Grant

Following the excellent talk last night by Dave @ Pixel Skies showing his process workflow for our M16 data I'm please to announce the first public release of the data Some small print first though: We will be releasing all public data from the Ikarus Observatory project under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence. What this means is you are free to share, copy and redistribute the data as you see fit and adapt, remix, transform and build upon it but you must attribute 'Ikarus Observatory' as the source of the original data and must not use it for commercial purposes - i.e. no sticking images on the side of mugs and selling then Beyond that, enjoy and have fun! You can find out more about the IKO project here including details of the equipment used, observatory site etc.. We've done a few other test runs up to this point and have some more data awaiting release but we are starting with SHO Narrowband M16 data taken a couple of months ago. This started off as 100 hours in total but has been whittled down to select just the best frames - this is partly some learning on my part as I need to adjust the times we finish imaging runs to ensure it's within astro dark and the targets are high enough to get the best data. We've also cut out anything with any cloud passing through, issues caused by moon light, severe satellite trails and the like. This has left: Ha - 46 x 20 mins = 15h20m OIII - 29 x 20 mins = 9h:40m SII - 44 x 20 mins = 14h40m Bias 101x Flats 21x for each filter Darks 21x 20 mins Total integration time = 39h:40m These have been stacked and calibrated in Pixinsight. The raw XISF or FITS files can be downloaded here. Dave has also kindly shared his Pixinsight workspace with notes / icons / masks ready for you to play with, that's available here: iko_m16_20200817.zip but be warned, it's a rather large 3.8GB! Details of the processing competition are here. I hope you enjoy playing with the data and we look forwards to sharing more very soon!

If you would like to watch this, Chris has asked us to keep the video private so please PM me and I can make it available to you for a short period.

Just a reminder that this talk is in a couple of hours 🙂

This week is something a little bit different - to coincide with the first public release of data from the Ikarus Observatory project we are pleased to be joined by David Wills of Pixel Skies which is where the Ikarus Observatory is remotely hosted. Dave is an expert astrophotographer, you can see some of his work here and has had several of his images published in magazines such as Astronomy now and BBC’s Sky at Night and various AAPOD’s. He will be taking us through a full work-flow in Pixinsight using around 100 hours of Narrowband (Ha, OII and SII) data taken of M16 from the Ikarus Observatory setup. This will start from the raw data that is being released which will already have been stacked and calibrated ready for processing. This won't be a full Pixinsight workshop as that's too much to cover in one session but, it will give you a tour of what Pixinsight can do and how you can put a workflow together. As the data will also be provided afterwards you will be able to follow along on YouTube yourself and have a go at following Dave's process or tweaking it to see what results you can achieve. We will also be announcing an image processing competition whereby we will be picking a winner of our favourite processed version 🙂 I will also be giving an update on progress with the Ikarus Observatory project and an overview of what it's all about and how SGL members can get involved. Meeting details below: Topic: EP15 - Sunday, 16th August 2020 7:30pm BST - Ikarus Observatory Public Data Pixinsight Workshop by David Wills - Pixel Skies Time: Aug 16, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95946328998?pwd=a2E4bU1OWWEyL0JNTTRKYVVORDM3Zz09 Meeting ID: 959 4632 8998 Passcode: 908939

Chris Lintott joins us tonight in around two hours - hope to see you all there 🙂

This Sunday we have the absolute pleasure of being joined by Chris Lintott! We are very excited about this and Chris wants to give a talk a bit different to the norm which should be a great fit for us: 'The short long history of citizen science in astronomy'. I think you will agree, there is no one more qualified to talk about citizen science and astronomy 🙂 Chris is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, where he is also a research fellow at New College, working on topics from galaxy evolution, transient detection and machine learning. As Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse, he leads a team who run the world’s most successful citizen science projects, allowing more than a million people to discover planets, transcribe ancient papyri or explore the Serengeti. A passionate advocate of the public understanding of science, he is best known as co-presenter of the BBC’s long running Sky at Night program. His book, ‘The Crowd and the Cosmos’, is now available from Oxford University Press. ‘Citizen Science’, through projects like Galaxy Zoo and Planet Hunters which ask volunteers to sort through data, is more popular and productive than ever before. But amateur astronomers have been making contributions to science for centuries. In this talk, which will include stories of a p**ed-off Welshman, a stoical Prussian and at least one story about penguins, Galaxy Zoo founder Chris Lintott (BBC Sky at Night) will talk about the historical foundations of citizen science, what can be done now - and what opportunities will exist in the future. Meeting details below: Topic: EP14 - Sunday, 9th August 2020 7:30pm BST - The Short Long History of Citizen Science in Astronomy by Chris Lintott Time: Aug 9, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/93821926723?pwd=V0hBTytNaWRncFliM0k4VCtYRE1mUT09 Meeting ID: 938 2192 6723 Passcode: 825115

Your old account is still there and active, perhaps you forgot the password? If so, just use the password reset link on the login page - there is no technical reason your old account won’t work.

Just in time for the beta release of APP with the new comet features: https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/

Trying something different this week 🙂 We are going to be hosting an astro Q&A session with many of the SGL mod and admin team on the panel ready to (try!) and answer any astronomy questions you may have. Expect tangents, potentially demos and some head scratching If you have a question or subject matter you would like us to touch on you can let us know in advance or ask us during the meeting live. We don't know how this will work out, it's a bit of an experiment so please bear with us and let's see how it goes. Meeting details below: Topic: EP13 - Sunday, 2nd August 2020 7:30pm BST - Astro Q&A hosted by SGL Mods & Admins Time: Aug 2, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/96473920435?pwd=V0lqNGVBc2FhNDVPRnRvUFk2a2NSdz09 Meeting ID: 964 7392 0435 Passcode: 960225

Not just me then

Sorry for the delay folks!

See you all in about an hour and a half 🙂

This Sunday at 7:30 we are joined by Mabula Haverkamp the lead developer and founder of Astro Pixel Processor (APP) https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/. APP was launched in 2017 and is in continuous development, it provides a complete deep sky image processing application with a number of new and innovative features. APP is being developed primarily by Mabula who has a doctorandus and Master of Science degree in Astrophysics from the University of Utrecht, 2004. Mabula uses current scientific insights to develop APP besides developing and creating new innovative features and algorithms like it’s unique debayer algorithm Adaptive Airy Disc, Local Normalisation Correction and fully automatic N-View mosaics. Mabula is going to give us an overview of APP, how it works and what it can do plus a live demo and will also give us a sneak peak at upcoming features due to be introduced soon. There will also be an opportunity for Q&A at the end. Meeting details below: Topic: EP12 - Sunday, 26th July 2020 7:30pm BST - Introduction to Astro Pixel Processor by Mabula Haverkamp Time: Jul 26, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/96005272477?pwd=dEExcFFGYTUvUkxwOE8zNU5CRGNUUT09 Meeting ID: 960 0527 2477 Passcode: 341269

This will begin at 7:30

There is an adapter for exactly this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-adapter-for-sky-watcher-focal-reducers.html

This Sunday at 7:30 we are joined by Gary Poyner of http://www.variablestars.co.uk/ giving us his talk 'An Introduction to Variable Star Observing'. Gary is one of the most prolific variable star observers on the planet, clocking up more than 300,000 visual observations! Astounding especially when you consider he observers from the heart of Birmingham. Gary has been observing variable stars for over 40 years! During that time he has been Director of the BAA Variable Star Section, Editor of 'The Astronomer' magazine Variable Star pages, BAAVSS CV & Eruptive Stars Secretary, VSS Circulars editor and Web Master and Chairman of the Heart of England AS. His main interests are Cataclysmic and Eruptive Variables, which he observes at every opportunity with his 51cm and 22cm reflectors from his observatory in North Birmingham. He also uses AAVSOnet remote telescopes in New Mexico and Arizona for CCD observations of Variables. Over the past few years he have mentored a number of observers in the UK and abroad in the art of variable star observing, and gives talks to Societies around the country. Mentoring and talking to clubs about different aspects of Variable Stars is clearly a passion. Gary will give us a brief account of the science behind a selection of Variable Stars, explain how to observe them and discuss the reasons why we observe them. He will also touch on how and why they vary. This should be an extremely informative talk from somebody who is an expert in the area of variable stars. Meeting details below: Topic: EP11 - Sunday, 19th July 2020 7:30pm BST - An Introduction to Variable Star Observing by Gary Poyner Time: Jul 19, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/98776512803?pwd=U1ExNXJlTkJDL0dmcXQwbnNseGF3dz09 Meeting ID: 987 7651 2803 Password: 543320

Reminder - this starts at 7:30pm tonight 🙂

Zoom details for this: Topic: EP10 - Wednesday, 15th July 2020 7:30pm BST - Sequence Generator Pro by Darren Jehan Time: Jul 14, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/91955140516?pwd=WkIxdFJQSGc0WlZNUllLZC9kL2s0UT09 Meeting ID: 919 5514 0516 Password: 402055

See you all in 30 minutes 🙂

If anybody missed this and would like to watch the video, please PM me and I will send you a private link. This will be removed in one week. Colin makes his living giving these talks so it's not something we can make available publicly / indefinitely.

Something a bit different this week, on Sunday at 7:30 we are joined by David Bryant of http://www.spacerocksuk.com/ to talk about 'Meteorites: A Twenty-Year Gold Rush!'. David is a very well known figure and you may have met him at talks and shows over the years - a true character with lots of interesting stories of the meteorite trade and industry over the years. David Bryant, BSc, Cert Ed has been described as a renaissance man: wildlife photographer, teacher, lecturer, ex-naval officer, rock guitarist, published artist, author and the UK's only full-time professional meteorite dealer, he has had what could be considered a full life! This is reflected in the breadth of content of these four books, which range from the UFO phenomenon, the Apollo lunar missions, ghosts, religious apparitions to evolution, planetary astronomy and the formation of the Universe! David has been widely published on many topics including natural history, meteoritics, climate change and ornithology. The format of this talk will be a little different, it will be more of a conversation / interview style talk with David talking us through some of the history of meteorite collecting with lots of entertaining stories along the way! So pull up a chair, grab a glass of wine and join us on Sunday for what is sure to be a super talk! Meeting details below: Topic: EP9 - Sunday, 12th July 2020 7:30pm BST - Meteorites: A Twenty-Year Gold Rush! by David Bryant Time: Jul 12, 2020 07:30 PM London Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/98737087930?pwd=WVVzaHpObWtRcmpBRng1NTZmQkhIZz09 Meeting ID: 987 3708 7930 Password: 355999

This is due to begin in fifteen minutes 🙂

Thank you Gary for this superb talk 🙂