Patrick's Star

Some online friends of my wife registered a star in Patrick's name. It was a very sweet gesture. The registry company sent a folder with a nice certificate, pictured below, describing the star's location. They also included a star chart that highlighted the star and gave its official designation (more on that later). Here is the certificate:

Now keep in mind that none of this is in any way official. The astronomical community is not going to start calling this star "Patrick's Star."

In fact, these registries are a bit misleading. Sure, they create a record for the star name in their database, but it is not officially recognized by any authorities. And there is nothing stopping them or another registry from assigning the star a different name. The company listed above claims that all registered stars are visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, there are only about 5,000 naked-eye stars, so this practice is not good for business unless each star is assigned to multiple individuals.

Which is OK, as far as I'm concerned, because there is a star in the sky that I will forever think of as Patrick's Star.

That star is officially known as Phi Draconis, 43 Draconis, HD 170000, HIP 89908, among others. It is located in the constellation Draco, which lies between Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Phi Draconis is actually three separate stars that, at a distance of about 300 light years, appear as a single star to the naked eye.

One clear night recently, I went out and imaged Phi Draconis. The result is below:

Phi Draconis, aka "Patrick's Star" (center).

Patrick's Star circles the North Celestial Pole. From my latitude, the star never sets. I think that's appropriate.

First Light - AT72EDII

Wow! This little scope is a major step up from the ST80.

There is a lot that I want to cover in this post, so bear with me, please. If you're just here for the pictures, then skip down a bit.

The AT72EDII is an air-spaced doublet refractor with an FPL-53 element. The lenses are made by Ohara. The FPL-53 lens makes a huge difference in correcting chromatic aberration, rendering sharper images with much more realistic colors--closer in hue to those that I have gotten from the Epsilon-200. In comparison, I thought the colors I was getting from the ST80 were somewhat "cartoonish," even with the Baader Contrast Booster.

Here is the rig as it was on the night of first light. Using a little of my redneck engineering skills, I cobbled together a viewfinder mount out of plywood and plastic.

A new telescope calls for a new focusing mask, right?  Using the astrojargon Bahtinov Focusing Mask Generator, I printed the mask on card stock, then mounted it to a cap made of more card stock, peel-and-stick foam, and duct tape. It fits over the end of the dew shield.

Yes, I used duct tape.

So, after getting everything put together, the mount aligned, and the focusing mask in place, I pointed the scope at Deneb to set the focus. There wasn't a lot of interest to see during the focusing process, but when I took a 30 second exposure with the mask still on, I got this:

Diffraction spikes on Deneb. Aside from being reduced in size, this is an unprocessed image.

Note the lack of spurious color as compared to these images from the ST80:

I knew that I was in for a treat! So, I took off the mask and made a single, 30-second exposure of Deneb:

Unprocessed, resized image.

Yes, there is a bit of a halo around Deneb, at center, but it is far less prominent (and less purple) than similar images that I've taken with the ST80.

I wanted to image the Double Cluster in Perseus, first, but it wasn't in a good position for the mount when I started. So, I decided to grab a few images of Messier 45, the Pleiades, until the Double Cluster was a little higher in the sky.

Messier 45, the Pleiades
Click here for full size

Exposure: 10x180@ISO1600
Telescope: AT72EDII
FF/Reducer:  ATR8 (f/4.8)
Mount: Vixen Super Polaris
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3
Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop CS6

This is a close-up (full-size) of a portion of the nebula:

Click here for full size

I admit that, at a quick glance, there isn't a lot of difference between this image and what I think is my best image of the Pleiades made with the ST80. A close look, though, will reveal that the new image has more detail and better color balance. In addition, it took A LOT of processing work to make the older image look like that--there were a lot of problems that had to be dealt with. Frankly, I wouldn't have posted a close-up of the older image. It just didn't look this good at full size!

The Double Cluster finally got high enough to image, but the Moon was only about an hour away from rising. Working quickly, I settled on a relatively short exposure time. Very little processing was required for this image:

NGC 869 (left) and NGC 884
Click here for full size

Exposure: 20x90@ISO1600
Telescope: AT72EDII
FF/Reducer:  ATR8 (f/4.8)
Mount: Vixen Super Polaris
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3
Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop CS6

Cluster NGC 869 contains an asterism that I call Perseus Man. Some call it The Cowboy.

Now, for the negatives.

The scope is difficult to balance on the declination axis on the Vixen Super Polaris. Judging by the subs that I got, this is probably not a big issue. After all, the mount only has a right ascension motor, and I'm not autoguiding.

The only troubling issue has to do with the ATR8 field flattener/focal reducer. It was advertised as providing "images that are sharply focused out to the very corners of a large format DSLR chip." Although much better than the ST80 (with no flattener), the images still have distorted stars out toward the edges, as seen in this full-size clip from the Deneb image, above:

I'm not certain of the cause. I wonder if I didn't install the T-ring correctly. It's also possible that the flattener doesn't perform quite as advertised. I will do some investigation and testing.

Other than that, I am very pleased with the results. With the winter constellations coming up, there are a lot of targets to image. So what's next? Sword of Orion? Horsehead and Flame? Monkey Head? M35? Dare I try the Flaming Star or the Christmas Tree? I think a return to the X Bar Ranch is in order.

Butterfly Nebula

This is the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318) in Cygnus, taken in late July 2014. I used a #15 yellow filter and the processing technique described here. The bright star at the bottom center is Sadr. Open cluster NGC 6910 is located on the lower right.

Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318) in Cygnus; ST80 on Vixen SP; #15 yellow filter; Canon EOS Rebel T3; 25x90 lights @ ISO-3200; 16 darks; 16 flats

Star Trails

This is a star trail image taken from my front yard. The stars are seen here "swirling" around the North Celestial Pole (NCP), which is located near the bottom of the image. The bright star near the NCP is Polaris, the North Star.

Located about one third of the way between the NCP and the upper-right corner of the image are two bright trails that were formed by Kochab and Pherkad. They form part of the bowl of the Little Dipper. The bright stars at the top of the image are part of the Big Dipper.

The light trails of several aircraft and a few satellites are also visible.

This image is a composite of 282 30-second exposures (2.35 hours total). They were combined with a neat little program called Startrails.

Star Trails around the NCP; Canon EOS Rebel XS (1000D); 282x30

Heart of the Scorpion

Antares is a supergiant star in the constellation Scorpius. It is nearly 300 million miles across, which is larger than the orbit of Mars! Antares is sometimes called the "Heart of the Scorpion."

The area in the sky around Antares is full of exciting objects. I imaged a small part of it while waiting for M8/M20/M21 to rise one morning. I took only a few images, but after heavy image processing I came up with the following:

Antares, Messier 4, NGC 6144 and IC 4605; ST80 on Vixen SP; 6x180

Antares is the yellow star at the bottom of the image. It appears orange to the naked eye. The yellow color here is due to the fact that the star is overexposed, and the camera is less sensitive to the red part of the spectrum.

Clouds of interstellar gas and dust fill the area, adding unusual patterns and colors to the scene.

Messier 4 is the large globular cluster at the top. It is about 7,200 light years away and is one of the closest globular clusters to Earth. Messier 4 is also called the Cat's Eye cluster because of the conspicuous bar structure across the middle.

Globular cluster NGC 6144 is located to the upper-left of Antares. It is about 33,000 light years away.

The blue reflection nebula IC 4605 is in the lower-left corner.

I plan on revisiting this and the surrounding area one day. There is a lot more to see!

NGC 2362 (Tau Canis Majoris Cluster)

NGC 2362, also cataloged as Caldwell 64, is a tight open cluster of about 60 stars. At its center, from our point of view, is Tau Canis Majoris, a magnitude 4.4 class O supergiant. Tau Canis Majoris is a multiple star system, consisting of at least three stars, and possibly as many as five. The total mass of the system has been estimated at 40 to 50 solar masses! There is apparently some debate as to whether or not this star is part of NGC 2362, but if it is, then at the cluster's estimated distance Tau Canis Majoris is about 50,000 times more luminous than the Sun.

NGC 2362 is also called the Mexican Jumping Bean Cluster because, supposedly, tapping the telescope while viewing the cluster produces an interest effect due to persistence of vision. I only recently found this out, and have not had the opportunity to try it.

NGC 2362 (Tau Canis Majoris Cluster), ST80 on Vixen SP, 9x60

Horsehead and Flame Nebulae

I'm still trying to learn the capabilities of my little imaging setup. The ST80 is an amazing little telescope, especially considering that it's only an achromat. One of the things that I really like about it is that it has a wide field of view, which means that it is possible to see or image fairly large areas of the sky.

Here is an image of several nebulae around the star Alnitak (Zeta Orionis). Alnitak is the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion. Three prominent nebulae in this image are the Flame Nebula, the Horsehead Nebula, and IC 434. Several smaller reflection nebulae dot the area.

Horsehead and Flame Nebulae, ST80 on Vixen SP, 12x180

The star Sigma Orionis is located at the top of the image on the right. This star is visible to the naked eye in most locations. It is located south of Alnitak.

The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula, which is an opaque cloud of dust and gas. Located behind it is emission nebula IC 434. The Flame Nebula is being lit up by Alnitak and stars buried within the nebula.

Here is an image of this same area that I made using Sam Houston State University's Takahashi Epsilon-200:

Broke California

Sometimes, imaging sessions don't work out so well. Unexpected changes in the weather, equipment problems, and even poor planning can bring disaster. Take, for instance, the other night...

I set up in the ObservaRory (my yard) to image Messier 77. I quickly realized, though, that M77 was way too small for my ST80--there's not much to see at that magnification. I wouldn't have wasted my time if I done sufficient research on my target.

Auriga was above the trees, so I decided to try something really ambitious: the Flaming Star Nebula. No good, though. It wasn't nearly dark enough, and even with a 3-minute exposure there wasn't much to see. Again, poor planning on my part.

I've been wanting to image the California Nebula (NGC 1499) for some time. It's a large nebula, from our perspective, but it's also very faint. I figured that if I could get a minimally decent image of the Witch Head Nebula, then I could get the California.

Within a few minutes I was set up and taking 3-minute exposures. It was faint, but I was happy that it showed up at all. Maybe the night wouldn't be a complete loss.

Time was not on my side. For one, the Moon was rising at 10:23 that night, and it was already nearly 9:30 by the time I got everything going. Also, my infant son was asleep and would likely wake sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 to be fed and have his diaper changed. Once everything was set up I went inside to watch a movie with my older son.

I went outside around 11:00 (just as the little one was starting to stir) to check things out, expecting the sequence to be just about done. To my dismay, however, I discovered that the laptop that was controlling the camera had gone into sleep mode due to inactivity. UGGGG!!! (I know that I had disabled the auto sleep mode. How it came to be turned back on again, I have no idea...) The sky was too bright to continue imaging the California Nebula, and I had baby maintenance duties to perform, so I shut everything down.

Upon examining the images later, I discovered that there was an odd blemish--probably something to do with dust and/or dew on the objective lens. I had forgotten to take flats, so I was stuck with it. Add to that the fact that I didn't get nearly as many subs as I wanted...

But, here it is, anyway. Like the real state of California, mine is broke(n), but it's still a pretty nice place:

NGC 1499, the California Nebula. ST80 on Vixen SP. 22x180 at ISO-1600.

The nebula lies approximately 1,500 to 1,800 light years away, and resides in the Orion arm, which is the same spiral arm of the galaxy as the Sun. It is about 100 light years across.

To the south of the nebula is the bright star Xi Persei, also known as Menkib. It is on the right-hand side of this image. Menkib may be providing most of the light that is energizing the nebula

Menkib means "collarbone" in Arabic, and it is part of an old Arabic constellation that includes the nearby Pleiades. Even though Menkib is relatively faint in our skies (apparent magnitude of 3.96), it is actually about 13,500 times brighter than then Sun in the visible spectrum. That makes it the most luminous star that we can see with the naked eye. It appears so dim to us because of its distance and the vast amount of light-absorbing interstellar dust between us.

Menkib is also a "runaway star." It is moving away from us at an unusually high rate of speed (about 20 km/s). Its speed may have been gained from a gravitational encounter with another star, or by the supernova explosion of a previous companion star. Menkib itself is a supernova candidate, and may explode anytime within the next million years.

Albireo

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Albireo (Beta Cygni)

*Spectroscopic binary requires perfect seeing conditions and a telescope with at least a 20-inch aperture.  Knowledge of speckle imaging may be required.