homcavobservatory
Tycho_Splat_20200308_HomCavObservatory_ReSizedDown2HD
Object Details: The attached image is centered on the prominent crater Tycho. A 'relatively young' 108 million years old, it is 85 km (53 mi) in diameter. Being about 4,800 m (15,700 ft or ~ 3 mi.) in depth, it's central peaks rise 1,600 m (5,200 ft or nearly a mile) above the crater floor.
Shown here in a pseudo 'mineral moon' manner (i.e. with the saturation greatly increased), in certain circumstances the colors can be representative of the minerals present. In the case of the moon, often the blue hues indicating those areas rich in titanium-bearing minerals, pinks in aluminum-rich feldspars, while orange & purples show iron and titanium poor regions. A wider field example using this type of technique can be found at the link attached here: - www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/44002665955/
When showing Tycho telescopically to family and friends who are not very versed in astronomy, they frequently inquire as to the nature of the rays. I often use the metaphor of throwing a rock into a mud puddle, adding an audible 'SPLAT !' ;) .
Image Details: Taken by Jay Edwards at the HomCav Observatory on the evening of March 8, 2020, it was imaged using a vintage 1970 8-inch, f/7 Criterion newtonian reflector connected to a ZWO ASI290MC planetary camera / auto-guider at prime focus. Since the seeing ranged from bad to poor (1 to 2 out of 5) it is a short stack of the best 20 percent of the frames extracted from a 90 second video clip. This setup was mounted on a Losmandy G-11 running a Gemini 2 control system and had an ED80T CF (i.e. an 80MM, f/6 carbon-fiber triplet apochromatic refractor) mounted piggyback. The latter instrument being used for 'full disk' lunar images, like the one of the full moon from the following night (referenced below) and found at the attached link:
www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/49659990916/
Processed using a combination of AS3, Registax, PI & PSP, as presented here it has been cropped to HD resolution and the bit depth has been lowered to 8 bits per channel.
Being the largest of the year, I was hoping to get the opportunity to image the moon when it was full on the following evening, March 9th. However with the weather forecast seemingly questionable, just in case, I thought I should take advantage of the clear skies on the 8th. In retrospect, as shown at the link above, although I was able to catch it briefly with the 80MM apo. when full, I did not get the chance that night to also image it with the 8-inch.
As such, I am glad I took the time to do so on the 8th (when it was 'only' 99.3 % full); and after shooting the attached image of Tycho, also managed to capture a few clips of other nearby areas. Currently processing the other images, I am hoping to create a mosaic showing the 0.7 Percent 'terminator' visible on March 8th (assuming, of course, I could even tell which 0.7 % of the limb was not basking in the sun at the time ;) ) !
Happy Equinox To All !
Tycho_Splat_20200308_HomCavObservatory_ReSizedDown2HD
Object Details: The attached image is centered on the prominent crater Tycho. A 'relatively young' 108 million years old, it is 85 km (53 mi) in diameter. Being about 4,800 m (15,700 ft or ~ 3 mi.) in depth, it's central peaks rise 1,600 m (5,200 ft or nearly a mile) above the crater floor.
Shown here in a pseudo 'mineral moon' manner (i.e. with the saturation greatly increased), in certain circumstances the colors can be representative of the minerals present. In the case of the moon, often the blue hues indicating those areas rich in titanium-bearing minerals, pinks in aluminum-rich feldspars, while orange & purples show iron and titanium poor regions. A wider field example using this type of technique can be found at the link attached here: - www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/44002665955/
When showing Tycho telescopically to family and friends who are not very versed in astronomy, they frequently inquire as to the nature of the rays. I often use the metaphor of throwing a rock into a mud puddle, adding an audible 'SPLAT !' ;) .
Image Details: Taken by Jay Edwards at the HomCav Observatory on the evening of March 8, 2020, it was imaged using a vintage 1970 8-inch, f/7 Criterion newtonian reflector connected to a ZWO ASI290MC planetary camera / auto-guider at prime focus. Since the seeing ranged from bad to poor (1 to 2 out of 5) it is a short stack of the best 20 percent of the frames extracted from a 90 second video clip. This setup was mounted on a Losmandy G-11 running a Gemini 2 control system and had an ED80T CF (i.e. an 80MM, f/6 carbon-fiber triplet apochromatic refractor) mounted piggyback. The latter instrument being used for 'full disk' lunar images, like the one of the full moon from the following night (referenced below) and found at the attached link:
www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/49659990916/
Processed using a combination of AS3, Registax, PI & PSP, as presented here it has been cropped to HD resolution and the bit depth has been lowered to 8 bits per channel.
Being the largest of the year, I was hoping to get the opportunity to image the moon when it was full on the following evening, March 9th. However with the weather forecast seemingly questionable, just in case, I thought I should take advantage of the clear skies on the 8th. In retrospect, as shown at the link above, although I was able to catch it briefly with the 80MM apo. when full, I did not get the chance that night to also image it with the 8-inch.
As such, I am glad I took the time to do so on the 8th (when it was 'only' 99.3 % full); and after shooting the attached image of Tycho, also managed to capture a few clips of other nearby areas. Currently processing the other images, I am hoping to create a mosaic showing the 0.7 Percent 'terminator' visible on March 8th (assuming, of course, I could even tell which 0.7 % of the limb was not basking in the sun at the time ;) ) !
Happy Equinox To All !