The Moon and Jupiter

The moon and Jupiter on the morning of January 28, 2016 from the Seymour High School parking lot. The image is a composite of two images. A long exposure (3 s) to get Jupiter, its moon Ganymede, and some stars and a short (1/500 s) exposure to get detail on the Moon. The images were then combined in Photoshop.

The Moon and Jupiter
Location: Seymour High School, CT
Date/Time: 1/28/16 6:24 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Mount: Fixed Tripod
Focal Length: 55 mm
f/5.6
Exposure: 3 s Jupiter, 1/500 s Moon
ISO: 400
Post Processing: Photoshop

The Moon and Jupiter
Location: Seymour High School, CT
Date/Time: 1/28/16 6:24 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Mount: Fixed Tripod
Focal Length: 55 mm
f/5.6
Exposure: 3 s Jupiter, 1/500 s Moon
ISO: 400
Post Processing: Photoshop, Picasa3 - Label

M35 and M36 the other night! (1-7-16)

Two more Messier objects off the list. M35 and M36 are both open clusters located near each other. The shots are OK but not great. Unfortunately, the autoguider was not guiding properly so I only took ~15 minute exposures. Because the images show star streaks when magnified, I used very little cropping. I have not had this problem before, the only thing I can think of is that the polar alignment was off or my alignment was so far off the guider could not overcome it.

M35 is located in Gemini approximately 2800 light-years (ly) from Earth and 22 ly across. Located in the lower right side of this image is NGC 2158 which is another open cluster similar to M35 but appears much fainter as it is 5-times more distant. M36 is located in Auriga approximately 4100 ly from Earth and 14 ly across. Also located in the lower right side of this image is a small nebula which I have not able to identify.

Image 1


M35 - Open Cluster, NGC-2158 - Open Cluster
Location: Monroe, CTDate/Time: 1/7/16 8:55 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm 

Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 15-60s (total exposure, 15 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 2


M36 - Open Cluster
Location: Monroe, CT

Date/Time: 1/7/16 9:17 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm 

Apochromatic Refractor Telescope

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 15-60s (total exposure, 15 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Finding the right Periodic Table

One of the challenges of teaching chemistry is finding the right periodic table to use.  There are a plethora of different periodic tables out there, but they have way too much information on them for beginning chemistry students to use or even understand.  Some of them are worse than trying to find which way to go after exiting off the George Washington Bridge - there are too many billboards!  On the other hand, you can get simple tables but they don't have enough information to be useful.  Since the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), chemistry's version of  the IOC, just gave their blessing to the last four elements discovered, or more appropriately, produced in a particle accelerator within the past decade, I figured it was a good time to update the periodic table I made several years ago.  I was unable to find one that worked for what I was teaching so I used Word to make my own Periodic Table (GOOD THING I LIKE REALLY TEDIOUS JOBS).

The updated Periodic Table includes: 1) recognizing the elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 are real; 2) names for element 114, now Flerovium (Fl), and element 116, now Livermorium (Lv); and updating the atomic masses to one or two decimal places (although not as accurate, it is much simpler).

NOTE: Because you wanted to know what they are named after...
Flerovium is named after Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Russia, where the element was discovered in 1998.

Livermorium is named after the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA, where the element was discovered in 2000.

Link to the PDF Version can be downloaded from under the Resources page my Google Site: PT Blocks (2016).

Braved the Cold to Image Comet Catalina

Braved the cold to image this Comet (Comet Catalina C/2013 US10). It is a 20 km diameter piece of rock and ice originating from the Oort Cloud that has been traveling towards sun for approximately 1 million years. It is now moving away from the sun and will probably never return (telescopes.com). The green color comes from cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas) and diatomic carbon (C2). I love astronomy and astrophotography but I can't stand being out when it is below 40 degrees and breezy. At 4:00 am on Jan 2nd in Monroe CT, it was 26 degrees with a wind chill factor of 19 degrees. I have never imaged a comet before and probably won't again unless it comes when it's warmer out. There are few different methods for doing this: 1) single frame, 2) autoguiding on a background star, 3) autoguiding on the comet, 4) autoguiding on a background star and single point stacking on the comet. For a good summary of these methods visit Astrokev.com, Karlsson's Homepage, Soggy Astronomer, Bernhard Hubl Astrophotography.

Method three (3) is the best and I tried to do this but had a couple of issues. I have always used PHD autoguiding program but figured since PHD2 had a comet setting, I would try it. Unfortunately, the program never calibrated, so I wasted a half hour getting frustrated with that (in the cold). I connected it to PHD and had no problems. The problem was that the autoguider could not see the comet so I could not lock onto it. My guide scope (Orion ST80) is connected to the imaging scope with mounting rings so there is no moving it around, it has some pluses and minuses - this being a minus. I do have guide rings and if I had more time and it was warmer out might have changed it out. Oh well, I was relegated to the second best method, that being method four (4).

Note: It is possible to merge the best comet image from method four with the background stars from method two using photoshop. I tried this but I was unable to do this do to my lack experience with photoshop. Image 2 was using Deep Sky Stacker's Comet stacking function with star background calibration. Image 3 was using Deep Sky Stacker's Comet stacking function without the star background calibration. Image 4 was Deep Sky Stacker's Comet stacking function with additional unguided comet sub exposures.

Image 1 - Guiding on the Background Stars - Method 2


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:00 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 14-60s, (total exposure, 14 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 2 - Guiding on the Background Stars, Stacking on the Comet - Method 4


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 14-60s, (total exposure, 14 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 3 - Guiding on the Background Stars, Stacking on the Comet - Method 4


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 14-60s, (total exposure, 14 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 4 - Guiding on the Background Stars, Stacking on the Comet - Method 4


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 30-60s, (total exposure, 30 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS