Bajastro

The night of September 16, 2023 was also the first light from SCT C11 XLT, a different telescope requiring a new approach, different requirements, new problems. A much more demanding telescope than the SCT C8. Not every frame turned out sharp. Barlow 2x, UV/IR Cut filter, ZWO ASI 585MC, 60s videos, 25% of about 1800 frames, I chose some of the sharpest frames. 16 Sep 2023, 3:23 CEST (1:23 UT): 16 Sep 2023, 4:28 CEST (2:28 UT): 16 Sep 2023, 5:33 CEST (3:33 UT): Animation of 38 frames, each 25% of 2-3k frames from September 16, 2023, 3:16 - 5:59 CEST: 2023-09-16-Jupiter.mp4 Below are processed photos from next night (September 17, 2023). The same equipment was used. 17 Sep 2023, 2:13 CEST (0:13 UT): 17 Sep 2023, 3:16 CEST (1:16 UT): 17 Sep 2023, 5:12 CEST (3:12 UT): Animation from 2:12 - 5:44 CEST covering 3.5 hours of Jupiter's rotation, 60 frames, each 25% of 2-3k frames: 2023-09-17-Jupiter.mp4.mp4

My souvenir photo of this supernova from the night of May 22/23, the supernova has a bluish color. APM APO107/700, planetary camera ASI585MC with 2" Baader L filter, 160x60s. Processing in Gimp, slightly cropped edges, reduced size up to 50%.

My photo of the northern lights before midnight UT on Thursday from central Poland (latitude 51.9 N). It doesn't seem spectacular due to the distance, but it's my first aurora borealis. It broke through the layer of clouds, I always have clouds when there is something interesting in the sky.

I have both Interstellarum and Uranometria. I recommend having both, but for the preparation of visual observations, Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas is better because of the grouping of objects that are visible in the 4", 8" and 12" telescope. Although I do not hide many objects described as visible in the 8" can be seen at low magnification also in a very good APO 4", such as a Pickering Triangle (part of Veil) with UHC filter of course.

My collection of Nova Cas 2021 spectral observations: Spectral lines identification based on: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1208/1208.0380.pdf

My spectrum captured yesterday evening (20-03-2020 about 19 UT), stack 20x120s: Equipment: SCT C8 F/10, LOWSPEC with 300 l/mm diffraction grating, slit 40 um, QHY163M, HEQ5 mount. Determined expansion velocity is 1600 km/s. Is my spectrum good enough to send to e.g. A.R.A.S Spectral Data Base?

The signaling LED has been powered together with the RELCO spectral lamp. Electronics inside: This device is powered by 230V, 2x47k Ohm resistors reducing the current intensity are in the plug from the cable.

Yesterday I analysed a material containing almost 100 movies. 89 stacks were available for further processing. Movies were recorded on 27th of October 2020 from 20:40 to 22:27 UT. Below are animations showing the movement of Mars' moons: Phobos moves in an arc on the right, Deimos moves away from Mars on the left. On the right, Mars is "approaching" the star 2MASS J01051472+0444422 (Gaia EDR3 2552047650065811968) with a magnitude of V= 13.2 mag, and actually Mars is moving retrograde against the background of the stars Equipment: SCT C8", kamera ZWO ASI 120MM Mini, ES Barlow 2x, GSO dark red (#29), all on HEQ5 mount.

More than a year has passed since the construction of the Low Spec spectrograph in version 2.0 provided by the author of the project (@Paul Gerlach). The project provided for the purchase of a ready-made module for illumination of the slit. From the beginning, I missed a decent calibration module and slit illumination. But why buy something for almost PLN 100, when you can illuminate the slit while building a spectrum calibration module and add additional functionality. Everything is great on the "project": Inside the device: But the electrical diagram I drew was not correct (I don't know anything about it at the time). Not everything worked, so the modifications during soldering and compromises started: D, after a few attempts with soldering and desoldering, my calibration module finally works as it should. It was important for me that the calibration standard should be stationary (not moving), and this of the available components on the market only provides an imaging flip mirror with a tilting mirror. It is sold under various brands with T2 threads, so it has a lot of possibilities for mounting various accessories and I made the right module for it. No store in Poland undertook to order it, so I had to buy it on my own (UK). RELCO 480 starter spectral lamp: The cylindrical mirror is a piece of aluminum foil stuck to it for packing sandwiches Slit illumination also works: Finally, only one LED informing that the slit illumination is on (the RELCO lamp with the diode on doesn't work). Now it's time to put together the set: Low Spec with 2 cameras and a calibration module is very big and heavy: Solar line tests in diffused light on clouds: RELCO 480 spectral lines have two values, the upper one is measured by calibrating the spectrum with solar lines, and the lower value is taken from Richard Walker, CH-Rifferswil, 2017, Glow Starter RELCO SC480 Atlas of Emission Lines, available online: https://www.ursusmajor.ch/downloads/sques-relco-sc480-calibration-lines-5.0.pdf The difference between my measurements and the data from the Echelle spectrograph from the above atlas is basically negligible, everywhere smaller than 0.2 Å, which means that on my scale it is below 1 pixel. It seems that the construction of the calibration module was successful. The calibration module will facilitate a sufficiently accurate calibration of the spectra of faint stars without clear metal spectral lines and in regions where there are no atmospheric oxygen and water absorption lines used for accurate spectral calibration. I had to capture pictures quickly because I have a drift on the diffraction grating holder (the spectra move over time). Rather, it is loose, there is a micrometer screw and a spring, so the holder isn't very stable. I would to improve it next.

I choose several of the best my photos of Mars and I prepared an animation based on Łukasz Sujka's tutorial. I struggled the most with map assembly in Gimp 2: I'm still waiting for good weather to photograph the area from Olympus Mons near the center of the planet's disc. Animation prepared in WinJUPOS for the date 2020-10-13: Equipment: Celestron C8 (SCT 8" F/10), ES Barlow 2x, Gso dark red filter (#29), ASI120MM Mini, HEQ5 mount.

Mars is already slowly moving away from Earth, there is still a month of good visibility allowing you to observe many surface details. I found some time and collected the best photos from among a dozen photo sessions devoted to Mars. The planet was closest to Earth on the 6th of October.

Thank you all. Last night after 3 cloudy weeks I photographed Mars with his moons: Moons: 100% from 60 seconds movie, frames 1s, high gain used. Planet: 10% from 120 seconds movie.

On 3-rd of September, just before sunset, I set up my equipment, aimed the telescope towards the zenith, set the spectrograph on the double sodium line and every now and then ran a series of photos, adjusting the exposure time (30-120 s) and gain. At the end it was so dark that the gain had to be increased almost to "what the factory gave". I was not sure if we would be able to register anything at the resolution of 1800 l/mm holographic diffraction grating, slit with 40 μm wide. I also tracked the height (the depth of the sun below the horizon). I read in some publications that when the Sun is about 8° below the horizon, mesospheric sodium layer is in emission near the zenith above the observation site. Two disappearing absorption lines and emission lines appearing in their place were recorded: And an animation with the given position of the Sun relative to the horizon: The capabilities of the printed in 3D technology my Low Spec spectrograph are amazing.

Mars was taken at night between 20:57 and 22:29 UTC. Equipment used: Celestron SCT C8, Barlow 2x, GSO #29 (dark red), ASI120MM Mini, HEQ5 mount. Animation was prepared from 20 images with drizzle 150% (the best 10% of frames from 60-second movies): One of the best images from 21:55UT:

Great result, Robin. Which telescope did you use?