Hughsie

The constellation Cassiopeia is named after the Ethiopian Queen Cassiopeia, mother to Andromeda who was saved from the whale, Cetus, by the Greek hero Perseus. You would have been forgiven for thinking that I had spent a short dark night taking a photograph of Cassiopeia but this is in fact the asterism, Kemble 2. Given its similar "W" shape, Kemble 2 is also known as 'The Little Queen' or 'Mini Cassiopeia' and can be found in the constellation Draco located RA 18h 35m 32.4s Dec +72° 22' 38.353" it is approximately one degree south east of chi Draconis. This asterism was discovered by the Franciscan friar and amateur astronomer, Father Lucian Kemble in August 1994. Father Luc was a keen observer of the Saskatchewan skies in Canada building upon his first observations as a child from the dark prairies of Canada. Over the years he became an accomplished observer receiving the RASC Messier certificate, Astronomical League of America Herschel 400 certificate, RASC Amateur Astronomer of the year 1989 and the Webb Society award of excellence 1997. As the name would suggest there is a predecessor Kemble 1, also known as Kembles Cascade, a beautiful line of unconnected stars located in the constellation Camelopardalis and Kemble 3 (The Kite) which can be found in Cassiopeia. It is my aim to photograph these remaining two asterisms later in the year when they are higher in the night sky. Being a man of faith some would assume there could be a contradiction between his religious belief and scientific interest. In fact in an interview he was once asked about the relationship between his interest in astronomy and his faith. He replied; This is a question that often intrigues people. I know people who say, “Gee, if you’re interested in science, then how can you believe […] the Bible? Or if you’re a theologian, how can you believe in science?” They see it as a contradiction, I see it as complementary. I have no conflict at all. One bolsters the other. My theology is made richer by learning the real cosmos in which we live […] and vice versa; my interest in astronomy just overwhelms me sometimes with the beauty and the order and the precision and the absolute awesome wonder of the universe. So my prayer life is just as much at the telescope as it is in the chapel. Father Luc passed away in Regina, Saskatchewan on 21st February 1999. His obituary can be found here: https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1999JRASC..93..151.&defaultprint=YES&page_ind=0&filetype=.pdf

Stand by your scopes.

Well done on your first mosaic. There are lots of panoramic stitching software available that can bring the panes together. Personally, I use Affinity Photo and it’s Panorama tool, but that comes at a one off cost (currently £68) but they do from time to time offer great deals. Alternatively, you could try https://sisik.eu/pano which is free. A fellow astronomy club member uses it and has had good results with up to 7 panes so that might be worth a go.

Caught it on my All Sky Camera whilst sitting back and enjoying the view. Northern Lights 10th May 2024.mp4

We drank our rum stash during Covid and have just built it back up again. If you are certain we are doomed it would be rude not to try some liquid sunshine.

An early start and some blind luck saw me pointing the scope at AR13664 this morning. Below are two images (RGB and Greyscale) of this region at 07:00:22 UTC. X3.8 commenced at 06:27 UTC, peaked at 06:54 UTC and downed tools at 07:06 UTC. I do have earlier captures and will update this post later with them.

Top images and some lovely processing.

This is what I use when I’m having to make adjustments to the image train/flats/tuning the etalon. I find standing helps and you can place yourself up close to the mount with the Pulse stand. The iCap hood unzips and stores flat, this is the mid size and easily holds a laptop. Slots run down each side so you can pass through cables.

Sadly, I had a failed mosaic of the solar disc this morning. Not enough alignment points between t'north and t'south so I ended up with two separate hemispheres. As all the action was down south I thought rather than bin the data I thought I would share it. Here is the southern solar hemisphere this morning in glorious technicolour and good old black and white. Inverted of course.

+1 for the storage container. Mine is grey so little light can come in through the sides plus I have cut out some slots on short sides to pass cables through. In addition, I have two large beach towel pegs and a black sheet. The sheet goes over the container and is pegged down on the table it sits on. I then put the sheet over my head and can see the screen fine. It’s all close enough to the scope so I can reach the scope and focus.

Active regions 13668 and 13664 continue to be the main feature on the solar disc this morning. Conveniently on the South West limb near these AR's is a massive prominence. 13668 & 13664 in RGB. Same image inverted revealing the prominence nearby. The prominence on the South West limb rotated to a more convenient angle to avoid any unnecessary neck and head movements.

Yes they are.

Windows based software ImPPG is free to download. Within it is a tone curve function that allows you to invert the image, amongst other adjustments. The Woodland Hills YouTube video goes through this.

Looking at the center of the Sun through a 2.5x Tele Vue Powermate we have (L-R) AR13667, AR13668, AR13664, AR13661 and AR13663. Captured using the following equipment and software; Lunt LS60THa/B1200/CPT and Lunt 60mm front mount double stack H-alpha etalon. ZWO ASI174mm. Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro. 2.5x 1.25" Tele Vue Powermate. SharpCap Pro, Autostakkert4!, ImPPG and PixInsight. 200 from 2,000 frames stacked in AS4!. Exposure time 3 ms, FPS 130.

They should have called me for the new Andrex advert.