Mars Through My Telescope

!±8± Mars Through My Telescope

Mars Oct. 2005 opposition. Meade LX-90 Telescope.

Mars Through My Telescope

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A 10 year old babe is the youngest being to ascertain a Supernova -- (News Story)

!±8± A 10 year old babe is the youngest being to ascertain a Supernova -- (News Story)

youngest person to discover a supernova A precocious 10-year-old amateur astronomer the youngest person ever to have detected the stellar explosion known as a supernova may have only appeared as a tiny, glowing spot hovering over a distant galaxy, but it was a sight to see. Kathryn Aurora Gray of Fredericton, New Brunswick in Canada discovered the supernova explosion in a galaxy, called UGC 3378, within the faint constellation of Camelopardalis. The galaxy is approximately 240 million light-years away. Gray made the discovery on Jan. 2 using images that were taken of galaxy UGC 3378 on New Year's Eve. The supernova was then verified by Illinois-based amateur astronomer Brian Tieman and Arizona-based amateur astronomer Jack Newton, who then reported it to the International Astronomical Union's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Gray reported the stellar explosion under the supervision of her father, Paul Gray, who has made six prior supernova discoveries, and family friend David Lane, who has found three others himself. The photos of galaxy UGC 3378 were taken using a telescope belonging to Lane. Supernovas are powerful and violent explosions that signal the deaths of stars several times more massive than our sun. These cosmic blasts are interesting to astronomers because they manufacture most of the chemical elements that went into creating the Earth and other planets. Distant supernovas can also be used to estimate the size and age of our universe. The last ...

A 10 year old babe is the youngest being to ascertain a Supernova -- (News Story)

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My abecedarian astro-photos

!±8± My abecedarian astro-photos

Latest images are always on - www.martinpeniak.com My amatuer astro-photos taken with 8" Newtonian (Celestron C8-N) on HEQ5 tripod. Deepsky objects taken with DSLR Canon Rebel and planetary images with Toucam or Fusion.

My abecedarian astro-photos

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Types Of Telescopes For Astronomy

!±8± Types Of Telescopes For Astronomy

Basic Telescope Designs

The job of a telescope is to collect light, not to magnify an image (the eyepiece does that job). The larger the objective (the part that collects the light) whether it be a lens, in refractors, or a mirror, in reflectors, the more light the telescope will collect. The more light you can collect, the more detail you will be able to capture, and also important for astrophotography, the shorter your exposures will need to be to capture this detail.

Refractor Telescopes

The type of telescope most people visualize when they hear the word telescope is the 'Refractor'. This is what Galileo used for his break-thru discoveries. A refractor has an objective lens at the front which passes the light straight through to the back of the tube, focusing this light at an eyepiece or for astrophotography a camera.

Advantages:

-No central obstruction (see more in the reflecting scopes), giving higher contrast.

-Due to the simple design they require little maintenance.

-Excellent for planetary and lunar viewing and photography.

-Excellent for wide field viewing and astrophotography especially in shorter focal lengths (more on this later).

-Because the objective is permanently mounted and aligned there is no need for collimation (again more on this in another article).

-Excellent color in apochromatic and ED (Extra Dispersion) designs.

Disadvantages:

-Costlier per inch of aperture (objective) than reflectors and catadioptric telescopes.

-Can become bulky and difficult to manage, especially in larger lens designs.

Newtonian Telescopes

This design was invented by Sir Isaac Newton (he of the apple on the head fame). Instead of a lens at the front of the tube this telescope design uses a concave, parabolic mirror to collect light reflecting it back towards the front of the tube to a flat diagonal mirror which reflects the light out the side of the telescope to the eyepiece or camera for astrophotography.

Advantages:

-Lowest cost per inch of all the telescope designs.

-More light gathering power per dollar because of the lower cost design.

-Absolutely perfect color rendition.

-More compact design compared to a refractor of similar light gathering ability.

-Excellent contrast for planetary and lunar astrophotography and viewing in longer focal lengths.

-Can get excellent wide-field astrophotos and short exposures in shorter focal lengths.

Disadvantages:

-Slight loss of contrast due to the central obstruction (the flat secondary mirror) as compared to a refractor.

-Requires more maintenance, such as collimation (discussed in another article) which is vital for great results in your astrophotography, although you will learn how to do this quickly with practice.

Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes

This is a very popular design, with a high tech look. Also known as a CAT (Catadrioptics). They use a combination of lenses and mirrors to collect and focus the light onto the eyepiece or camera. The light enters the telescope through a thin 'lens' called a schmidt corrector plate, goes to the back of the scope to a spherical primary mirror which reflects the light back towards the front. Here the light strikes another mirror, the secondary mirror which is mounted on the corrector plate. This secondary mirror then reflects the light back towards the back where it is focused onto a hole in the primary mirror where the light is collected by an eyepiece or your astrophotography camera.

Advantages:

-Compact and portable.

-Low maintenance although once again collimation is required for top performance.

-Many, many astrophotography accessories available.

-Cheaper per inch of aperture as compared with refractors.

-Excellent all-round telescope, good to very good for both visual and astrophography.

-Very good for planetary and lunar viewing and astrophotography.

-Very good to excellent for DSO (Deep Space Object) astrophotography with a caveat (see the disadvantages).

-Very good to excellent optics, both Meade and Celestron are putting out excellent optics on a consistant basis.

Disadvantages:

-Costlier per inch of aperture as compared with Newtonian telescopes.

-Loss of contrast due to the central obstruction which is even larger than that in the Newtonian scopes.

-Due to their longer focal lengths the field of view is smaller and longer exposures are required for astrophotography, although a lens known as a focal reducer is available which minimizes or removes this problem. The longer focal length is actually an advantage in planetary and lunar photography.

Maksutov-Cassegrain

The Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope design is basically the same as the Schmidt-Cassegrain design except it uses a meniscus lens at the front instead of a Schmidt corrector plate. The main advantage to the Mak telescope design is you will get sharper higher contrast planetary and lunar images when compared with the Schmidt design.

Types Of Telescopes For Astronomy

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Astronomical Imaging in USA - The Constellations & Milky Way (HD) (r)

!±8± Astronomical Imaging in USA - The Constellations & Milky Way (HD) (r)

Description: Astronomy, Astronomical Imaging in the USA (HD re-edit). The Constellations, Milky Way & Zodiacal Light seen from Joshua Tree National Park, California, and Arizona. uk.youtube.com . * Amateur astronomers based in Newport and Cardiff, Wales, UK. * Members of: Usk Astronomical Society; Cardiff Astronomical Society. * Permitted soundtrack Global Affair by Global Affair: www.youtube.com . *

Astronomical Imaging in USA - The Constellations & Milky Way (HD) (r)

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Features of the Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Classic Dobsonian Telescope

!±8± Features of the Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Classic Dobsonian Telescope

Visit www.telescope.com tofind high quality products for amateur astronomers. If you have any questions about any of our telescopes, binoculars, or accessories, please don't hesitate to contact one of our trained and knowledgeable customer service representatives. http To learn more about Astronomy, please visit Orion Resource Center where you can find Articles, Images, Videos and More! www.telescope.com Since 1975 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars has been offering telescopes for sale direct to customers, with an unswerving commitment to best quality products, value and unmatched customer care. Our 100% satisfaction guarantee says it all. Orion offers telescopes for every level: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert. From our entry level beginner telescopes for amateur astronomers to our Dobsonian telescopes to our most advanced Cassegrain telescopes and accessories, you can find the best telescope for you.

Features of the Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Classic Dobsonian Telescope

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The Victorian Amateur Astronomer: Independent Astronomical Research in Britain 1820-1920 (Wiley PRAXIS Series in Astronomy & Astrophysics)

!±8± The Victorian Amateur Astronomer: Independent Astronomical Research in Britain 1820-1920 (Wiley PRAXIS Series in Astronomy & Astrophysics)

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Post Date : Oct 15, 2011 14:37:04 | N/A

This is the first book to look in detail at amateur astronomy in Victorian Britain. It deals with the technical issues that were active in Victorian astronomy, and reviews the problems of finance, patronage and the dissemination of scientific ideas. It also examines the relationship between the amateur and professional in Britain. It contains a wealth of previously unpublished biographical and anecdotal material, and an extended bibliography with notes incorporating much new scholarship. In The Victorian Amateur Astronomer, Allan Chapman shows that while on the continent astronomical research was lavishly supported by the state, in Britain such research was paid for out of the pockets of highly educated, wealthy gentlemen the so-called Grand Amateurs. It was these powerful individuals who commissioned the telescopes, built the observatories, ran the learned societies, and often stole discoveries from their state-employed colleagues abroad. In addition to the Grand Amateurs, Victorian Britain also contained many self-taught amateurs. Although they belonged to no learned societies, these people provide a barometer of the popularity of astronomy in that age. In the late 19th century, the comfortable middle classes clergymen, lawyers, physicians and retired military officers took to astronomy as a serious hobby. They formed societies which focused on observation, lectures and discussions, and it was through this medium that women first came to play a significant role in British astronomy. Readership: Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying the history of science or humanities, professional historians of science, engineering and technology, particularly those with an interest in astronomy, the development of astronomical ideas, scientific instrument makers, and amateur astronomers.

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Web Cam Astrophotography Basics

!±8± Web Cam Astrophotography Basics

Web cams have changed amateur astrophotography profoundly. You
can now have a CCD for a fraction of the cost. Web cams can take awesome planetary and lunar astrophotos right out of the box. You can use the capture software that comes with the cam for capturing your shots and then use freeware to process the results. Can't get much cheaper than that. Of course for better results it is you should use specialized software, but that is available on the cheap as well.

And if you are a do-it-yourselfer, web cams can also be adapted to take long exposure astrophotos, pretty cool right? Plus there are ready to go, web cam based planetary imagers now available from Celestron, Meade and, Orion. Meade and Orion also have imagers for long exposure, deep-sky imaging. All these include software. They are however more expensive.

If you already have a web cam great, you only need some software which can be downloaded for free, and an adaptor to connect the web cam to your telescope. If you don't own one the following cams have proven to be good for astrophotography and good deals can be found on eBay for example.

-ToUcam Pro by Philips PCVC740K or PCVC840K ToUcam PRO II. I have both of these. I am leaving the new one as a dedicated planetary imager and adapting the PCV740K for long exposure astrophotography.

-Vesta pro also by Philips. I haven't personally used this web cam but others have with great success. It can also be adapted for long exposures.

-Quickcam pro by Logitech. I used to have one of these, but I prefer the ToUcam. It does a good job though and can also be modified for long exposures.

-There are other web cams which are good for astrophotography but these three are the only ones I have experience with.

Now for the adaptor to connect the web cam to your telescope. I use a Mogg adaptor, made by, surprise Mr. Steve Mogg. More information and purchasing can be found at: http://webcaddy.com.au/astro/adapter.htm
For either ToUcam you will want the UWAT-F, for the Vesta Pro the UWAS-F, and for the Quickcam Pro the UWAL-F. He has adaptors for other astrophotography web cams as well.

Next you will need some software to make this all work. Good news it won't cost you a single penny. First you will need some capture software. K3CCDTools version 1 is absolutely free. It works very well to capture astrophotos with web cams. I use version 3 which costs .00 because I use some of the other features it offers but you won't need that for basic planetary work (yet). You can download it at: http://www.pk3.org/Astro/index.htm?k3ccdtools_download.htm.

To get really nice detail in your shots you will need to combine(stack) multiple images. A really nice piece of software is called RegiStax. It is also freeware. You can download a copy at:
[http://registax.astronomy.net/html/download.html].

The next article in this series will be on setting up your web cam and software, capturing your first image during daylight, then getting your first astrophoto (the moon).

Web Cam Astrophotography Basics

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