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Comets 2004
All images on this page were taken with a Meade LX200GPS SMT 10" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
with a Meade LPI (Lunar Planetary Imager)
USB camera. The LPI is a 640x480 resolution color CMOS camera. The
LPI's field of view is equivalent to approximately a 6mm eyepiece. Unless
otherwise noted, all images were taken from my home in Western Oklahoma City.
Newest images are at the top of the page. Or maybe it's my favorite images
at the top of the page. I haven't decided yet.
 Jupiter
at f/6.3, January 30, 2004.
This image shows all four of the Galilean moons. From
left to right, Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto way up in the upper right.
 Jupiter
at f/20, January 30, 2004.
Europa and Ganymede are the moons.
 Jupiter
at f/30, January 30, 2004.
Ganymede was in front of Jupiter earlier this same evening and
I was hoping to image multiples of its transit. Unfortunately, I couldn't
shoot through the tree in the way.
 M50
at f/6.3, January 30, 2004.
This one of the Messier objects and is an open star
cluster. There are many more stars in this cluster than show up here but
the LPI camera can't pick them up to well at least so far.
I've got to develop some new techniques for clusters.
 Saturn
at f/10, January 30, 2004.
A new and better image of Saturn. I like this one very much.
 Saturn
at f/20, January 30, 2004.
I like this one better still.
.
 NGC2440
at f/6.3, Janary 30, 2004.
Yeah I know, not much to see because the nebula is too
small. It's that blue smudge at center right. This is a magnitude
10, planetary nebula so it's quite dim and quite small. The LPI could
capture it only at f/6.3. The central star in this nebula is 30 times
hotter than our own sun but can't be seen with amateur telescopes because it's
over 3,600 light years distant and obscured by the nebula's gasses.
 M42
at f/6.3. January 18, 2004.
Seeing was quite good this night so I went after this deep sky
object once again. The Great Orion Nebula is in the sword of the
constellation, Orion.
If you compare this with the Trapazeum image below, these
images are of the same region, it's obvious what some better seeing can do for
these dimmer objects. That and I'm getting better at the black art of
processing images.
This image is the result of 75, 8 second exposures stacked and
combined in Registax processing software.
 Saturn
at f/10, October 21, 2003. This is by far the best image I've captured of
Saturn (until January 30, 2004). The image was taken at about 3:00 AM during a break in what was
otherwise a very foggy night. Seeing was excellent during this short
period of time. Unfortunately the fog returned before I could take
additional images at f/20.
The Cassini Division, the gap between the inner and outer
rings is clearly visible in this image and can often be seen with a medium sized
telescope on dark, still nights. The planet's banding, though quite faint,
is also sometimes visible.
 Mars
at f/10, November 3, 2003. Since opposition in August, 2003, Mars is more
and more difficult to image. The top of the disk clearly shows a polar cap and darker surface
features are visible.
 Crater
Copernicus at f/10, November 3, 2003.
 Crater Plato at f/10, November 3, 2003.
One of my favorite images of the Moon. Mare Frigoris (Sea
of Cold) is above the crater. Mare Imbrium (See of Rains) is below.
This crater is clearly visible with a good pair of binoculars. It is just
below the north pole of the moon.
The smooth crater floor of Plato is a result of lava flows
that partially filled the crater after it was formed. Most craters on the
moon have central peaks (see the Copernicus image above.) These same lava flows
created the maria or seas on the surface of the moon.
As you can see, imaging the moon with the LPI is this camera's
best application. Imaging and viewing close to the sun's
terminator is always best because the long shadows bring out the surface
features.
 Mars
at f/20, January 1, 2004
This image, shot at f/20, illustrates just how much smaller
the apparent size of the planet is since the August 2003 opposition. The
planet's disk in this image is slightly larger than the November 3 image above
but this image is shot at twice the magnification. In August, Mars'
apparent size was closer to the Venus image below.
 Venus
at f/20, January 1, 2004
Venus is difficult to view and image because of its proximity
to the sun. It can be seen only shortly after sunset in the winter or
shortly before sunrise during the summer. Because of this, it is low in
the sky and atmospheric turbulence can be difficult to overcome.
Venus is a bluish, generally featureless, cloud covered planet
although not as blue as shown here. This was shot through a blue filter to
reduce the glare from this very bright planet. During excellent seeing and with appropriate filters some cloud
features are sometimes visible. Venus is the third brightest object in our
sky (the sun and the moon are first and second) and is the only planet that is
visible with the naked eye during daylight. In the winter, look east of
the sun and along the sun's path (the ecliptic) and you will see a brilliant
point of light. Don't look away or you'll lose it! In the summer
look west along the ecliptic. PLEASE! Never look directly at the
sun!
 Palus
Somnii (Marsh of Sleep) at f/10, November 3,
2003. Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) is the dark area to the right and Mare
Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) is the dark area to the left.
The Sea of
Tranquility was the landing site of Apollo 11 in 1969. The site is located
in this image in the extreme southwest (lower, right) portion of the sea.
 The
Trapazeum in The Great Orion Nebula (M42) at f/6.3, January 2, 2004.
This
is a grouping of 4 stars in the sword of the constellation, Orion. Meade's
LPI camera can just barely image the nebulosity around these stars and only at
lower magnifications provided by a 0.63 focal reducer. The
nebulosity shown is a very small part, and the brightest segment of the nebula.
This image was obtained by stacking and combining over 100
exposures and processing in PhotoShop to bring out the nebulosity and darken the
background. Even so, you can see from the grainy noise in this image that
this is about the limit of this camera under this seeing.
This nebula is just visible with a good pair of binoculars on
a clear night. In a reasonable size telescope, the nebula is clearly
visible as a bluish/gray cloud around these stars. Although much smaller,
de Marian's Nebula (M43) is also visible right next door towards the head of the
constellation.
 Saturn
at f/20. January 2, 2004. Seeing conditions were marginal for this image
however, it's very difficult to obtain a quality focus of any object at this
focal ratio and with this camera even under the best of conditions.
This image was shot with a Meade #80 medium blue filter to
enhance the banding on the planet. The f/10 image above shows more
accurate coloring of the planet.
 Jupiter
at f/10. January 3, 2004. The Great Red Spot is just visible at the
lower part of the right side banding. Again, seeing was marginal for this
image.
Jupiter's banding and the four Galilean moons can be seen in a
medium sized telescope. The moons, depending on their position in their
orbits, will appear as bright "stars" in line with the planet's
banding. Shadows of the larger moons cast on the planets surface are also
often visible.
 Jupiter
at f/20. January 3, 2004. This image was taken right after the f/10
image above. As you can see, detail really suffers at these higher
magnifications when seeing is marginal.
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