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Hawksmoor

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Blog Entries posted by Hawksmoor

  1. Hawksmoor
    Bodging around with aluminium off-cuts in my shed

    I thought it would be useful if I could piggyback my cameras and smaller scopes on my 127mm. refractor mounted on a NEQ6 Pro. The weight would not exceed the maximum load and I already had an extension bar which would enable me to balance the different set ups.  I had some bits of aluminium in the shed and time on my hands.
    Now, I know the workmanship is bit ‘here and there’ but I do not possess a pillar drill or much patience. I do however; have lots of nuts and bolts from Poundland and gallons of Gorilla Glue.  The fixing-plate cost very little and kept me amused for a couple of days - so as of this moment, I’m pleased with it!  Whether it works imaging wise remains to be seen and looking at the clouds overhead it might be sometime before I get to find out.






  2. Hawksmoor
    Having completed the excellent and free Future Learn - Open University short course - 'Data to Insight' (University of Auckland) I finally got around to doing something with the copious amounts of data churned out by my SDR LVST (The Lowestoft Very Small Telescope) meteor catcher. I decided to first apply my 'forensic intellect -Dr Lecter'🤓 to the 2016 Perseid Shower (I had a set of data collected from the 4th to 16th of August). 
    Having done a bit of reading - an American paper from the 1990s - 'Statistical properties of meteors from a simple passive forward scatter system' by D D Meisel & J E Richardson  and the excellent - Detection & Analysis of Meteors by RADAR (Using the GRAVES space surveillance transmitter) by Dr David Morgan 2011, I decided to have a go at 'gaining some insight from the data', even though I'm more at home with a sketch book than a calculator.  As I'm fully aware that many SGL members are former scientists and engineers - please be gentle with me and some of the 'broad -brush' simplifications and approximations I have made.  I'm quite prepared to believe that I have made many school boy errors both in principle and detail!
    I have organised the data using the accepted categories for meteor reflections - Over dense O, Under dense U and Transition T. 
    I have filtered and manipulated the observations to create data sets:
    O+U (including T) Cleaned source set) O-T (O excluding T) Subset U+T (excluding O) Subset  O+T (excluding U) Subset Creating the subsets was all a bit hit and miss and the procedure developed on an iterative basis. (As my partner is often known to say about my more off centre ideas "It might be getting a bit Goldilocks and the Three Bears")
    The 'full monty' including my interpretation of the data is on my LVST site:
    https://sites.google.com/yahoo.co.uk/thelvst/2016-perseid-meteor-shower
    The following extract from the LVST relates to O+U data:
    Filtering the full set of reflection observations O+U by removing all data where maxpower x duration (energy) <250 to create a new subset O+T
    The graph of reflection observations O+T plotted against the (24 hour) day date indicates :
     
    Overall the period during which data was collected 18,887 reflections were recorded.  This is  57.7% of the total number of reflections observed and represents only those reflections having a maxpower x duration =or>250 cycles (approx 3 secs).
    With 95% confidence:
     The maximum number of observations - between 16.87 and 17.96 % - were recorded on the 6th August.
    Between 11.53 and 12.46 % were recorded on the 7th of August.
    Between 10.89 and 11.8 % were recorded on the 10th of August.*
    The minimum number of observations - between 3 and 3.55 % occurred on the 4th August.
    *note: because of the small over lap between lowest and highest values on the confidence bars for the 7th and 10th. we cannot be 95% confident with regard to relative values of observations between these two days.  

    The graph of  reflection observations O+T plotted against the hour of the day (UT) indicates with 95% confidence :
    One max peak, a smaller peak, a approximately even base line and one trough in observations: 
    Max peak (approximately 5.5% of all observations)  between 2:00 and 8:00 UT.
    A smaller peak between 14:00 and 17:00 UT.
    A base line (approximately 4% of all observations)  at 0:00 and between 9:00 - 13:00 UT.,
    A deep minimum between 18:00 and 22:00 UT
    The plot of days against radial velocity for the O+T subset of observations is interesting in that it shows outliers of observations, particularly on 7th and 14th of August, grouped around radial velocities lower than the mean radial velocity (+367 m per sec with SD = 131.8) for the O+T subset.

    For the Observations O+T the plot of Observations per day against Observations per hour coloured to show differences in radial velocity is interesting. To aid clarity and understanding the data has been 'binned' on a hexagonal basis. The size of the hexagon is proportional to the number of observations.
    The observations made between 14:00 and 1900 (UT) on the 7th of August indicate a large number of reflections with radial velocities well below the mean value for V. The timing of these observations in the afternoon is also at odds with other days where observation density clustering is clearly skewed to the morning. Do these factors reinforce the hypothesis that a stream other than the Perseids is being detected? Could this be an outlier from the Capricornids or the Alpha Capricornids streams which are active into August?
    The same observations coloured to show energy (maxpower x duration) indicate the reflections in the afternoon of the 7th of August have a greater proportion of lower energy reflections. The Capricornids are slow moving meteors and have lower velocities (lower energies?) as well as having velocity vectors different  from the Perseids.
    I hope to analyse more of the data I have stored on pen drives and hopefully make comparisons between different showers and the same showers year on year. Even now I'm retired, I still seem to run out of time! 🙄

     





  3. Hawksmoor
    February the 4th. 2013:
    I get all my kit out, set up and ready to go. My laptop is performing Ok, it doesn't like the cold, and the QHY 5v driver has loaded without a hiccup. I can see Jupiter shining in a rapidly darkening sky. The BBC weather forecast for Lowestoft said clear skies excellent seeing between 17.00 and 18.00 which coincides with the GRS being visible. My cup floweth over! As an extra Jupiter 2 software has informed me that shortly after there will be a transit. Photo opportunity or what?
    Then I notice that Jupiter has acquired a halo, I quickly capture three 2 minute clips and then the planet disappears with the failing light. After an hour my laptop and I take refuge in the warm kitchen. After a further hour I finally give up and disassemble my scope and put all the bits and pieces away. Do my eyes deceive me or has the sky now cleared? Grrrrrrrrr! I think I will give Jupiter a rest!
    The AutoStakkert freeware processing software made a brilliant job of rescuing my clips from the recycle bin and I did retrieve one or two grainy images. I would recommend AutoStakkert to anyone who has only used Registax, its much simpler and quicker to use.

  4. Hawksmoor
    This has been a long time in gestation - first I built the 3d printer from a kit my son gave me for Christmas 2018, then I had to pluck up the courage to turn it on. The whirring and flashing lights are all a bit much for a man more accustomed to using Crayola 'chubby' crayons than digital vernier calipers. Then I had to get my head round  Sketch-Up, Netfabb, Repetier Host , Slicer3 and how to stop molten filament from blocking up a very small hole in a very hot bit of metal. 
    In my shed I have some 500lines/mm holographic film and a QHY5L-ii mono camera and three telescopes of varying focal length and aperture. Having read a lot of good stuff on SGL from people with much spectrum gathering and processing experience and having read Jeffrey L Hopkins book 'Using Commercial Amateur Astronomical Spectrographs' several times,  I realised that I had the basics for making a very low resolution 'slit-less' spectrometer.  Because the grating had so many lines /mm I had to get the grating pretty close to the imaging chip in order that the zero and first order spectrum would fit on the long axis.  Having crunched the numbers I worked out that if I could print a thin cell to hold the grating this could be sandwiched between camera and  its nosepiece without any un-reversible changes having to be made to the camera. So the game was on Watson!
    Once it was all put together and attached to my 66mm Altair Lightwave on a Star Adventurer Mount I pointed it at Castor as it was fairly high up, quite bright and a class A star albeit multiple. I was going to use VSpec  as it is free and I had managed to use it some years ago but for some reason unknown to me it would not load on my new Windows 10 laptop. It kept trying to link with a chess database on my machine so probably a dll file issue above my pay grade. So I decided to download the RSpec software 30 day trial. This software is not that easy for an old bloke like me to grasp but considerably easier than VSpec. After a lot of pressed buttons and repeated views of the tutorial videos I think I managed to acquire an ok calibrated and Instrument Response adjusted low res profile of Castor.  I attach an image of the result.
    Whilst I was processing the data I noticed that the zero order showed twin peaks which confused me for a while. Originally I thought this was just a processing artifact. Then it occurred to me that Castor is a multiple star system with two class A stars of roughly equal magnitude and although my little refractor could not split them visually perhaps spectrally it could?  Probably deluding myself!
    Anyway this little but drawn out project and 'Covid Lockdown' have kept me out of pubs!
    George next the Sea
     



  5. Hawksmoor
    For once a Bank Holiday turned out nice so enjoyed a ramble along the river and took a look at the Sun.
    http://george-artcabinedujardin.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/what-amateur-astronomers-do-in-daylight.html


  6. Hawksmoor

    Apollo11

    By Hawksmoor,

    After reading the many tributes to Neil Armstrong, I remembered looking at the Apollo photographs on display at the Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, New York. The next time I look at the Moon through the eyepiece of my scope, and if the phase is favourable, I will be sure to check out the Sea of Tranquility and consider the relative permanence of Neil Armstrong's boot print etched in Moon-dust! A fitting memorial for a remarkable human-being. (Images of the Apollo 11 Tranquility Base etc courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University)
  7. Hawksmoor

    Mars

    By Hawksmoor,

    Last night was absolutely beautiful in Suffolk. There was a little high level cloud but otherwise it was quite perfect for backyard astronomy. I decided that I was going to take my first photos of Mars. I used the Logitech Webcam that I had previously cannabalised and took several AVI clips through my refractor using a 3x Barlow lens. I did not get any dark or flat frames which probably would have improved the results. I then processed the images using Registax, IRIS and Photoshop. Although the picture is a bit blurry and not in the same league as some of the images of Mars already on this Forum , I was quite surprised and pleased with the result.
    :)
  8. Hawksmoor
    Wasted a couple of hours this morning obtaining video clips of sunspots in white light through my scope. Finished taking the shots, all appeared well. Just got my kit put away before a rain shower. All accomplished before lunch, I thought. This afternoon, when I came to look for the files on my laptop, nowhere to be found! Must not have registered the files or some dumb trick best known to man and IT savants. I am a complete numpty!!!
  10. Hawksmoor

    Winter has arrived

    By Hawksmoor,

    Saw the Doc yesterday who said my back was healing well and light exercise was OK. Took this to mean I could catch a few photons. So I went outside into the garden about midnight to see if I could see a meteor or two. Hooray first night without rain for some time. Moon was a bit too bright for meteor watching and was lighting up really heavy clouds to the east. The wind was strong and gusting. Then it started to snow! Then it rained. Astronomy in the UK is not for the faint hearted or for those without a warm wind and waterproof coat. Perhaps tonight?
  11. Hawksmoor
    Capturing images of meteors is a bit like fishing. After the event, you are always haunted by the big one that got away!
    My widest camera lens is a Canon 18-55mm EFS zoom and even though this covers quite a bit of sky there is plenty left in which a bright meteor can suddenly appear.
    As I had two camera bodies, a Canon 600D and 400D DSLR, I decided to try and use them in tandem to improve my chances of capturing more meteors. Fabricating a ‘meteor rig’, reusing equipment and materials to hand, seemed to be an interesting project.
    I already had:
    Two Canon camera bodies One reasonably wide angle Canon camera lens An old Meade ETX tripod A  Star Adventurer Equatorial mount. A homemade connecting bar (for linking the Star Adventurer to the ETX tripod. A ball head connector for the Star Adventurer A  length of oak batten An inexpensive Chinese intervalometer Some large rubber bands A collection of stainless steel nuts bolts and washers What I needed to acquire:
    Another matching Canon 18-55mm EFS zoom lens. After surfing ‘the Bay’ I managed to find and purchase one in good condition for under £40 inc VAT and delivery. A mini ball head for mounting one of the camera bodies on the oak batten (the other camera was to be mounted directly) - £9 Another intervalometer - £13 A little bit of woodwork and trial and error allowed me to construct a meteor rig which allows each camera to point independently in RA and Alt but move together on an equatorial basis. I have had one trial run which managed to capture a bright sporadic meteor on both cameras. Interestingly, even though the camera settings were kept the same, the 600D and 400D images were slightly different (the 400D images were noisier).
    ‘Metcheck’ is predicting bad weather in Lowestoft for the night of Perseid maximum. Sorry, I guess it’s my entire fault!
     

  12. Hawksmoor
    Have returned from Hospital after back surgery. Have got a few aches and pains but otherwise I think the good old NHS has fixed my spine!! Whoopee-do I shall be able to use my big bins again!! Am unable to get outside stargazing for a few weeks but hopefully towards the end of November I should be able to use my telescope and relatively new planetary camera to capture Jupiter! I have noticed that its still raining!
  13. Hawksmoor
    I thought I might attend a talk 'Mars Revisited and Revealed So Far' at the Waveney Gymnastics Centre, Notley Road, Lowestoft, this evening at 7.00pm. This will be a big step for me as I am not a clubs and society man. More of a Lone Space Ranger! My wife is encouraging me to be less of a recluse. She is accompanying me this evening, just in case I back out at the last minute!
    If any SGL members are going tonight please say hello. I shall not be carrying a copy of the times, but I'm readily recognizable, short fat bald old bloke with a white beard and a walking stick.
    The rain is still intermittently torrential!
    http://www.clubbz.com/club/2895/lowestoft/lowestoft-and-great-yarmouth-regional-astronomers-lyra
  14. Hawksmoor

    Summer Treats

    By Hawksmoor,

    Its a beautiful sunny day on the East Coast. Have been to the hospital to have an MOT on hip and back. Received great service and care from all staff at the James Paget Hospital. The NHS is great!:hello2:
    Having a bit of time on my hands and wanting a sit down, have spent an hour with an old photo of M57 which I took last summer in my backyard. Quite pleased with myself in that I have worked out how to use the de-convolution algorithms in IRIS software. (Probably less than pleased with myself in that I didn't better polar align my scope).:)
  15. Hawksmoor

    Oh! those Summer Projects

    By Hawksmoor,

    Feeling quite 'chipper' today!
    Many of my little 'summer' projects have been completed and seem to work. First - my bathroom extract system has been installed without me once falling off the ladder or putting my foot through the bathroom ceiling, second - I'm now producing tasty pizza and bread from my DIY wood-fired bread oven without upsetting my neighbours and third I've constructed four  battery powered 'dew zappers' for camera lenses and scope objectives. 
    The following is proof: - 'Dew zapper' on the Canon EFS 18-55mm lens worked for just over 2 hours, allowing star trails and a time-lapse movie to be made, and thus exceeding the design parameters for the heater and battery.
    Many thanks to Alan Sheehan B.E on IceInSpace for his excellent article and Excel Spreadsheet relating to building 'dew zappers'. Thanks to Alan I could concentrate on the difficult bits including burning my fingers with a soldering iron and 'wrinkling up' the duct tape.
    http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-292-0-0-1-0.html



  17. Hawksmoor

    Transit of Venus

    By Hawksmoor,

    My wife found an old disc from 2004 and low and behold the photographs that I took of the last transit were on it and not lost forever as I thought. With better software available in 2012 I have been able to improve them a bit. So was quite pleased bearing in mind the basic kit that I used at the time. Hopefully,, if the weather and I my back are OK I will have a second chance to get better images on the morning of the sixth.

  18. Hawksmoor
    Due to a flare up of arthritis in my back and hip have been unable to take advantage of the breaks in the clouds which have been infrequent to say the least. Have spent my time downloading images from the ESO archive and practicing the use of image processing software. Have managed to start using IRIS which appears to be the least accessible of the free image processing software I've tried to date. Quite humorous trying to follow the French - English translations.:)
  19. Hawksmoor

    Transit of Venus

    By Hawksmoor,

    My wife found an old disc from 2004 and low and behold the photographs that I took of the last transit were on it and not lost forever as I thought. With better software available in 2012 I have been able to improve them a bit. So was quite pleased bearing in mind the basic kit that I used at the time. Hopefully, if the weather and my back are OK I will have a second chance to get better images on the morning of the sixth.

  20. Hawksmoor
    Spent a rainy afternoon recovering a rather blurry photograph I took a year ago in Norway. At the time I was quite annoyed with my self in not obtaining a sharp focus of the Pleiades whilst concentrating on the Aurora above. http://stargazerslounge.com/members/hawksmoor-albums-aurora-picture16089-aurora-above-pleiades.jpg
  21. Hawksmoor
    Tonight Venus was very close to the crescent Moon with Jupiter sailing above and to the south. I took a quick snap with a compact camera perched on top of our car. Really doesn't do the scene credit. Very beautiful even though in competition with the glare from the street lights.

  23. Hawksmoor
    What a marvelous day for February. The thermometer in our back garden reached seventeen degrees Celsius this afternoon. A truly balmy day for the East Coast of Britain in winter.
    Whilst taking rubbish out to the dustbin I noticed that Jupiter, Venus and the new crescent moon were arranged in a line leading to the west where the sun had just set. Quite beautiful, with the thin crescent moon on its back and partially illuminated by earth-shine.
  24. Hawksmoor

    Full Moon

    By Hawksmoor,

    [ATTACH]237[/ATTACH]
    The Universe is a great place! In the last week I have watched as Comet Garradd sailed serenely past the Coat-hanger asterism, I've seen a magnificent rainbow whilst visiting Sheffield, and on the road back to home in Lowestoft we headed from day into night as the Moon and Jupiter climbed slowly upwards from the horizon.
    Weather and moonlight permitting, in the coming week I hope to see the new supernova.:)
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