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Updated 20230224:
Images of this object in an alternate narrowband palette can be found at the link attached here - www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/52708453617/
With the start of the new year today and the skies in our area remaining cloudy, I thought I'd make some time to process my first 'proper' image from a recently acquired ASI2600MC Pro one-shot-color cooled astronomy camera and an applicable narrow-band filter.
Although I still have a variety of data to process, including some globular clusters I shot last summer, previously I did manage to make the time to process the 'first-light' short test exposures from this camera that can be found at the link attached here -
www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/52566000859/
Given the object's proximity in our skies at the time (in addition to being 'relatively' bright), although it only covers approximately one-sixth the available field-of-view, and thus would benefit from a longer focal-length; I decided to try the first long exposure on the Pacman Nebula (NGC 281).
Object Details: NGC 281 is an emission nebula which can be found glowing at magnitude 7.4 in the constellation of Cassiopeia. it spans just over 1/2 degree in our sky (e.g. slightly larger than the apparent diameter of the full moon), and although visible in binoculars under a dark sky, it's a stunning object when viewed in larger instruments.
Known as 'The Pacman Nebula' due to it's resemblance to the video game character, it lies approximately 10,000 light-years from Earth in the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy and is about 80 light-years in diameter.
Embedded within the nebula, and providing the energy which causes the nebula itself to glow, is the young open star cluster IC 1590. The very dark areas visible within the nebula are known as 'Bok Globules' (i.e. relatively small, dense, dark clouds of dust and gas in which stars may be forming), examples of which are shown as 2x enlargements via the insets at lower left and right.
Image Details: The data for the attached image were taken by Jay Edwards on October 16, 22 & 29, 2022 using an Orion 80mm f/6 carbon-fiber triplet apochromatic refractor (i.e. an ED80T CF) connected to a Televue 0.8X field flattener / focal reducer and an IDAS NBZ dual band filter which has narrowband passes centered on the emissions of Hydrogen-alpha (656.3 nanometers) and Oxygen III (495.9 & 500.7 nanometers) on an ASI2600MC Pro cooled astronomical camera.
The 80mm was piggybacked on a vintage 1970, 8-inch, f/7, Criterion newtonian reflector and was tracked using a Losmandy G-11 mount running a Gemini 2 control system and guided using PHD2 to control a ZWO ASI290MC planetary camera / auto-guider in an 80mm f/5 Celestron 'short-tube' refractor, which itself was piggybacked on top of the 80mm apo.
The image consists of five hours of total integration time (not including applicable dark, flat and flat dark calibration frames) and was constructed using a stack of one-hundred 3 minutes sub-exposures. Although I am still working out an applicable workflow for this new camera, the data were processed using a combination of PixInsight and PaintShopPro. As presented here it has been cropped to a 2160 x 3840 resolution (approximately one-third the camera's field-of-view) and the bit depth has been lowered to 8 bits per channel.
Given that this data was taken using a dual-band filter; I'm hoping to split out the H-alpha & OIII data, synthesize a third channel and recombine them to produce a 'Hubble-palette' like version of this object in the future.
Wishing everyone clear, calm & dark skies; and of course a Happy New Year !!!
One of many scenes within the control tower at The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby . This tableau depicts life in the control room of the tower back in the day .
A short history of RAF East Kirkby taken from wikipedia --
Royal Air Force East Kirkby or more simply RAF East Kirkby is a former Royal Air Force station near the village of East Kirkby, south of Horncastle in Lincolnshire, just off the A155. The Greenwich meridian passes through the airfield.
RAF Station East Kirkby opened on 20 August 1943 as a Bomber Command Station and is situated not far from RAF Coningsby.
Stationed at East Kirkby were:
No. 57 Squadron RAF (5 Group) 27 August 1943 – 25 November 1945.
No. 630 Squadron RAF (5 Group) 15 November 1943 – 18 July 1945.
RAF East Kirkby served also as the headquarters of No 5/5 (Bomber) Group RAF in command of satellite stations at RAF Strubby, RAF Spilsby, RAF Hemswell and RAF Manby.
Operations
On 17 April 1945, near the end of the Second World War, a 57 Squadron Lancaster was being loaded with bombs when a fully armed 1,000 lb bomb was unintentionally dropped onto the tarmac. Because the bomb had had its fuse inserted it detonated, setting off the rest of the Lancaster's bombload. A massive explosion killed three airmen, injured 16 others, wrote off six other Lancasters beyond repair and badly damaged a nearby aircraft hangar.
The final wartime raid from East Kirkby was flown on 25 April 1945. In total, 212 operations were carried out during the war, from which 121 Lancasters did not return. Another 29 aircraft were lost due to operational crashes or accidents.
Post war
No 630 Squadron disbanded in July that year and its place was taken by No. 460 Squadron RAAF from RAF Binbrook. This squadron joined No. 57 for transfer to the Far East as part of Tiger Force. In the 1950s, the airfield was used by the United States Air Force for Air Rescue squadrons for four years. The station (code name Silksheen) closed in 1958. It was sold by the government in 1964.
Aircraft museum
The airfield became the site of broiler sheds, and is now home to an air museum, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, which bought Just Jane, the gate guardian Lancaster bomber from RAF Scampton, which is regularly taxied out and stood with the four Rolls Royce Merlin XXIV engines running. Just Jane is being restored to flight by the museum.
NX611 was built by Austin Aero Ltd at their Cofton Hackett Works just south of Birmingham, rolling out of the Flight Shed on 16 April 1945, when it was put into storage, and in 1952, it was one of 54 Lancasters sold to the French Naval Air Arm, (L’Aeronavale) for £50,000 each as part of a 1951 NATO arrangement. It was designated WU-15 (Western Union). In June 1961,it joined Escadrille 9S (Surveillance), in Nouméa, New Caledonia.
On 15 April 1964, it accompanied Lancaster NX665 (WU-13), on delivery to the RNZAF, from New Caledonia to Auckland, New Zealand, returning to New Caledonia, with the crew of NX665. In 1965, its service with the L’Aeronavale over, due to spares shortages and maintenance problems, it was flown to England and on 13 May 1965 landed at Biggin Hill Airport, Kent, as part of the 'Historic Aircraft Preservation Society' Collection (HAPS). It had flown 2,330 hours. It had been registered as G - ASXX for its flight back to the UK and later stood as the gate guardian at RAF Scampton before being acquired by the museum owners Fred & Harold Panton
The control tower is believed to be haunted. The airfield was featured in a 1980s BBC series about World War II airfields. Much of the runway is still intact today but mainly used by local farmers as hard standing and by model aircraft enthusiasts. Occasional civilian light aircraft have landed on the remaining runway in recent years and the airfield still appears on Civil Aviation Maps as a diversion emergency landing location.
A memorial to the fallen can be found outside the main gate where the guard house once stood.
RAF East Kirkby was investigated by the Most Haunted team in 2003 for their third series on Living TV now called Sky Living. Yvette Fielding and her team investigated the museum and site for alleged paranormal activity. The episode was transmitted on Tuesday 7 October 2003 on Living TV. It was the first episode of the third series of the paranormal investigation show Most Haunted.
In 2008 the museum opened an unlicensed part-grass and part-concrete landing strip for visiting military and civil aircraft. No aircraft should land without contacting the owners first via the museum's website or telephone number. Air traffic control on flying display days is from RAF Coningsby and there is a six-mile "no fly" exclusion zone around East Kirkby on display days.
I was very interested in seeing the reference to RAF Manby , a base I spent some time at on a full runway and taxiway survey back in the very early 70s and in the winter months and it was very very cold and wet .
We stayed on site - 16 of us in one room - the transit dormitory . Saw a number of live bands in the NAAFI including Slade .
The lasting memory of Manby though is of me running along the centre of the taxiway to retrieve a survey target from the centre line with a Jet Provost following close behind me waiting for me to clear the obstruction - felt quite hairy at the time but I guess the pilot knew what he was doing - I hope !!!
( shot taken in very low light through a grille ! )
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This Photograph shows a NS Train passing Control Point Spring near the Mercedes Benz Stadium, not far from Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta. I took this Photograph from the top of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW Bridge, of a Norfolk Southern Train passing under the M L K Jr Drive Bridge going away from me, passing Switch/Signal Control Box "SPRING".
Mercedes Benz Stadium and it's Parking Garage is in the Left Background (aka: Upper Left hand Corner) of this Photograph.
Also, in the Upper Right hand side of the photograph, (behind the Centennial Olympic Park Drive Bridge) you can see the 1966 Summer Olympic Torches in Centennial Olympic Park.
Since I was in Atlanta for a Family Wedding and was unfamiliar with the area (in lieu of the Train Number), I will supply the Roster Numbers of the three Norfolk Southern Locomotives to Identify the Train. The Locomotive Numbers were as follows: the Lead Locomotive was Number 9453, a GE Dash 9-44CW (Norfolk Southern Designation D9-44CW), the second Locomotive was Number 4056 a GE AC44C6M (Rebuilt from a NS Dash 9-40C with AC traction and GE widenose & cab) and the third Locomotive was Number 3677 a GE ET44AC. All three Locomotives were rated at 4,400 Horse Power.
Photographs of the three Locomotives appear (in my Photostream) in several preceding Photos (click on the Right Arrow to go back several Photos to see the Locomotives).
Air traffic control tower at the Melbourne airport. To get this photo required a little luck as I shot it from the passenger side of a moving car on the calder highway with a telelphoto lens zoomed as far as it could through the car window. It required some straightening and cropping but I love the layers of hills.
ISO 400 | 1/2500 sec | f/6.7 | 300mm
Crowne Plaza, Liverpool near John Lennon Airport
formerly the terminal building for Speke Aerodrome
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
This is the control panel at the IJsselbrug, the bridge over the canalized river IJssel in IJsselstein, Holland. It gives the information about the traffic lights over the water. Which are burning and on which side, to prevent boats and yachts from having frontal collisions ;-) This bridge is still completely hand-operated, lucky me!
Before electronics, the most reliable boiler/generator controls were operated by compressed air.
Scattered throughout the country, older power plants are being abandoned for more efficient or sustainable sources of electricity. Some still stand as a tribute to those who sacrificed and worked so hard there to assure the community had reliable energy to power their lives. These views are of a ~50 year old plant closed about 2 years ago.
See more of this site at flic.kr/s/aHskpNTVLG.
DDC "Wild and Crazy"
We have worked very hard to teach R "impulse control". At this moment, he wanted his dinner, and he wanted it NOW. But he's not barking or jumping (like he used to do). Rather, he's staring intently toward his dinner which was being prepared.
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) to the design of Leonard Pearce, Engineer in Chief to the LPC, and CS Allott & Son Engineers. The architects were J Theo Halliday and Giles Gilbert Scott. The station is one of the world’s largest brick buildings and notable for its original, Art Deco interior fittings and decor.
At its peak, Battersea Power Station produced a fifth of London’s power, supplying electricity to some of London’s most recognisable landmarks, such as the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. Working in tandem with Control Room A, Control Room B managed the distribution of power generated by the Power Station’s turbines. Functionally Control Room B can be divided into two sets of controls. The control desk and freestanding controls synchronised the 66kV output of the station to match the standards of the grid, while the switchgear racks at the rear of the room controlled the power supplies to a range of auxiliary equipment across the power station.
Turbine Hall B was constructed between 1937 and 1941 before construction was halted by the Second World War. It was eventually completed in 1955. It is an almost identical design mirroring Turbine Hall A which had been built between 1929 and 1945. A distinctive difference is that Control Room B gives an overview of Turbine Hall B, whilst Control Room A was built in a separate room from its turbine hall.
Today, as you can see above, an all-day cocktail bar occupies much of the space. However, there are audio tours explaining the control room's instrumentation and equipment. Apparently there's also an escape room.
Playing around with my recently acquired Lensbaby Composer. I thought this was an interesting way to show the focus/bokeh control!
For these images I shot a roll of Fujifilm Superia 400 through my Pentax P3, then re spooled the film back into my Konica Pop.
The staged, Pentax shots were done to give a clear and focused background image, where as the candid Konica shots were done to add a sense of unorganised chaos to the top image.