Tim's Universe

Reality, anyone?

2011-01-25T11:00:00.001-05:00

So ask any leading physicist, cosmologist, philosopher... three simple words, What Is Reality? You may be surprised how difficult this question is to answer, and the variety of answers available. This latest episode of BBC Horizon's "What is Reality?" seeks to provide support based on scientific reason/evidence and truth. Enjoy!

Perhaps we forget where we live?

2011-01-21T13:20:00.000-05:00

A recent TED talk video, by acclaimed author Naomi Klein entitled 'Addicted to risk' sums up our societies major challenge; breaking the narrative. I hung off her every word, her writing style is very much the same. It is imperative that we change our ways, or face the consequences of our actions. For those who may believe in some higher-power or meaning or soul, perhaps you should ponder why we seek to damage life, and not protect it. The real miracle is that natural equilibrium (mother nature), the universe, has evolved a species capable of questioning it's own existence - Carl Sagan.

Astronomy is really the study of finding that meaning, and I think provides the evidence for why we must protect our species. Think of how quickly our species has advanced in such a short amount of time, as we perceive it. I only hope the shift from short-term gains, to long-term progress is made, though unlikely in my lifetime.

Please devote 20 minutes of your life to this talk:

What's the biggest number?

2010-12-20T10:34:00.003-05:00

Under warm skies

2010-12-02T01:01:00.009-05:00

(12/12/10) Re-tweak w/ CS5 - M33:

Well before the snow arrived (/sigh), here's a past attempt at the Veil Nebula from DRAA's observing site this past October. Only 5 of 8 were stacked, this target requires significant exposure and guiding for longer frames; 30 sec @ 1600ISO. It's a tad over-stretched, though unfortunately necessary, to bring out those red & green emission bands. It's twisted structures (see photo) are the aftermath remnant of a Supernova estimated to have exploded 5,000-8,000 years ago. Current best estimate of distance is 1,470 light-years.

Also had the usual opportunity that evening to catch Andromeda in the EP. Out of 12 frames taken, 6 were scored and stacked. Sitting 2.5 million light-years distant (2.5x10e23 km):

M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) - 6x30sec, ISO800, DSS/CS4

Messier 50, an open star cluster in Monoceros. 3,000 light-years distant, estimated formed 78 million years ago, the orange-yellow stars are cooler/smaller and possibly older, with a surface temperature of 3000-6000K. The blue stars however are much more luminous, with surface temperatures reaching 18,000K (17,726 Celsius):

M50 (Open cluster) - 14x30sec, ISO 800, DSS/CS4

Spotlight: M42 & M33

2010-11-24T23:01:00.007-05:00

I'll be highlighting two of my favourite DSO's. After having such luck with snapping both back in October, I've decided to give a couple prints as Christmas gifts. Being a junky for teaching & learning, I thought it best to write a description for both M42 & M33.

Orion Nebula (Messier #42)
Distance: ~1,344 light years (12,715,221,755,148,596 quadrillion kilometers) from Earth

Taken Oct. 10, 2010

Orion The Hunter is a prominent constellation located in the South-West sky (of Canada) and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the Canadian winter night sky. Its name refers to Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. The Orion Nebula (also known as M42) is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion’s Belt (three middle stars), commonly referred to as Orion’s Sword. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye under clear dark skies. This nebula is the closest region of new star formation to Earth, where infant stars are constantly formed from hot stellar Hydrogen gas. The nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across in size (227 trillion kilometres). Its central region of gas is over 9,700° Celsius, where intense radiation and collapsing gas moving at speeds of 40,000 Km per second are forming new stars and solar systems; similar to how our own solar system (the Sun and planets) were formed over 5 billion years ago. The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky and is among the most intensely studied celestial objects dating back to written records from 17th century early astronomers. The Orion nebula has revealed much about the processes of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust over thousands and millions of years. Astronomers have directly observed proto-planetary disks (new solar systems), brown dwarfs (a type of cold-dead star), and intense and turbulent motions of the gas as life-cycle of new stars are born.

Triangulum Galaxy (Messier #33)

Distance: ~2.7 million light years (25,780,490,537,782,680,000 quintillion kilometers) from Earth

We see the galaxy now, as it was, 2.7 million years ago!

Taken Oct. 10, 2010

The Triangulum Galaxy (also known as M33) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum. Discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Hodierna in 1654, it was thought to be a nebula, until 1764 when Charles Messier re-classified the object as a galaxy. It is sometimes informally referred to as the “Pinwheel Galaxy”, a moniker it shares with other similar spiral-shaped galaxies. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies (galaxies within 3 million light years of Earth), which includes our own galaxy the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and about 30 other smaller sized galaxies. With a diameter of 50,000 light years, it is the third largest galaxy within our local group. It is estimated to contain 40 billion stars, compared to our own Milky Way Galaxy which contains 300-400 billion stars. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye under dark clear skies (looking North-West in Canada). In 2007, a Black Hole about 15.7 times the mass of the Sun was detected in this galaxy using data from the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory. The Black Hole, named M33 X-7, is the largest stellar mass black hole yet discovered.

Cosmology is my religion

2010-11-18T13:05:00.001-05:00

A recent article on Universe Today's website, reminded me of a recent BBC Horizon video "What Happened Before The Big Bang?" In it, several of the world's leading cosmologists are interviewed on their best-theory of what is 'the big bang', what could have happened to cause it, or what is the Universe itself. Worth an hour out of your day to give this Horizon episode a serious watch...

Loving Photoshop

2010-10-22T01:19:00.008-04:00

I suppose like most things in life, real experience trumps any how-to guide. While I've done much reading on subjects like curves and stretching colour channels, just having a real image to play with has taught me a lot about Photoshop CS4's abilities.

6 x 3min subs, ISO 800, Guided, DSS/CS4

Another photo from Oct. 10, of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) after much adjustment in CS4 and stacking with DSS. I actually had 22 subs in total, but after falling asleep around 5am, the sunrise recked a number of frames. I awoke around 6am to frost covered-everything!

Sunrise trails... come on PHD!

RAW 180 second, ISO 800

Star clusters are majestic objects to view visually, especially through large dob's. I'm working on several in processing.

Messier 50 (Open Cluster) (10 x 30 sec, ISO 800, unguided, DSS/CS4

Welcome back, Orion

2010-10-13T09:56:00.004-04:00

Us North American's can always tell winters coming when Orion the Hunter starts to rise in the midnight sky. I was fortunate enough this past weekend to enjoy a great dark site, around 80 Km north of the GTA. Around 2:00am and battling frosty-ice forming on my equipment, I set my scope on M42 (Orion Nebula) and took 51 minutes of exposure (3 minute subs x 17). Since I'm learning, I realize now I should have removed the 0.63 focal reducer I had been using to capture other DSO's. But alas, this would mean a shutdown of the mount, a re-balance, re-alignment & polar alignment. So being cold and tired, I opted to live with the halo artifacts visible in the photo below. I haven't performed any processing/stacking on this image as of yet. It's 16 bit mono, and still needs to be de-mosaic'ed for RGB. But, the result was impressive, M42 is so bright, its easily visible. The trick is learning and planning for exposure time with M42. A beautiful target however, hopefully before the snow falls around here, I'll have some other opportunities!

Update: After a better run at stacking/processing with DSS, here's the composite. Next I'll be fixing those halo artifacts using the wonder that is Photoshop. I already started on the left side.

Likely the final version for print:

AP targets for October

2010-10-05T11:50:00.001-04:00

I've recently come across a website by George Moromisato "Neurohack" which contains a wonderful monthly listing of astrophotography targets. Well not just for AP, but also for visual, too. I was able to complete all of his September targets visually. But now I'm setting myself a challenge to photograph each target, if nothing more than for the memorization of where target's are and some AP settings.

I was elated to find that George also posts much of his AP settings/know-how for specific targets, and he's produced wonderful images, including several of my favourites also.

Targets for October

object	type	location	mag	size	skill
NGC 7293 Helix Nebula	pn	Aqr 22H 29.64m -20°50.22'	6	12' × 10'	Beginner
NGC 7331	sg	Peg 22H 37.1m +34°25'	9.5	9.7' × 4.5'	Intermediate
NGC 7479	sg	Peg 23H 5m +12°19'	10.8	3.9' × 3'	Intermediate
NGC 7606	sg	Aqr 23H 19.1m -8°29'	10.8	5.8'	Intermediate
NGC 7635 Bubble Nebula	dn	Cas 23H 20.7m +61°12'	10	15' × 8'	Intermediate
Arp 319 Stephan's Quintet	cg	Peg 22H 36m +33°57.9'	13.6	11' × 8.5'	Advanced
NGC 7662	pn	And 23H 23.9m +42°32.1'	8.3	0.5' × 0.5'	Advanced
Sh2-142	dn	Cep 22H 47.3m +58°8'	10	30' × 30'	Advanced
Sh2-155 Cave Nebula	dn	Cep 22H 56.8m +62°37'	10	50' × 30'	Advanced

So it's been awhile...

2010-09-30T21:24:00.006-04:00

I'm blaming wonderful Canadian Fall weather for my lack of posting... ;) Ton's of news lately, among the most pervading: Gliese 581g

Here's what I've been up to, I'll post a few more after processing. These have all been captured under light polluted skies of Ajax, though much is gained by steady seeing conditions.

First image is M27 'The Dumbbell Nebula'. Image taken; 5 x 60 sec. subs, ISO 800, processed DSS. Canon XS, CGEM-8 w/ KWIQ Ag (PHD guiding and Nebulosity 2)

(M27) RAW image, after 5 x 60 second stacked in Nebulosity 2

After processing darks/flats/bias applied & Photoshop CS4

M22 star cluster Image taken; 2 x 120 sec.subs, ISO 800, CGEM + KWIQ Ag

(M22) 2 x 120 second stacked, un-processed

M8 Lagoon Nebula Image taken; 8 x 10 second, ISO 800, unguided, RAW stack

My dream vacation: Chilean Atacama (Cerro Paranal)

2010-07-15T09:37:00.002-04:00

Boasting some of the clearest skies on Earth, the ESO site at Paranal is surely any Astronomers dream vacation. Especially for North American amateurs who miss out on many exquisite deep sky objects simply because our view of the Southern skies is never visible. This latest EsoCast has got me itching to travel south - South American style. Some day soon, I hope :)

Great weekend!

2010-07-13T23:45:00.001-04:00

Had a great time this past Saturday at Star-B-Que, and managed to take a few short exposures.

M57 "Ring Nebula" (ISO 1600, 30 second, Canon 1000D)

M17 "Swan Nebula" (ISO 800, 30 second, Canon 1000D)

NGC 7662 "The Blue Snowball" (ISO 1600, 20 second, Canon 1000D)

Wonders of the Solar System (and beyond...)

2010-06-29T11:15:00.001-04:00

I recently stumbled on a new mini-docu series, hosted by Professor Brian Cox. As most of his fans will attest, he's a younger Stephen Hawking in some ways - his passion is real, as is the subject he presents! This five part series, "Wonders of the Solar System" covers five topics, and will be released in NA on Sept. 7 (perhaps it's time to purchase a Blu-Ray player :) Enjoy!

Has anyone seen my black hole? Oh thanks Hubble!

2010-06-10T13:55:00.000-04:00

Now that Hubble has new optics, its returning images that are just spectacular. Here's a short life story in the evolutions of black holes; truly one of nature's most fascinating realities.

Galaxies (above), like our own Milky Way contain many billions of stars (~400 billion for ours). Supernova occur when a star's mass (above left image, lower left Supernova) cannot maintain their equilibrium of exploding and imploding. The result is a blast, which for several minutes, is brighter than the entire galactic core, where billions of other stars exist.

Some times, collapsing star's form ultra-dense stars called neutron stars. The Crab Nebula (above right) is the result of a Supernova with enough matter left to form a Pulsar (type of neutron star, left image). The Crab Pulsar is believed to be about 28–30 km in diameter; it emits pulses of radiation every 33 milliseconds. Pulses are emitted at wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to X-rays. Occasionally, its rotational period shows sharp changes, known as 'glitches', which are believed to be caused by a sudden realignment inside the neutron star. The energy released as the pulsar slows down is enormous, and it powers the emission of the synchrotron radiation of the Crab Nebula, which has a total luminosity about 75,000 times greater than that of our Sun. Consider, our Sun loses ~4 million tons of mass per second, which is energy converted to radiation (heat + light); E=mc² and does this continuously for ~9-10 billion years!

There's a lot we know, and don't know about Black Holes but in summary, with tools like Hubble, we've found real evidence to support Einstein's prediction of this mind-boggling phenomenon. Black Holes are so heavy and exert such tremendous gravity, that not even light (or any form of matter/radiation) can escape it. Since we can't actually see a black hole, we can only infer it's effects on matter surrounding them. Typically you need at least 10 solar masses (that is to say, 10 times the mass of our Sun) to collapse inwards, in which at a certain threshold a hole in the fabric of space & time is created. These two images above are images in X-ray and Infrared radiation, where matter is being heated and pulled into a black hole. It is now assumed that at the center of every galaxy in our Universe, exists a black hole, as the effects of gravity can be observed from their motions around the galactic center. Supermassive black holes get even more interesting!

So where does a black hole go? I suppose a better question is, where is... where?

Some major firsts

2010-06-02T13:02:00.000-04:00

So last's nights CSC for DRAACO (member's only observing site) was the best it's been in a several weeks, and since I was anxious to meet some fellow DRAA members, I made the trip out with my CGEM.

What a wonderful experience, and great observing site! I met several DRAA members experienced in astro-photography, and it was great to chat about my aspirations - whilst being reminded how much I need to learn (that's a good thing for astronomers).

After several attempts at polar alignment, I was fortunate enough to have the experience of another CGEM user to help me obtain an accurate go-to alignment, sufficient enough that I could punch in several Messier objects and the scope slewed right to them. What a wonderful view - I was able to see the spiral arms of M31, as well M81/M82; a must see for anyone interested.

Moonrise came around 12:40am, so it was time to pack up. On my list of things to purchase is a better flashlight, I'm afraid my eco-friendly *shake shake* flashlight just won't cut it. I'm almost certain I lost an EP cap somewhere in the grass; hence the learning curve!

Can't wait for the next clear sky opportunity.

Beautiful spring sky

2010-05-19T11:13:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough this past Sunday evening to have clear skies overhead and some free time to play around with the new AT Voyager mount. Managed to snap a couple good crescent moon pictures using my Canon 1000D. I've only slightly played with the contrast/brightness, so this one's pretty good. The focus was a bit off however, but not bad for manual guiding. Venus and the Moon were a pretty sight also, but none of my Venus pictures turned out well.

Forecast looks promising for tonight; perhaps another try!

A little grab n' go pleasure!

2010-05-13T14:04:00.000-04:00

Had a wonderful experience shopping online this past week. Turns out (well for this product anyway) that it was $100 cheaper ordering/shipping from Quebec, than it was driving into Toronto to pickup the identical product. Ok what I'm going on about? The Astro-Tech Voyager Alt-Az mount/tripod!

This wonderfully portable and sturdy mount/tripod is hard to beat for quick setup and grab-n-go observing. Weighing roughly 14 lbs, it's rated for 20 lbs of OTA equipment, which I'll certainly be testing out with my C-8 OTA the next clear sky opportunity. Frankly, when I just want to visually observe, practice collimation (etc.) I really don't want the 30 minute setup of the CGEM. So, after much research this looks like a cost-effective solution! It will also be interesting learning the Alt-Azimuth mount control (manually), which is somewhat fundamental in terms of understanding sky map coordinates, axis/meridian locations and well... all that stuff electronics does for us astro-geeks.

Just realized it's been a long time since my last post; that will change, perhaps with the weather? Warmer nights ahead and lot's more to learn :)

Solar Dynamics Observatory: First Light today!

2010-04-21T16:26:00.000-04:00

This is certainly news-worthy (even though I'm doubting my local 6pm news will cover it). Anyway today at 2:15pm (EST) NASA released the first light images from SDO. Launched Feb. 11, 2010 it's taken a couple months and many orbits to place the telescope(s) in true geosynchronous orbit. Click here for the full details.

NASA's SDO site has some truly amazing images, which is said to be better-than-IMAX quality films, as the SDO has 4 primary telescopes - each with a different wavelength and purpose.

Still worried about 2012 and our Sun destroying the planet? Do not fear, science is here! No but seriously, SDO will literally re-write what we know about our Sun, how it works and how it affects our climate, etc.

In other news, I put aside work on Monday evening for some backyard telescope time. The sky was decent, perhaps a bit humid but Mars & Saturn offered some good viewing. I'll post more once this weeks behind me (yes educators hate marking papers, probably as much as the students hate writing them!)

Dear Mrs. Nature; clear sky please?

2010-04-07T11:31:00.000-04:00

So yay, I received a belated birthday gift-order yesterday (Celestron Eyepiece Kit)

Although the higher-power EP's (4mm) don't have great eye-relief at least the many differet filters will be useful. The kit also came with a 2x Barlow, which effectively doubles my collect of EP's now.

I've had a Celestron X-Cel 2.3mm EP for a couple months now, which with my OTA of 8" (2032mm focal length) works out to roughly 816x Although this EP is not meant for deep-sky observing, combined with these filters, it should certainly offer great planetary views!

Now if the weather would just cooperate.

Life on Mars; seems logical

2010-03-31T10:45:00.001-04:00

A recent TED talk caught my interest. January's DRAA meeting was also improvised to include a speaker from the RASC Toronto, a very interesting fellow who's passionate about Mars and it's geology. There is now enough compounded evidence that life (microbial or otherwise) should exist on Mars today!

Welcome to the 11th Dimension! ... or 13th?!

2010-03-29T23:34:00.014-04:00

So around 2:00am tomorrow (EST), the LHC is set for a world-wide event. Finally... after many months (and years), they're set for 'big bang' quality collisions.

Some wiki snippets ;)

ALICE

Will study a "liquid" form of matter called quark–gluon plasma that existed shortly after the Big Bang.

ATLAS

One of two general purpose detectors. ATLAS will be used to look for signs of new physics, including the origins of mass and extra dimensions.
CMS
The other general purpose detector will, like ATLAS, hunt for the Higgs boson and look for clues to the nature of dark matter.
LHCb
Equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created in the Big Bang. LHCb will try to investigate what happened to the "missing" antimatter.

The size of the LHC constitutes an exceptional engineering challenge with unique operational issues on account of the huge energy stored in the magnets and the beams. While operating, the total energy stored in the magnets is 10 GJ (equivalent to 2.4 tons of TNT) and the total energy carried by the two beams reaches 724 MJ (173 kilograms of TNT). Loss of only one ten-millionth part (10^−7) of the beam is sufficient to quench a superconducting magnet, while the beam dump must absorb 362 MJ (87 kilograms of TNT) for each of the two beams. These immense energies are even more impressive considering how little matter is carrying it: under nominal operating conditions (2,808 bunches per beam, 1.15×1011 protons per bunch), the beam pipes contain 1.0×10^−9 gram of hydrogen, which, in standard conditions for temperature and pressure, would fill the volume of one grain of fine sand.

Success! Well sort of...

2010-03-22T20:20:00.000-04:00

I suppose this is my first light in some ways. BUT, it's all wrong! Actually I'm quite happy for a first attempt, with no real special gear used... hell even 50mm lenses are capable of worse.

Seen here is the lower-half of Orion, with M42 just visible (lower left) *smiles* This was taken at f/4, 5 sec, 1600 ISO, 75mm (Canon 1000D) using Tungsten (hence the blue hue). But, every trip I learn a little more, and this exposure was taken unguided under somewhat dirty (light polluted) sky's of suburbia. The ISO was all wrong, as was the white-balance.

A second attempt was made using auto white-balance (f/4, 5 sec, 1600 ISO @ 300mm). This time some of M42's beautiful pink/purple can be seen. Granted ISO 1600 was a bit much! Anyway, not bad considering I was using my car-hood, unguided and in the wind!

So excited for summer now :)

You don't scare me Planet X

2010-03-11T10:04:00.001-05:00

What a view eh!? Imagine waking up on the ISS and heading over to the Cupola for your daily exercise whilst overseeing a few continents /sigh. But, considering the radiation exposure, I'm quite happy just looking at pictures :)

If anything, I'm scared for 12/21/2012 just because of all the ones and twos (it hurts my eyes a bit...) It's sad when the Discovery Channel starts playing crap about the end of our world, based on very little evidence. Hey that said, I (and many other advanced instruments) could be wrong, if so well... we won't have much time to play the 'I was right, you were wrong' game anyway. Ton's of reading about Planet X (aka Nibiru) here: http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/25/2012-no-planet-x/

No but seriously, I am a little worried. Knowing how this silly global media operates, and believing in capitalistic manipulation, I'm sure (much like Y2K) it will cause ripple effects just from speculative reporting. I still remember the house party I was at for the ringing in of 2000... "3, 2, 1..." *house lights went dark*, *high-pitch screams heard* followed by "hey, the street lights are on..." Haha, good times!

Happy March!

2010-03-01T13:34:00.001-05:00

I haven't been posting much lately around my own astronomy adventures. Frankly my local weather forecast keeps failing me (haha if it were only that simple!) So what's up for March, you mean besides my birthday? Here's a few important dates to remember:

March 16 - Moon enters Aries (perhaps I'll buy some lottery #'s)
March 21 - Saturn closest to Earth (8.5au = 1,271,583,000 kilometers)
March 30 - Full Moon ('Blue Moon'-but only in timezone UTC+7)

So let's hope March 21/22nd will be clear and slightly warmer. I'd love a few decent attempts at Saturn photo-ops!

Lot's more news to come, as it happens. Ton's of exciting astro-related projects are happening all around the world (and beyond). The LHC is undergoing testing in preparation for 7 TeV runs (simply: Big Bang quality collisions... and sorry, no black holes are expected to swallow us). There's been some news around 'Dark Matter' lately, that's quite exciting! STS-131 is due to launch April 5th; it's sad the program's ending, no really. And (just because I love big numbers), Voyager 1 is currently the furthest man-made object from Earth, ~17 billion km from Earth or 14.6 light-hours (remember 300,000 km/second!) yes that's epic... amazingly though, Voyager 1 still continues to transmit data, and should continue until 2025. It's actually extremely advanced, considering it's age, launched 32 years and 177 days ago!

Clear skys,

Scales of our Universe

2010-02-23T12:23:00.001-05:00

Sent to me by my dear friend, this helps to put my mind in perspective! The smallest to the biggest suddenly seems to be comprehensible... click here

Bigger is Better!

2010-02-22T21:26:00.002-05:00

It's true ladies (and gentlemen), size does matter (such a silly radio-ad...)! I'm talking about telescope aperture of course! With improvements in cryogenics and material sciences, we're today creating the most advanced optics systems ever devised. The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will be able to see (hopefully) beyond Hubble, further back in time; a time when the first photons emerged from darkness.

I tried this past weekend for some observing of Mars/Saturn, but unfortunately the -11C temperatures (w/ wind chill) were just too much. Yeah I'm Canadian, but more of a southerner!

So why is telescope size (optical aperture) so important, well here's a great video for a cold winters eve.

Dark Matter & 360° views!

2010-02-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

So much is happening these days on the ISS. With only 4 (or possibly 6?) STS missions left (we'll miss you Shuttle!), I suppose all the heavy lifting better get done.

ESA-NASA just launched the Cupola module which will be used for many tasks; perhaps the only free one being beyond worldly views! It will allow astronauts to control the robotic space arm with much greater visibility. This module will also contain new ISS cooling equipment, and even new exercise equipment for astronauts (I think with views like these I would happily work out!)

Neat picture recently captured yesterday from Texas, as the Shuttle separated from the ISS to fly home. You can see the Shuttle a moving ahead of the ISS in this time-lapse exposure.

Coming up on STS-134 is the delivery of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, possibly the most advanced detector we've yet launched into space. Currently scheduled for July, 2010, the AMS will help scientists better understand the fundamental issues on the origin and structure of the Universe by observing dark matter, missing matter and antimatter. As a byproduct, AMS will gather other information from cosmic radiation sources such as stars and galaxies millions of light years from our home galaxy.

Hoping for Sun & blue sky!

2010-02-11T09:49:00.001-05:00

The 7th annual Winter WonderLearn event is happening this Saturday in Courtice, ON. The DRAA is hoping to have several solar telescopes setup for some public Sol viewing. I'm planning on busting out my scope and Baader shield for sunspot viewing. Sunspot 1045 is gradually fading (upper-right), but 1046 is just starting to grow. I've heard that several members of the DRAA have H-alpha filters (mega $$), which show solar flares and surface granulation; neither of which I've seen "live" yet!

That said, the forecast doesn't look excellent, and I'll need those thermal clothes on! Looking forward to a relaxing Saturday under our winter Sun.

Black Holes; why?

2010-02-09T12:48:00.008-05:00

Question: Why are Black Holes in the Middle of Galaxies?

Answer: The black holes you're thinking of are known as supermassive black holes. Stellar mass black holes are created when a star at least 5 times larger than our Suns runs out of fuel and collapses in on itself forming a black hole.

How do we know when a Black Hole can exist? The Schwarzschild radius of course!

It is the radius of a sphere in space, that if containing a correspondingly sufficient amount of mass (and therefore, reaches a certain density), the force of gravity from the contained mass would be so great that no known force or degeneracy pressure could stop the mass from continuing to collapse in volume into a point of infinite density: a gravitational singularity (colloquially referred to as a black hole).

Astronomers are now fairly certain that these supermassive black holes are at the heart of almost every galaxy in the Universe. Furthermore, the mass of these black holes is somehow tied to the mass of the rest of the galaxy. They grow in tandem with each other. When large quantities of material falls into the black hole, it chokes up, unable to get consumed all at once. This "accretion disk" begins to heat up and blaze brightly in many different wavelengths, including X-rays. When supermassive black holes are actively feeding, astronomers call these quasars.

So how do these black holes get there in the first place? Astronomers aren't sure, but it could be that the dark matter halo that surrounds every galaxy serves to focus and concentrate material as the galaxy was first forming. Some of this material became the supermassive black hole, while the rest became the stars of the galaxy. It's also possible that the black hole formed first, and collected the rest of the galaxy around it. Astronomers just don't know.

See: http://www.universetoday.com/category/black-holes/

Solar Dynamics (soon to be) better understood!

2010-02-04T12:37:00.002-05:00

An advanced new set of cameras are due to launch Feb. 9th. Called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) this pretty small satellite will make very detailed measurements about our star, and try to model it's "weather" which effects Earth 24/7/365.2425 *wink* It's actually very important they measure the Sun's energy output, as the more ultraviolet radiation that gets absorbed, the larger Earth's atmosphere expands, and the higher satellites must orbit (otherwise things get pricey!)

Update: the launch date has been moved to Feb. 10 (Wed.), 10:30 EST. Lots of NASA info here!

Still waiting for that solar filter to arrive!

2010-01-21T12:11:00.000-05:00

It's annoying when you get those automated order system notification's saying 5-7 business days, which some how never comes true! But, I'll continue to wait for my Baader Solar Filter (ordered Dec. 8/09) because either way it's a bit cold outside for solar viewing, and mostly grey sky. Unfortunately my part of the world didn't get to see the recent solar eclipse. I believe the Toronto area will see the next one in 2024, although not a full eclipse. The next 100% eclipse for my GPS coord's will be October 26, 2144 (/sigh).

I really like this photo taken in Iran just recently. It's 24% eclipse and sunspot 1040 is visible (just above the bird's wing):

Lots of other user submitted photos at Spaceweather.com, enjoy!

The Hunter

2010-01-20T13:12:00.000-05:00

If I had to pick just one constellation, it would be Orion: The Hunter for its significance to humans (religions & myths) and its usefulness for all-year round backyard viewing. The Orion Nebula (M42 & M43) is also easily visible, at times with the unaided eye! If you look south-west from Orion's belt (asterism), the faint star and purple-pink smudge is known as Orion's sword. It's the location of this beautiful star forming region. It's also being studied in much greater detail by Hubble of late. And at roughly 1,350 light years from Earth it's a near by region for many levels of interest; shedding light on how our own solar system (and Sun) formed.

Once my T-adapter arrives, and the weather warms up slightly, M42 will be my first real attempt at long exposure AP.

I'll conclude with an interesting perspective as to the meaning of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. A) it's hard to discount that ~3000 years BC, the original story of the Bible was already known (hmm, plagiarism much?), and B) that Orion was considered central to Egyptian worship and the reason for building such incredible stone monuments. Give this a watch!

20 years my senior, at least!

2010-01-14T15:49:00.001-05:00

So I hadn't really been able to attend a full monthly meeting of the DRAA since I joined last November. I attended last nights, and for the most part it was worthwhile.

We were supposed to have a presentation on Amateur Radio Astronomy, but unfortunately the presenter was unable to attend. Instead we heard from another RASC member, on the mystery of epsilon Aurigae, and what we amateurs could contribute to the communities understanding. What's amazing is that even with major NASA/ESA backed space missions (Spitzer, Chandra, Hubble, etc.), we're still no closer in understanding this binary variable star formation who's light dims every 27.1 years for unknown reasons. Definitely an interesting talk, but not what I'd been hoping for!

Amateur Radio Astronomy is actually available to every one with a radio. That static hiss you hear between stations is partly the left over "bang" from the THE Big Bang! Beyond this, you need some pretty sensitive equipment for real radio astronomy, but nonetheless some of our fundamental origin type questions have been solved in the past by simple radio waves; fascinating stuffs!

My AWOL Astronomy passion

2010-01-12T10:33:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's our cold and snowy winter, but besides reading Canon manuals and astrophotography guides I haven't really been active. I'm certainly looking forward to this months DRAA meeting, and the upcoming workshops/outreach events. I'm starting to hit that wall of learned knowledge vs. experience; I need some other (real life) SCT users to commiserate with!

Oh I can think of another excuse for my AWOL behaviour. I ordered (Dec. 8) the Canon T-adapter/ring for my SCT, for which I'm still waiting to receive! That and a AstroZap Baader Solar Filter was supposed to have arrived at least a couple weeks ago but due to the holiday rush, my order was somewhat lost. I've been assured all's well, but still I had been hoping to start using the Rebel LiveView feature by now.

Anyways. I'll post as often as possible, as I continue to learn.

Get your SPF-45 ChapStick ready!

2009-12-16T10:23:00.000-05:00

This morning, an eruption of magnetic fields around sunspot 1035 (already 7x larger than Earth) produced a long-duration C4-class solar flare and hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) in the general direction of Earth. Details of the blast will become clear when more data are downloaded from the SOHO and STEREO spacecraft. Meanwhile, high-latitude sky watchers should prepare for auroras when the CME arrives on or about Dec. 18th. Ok so I was joking about the ChapStick, but hey aren't you glad we live under the protection of our atmosphere? Maybe the boffin's at COP15 are onto something :P

Can't wait for my Baader AstroSafety (solar) filter to arrive... these sunspots should be quite the show!

Virtual Astronomy

2009-12-15T11:10:00.001-05:00

Isn't the WWW just amazing ;) Here's a few sites worth checking out that offer access to virtual telescopes and resources that no typical school library ever could (at least not the libraries I experienced)!

Bradford Robotic Telescope
One of the first virtual telescopes I ever came across. It's actually very useful for learning about Astrophotography in general, as 1) it's FREE, 2) you control the basic exposure settings. Located in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), at elv. 7,7874 ft., it's got a beautiful view of the sky. Once you create your account, you simply select your target, setup your exposure (filter's, exposure time, etc.) and the system schedules your image. You then receive an email letting you know it's complete and your images are saved for viewing. Check out the user galleries too; it's the cheapest AP practice I've seen!

World Wide Telescope
The WWT is a combination of ground-based and space-based telescope imagery & data which allows you to access breathtaking images, while listening to some helpful narration! It's both a downloadable program and web-based client giving you a wide range of access. A highly recommended combo site.

Google Sky
Of course Google would have an application for Astronomy, and here it is! Offering a sky map and visual reference library, this site works much like Google Earth and is useful for finding your way around the night sky. The site sort of speaks for itself, so go check it out!

VISTA telescope

2009-12-13T13:15:00.000-05:00

This new 3-ton, 67 megapixel, near infrared sensitive optical telescope built in Chile, is my idea of a vacation! Considering it's a ground based telescope, yet will be able to perform at such high resolutions, is a testament to our technology! Combined with data from WISE, it should be very interesting to see what new discoveries are made in the next few years.

Aren't we WISE?

2009-12-10T00:26:00.004-05:00

Very exciting mission ahead, well *knocks desk... twice*! The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (scheduled for launch at 09:03 EST, Dec. 11) relies on a stable cryo system (hydrogen ice & liquid helium) to keep this complex telescope with a 5 million pixel infrared detector cooled to ~(-270)’C for ~6 months worth of imaging. This will generate a complete survey/map of our sky as viewed from Earth. I'll let someone with a PhD fill in the rest :-D

Update: Launch delayed until Monday (Dec. 14) at 9:09am EST... something uber technical that needed replacing.

Hot Sol

2009-12-08T09:28:00.001-05:00

Some awesome new movies/pics from NASA's STEREO imager (gallery here), a 3D-imaging satellite currently studying solar activity to understand the dynamics of this massive and mind-boggling object. Hopefully we'll stave off needing Jackson Curtis to rescue us from any Mayan 2012 fables with this wonderful piece of space technology! Maybe Santa will bring me an H-alpha filter for Christmas (or not...), but I'd still at least like to pickup an AstroZap Solar filter and see some sun spots!

Beautiful moon & first collimation attempt

2009-12-06T01:55:00.006-05:00

Decided it was worth an attempt at performing collimation last night. Before the snow hits my backyard, I figured it was worth a few close ups of the moon and some GoTo practice, followed by some collimation testing/adjustment using the star Sirius. It was a little chilly I'll admit, my fingers were getting a bit numb after an hour. It was also the first real test of my sonotube (did-it-myself) dew sheild. Combined with a heater band, not a drop of dew was seen on the corrector plate :)

All'n'all it was fun. Now I just need some uber long USB cables so I can use my laptop for pictures/control from indoors (not worth bringing it outside for risk of exposure).

It's getting colder, but my scope is warmer!

2009-12-04T09:24:00.007-05:00

Last night I mostly finished making my sonotube dew shield. After a few flat-black paint jobs, some black foam flocking, and thumb screws installed... it should be ready for use. I loosely followed this guide. Must take some pictures. Combined with a Kendrick heat band and controller, it should extend viewing times by many hours (I hope).

Deep down, I'd move to New Mexico in a second, but until I'm either self-employed or the next OLG winner, I doubt I'll be finding a warmer climate.

Keep an eye out on Dec. 13/14th (around midnight) for the Geminid meteor shower, left over bits of rock from extinct comet 3200 Phaethon as the Earth passes through it's field. Depending on the weather, it should yield a nice show, ~140/meteors per hour.

Happy Friday & clear skys

Supermassive Black Holes - TED talk

2009-12-03T12:51:00.006-05:00

Ah my other favourite past time, YouTube vids :) Posted today, a great TED talk discussing current research in confirming black holes at the centre of galaxies. Our own Milky Way galaxy is the best to study, as it's OUR galaxy and therefore easy to observe. I must admit, for a TED talk, the presenter isn't that great, she has some issues dumbing it down, but anyway, a wonderful topic nonetheless.

The first of many

2009-12-03T10:44:00.000-05:00

Got thinking, it would probably be valuable to maintain an online blog to capture my interest in Astronomy. As I'm relatively new to this hobby, I've found so many great resources that would be great to share, and discuss.

My ultimate goal is Deep Space Object astrophotography (DSO-AP), and I've really just begun learning what's required to take such amazing photographs. I'm a new owner of a CGEM 8" which should last me for many years to come. The next major purchase will be a DSO imager (e.g. DSI Pro II), but for now my NexImage will have to do for planetary photos, etc. There's much to learn about Auto Guiding, and I'm just about to perform major surgery on my old ETX 90EC (removing the OTA from the mount), and setup a Losmandy rig to make that my guide scope. But, there's lot of issues to overcome, and while trying to save some $$, Losmandy hardware isn't cheap (at least here in Canada)!

Well that's it for now :)