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michael.h.f.wilkinson

By michael.h.f.wilkinson
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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Hello, I am Michael Wilkinson, from Groningen in the Netherlands. I have been an amateur astronomer since about 1977, and studied astronomy at the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen, specializing in optical astronomy.

I then got side-tracked into digital image processing, and ended up with a PhD in computer science, on the topic of fluorescence and shape analysis of intestinal bacteria. All I learned about low-light-level imaging in astronomy proved highly useful.

I am now senior lecturer in computer science in Groningen, and collaborate with medics and astronomers on image analysis. Currently we are exploring such diverse topics as blood-vessel enhancement in 3D CT and MRI scans, hand eczema classification, real-time traffic-sign detection, and (most interesting for this forum) automated analysis of overlapping (i.e. separate galaxies which happen to lie along the line of sight) vs merging galaxies, without the use of spectrogrphic information (i.e. just the morphology). The methods I have been using are now also being introduced in LOFAR signal processing, and density estimation at a cosmologic scale.

At the amateur side of things I have a Celestron C8 on a Great Polaris mount (no goto) with a 2" back end from Baader, and a Williams optics 2" star diagonal (very good piece of kit), a little 4.5" F=500 mm newtonian as comet sweeper, two Vixen LV eyepieces (7mm and 9mm), a Meade Series 5000 15mm UWA (rather nice), an old 26mm Plossl that came with the C8, and a TMB Paragon 40mm (very nice indeed).

I also have a philips TOUCAM-III-pro, which I use with a Meade series 5000 3x TeleXtender. I also have a 2x, but the 1.25" adapter of my TOUCAM won't fit (bummer). I use a Vixen Flip mirror in this set up. In the city I generally focus on planetary work, and the brighter DSOs. The surroundings of Groningen are not too bad for light polution, so a short trip outside of the city allows me to see the fainter DSOs. I plan to get a decent DSO camera at some point in time, along with a large, fast Newtonian (about 12", yes aperture fever).

I am currently looking to replace my last Plossl and both LVs, so I am interested in any info on that topic.

Cheers

Michael

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