Sunday, July 28, 2024

Sun in H-beta - Sol'Ex with Herschel Wedge

The Sun this morning in H-beta. This time I used my Sol'Ex version 1 with Herschel Wedge in stead of Solar filter Hoya ND16.

Setting : TLAPO60/360, Sol'Ex v1 with ASI290MM
Filter : Herschel Wedge Lacerta (1.25")
Software : SharpCap 4, Inti, JSolex2.6.0 and CS4



Saturday, July 27, 2024

Line broadening in Sunspots with Sol'Ex

 


Using my Sol'ex (version 1) I'm able to observe line broadening in sunspots. As shown in the image, the spectrallines in sunspot 3759 (upper picture) is bolder and broader that the line in the photosphere (below of the picture). The phenomene is due to magnectic activity in sunspots and becomes visible in metalic spectrallines; in this case Titanium, Calcium and Iron. 


Monday, July 22, 2024

Milky Way Bortle Class 3 - Chatillon sur Indre

Chatillon sur Indre, is located in the département de l'Indre (region Centre-Val de Loire). We stayed four days at the "La Domaine de la Poignardiere".
The first day was almost entirely cloud free and I took my chance to take some pictures of the milky way. The moon was low above the horizon and the domaine was luminated which resulted in a minor light pollution. No other lights from the surrounding (towns) were visible. According World Map 2015 Light Pollution Map the area is bortle class 3:

SQM 21.81 mag./arc sec2
Brightness 0.203 mcd/m2
Artif. bright.32.0 μcd/m2

Setting : Nikon D7500 10mm ISO3200 30-60s exposure tim
Mount : Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i





Unfortunately, the other 3 days the sky was covered with high and medium clouds.

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Apollo and ISS Mission Control Centers

Visiting Nasa's Space Center in Houston with a tour at the Apollo Mission Control Center and ISS Mission Control Center

At the Apollo Mission Control Center - Replay of Apollo 11 landing

Live at the ISS Mission Control Center


Compilation of Sun using Sol'Ex

 


Compilation of images taken on July 20, 2024; using Sol'Ex version 1 on TLAPO60/360 with ND16 and ASI290MM.


Visit NASA Space Center Houston - Shuttle OV-095

 


Last april I visited NASA's Space Center in Houston. With my VIP ticket I could visit some really cool area's :

* Crew Systems Laboratory
* Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
* Apollo Mission Control Center
* ISS Mission Control
* George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park Tour with one of the 3 remaining  Saturn V rocket.
 

At the SAIL OV-095 "Shuttle"

OV meaning Orbiter Vehicle; number started with a "0" never flew, started with a "1" did flew. OV 095 was a shuttle to understand how to build one and to test both hardware and flight software. A fantastic experience standing insite of the first ever structure of a space shuttle. 


Orginal Space Walk Glove ($50.000)

Original Shuttle Carrier NASA905

Falcon 9 First Stage


Image of the Sun using Sol'Ex July 20, 2024 H-Alpha, He D3, Mg b1, H-Beta, Ca K, Ca H

Imaging the sun as we had a clear sky in the morning. Unfortunately, I lost time due to software updates of my PC.

Setting : TLAPO 60/360 with Sol'Ex version 1 and ASI290MM
Filter : ND16 Solar Filter
Software : SharpCap 4, Inti 6.1, JSolex 2.6, IMPPG  and CS4