A Pre-dawn Planetary Appulse

The weather gods were kind and granted clear skies over Towson this morning, affording me an opportunity to grab a peek at the close pairing of Jupiter and Venus (at 5 a.m. ET this morning they were roughly a third of a degree apart, less than the appearance of a full moon). While not as rare as a Venus transit like we had in 2012, these two planetary beacons coming so close is not a common occurrence. And it is always eye-catching to say the least!

I decided to not set an alarm, trusting that I normally turn over an hour or so before sunrise anyway (perhaps a bit too trusting, but it panned out as expected). Grabbing the charged camera and tripod I headed out the front door around 5:30 to look for our duo. Unfortunately the eastern skyline in front of my home is not a great spot for horizon hugging events. So into the car with hopes of quickly locating a suitable venue with perhaps an interesting backdrop for a few shots. As I started up the hill I was continually making furtive glances to the east, and then I caught sight of them at the tree line as I passed the Towson Presbyterian Home. I circled the block and hopped out to see if I could compose a nice shot, opting for one with them nestled amid a dip in the treeline.

The first exposure at about 15 seconds was way too bright (the 'instant feedback' of a digital camera is really nice for catching such a problem quickly), so I shortened the exposure until I could see the two dots on the LCD screen. Bracketing around that ~2 second exposure at ASA 800 I collected several shots. With those secured I ambled about the front lawn in search for another interesting composition. I made two more series of photos for the raising pair, but the increasingly bright sky as dawn inexorably proceeded meant my first shots were probably the best. By 6 a.m. it was all over, barely ten minutes of snapping photos.

The best of the shots is above - played with it a bit in Paintshop to darken the sky and boost the contrast. May post some more after I have a chance to play with the images

Camelopardalids, Camelopardalids, Wherefore Wert Thou?

What with the March Regulus occultation by asteroid Erigone being a cloud out on the east coast and the April Lunar eclipse also blocked from our view it seemed amazing that it was actually going to be clear for the a possible new meteor shower on the evening of May 23-24. The predictions of Earth skimming through debris left behind by comet 209P/LINEAR on one of its passes over a century ago brought some over-the top predictions from the media ("200+ meteors per hour possible!", "comet 209B/LINEAR is expected to light up the night skies in May 2014 in a dazzling display"). Please people - the event is associated with a comet, one of the most notoriously unpredictable denizens of the night sky. It hadn't been 6 months since ISON went to ISOFF in a significant disappointment to sky gazers everywhere.

But still - who wants to be that guy who stayed home on a beautiful spring night if there's even a remote opportunity of catching a few dozen shooting stars? Obviously not me, so I grabbed my camera, binoculars, lawn chair, and some warm apparel and headed out to the Alpha Ridge observing location just west of Baltimore. When I got there it was just getting dark and there were a surprising number of folks who had assembled hoping for a show. Those with scopes were enjoying the planetary trifecta of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn; as the skies darkened they pursued deeper quarry of cluster, nebulae, and galaxies above the park.

I settled in facing North and placed the Big Dipper into the camera field. Around 11 pm I began clicking off 30 second exposures hoping to catch a piece of comet dust streaking through that familiar constellation. I would occasionally take a break and hunt down familiar Messier objects with the Oberwerks. There is something to be said for just lounging comfortably out under the stars, enjoying a cosmic game of I spy.

Unfortunately by 1 a.m. my grand total of observed meteors was three - two of which were sporadics and one maybe was a Camelopardalid. And obviously nothing to show on film other than some pleasant Ursa Major shots. But even without the Giraffe's meteors it was a relaxing, bug-free, temperate, great Friday night under the stars with like minded souls. To quote Charlie Sheen, "Winning!!"

Exploring Podcasting

Well this is certainly different - a post without an observation! I have been a bit negligent in writing up some observations (have actually been out to Alpha Ridge twice in last couple of weeks), but this evening it's all about checking out a proof of concept Podcast. Nothing fancy, just me reading some text straight off the ALPO web site for their training program. As part of a workgroup that is tasked with finding ways to help maintain the organization's membership I am researching the whole Podcast publishing process - and when reaching the point of needing a blog to publish it to - well thank goodness I blog (albeit sporadically!). So, if you are willing to waste about 90 seconds of your life click the link below to access my first podcast :-)

Jim's Podcast Host (Podbean)

A Vague Mars, Awesome Tycho

Well this week was the 2014 Mars opposition, like the Olympics a bi-annual event in the life of amateur astronomers. I set up the scope under so-so skies the actual night of opposition (Apr 8th) but struggled to place Mars in the scope's field of view (spotting scope really needed to be reset, the tube was fully racked to the side I needed to move towards). So, with a first quarter Moon beginning its westward slide to the horizon I opted to grab a few frames from it craggy landscape.

The northern hemisphere sported Plato, always a favorite, but a little past prime as the sun had climbed high enough across its plains to remove most of the contrast shadows provide. The images were best without a Barlow, showing a wider section the the Moon's landscape. A little east of Plato the "Alpine Valley" was an interesting feature, an 80 mile long cleft amid the lunar version of the Alpine mountains. Another cool landmark was Mons Piton, a solitary mile-high mountain projecting from Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) a bit farther south and east of the Vallis Alpes.

Plato on the norther shores of Mare Imbrium

The southern hemisphere this evening was the normal chaotic mix of craters upon craters. Among the scared landscape two caught my attention. One was huge Clavius, always demanding attention because of its impressive size, nearly the distance from Frederick MD to the eastern shore of Maryland. Being an ancient crater its floor is beat up with subsequent smaller impact craters, a couple of which were easily seen. In contrast the other standout is one of the newer significant lunar features - crater Tycho was in sharp contrast and very eye-catching. Probably no other feature has such a remarkable change in appearance from its local dawn to high noon. Here as the sun just come above the horizon the steep walls and its nearly mile high central peak are evident. Less than a week from now it will be the ray system that draws attention from the observer, especially during the eclipse set to happen early next Tuesday morning.

Tycho at top center, large Clavius to the left

The following night I took some time to correct the finder scope and made another attempt at Mars. Being an aphelic apparition there is never a lot that one can hope to see with a modest 6" reflector. But throughout my astrophotography career Mars had always been one target that I could never capture through the scope. Always not at opposition, or too small when at opposition - it rarely presents itself favorably and never as consistently as Jupiter, Saturn, and Luna. But this evening I did manage to get it on screen, a clear disk with even hints of a polar cap. So I ran a few AVI to see what I could get, a couple with blue and green filters. Sadly, the processing revealed a very uninspiring result. Part of it is that clearly the "boring" side of Mars was showing, mainly plains without any significant albedo features. But even so the polar region was very mushy, more of a suggestion of its presence than a confirmation. So, the scope will need to be checked again, make sure I have the best mirror alignment possible, and then hope for another clear night with maybe a more fascinating central meridian available in the next couple of weeks. But - even as inferior as it is - I can at least say I now have Mars on film.

Mars with a small polar cap at about 5 o'clock

Light Pollution 1, Supernova 2014J 0

Most supernovae are beyond my standard reach - a 6 to 10" scope plus suburbia awash in lights. But the recent explosion in M82, the thin cigar-shaped galaxy in Ursa Major, sounded like an awesome opportunity. With articles indicating it was peaking at magnitude 10.5 it also seemed like capturing it on video was not out of the question.

The skies Saturday seemed to have a small window of opportunity - average transparency and seeing predicted from about 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. by the CSC. I took a little extra time to set the tripod on Polaris and then scanned the northeast with some binoculars to locate the target area. I've seen the M81-M82 galaxy duo before from home many times in the past, but mainly from the backyard (which was a muddy mess with the defrosting temperature we had during the day). I spent about 20 minutes sweeping the area at low power to no avail. Granted, it is harder to sweep for a circumpolar object when using a GEM, but I think the real culprit was just the abundance of outdoor lighting. Our neighbor across the way has recently 'upgraded' the lamp post light to a glaring 250 watt (my estimation) mercury vapor style light - which was striking me in the face as I panned for the galaxies. Moments such as these are a downer - makes me long for putting some distance between my telescope and neighboring lights.

With the scope and video already set up I opted to swing over to Jupiter, climbing pretty high into the sky by this time. The seeing ended up being fairly good, and I took about a dozen 1 minute film runs of Jove.

In the B&W shot above, the NTB, which in years past has been a bit more distinct, is pretty visible in the preceding half of the hemisphere but then seems to blend into the amorphous NPR (no real sign of a NNTB). Hints of festoons arcing southward off the NEB can be glimpsed as well. NEB and SEB are about the same intensity. No sign of a separate STB.

Stellafane 2013

Maybe it's because it's like 10°F outside and I'm longing for some warmer weather - but it occurred to me that I never posted any of my images or experiences at this summer's Stellafane convention. So, in the spirit of better late than never...!

It had been a decade since my last trip north to the Stellafane convention, and with this year's event running from Aug 8th - 11th in close approximation with the Perseids I decided to pay a visit. I had originally planned to take off on that Thursday morning for the approximately 7 hour trip to Springfield, Vermont but, to be honest, I am indeed a fair weather camper. The forecast was not just for rain but for heavy rain, so I opted to use Thursday to tweak my yard sale refractor for some piggy back photography. Friday I was on the road by 5: 30 a.m. and arrived at Breezy Hill by early afternoon.

As I expected all the prime spots were taken by those willing to put up with the rain on Thursday, but the convention grounds are pretty large and I headed for the southeast corner where I've camped many times previously. While little had changed to the topography of the place I was a bit dismayed to see the field pretty much designated for vehicle parking, with "No Camping" and "No Observing" signs prominently posted. In the past we would park there and set up the tent on the perimeter of the field, pulling the scope out of the car in the evening for observing car side.

Big Dipper skimming the Vermont horizon

Friday was drizzly but towards evening there were signs that the weather might break. Sure enough around midnight the sucker holes blossomed into major openings. I pulled my 15x70 Oberwerks from the car along with my tripod and Canon Rebel T3. A major objective for me on the trip was to begin to learn how to use the DSLR for astrophotography (don't get me started about how taking shots with a SLR & film was, in many ways, a simpler process!). Happily the initial tripod shots were a success, so I turned in around 1 for some sleep.

Saturday morning dawned with a crisp blue sky and the promise of a dynamite night ahead of us. I wandered up to the swap tables, always an interesting assortment of items there, from the quirky to the classic. As my stomach began growling I took the car and drove the short jaunt into town where the local Royal Diner served up a generous portion of blueberry pancakes with real Vermont maple syrup. Hey Guy Fieri - you need to check out this place!

The rest of Saturday was spent enjoying the talents of my fellow astronomers. A good walk over to the pink club house to look over the telescope entries was fun.

Gorgeous view atop Breezy Hill

I am always amazed at the craftsmanship and sometimes whimsical approach that various contestants apply to their entries. There were also talks given in their large pavilion throughout the afternoon. Phil Harrington gave a great overview of building one's own backyard observatory, and Richard Jakiel did a survey of lunar features that are readily imaged with backyard telescope and webcam.

Saturday evening started with the featured program and keynote address. The raffle was drawn for some very nice gifts that had been donated to the convention, and then John Bortle presented the "Shadowgram" in which he reminisced about the history of Stellafane and some of the luminaries who have attended. The keynote was provided by Brother Guy Consolmagno of the Vatican Observatory on the topic of comets. By the time he concluded the skies were clear, dark, and enticing.

Lyra and Hercules

Feeling roguish I pulled my 60mm refractor and DSLR and set up beside my car (I figured if anyone objected then I could pop it back in within a minute). I spent until about 2 a.m. photographing the sky and seeing how well my piggy back tracking setup would work. I also glimpsed multiple Perseids streaking across the sky, but none on any of my shots. Probably the most memorable view was M31 (and M110) in the Oberwerks - awesome does not even begin to describe how impressive that galaxy looks set amid a dark sky and these binoculars. The size of the galaxy is really brought home with that view, and the clarity in the optics makes me think I could even make out a bit of the dark lane in Andromeda. The only drawback to the evening were the antics of some others on the field. I know it was not set aside as an observing area and therefore have no right to complain, but playing with green laser pointers, packing your car at 11:30 p.m. with the dome light on, and cavalier use of unshielded flashlights was really disappointing to see.

Cassiopeia and the Winter Milky Way

Overall I would have to say that this year's Stellafane convention was a great success. It was (as usual) very well organized, had a great set of speakers, interesting telescopes on the field, and clear skies that showed of a limiting magnitude of 6 to even my aging eyes (with glasses)! What more could you want in an astronomy event?

Jupiter Under A Wolf Moon

You have to love the Indian names for the various full moons throughout the year (so much better than the inane "Super Moon" hype we have had the last few years when full moon coincides with perigee). So this week was the Full Wolf Moon¹ - and while you might expect evening temps in the 20s or lower under a Moon with such a chill name, we actually caught a break. Temperatures were a tad above freezing and a bit of humidity in the air offered some stability to the atmosphere.

When I am on the fence about setting up the equipment for a session I usually do a quick check on two things:

1. Will the Great Red Spot be visible?
2. Are the Galilean moons doing anything noteworthy?

Well fortunately the GRS was due to make an appearance, transiting a little after 8:30 local time, so even though Jupiter can be awesome with unpredicted features on any night, I knew that on this night I could catch GRS for the first time in 2014.

The Wolf Moon trailed Jupiter in the eastern sky as I set up the scope, camera, and laptop. It served as a pretty good target for fine tuning my focus, although I prefer a little more terminator to work with. For whatever reason it took a solid half hour to get everything set and ready to roll, hands growing colder as I tweaked and calibrated to the best of my ability. Finally a little after 9 I started capturing, and I could tell right away on the screen that the Great Red Spot was visible and clearly past central meridian.

As usual the southern edge of the SEB preceding the GRS was the most intense cloud feature. The SEB itself appears bifurcated pretty much throughout this side. The NEB has some hints of a couple of festoons, and the NTB seems to be a bit more compact and intense longitudinally near the meridian. All in all a nice start to 2014!

¹To catch up on the names of the other 11 full moons check out Weird Full Moon Names of 2014 Explained over on Space.com