Hawksmoor
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We said goodbye to our very long serving Epson printer and scanner and said hello to its more modern replacement. It also joined our home wireless network with virtually no swearing involved at all.
We also fired up an old laptop that runs windows XP and my partner’s Singer embroidery machine. When it awoke from it’s long and deep sleep it thought it was 2001. LOL!
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Images created from data archive downloads from the Internet
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Saturn from 2014 onwards
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No not methane filtered but was going for a different look from my usual bright orange approach for Saturn. I therefore changed my data processing method. I think I over did the dark and brooding aesthetic (LOL} so I have swapped the image for a brighter version of the same, which I think is a bit of an improvement. I find processing the edge on version of Saturn much more challenging to keep it looking realistic. Similarly, certain views of the albedo markings on Mars present the same problem of keeping it looking real. I guess the big question is what is 'real' when it comes to astrophotography. I sometimes believe we all buy into a collective accepted way of presenting images of certain astro-objects and when we don't follow this norm we think it looks wrong. or unreal. I reckon I'm going all philosophical in my twilight years Reggie.🙃 Always nice to hear from you and hope you are keeping well! -
Further to my medically knowledgeable son’s intervention, it turns out that my double big toe ‘gout’ event was probably triggered by not only a damp cold night in the garden stargazing but also by the steaming cup of hot marmite I downed in the kitchen to warm myself up after a three hour imaging session.
Who would have guessed that amateur astronomy was such a high risk activity, with hazards literally everywhere, for the more elderly incautious astro imager and occasional imbiber of a warming cup of hot water infused with marmite.
My son also encouraged me to lose weight and drink less Guinness.
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Relatively harmless media hyperbole. Some folk seem to be interested and if it gets people looking up into the night sky, probably positive. I quite like the names Wolf, Hunters Moon etc. I just think I would enjoy making up some silly ones and then try floating the new names on the internet to see if the media and public would buy into them. Alternatively and as well, why not describe the full moon when furthest from the Earth as the ‘Teeny-weeny Moon’, and then naming examples ‘The Harvest -mouse Moon’ or perhaps ‘The Difficult to see and virtually invisible Moon’?
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I have experienced a strange medical issue associated with astrophotography. Two nights ago the weather improved over Lowestoft and after midnight the sky was ‘glorious’. Consequently, I got out my 127mm. refractor and set about capturing some of my ‘unique’ blurry planetary photos and on this night in particular, of Saturn and its larger moons. I did notice it was a tad cold and damp! I went to my ‘sleeping chariot’ at 3:30am tired but happy, having made every photon count.
The following morning I awoke with arthritic pain in both big toes. I do have arthritis everywhere else but not in my feet up until now.
Heads up then you ‘older persons’, Astrophotography can seriously damage your toes!🦶
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veil 4 panel mosaic astrosharp and clean 2.jpg
Hawksmoor commented on TiffsAndAstro's gallery image in Member's Album
What a lovely image, almost 3 dimensional! Thanks for posting. -
Did a bit of hedge trimming today, so if the clouds part for a while, I might be able to point my telescope and camera at Saturn! 👍
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SW Star Adventurer on standard Skywatcher tripod?
Hawksmoor replied to Longinthetooth's topic in Discussions - Mounts
Hi I used an old Meade ETX tripod and head and had similar issues of connection to a Star Adventurer EQ. After trying to find a connector on line, in the end I manufactured a connector using a bit of mild steel rectangular bar and a cork pad. (It is the white bit under the EQ in the attached photo). I am no engineer so doing something similar is not difficult. Both the Star Adventurer and Tripod head are fixed independently to the bar with bolts which are compatible to each part but not both. It is not pretty but works absolutely fine as long as the bar is so arranged not to foul the movement of the EQ. (the Star Adventurer clamp knob can be an issue). I'm not familiar with the details of your tripod and head but I'm sure you could manufacturer something similar to my connector that works for your set up. Hope this is helpful.. best regards George
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What do you get when you add 'wiggly lines' to an astro-photo taken in the dark?
Hawksmoor posted a blog entry in Blog 19648
I thought I would try to make a JWST type image, with the spectral profile of Sadr (Gamma Cygni) superimposed upon a wide-field image of the star and associated nebulae in this central area of the Summer Milky-Way. Fortunately, the excellent BASS software allows this superimposition to be achieved quite easily. Greg Parker kindly introduced me to the Star Spikes Pro4 software that allowed Sadr to be emphasised and Affinity Photo 2 was used to add the synthetic and stretched spectrum strip to the final image. Sadr is of spectral type F8 ad is located at the intersection of the asterism the 'Northern Cross'. It is only 12 million years old and is a massive supergiant with a temperature of 5790+or-100 deg K. Sadr is a yellow -white star approximately 1800 light years distant and is the primary component of a multiple star system surrounded by a diffuse nebula IC1318. -
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Sorry I sent you a message intended for Reggie. Don’t know how I achieved this. It was late, my iPad is old, I am old and I am probably more confused than you are by my post.
best regards George
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