Darth Vader's Galaxy NGC936

As a Star Wars fan, the object NGC 936 is realy cool. The galaxy looks like a Star Wars Empire (advanced) TIE fighter and was named Darth Vader's Galaxy. It's located in constellation Cetus and is about 60 million lightyears away from Earth. It forms a pair with NGC941. When comparing the field of view with SIMBAD we will find more then 160 galaxies aswell as Quasar 4C 01.11 with a redshift z=2.038.

Setting : Nikon D7500, TAL200K f/8.5, ZWO Mini Guidescope 30, guide camera ASI224MC.
Image : ISO400, Lights 12x90s; 4x300s, Darks, Flats, Bias and Dark Flats.

Software : N.I.N.A, PHD2, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI.

MAI-SSTV Experiment Dec 1 & 2

The Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) is planning for a SSTV experiment session for December 1 and 2. Timings are listed below but could be changed :

    December 1 – Start: 12:10 UT. Stop: 19:10 UT
    December 2 – Start: 11:40 UT. Stop: 17:20 UT

SSTV mode is traditional PD120 and images will be transmitted on 145.800 MHz.

See also my previous blog on MAI experiment via this link

My Current Astrophotography Set Up

 

This flowchart is a visual of my current astrophotography set up. Starting from my mount untill processing of the astropictures. Still some learning to be done eg. the use of platesolving. 

Finding COM-ports in Windows 10

Windows10 environment: type "configuration" in search field (right of Windows Start). In the Click on devices and this will show the ports. If ports are not shown, click on view and enable "hidden devices". 

Veil Nebula NGC6960 RGB and H-alpha

The Veil Nebula (NGC6960) in constellation Cygnus is a supernova remnant. The cloud of ionised gas is located about 2400 lightyears away from Earth. Estimations when the supernova happened range between 5000 and 20000 years ago.
A picture was made of the Western Veil Nebula near star 52 Cygni. 

Setting : Nikon D7500 and TLAPO 80/480 f/6; RGB 7x600s ISO400 and H-Alpha 11x300 ISO1600 which results in a total exposure of 125 minutes. No darks, bias or flats.

Guiding Set up: N.I.N.A (Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy), EQMOD, Stellarium, PHD2 with guiding camera ASI224MC and guidescope ZWO 30 f/4.

Pictures are stacked using APP and final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI. 

My blog picked up by Robots: 50.000 views in 5 days

End of October my blog was picked by a robot. Between October 26 and October 31my blog received 51.000 views. All views could be traced back from the US. After disabling the option for "robots" in the settings, my views went back to normal. In the meantime all settings are enabled again and the blog is performing as before. 

This means also that the blog is viewed more then 120.000 times :)

First steps to remote astrophotography: VNC and N.I.N.A

 

My set up with N.I.N.A and VNC

With the installation of VNC (Virtual Network Computing - VNC Server and VNC Viewer) I'm able to remotely operate my telescope. This means that my laptop with all related software is connected to the telescope (mount, camera, guiding,..) and remotely connected to a second laptop inside the house. 

In the meatime I'm making progress with N.I.N.A (Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy) and I'm able to use platesolving with pictures made earlier this week. 

Awaiting clear skies to have a real live session with all captured learnings. 

Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard

This and next month is worthwhile to have a look at the morning sky. Look in the east for Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard. Current best estimates predict magnitude below 6 (beginning of december) meaning the comet is visible with the naked eye.

Some nice conjunctions between the Comet and Deepsky objects which can be photgraphed or visual observed :

- November 19 : together with NGC4399 and NGC4400

- November 23-25 : together with galaxies Hockeystick (NGC4657) and Whale (NGC4631)

- November 30 : together with 7 NGC objects 

- December 3 : together with globular Cluster M3

Succes and clear skies!

EQASCOM Meridian Limits

To protect your telescoop and camera setup from crashing with the mount once the mount is past the meridian it's recommended to set meridian limits. When the mount reaches the limits it will stop guiding and/or can park your scope and/or can start a meridian flip. 

A good video which explain how to set meridian limits through EQASCOM can be found here.

Disabling meridian limits in EQASCOM is possible by checking out the "mount limitsbox". 

Lecture by Robbert Dijkgraaf

I attended a lecture by prof. Robbert Dijkgraaf in Leuven (B). With 350 people we listen to the future of science and the challenges of quantum physics, genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. These 3 aspect go hand in hand as a expanding Helix and are seen as the building blocks for the future.

See capturing of the lecture via Youtube

My picture of a Green Flash published in Heelal

My picture of a Green Flash taken mid July at the Belgian coast in De Panne (see my post) is published in the astronomical magazine "Heelal" edition November 2021. This is a nice recognition.