2012 Fall Star Party: I attended the Fall Star Party hosted by the Chiefland Star Party Group (CSPG) in Chiefland, FL. The Fall Star Party is made possible by the generosity of the village's Tom Crowley and John Novak, along with assistance and hard work by the CSPG volunteers. Attendance allowed me to spend time with old observing friends, make some new friends and image under some of the darkest Florida skies. Nighttime temperatures a few nights before the star party began, reached lows near or below freezing. Transparency was good but seeing only got steady on some mornings when ground fog formed. I was able to get two nights of clear skies and one night of partly cloudy for imaging before the star party began. It was cloudy for the duration of the star party. I was imaging with a Peltier Cooled Whole DSLR Camera system, so the imaging DSLR was operating between 10 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit, for very noise free images. Here is a photo of my 5" Triplet and 20" Stamaster imaging setup looking to the SE. The blue tarp structure is an old canopy with the top removed and walls that I can adjust as needed for imaging with my 5" scope.
Light pollution maps show that this area may be the last refuge from light pollution in the state. Skyglow rises about 30 degrees to the North from Chiefland, there is very low skyglow along the Eastern horizon and this site's best skies are to the West and Southwest in the direction of the Gulf. The first two nights were clear and Tony Donangello gave me some views through his 24" Starmaster. My imaging focus was on deep sky targets that were low in the South, that I haven't imaged at home in PA. Because of that, I had to deal with some gradients in post processing.
IMAGES:
Images were taken with a Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon Rebel XSi (450D). Temperature of the peltier cooled camera ranged between 10 degrees and 32 degrees Fahrenheit allowing for noise-free imaging with the DSLR. Telescope used for imaging was an Astro Tech 127mm ED APO Triplet refractor at prime. The Astro Tech 127 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. All images are Full Frame unless otherwise noted.
Equipment used:
M78 Reflection Nebula in Orion - 11/09/12 - Full Frame:
Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon XSi (450D) with 127mm Triplet at Prime. 25 six-minute exposures at ISO 1600 were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1300X865):
NGC 247 Spiral Galaxy in Cetus -11/09/12 - Full Frame:
NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula and NGC 2175 Open Cluster - 11/10/12 - Full Frame:
Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon XSi (450D) with 127mm Triplet at Prime. 35 six-minute exposures at ISO 1600 were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1300X865):
Cropped and Rotated view to better see the Monkey Head - Can you see it?
NGC 55 Barred Irregular Galaxy in Sculptor - 11/10/12 - Full Frame:
Only had nine exposures to stack because of incoming clouds. Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon XSi (450D) with 127mm Triplet at Prime. 39 six-minute exposures at ISO 1600 were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1300X865):
NGC 7793 Spiral Galaxy in Sculptor - 11/11/12 - Full Frame:
Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon XSi (450D) with 127mm Triplet at Prime. 26 six-minute exposures at ISO 1600 were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1300X865):
NGC 288 Globular Cluster in Sculptor - 11/11/12 - Full Frame:
Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon XSi (450D) with 127mm Triplet at Prime. 11 six-minute exposures at ISO 1600 were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1300X865):
NGC 1316 & 1326 Galaxy Groups in Fornax - 11/11/12 - Full Frame:
Peltier Cooled Full Spectrum Modified Canon XSi (450D) with 127mm Triplet at Prime. Clouds spoiled my imaging run on these faint galaxy groups so I only had eight frames to stack. 8 six-minute exposures at ISO 1600 were combined using DeepSkyStacker and reduced in size for display (1300X865):
Venus and Moon - 5:42am on 11/11/12: Image taken with Full Spectrum modified T2i and kit lens using Rocolax UV/IR filter. Reduced in size for display (900X600):
Venus and Moon with Earthshine and Ground Fog: - 6:15am on 11/11/12: Image taken with Full Spectrum modified T2i and kit lens using Rocolax UV/IR filter. Reduced in size for display (900X600):
YouTube Slideshow Video of the above images:
CLICK HERE for a direct link to the video on YouTube. Select a quality of 1080P for the High Resolution (HD) version.
Images taken at Cherry Springs Dark Sky Park in June 2012 CLICK HERE
Detailed instructions for modifying a Canon 450D, 1000D, 1100D, 500D, 550D & 600D CLICK HERE
Considering a DSLR for astro imaging? Link to my DSLR Modification Service.
Detailed instructions for building a whole camera peltier cooling system CLICK HERE
Other astro images with the modified 450D: CLICK HERE
My Astro YouTube videos: CLICK HERE