An eye for the stars
No, not that kind! I mean galaxies and nebulae in God’s cosmos.
Lately I have been getting a bit tired of trying to coax image data out of a 17″ aperture telescope in southern France by remote control. The weather in that part of the world has been just terrible. So, having too much time on my hands, I decided I needed a wee back yard telescope to see with my own eyeballs what the night sky actually looks like.
So I spent some of our kids’ inheritance on a 3″ refractor telescope on a sturdy mount. When the evening temperatures start moderating, I plan to move it out of the living room and see what I can see in the midst of urban light pollution.
Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, let me tell you a little story. As you already know, I love pretty pictures of galaxies, nebulae, and other such stuff. For the past several years I have been keeping my eye cocked for images produced by one Adam Block. I consider him one of the best astrophotographers around. His tutorials taught me a little about using Photoshop to process astronomical images. Then I moved on to a more specialized program for that purpose called PixInsight. (Hang in there, I’ll get to the point presently.)
One day I was viewing the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day and noticed it was a picture by Adam Block. The description revealed that he used PixInsight as well as Photoshop while processing the image.
I emailed him and asked what about that. One thing led to another, and it turns out that Adam runs the University of Arizona Mount Lemmon SkyCenter, just north of Tucson, and the SkyCenter features a large 32″ telescope that is used in their Public Outreach Program.
Dream experience on the way . . .
Real Time Observing
Taking full control of a large instrument like the Schulman 32-inch Telescope is a dream experience that amateur astronomers around the world can now enjoy. Using any web browser you connect to the Schulman Telescope through a program called Astronomer Control Panel (ACP) and direct all aspects of the observing experience. Unlike scheduled observing, real-time imaging gives you feedback as to what is going in the observatory atop Mount Lemmon’s 9,157 peak. You can see the images as they are acquired, watch the telescope and dome move, monitor the weather conditions, monitor guide stars, focus and much more. It is like being there, but sitting comfortably in your own home.
ACP orchestrates the activity of all facets of the observatory through scripted plans. SkyCenter staff will help you initially create an observing plan and setup the observatory for your evening’s observations. This will ensure that once the observations begin, interruptions will be unlikely. SkyCenter staff will also be on-call to assist you if you have a problem or wish to change your original plan. Typical users of this mode of observing are amateur astronomers who want to take advantage of all aspects of the equipment. This permits users to generate very deep and high resolution data as seen in our image gallery.
I hope to get my remote hands on that large telescope soon. If I do, I will have a midget 3″ telescope to play with in light polluted Quincy at 600 ft altitude and also the use of a 32″ telescope in total darkness at 9,157 feet above sea level.
Will I be able to notice any difference, do you think? And in between, if the weather ever clears in southern France, I may get some images from a 17″ telescope at 2700 ft.
Dave, which he thinks that his spare time has disappeared.
Just for the record… I’ve seen dad’s wee backyard telescope up close and personal… looks pretty big to me! Certainly dwarfs all else in their living room. Looking forward to a warm summer night to peer up at the stars along Knollwood!
Well, you can relax. I don’t plan to set up the 32″ Schulman in my living room (that is the one in the other image).
I probably will not use the wee scope outside until the dark nights beginning about March 14. My first project will be to identify some stars/galaxies looking to the SE using my computer planetarium program. Then, when conditions are right, setup and align the telescope in the driveway, pointing SE, and try to find my chosen targets in the eyepiece. Next time you are here, we will have a star party.
Stay tuned.
Amazing…I may just have to make a trip to your backyard one of these days when you get it set up. that is unless you can strap it on your bass boat when we go out. But that probably wouldn’t work very well now would it. Sure looks like a lot of fun but I think I will stick to my brushes for the time being.
Hi there, Michaelangelo,
My planned progression of observing sites starts in the driveway, pointing SE through the trees, then the back patio pointing N through the trees, then the St. Peter’s church parking lot directly to the west, pointing through more trees to see what the southern sky looks like. After the good father chases me off church property, I may try the bluffs in a city park overlooking the Mississippi.
Somewhere along the line I will mount a camera to the telescope, but I’m a long way from that right now. But spring training and warmer nights are on the way. It’s the Giants’ turn this year.
Wow, I am so impressed! Had a look see through a Celestron telescope at my cabin in the middle of the boonies in Westcliffe, CO. It changed my life. Saw the nebula in Orion”s belt and also the nebula in the 7 sisters. Then one night when I had to go outside to pee cause no indoor plumbing, I got to see a huge comet which had crossed 2/3rds of the sky, leaving its glorious trail. OK, I’m hooked, but alas! no techie savage
( Also got to see the biggest Perseid meteor storm ever from our hot tub – wow! gold, silver and copper colored trails of the “falling stars” blazed through the skies. It was unreal.
I love this stuff too! Have fun Dave! This may get me to Quincy! Love you much, Dori
Thanks for your sharing your star-gazing experiences, Dori. When you and John next visit, bring some clear weather and we will have a star party.