Astronomy Report
02/23/2014
Corentin Liber
Sky Conditions: Clear
Winds: Slight
Time of Observation: 10pm - 2am
Summary:
We went for a longer observation session last night and used it mostly to improve the quality of our
pictures. We had some problems while processing the previous pictures taken the other nights and
wanted to be able to obtain better quality material.
We observed less objects and tried a lot of different imaging methods on some we had already imaged previously to check how to achieve the
best pictures. I'll send the 3 best results with this report but a stability problem is still present.
We used:
-exposure ranging between 5s and 300s depending of the objects
-serial dark frame most of the time
-snapshots between 2 and 10
-RGB, RGBs and DDP processing
List of Objects viewed:
M42
M99
M82
M97
NGC6543
M31
Mars
Saturn
For the following nights, we expect to continue imaging at least one time M99 and M82 at each
session to see if we can detect any magnitude evolution.
We'd also like to try some planetary nebulae but we first have to solve our stability problem
because they need longer exposure times. The Cat Eye or the Ring Nebula are possible targets.
We'll image a few new objects every night and different types if possible (cluster, nebula, galaxy).
If you have any particular suggestions, we can include them in our program.
We also have another part in this project: a spectroscopy analysis of different objects. We already
tested it but we need some time processing the results. We'll try to record the spectrum of the
Moon, Jupiter, Mars and a few stars.
Problems Encountered:
While using Track and Accumulate, we had some movement in the pictures even when taking the utmost
care. It could be linked to the guide star chosen but even when changing we had this recurring
problem. I'm not familiar with this kind of processing, should we used a star close to the imaged
object or one as far as possible?
It was especially true for M82 which was close to zenith when we imaged it. Is there an external
factor apart of our movements that could lead to such imprecision in the pictures?