual magnitude using a star in the little dipper. On Tuesday night we witnessed an amazing bolide through thin clouds and heard its thundering boom nearly five minutes after the explosion. It was great to follow Comet C/20009 P1 Garradd especially as it passed near M71. We were also able to observe the M 101 supernova brighten each night just after discovery.
Cederblad 214 in Sharpless 171 - August 28, 2011:
41 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 captured with AT6RC at prime were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1100X732).
Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) & M71 (Still Image) - August 26, 2011:
33 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 captured with AT6RC at prime were combined using DeepSkyStacker using the Comet & Stars combine method and reduced in size for display (900X599):
YouTube Video - Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) & M71 Time-Lapse Video over 3 hour 10 Minute Period:
This is a Hi-Def Video I posted on YouTube of Comet Garradd C/2009 P1 passing near the Globular Cluster M71 on August 26, 2011. The time lapse covers a three hour period from 9:00pm to 12:08am and uses 33 five-minute exposures.
Direct YouTube Link to higher resolutions of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR2H3ese01w
An image of comet P1 Garradd taken on 8/25/11 can be seen HERE.
An image of comet P1 Garradd taken on 8/28/11 can be seen HERE.
IC 1311 Open Cluster with Nebulosity - August 29, 2011:
Was only able to capture 7 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with AT6RC at prime and combined them using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1100X732).
NGC 6559 Nebula - August 30, 2011:
11 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 captured with AT6RC at prime were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1100X732).
Supernova 2011fe in M101 - August 26, 2011:
The supernova was discovered on August 24, 2011 at Magnitude 17. It quickly brightened over the next few days. On August 26 it had brightened to Mag 12.4 and by September 10 had peaked at Mag 9.9. This type Ia supernova is now one of the brightest visible supernovae in the last 20 years.
26 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 captured with AT6RC at prime were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1100X732).
The following image is a "mouseover image". You will need to have scripting allowed in your web browser or "allow blocked content" for this to work. Move your mouse cursor over the image and an arrow will appear pointing to the supernova. Move the mouse cursor off the image to remove the arrow.
Move cursor on and off image:
M13 Globular Cluster - August 30, 2011:
9 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 captured with AT6RC at prime were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1100X732).
NGC 6910 Rocking Horse Cluster - August 29, 2011:
31 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 captured with AT6RC at prime were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1100X732). Dew formed on my optics during the exposures so the image processing is on the dark side. Gamma Cygni, the middle star of the Cygnus Cross, was just off frame in the lower left.
Jupiter with Red Spot and Io's Shadow on August 29, 2011:
151 frames out of a total of 7200 frames of 2 minute movie file were stacked in Registax 5. A Canon 550D (T2i) DSLR camera was used in the special 640 X 480 crop mode at 60 frames per second capture with 20" Starmaster and 2X barlow.
Jupiter with Europa 3:11am on August 29, 2011:
Big Dipper 1:35 am on August 28, 2011:
I noticed that the big dipper was nicely framed by a stand of trees that looked like they had been trimmed to fit the constellation. I took an image with a Canon T2i at 28mm and f4 at ISO 1600 for the image.
The following image is a "mouseover image". You will need to have scripting allowed in your web browser or "allow blocked content" for this to work. Move your mouse cursor over the image and the constellation lines will appear. Move the mouse cursor off the image to remove the constellation lines.
Red Sunset at 8:13pm on August 27, 2011:
Image taken with a Canon T2i at 37mm and f5.6 at ISO 200 and reduced in size for display (1100 X 733):
Milky Way Fisheye Image taken by Steve Owens from Scotland - August 31:
Steve Owens is visiting all of the International Dark Sky Places in North America between 22 August and 03 October 2011 and during his visit to Cherry Springs posted this report along with an all sky image taken on 8/31/11:
http://darkskydiary.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/cherry-springs-dark-sky-park
Southern Sky Glow: The new skyglow to the south was again visible a few days before the hurricane, but it was not there during the weekend of the hurricane. We suspected that this new light pollution was possibly from Marcellus Gas Well Drill Site Activity and was not visible over the weekend because construction lights and standards were turned off in preparation for the hurricane threat. ANGA, America's Natural Gas Alliance, has been taking to the airwaves with TV and radio ads promoting their fracking operations and concern for the environment. The video "Straight Talk" ends with: "rigorous practices help insure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment". Meanwhile, Cherry Springs Dark Sky Park and two astronomical society observatories are being affected because of the use of unshielded light fixtures at nearby marcellus gas well drill sites. It's interesting that ANGA has the nerve use a starry night sky to end its video:
For images taken at Cherry Springs the previous New Moon CLICK HERE.
For images taken at Cherry Springs the June New Moon CLICK HERE.
For images taken at Cherry Springs the May New Moon CLICK HERE.
Other astro images with the modified 450D: CLICK HERE
My Astro YouTube videos: CLICK HERE