Early Observing Runs with CHaNT
Alex Harding, 3rd Year Undergraduate Student
8th October 2008
On the night of the 8th of October, 2008, we converged on the telescope dome at around 18:30. The night was clear, with an early, ¾ full moon. As it was still twilight, and no stars were yet visible, we set to observing and photographing the moon.
Once the moon had been viewed, we came to photographing it. This meant using a CCD camera. In this case we used the Orion Planetary Camera, one of three which are available to us; the other two being the SBIG camera and the Image Source camera.
The Orion Planetary camera is, as suggested by the name, a camera used for photographing planets in the solar system, as well as other nearby astronomical objects. The camera is attached to the main eyepiece of CHaNT. Using the accompanying computer program Orion Starshoot, the camera shows a live feed on the computer screen. This means that you can look at the screen whilst using the joystick to manoeuvre the telescope, and find the exact portion of an object which you wish to view. The focus can also be altered live using the focuser, which is very handy for obtaining the correct focus quickly.
Once the moon had been located and the Orion Planetary camera attached, we began photographing the moon. Using the joystick we each found a part of the moon we wished to photograph, and captured the image. The image I took (see Fig.1) is of the terminator, and I chose this part especially as it was very cratered. We edited our images using Adobe Photoshop 6. Using the program it is possible to crop the image and improve the clarity of it, meaning that the edited image is of higher quality (see Fig.2). Notice how the field of view in Fig.2 is slightly tighter, meaning that the dark edges of the terminator where no detail can be seen have been cropped, meaning that the more detailed areas of the image can be seen in greater detail.
Fig.1. My first image of the moon.
Fig.2. My edited image of the moon.
Unfortunately with both images, the top right hand corner of the moon is saturated, meaning that no detail can be made out. This was not the case when looking directly thought CHaNT’s main eyepiece; it was just a result of the Orion Planetary camera saturating.
Once we were done photographing the moon, we moved onto Jupiter. Before we attached the Orion Planetary camera to the eyepiece, we first had a look with the naked eye. Two of the moons of Jupiter were visible, they appeared as discs. When the camera was attached, however, the moons were not visible, because the brightness had to be turned down to see the planet itself in any detail. With the brightness down, the bands of Jupiter were clearly visible, along with the Great red Spot. The bands are thought to represent Jupiter’s weather, with the Great Red Spot being a gigantic storm. When it came to photographing, a number of images were taken. Using the Registax program we split a video into single frames, giving us 150 frames. These images could then be edited using Adobe Photoshop 6. The image I took is shown in Fig.3. There is enough detail for Jupiter’s bands to clearly be seen. Using Adobe Photoshop 6, I cropped the image and altered the colouring to improve the detail (see Fig.4).
Fig.3. One frame of the video capture of Jupiter.
Fig.4. Edited image of Fig.3
Once we were satisfied with our data on Jupiter, we decided to try and find M31, Andromeda. By finding Cassiopeia, which looks like a ’W’ made up of 5 stars, we went directly down from the extreme right star of the constellation, into a dark patch of sky. Using the joystick for the telescope, the telescope was manoeuvred, until we thought we had the right patch of sky. Then, using the Orion telescope mounted on the side of CHaNT, the mount was manoeuvred more slowly and precisely until the galaxy came into view. When we had finally located M31 with the Orion telescope, we got a chance to see it through CHaNT’s main eyepiece.
16th October 2008
The next clear night on which we could observe was the 16th of October. During late afternoon we noticed Jupiter in the sky, and decided to have a look through CHaNT. The time was 16:51, and thus still perfect daylight. However, Jupiter was still visible, if only as a very bright point in the sky. After some seconds though, the bands became apparent, as two slightly darker lines across the planet. No images were taken as they would have been too bright. Later in the night, at 21:00 we returned to the roof to find clear skies, if a little hazy.
The first obvious celestial object to observe was the moon, as it was very clear. Using Sky 6, a computer planetarium program that can mechanically slew CHaNT to a desired object, we offset CHaNT to a star close to the moon. Finally, using the joystick, the moon was centred in the cross hairs of the finder scope. The 30mm lens was attached to CHaNT’s eyepiece, and the image quality was excellent. The same was done with the 15mm lens, and the moon was magnified. The quality was still superb. With the 15mm lens the seeing effects of the atmosphere were clear to see, like the effect looking towards the horizon on a hot day. At 21:35, we decided to try and find M31, Andromeda. Using the finder joystick, it was found quite easily. We now decided to attach the SBIG camera to CHaNT, to get some photos. Once the camera was focused we set to accumulating images. After this we decided to call it a night, and so after closing the dome, putting away the lenses, and attaching the eyepiece caps, left at roughly 23:00.
21st October 2008
Our third set of observations took place on the 21st of October. The night was very clear, so a good night’s observation lay ahead of us. We began the night at about 19:15, by observing Andromeda again. Using the SBIG camera we captured more images of M31. The camera was at a temperature of -10.2°, meaning the amount of background noise would be lessened significantly.
Fig.5. M31 in all three bands.
This turned out to be the final action of the night, as after the images were taken, at roughly 21:00, cloud rolled in and rain could be felt in the dome, meaning that we had to shut up shop as quickly as possible.