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A fancy apartment building on Worthing seafront.
The white railings against a dark background reminded me of industrial machine belts.
Kinda creepy, but also kinda cool at the same time. They move, make noise and light up. Bits and pieces of this and that.
subZERO Festival in downtown San José, California.
Even though steel production has been relatively stable for last 30 years in U.S., labor has decreased by 42% due to automation, leaving towns like Gary, Indiana with neighborhoods like this.
Created in DDG Text 2 Dream using its "Artistic" Ai model.
Filters: PS Beta 2023, Topaz Sharpen Ai, Topaz Studio.
A bit of hand painting.
This began as all hot pink. I used the "Adjustments" tab set of filters in PS to bring in green/lilac tones, then added several layers of "difference" or "exclusion" on top. The final saturation and texture modifications are multiple Topaz Studio looks. I'm guessing that this is about 20 layers in total.
Thanks for your visit, faves, and kind comments.
Kinda creepy, but also kinda cool at the same time. Bits and pieces of things, put together so they move, make noises and flash lights. But probably not for the kids.
subZERO Festival in downtown San José, California.
The Butterfly Cluster (cataloged as Messier 6 and as NGC 6405) is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Scorpius. It is 3.5° to the northwest of Messier 7, both north of the tail of Scorpius. The first astronomer to record the Butterfly Cluster's existence was Giovanni Battista Hodierna in 1654. It's estimates distance is 1,590 light-years. 120 stars, ranging down to visual magnitude 15.1, have been identified as most likely cluster members. Most of the bright stars in this cluster are hot, blue B-type stars but the brightest member is a K-type orange giant star, BM Scorpii, which contrasts sharply with its blue neighbours in photographs.
Optic: Astro-Physics 127 Starfire
Mount: Celestron CGE PRO
Autoguider: ZWO ASI290MM mini, Phd guiding
Camera: QSI 583wsg
Filters: 31mm unmounted Astrodon gen. 2
Frames: RGB 3X420sec each Bin1 -30°
Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop, Maxim
APT automation
The headquarters of Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee, WI features two large industrial buildings, connected by a six-story skywalk and crowned with what was for 50 years the world's largest four-sided clock.
I just published a new imaging project on my website!
NGC 7822 is known as the Question Mark Nebula and is a rich region of new star formation in our galaxy. It is located 2900 light-years way in the constellation of Cepheus.
This image resulted from ~14 hours of both narrowband and broadband RGB exposures. I processed the nebulae using the narrowband data and the stars using RGB data.
This is also the first time I controlled the entire sequence using automation provided by NINA software.
Easy to learn - powerful. I just fired things off and could sleep through the night - with progress reports coming to my phone if I wished to view them!
The complete story behind this image - along with details and an annotated image processing walkthrough - can be found here:
cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/ngc7822
Thanks,
Pat
Automate the observatory with two telescopes is much more difficult than with one.
Here I'm imaging NGC 891 with both telescopes and then the humidity reaches the maximum threshold, so both mounts get parked and the roof is closed.
March Point. Padilla Bay/Fidalgo Bay.
"The Washington population of the Black Oystercatcher is estimated to be roughly 400 birds. This number is probably not significantly different from the historical population, as these birds require fairly specialized habitat, which is not evenly distributed. Oystercatchers are highly vulnerable to human disturbance, oil spills, and pollution of the intertidal zone. Numbers of Black Oystercatchers on the outer coast may be higher than in the past, in part due to decreased human disturbance resulting from lighthouse automation. Numbers in inland areas, however, have declined in response to increased human activity. The Northern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Management Plan has identified the Black Oystercatcher as a regional species of high concern."
"The Black Oystercatcher is restricted in its range, never straying far from shores, in particular favoring rocky shorelines. It has been suggested that this bird is seen mostly on coastal stretches which have some quieter embayments, such as jetty protected areas. It forages in the intertidal zone, feeding on marine invertebrates, particularly molluscs such as mussels, limpets and chitons. It will also take crabs, isopods and barnacles. It hunts through the intertidal area, searching for food visually, often so close to the water's edge it has to fly up to avoid crashing surf. It uses its strong bill to dislodge food and pry shells open."
Sample shot for the Exposure.Detroit Woodward: Mile By Mile Project
The Albert Kahn designed Ford Model T Plant. Starting place of the mass production assembly line one turning out over nine thousand vehicles at its peak and raising standards of living for those fortunate enough to find work there.
First successful fully automated run. Other than hitting the power buttons the scope ran itself- from unparking to parking at the end. A bright moon, so I stuck with a trusty favorite the Perseus double cluster through the more forgiving 320mm fl apo.
I will also be able to "delay start" when darkness comes late (like in June) or when a target doesn't rise until after bedtime. I haven't tried yet, but the goal is to also be able to run multiple targets as darkness allows. A rare clear winter night around here is about 18 hours long, enough for 3 full imaging runs.
My point, certainly, is not to let the thing run while I sit inside and eat potato chips, more to give the flexibilty to do other things without having to babysit the imaging. Other things could be visual telescoping, going to the park for the view to the south, or I guess sitting on the sofa and eating potato chips.
Equipment
Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses
Astro-Tech AT66ED
Imaging Cameras
QHYCCD QHY163C
Mounts
Celestron Omni CG-4
Accessories
Astro-Tech .8x Reducer/Field Flattener · OnStep Telescope Mount Goto Controller · Rigel Systems Stepper motor
Software
Adobe Photoshop · Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP) · Open PHD Guiding Project PHD2 · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)
Acquisition details
Dates:
Sept. 5, 2022
Frames:
161×120″(5h 22′)
Integration:
5h 22′
Avg. Moon age:
9.28 days
Avg. Moon phase:
69.64%
Basic astrometry details
Astrometry.net job: 6272151
RA center: 02h19m07s.2
DEC center: +57°06′36″
Pixel scale: 2.423 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: 113.026 degrees
Field radius: 1.918 degrees
Find images in the same area
Resolution: 4528x3462
File size: 22.9 MB
Data source: Backyard
The second prototype for my latest Mindstorms project, which will hopefully become an automatic LEGO mosaic printer.
Info, commentary and video of it in action can be found in the video: youtu.be/r8OQDy29yJU
A pair of R188 trains approach 111th St station on the Flushing Line. The (7) train at left is operating under automatic train control on the CBTC-equipped main track, and the out-of-service one at right is (to my knowledge) being operated manually by the yard operator into the pocket track. This also explains the difference in speed between the two trains, as the one at right was creeping along very slowly and the one at left was easily going three times as fast! It was quite lucky that they met in the clear space where they did!
R188 (7) (Kawasaki, 2011-2016)
111th St station
Flushing Line - IRT
The latest update to my LEGO Mindstorms printer project, with the scanning functionality all working.
I'm not sure I can really call this a prototype anymore, since it is pretty much fully functional, but there is still work to do.
Info, commentary and footage of it in action can be found in the video: youtu.be/iyQCMP2kqs0
Optic: Sharpstar 90mm f/5.6 Askar FRA500
Mount: Ioptron CEM60 HP
Camera: QSI 583wsg
Filters: 31mm unmounted Astrodon gen. 2
Frames: Ha 3nm: 14X600sec - RGB 8X420sec each Bin1 -25°
Autoguider: ZWO ASI290MM mini on ZWO 30 F/4, Phd guiding
Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop
NINA automation
On March 31st 1998, Fair Isle South lighthouse became the last lighthouse to be automated by the Northern Lighthouse Board.
To mark the 20th anniversary the original light at Kinnaird Head was switched on for 24 hours ( a hyper-radial lens manufactured by Chance Brothers in 1902) and manned by a team of ex-keepers.
This shot was taken just before the light was switched off again.