223-AstronomyReport

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?