Jerry -
The noise is about what I would expect with this camera running at -10 deg and a 240 second exposure. . . . . Would it be possible for you to post on your site the raw image as well as the darks and flats you used?
Jerry, it was a 300 sec exposure. I 'll get the raw, dark and flats up on a public server in the next couple of days so anyone can grab them. The files are 13megs each so initially I did not want to post the source files figuring no one would download that much data.
I have been following your adventures with the Rent-a-scope program. In your experience is it difficult to get time on a particular scope or do you post a request which gets put into the ACP planner queue?
To keep the cost within - for me - reason, I subscribed to the $40 per month GRAS plan which does not include scripting. The next subscription level is at $90 p/m and includes scripting. I have never felt scope resource constrained with GRAS Australia. During the best time to use it from Utah - 4am to 8am MST - there is always one high-end refractor free (106 Tak) and one large 10 inch or greater astrograph with a high-end ST camera available. One usually is available on login or becomes available at most with a 5 to 10 minute wait. Since my experience level isn't such that I am hot for just one specific larger aperature scope. Therefore, I have not felt constrained. For GRAS New Mexico, the situation is the same but the probability of having to wait a few minutes before a scope opens up is higher. For both the New Mexico and Australia scopes - at least for this time of year - weather outages is the constraining factor. Even in southern hemisphere Australia, I am average maybe a 25% chance of having the domes open. The other 60% of the time they are weather closed. Another 15% is service outages. Because of that, I'm not too optimistic that you would get that much out of imaging by a scripted run. It felt is was better to have a list of targets of opportunity and to get what you can manually when the weather is clear. The GRAS high-end mounts and auto-exposure all run spot on target as instructed. IMHO, auto-focus is less than what one could get with monitored manual or monitored auto-focus. I haven't used it, but I'd feel confident about submiting scripts and just picking up the image results by FTP later. My next planned test targets are Mars in northern hemisphere and a comet in the southern hemisphere. Overall, the experience is much less satisfying than setting up my own scope and taking images with my inexpensive equipment. I view it mostly as a way to capture a few images to play around with during the overcast northern Utah winter season. It's also educational to work with these high-end megapixel cameras and mounts that I ordinarily am unable to afford. One quickly gets the message that the name of the imaging game is "tracking accuracy, tracking accuracy and tracking accuracy" followed by "long-term exposure, long-term exposure and long-term exposure." Those are just my general impressions. Hope that helps. Clear Skies - Kurt
Hi Kurt, JD Armstrong is in town from Maui and a few of us are meeting up with him in Bob Moore's downtown office this evening at 9:00 to do some imaging using the 2 meter (!) scope JD controls on Maui. We've got the scope for two hours. Targets must be no larger than 8' and no brighter that +8. Ring me if you'd like to be there and I'll give you details. patrick 435.882.1209
Augh! That was supposed to have gone only to Kurt, not to the list. Dumb, dumb, dumb me... But now that I've blabbed if others would like to attend let me know and I'll see if there'll be enough room in Bob's office for a crowd. Augh... patrick On 22 Dec 2009, at 18:16, Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Hi Kurt,
JD Armstrong is in town from Maui and a few of us are meeting up with him in Bob Moore's downtown office this evening at 9:00 to do some imaging using the 2 meter (!) scope JD controls on Maui. We've got the scope for two hours.
Targets must be no larger than 8' and no brighter that +8.
Ring me if you'd like to be there and I'll give you details.
patrick 435.882.1209
Damn, I was planning on bringing the local boy scout troop! Have fun! Quoting Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>:
Augh! That was supposed to have gone only to Kurt, not to the list. Dumb, dumb, dumb me...
But now that I've blabbed if others would like to attend let me know and I'll see if there'll be enough room in Bob's office for a crowd.
Augh...
patrick
On 22 Dec 2009, at 18:16, Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Hi Kurt,
JD Armstrong is in town from Maui and a few of us are meeting up with him in Bob Moore's downtown office this evening at 9:00 to do some imaging using the 2 meter (!) scope JD controls on Maui. We've got the scope for two hours.
Targets must be no larger than 8' and no brighter that +8.
Ring me if you'd like to be there and I'll give you details.
patrick 435.882.1209
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We are having our Family Christmas Party tonight and 33 of us were just loading on the bus to head to Bobs office as we got the second e-mail. We are disappointed but we understand. Steve
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:48:49 -0700 From: bsi@xmission.com To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Hawaiian imaging session this evening?
Damn, I was planning on bringing the local boy scout troop! Have fun!
Quoting Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>:
Augh! That was supposed to have gone only to Kurt, not to the list. Dumb, dumb, dumb me...
But now that I've blabbed if others would like to attend let me know and I'll see if there'll be enough room in Bob's office for a crowd.
Augh...
patrick
On 22 Dec 2009, at 18:16, Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Hi Kurt,
JD Armstrong is in town from Maui and a few of us are meeting up with him in Bob Moore's downtown office this evening at 9:00 to do some imaging using the 2 meter (!) scope JD controls on Maui. We've got the scope for two hours.
Targets must be no larger than 8' and no brighter that +8.
Ring me if you'd like to be there and I'll give you details.
patrick 435.882.1209
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Dome is open http://132.160.98.225/view/view.shtml at FTN Maui
Hi Rob, It was great to participate in the events. I'm hoping you could aid me in downloading the fits files we made -- could you point me in the right direction? Yokwe yok, Joe --- On Tue, 12/22/09, Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote: From: Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Hawaiian imaging session this evening? To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 8:53 PM Dome is open http://132.160.98.225/view/view.shtml at FTN Maui _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Yo Joe Talk w/ JD ( jd@ifa.hawaii.edu) he's on it I use the Faulkes once or twice a year only for special projects but Merry Christmas to you!! Sorry I'm not a help on this. Aloha Rob
Thanks, Rob, I just sent him a note. So when are you coming to Utah? Very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous New Year! -- Aloha, Joe --- On Wed, 12/23/09, Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote: From: Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Hawaiian imaging session this evening? To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 11:30 AM Yo Joe Talk w/ JD ( jd@ifa.hawaii.edu) he's on it I use the Faulkes once or twice a year only for special projects but Merry Christmas to you!! Sorry I'm not a help on this. Aloha Rob _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Hi Joe I suspect I'll be in CA eventually, then to CO to see the daughters and g'kids, then to SLC to meet everyone then back home. I hope to do this when it's warmer it's 72 now and I am cold. I even have shoes and socks on ....... Aloha Rob
We'll give you a warm welcome even in the winter! Yokwe, Joe --- On Wed, 12/23/09, Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote: From: Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Hawaiian imaging session this evening? To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 11:46 AM Hi Joe I suspect I'll be in CA eventually, then to CO to see the daughters and g'kids, then to SLC to meet everyone then back home. I hope to do this when it's warmer it's 72 now and I am cold. I even have shoes and socks on ....... Aloha Rob _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
This is a trip. Controlling a 2 meter, 35 ton telescope all from the comfort of Bob's nice, warm office. Any requests as to what to image. Targets can be no larger than 8' or no brighter than mag 8. patrick
participants (6)
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Canopus56 -
Joe Bauman -
Josephine Grahn -
Patrick Wiggins -
Rob Ratkowski Photography -
Steve FISHER