Vol. 57, No. 9, November, 2012

Next Meeting – November 20th, 2012 at 8:00 PM Two Mini-Talks by DAS Members: Harnessing the Full Power of Skytools 3 - Speaker: Doug Norton Winter Observing Gear - Speaker: Fred DeLucia at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory

FROM THE PRESIDENT Bill Hanagan Special 2nd Annual Issue First off, I’d like to thank Greg Lee for his October presentation of “What’s Up” and Mike Cimorosi for his talk and Showcasing the Formidable demonstration on stellar parallax. Thanks also go to Jeff Lawrence for providing refreshments. Because we were running Astro-Photography Talents late, I held my talk on Telescope Collimation for another time. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of of DAS Members! those who have contributed to this special issue of the FOCUS Editor Joe Neuberger FOCUS. Imaging is a major and growing activity in amateur Once again, the response of DAS members has astronomy nationwide and one that several of our members been overwhelming, and the bulk of this month’s issue of the have obviously embraced enthusiastically. FOCUS is devoted to the outstanding AstroPhotography of Our main meeting program for November 20 will the industrious and adventurous hobbiest/professionals in our begin with a brief review of “What’s Up in the Sky” by Greg midst. We have members who literally travel the globe in Lee, followed by 2 mini-talks: 1) Harnessing the Full Power order to scratch their itch for recording the heavens and its of Skytools 3, an in-depth guide to getting the most from this majesty. And this month we are treated to a wide variety of observing and astro-photography planning tool, by Doug Norton; their efforts in the feature beginning on page 10. and 2) Winter Observing Gear, a guide to keeping warm and And, as I stated in the October issue’s happy while observing in cold weather, by Fred DeLucia. “Last Word” column, there’s nothing I admire more in this As always, I’d like to remind you to keep thinking club of amateur astronomers than those who experiment about how YOU can contribute to the DAS and how you can with the evolving technologies related to, and place consider- make the DAS a better astronomy club. We’ve had some able resources into the exploration that is the art of modern volunteers step forward, and we’ve received a variety of AstroPhotography. I salute each and every one of the equipment donations, but more volunteers and donations are participants in this month’s endeavor and look forward to always needed. In particular, we still have empty slots featuring more of their efforts in the issues ahead. for about 4 mini-talks in our speaker schedule. Lastly, I wish to exend my heartfelt personal A club works best when all of its able-bodied “THANKS” to all who answered my call and participated in members pitch-in and help out at club functions in whatever this month’s feature showcasing the efforts of these talented way they can. If you want to make the DAS a better individuals . “Thank you” one and all! astronomy club, give me a call at 302-239-0949. I’m sure we can come up with something that you can do to help the DAS that also suits your particular interests.

Each issue of FOCUS is full of useful hyperlinks. Just click on any graphic or telltale blue web address and your browser should take you to additional linked web resources. The Flame Nebula -Designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission Nebula in the constellation Orion. Photo by DAS Member Rick Davis.

Observing with the Delaware Astronomical Society...

DAS Member Star Parties (MSP’s) Bill Hanagan The DAS MSP held in conjunction with the Fall “No-Frills” Stargaze on October 11-14 was a great star party once again this year and is described in a separate report along with photos beginning on page 5. A week later, on October 20, we held our 10th MSP of the year, this time at the Sawin Observatory. DAS members Mike Cimorosi, Randy Detra, Diana Metzger, and myself were present—and we had a great time! We observed primarily what I consider to be the showpiece objects for this time of year, most notably M13, M92, Albireo, M57, the coat hanger, the Double Cluster in Perseus, M31 and M32, among other objects. Earlier in the day, at around 4 PM, the sky was beset by a heavy haze and thin clouds. But, as forecast, the sky cleared completely by 7:30 PM and remained clear until closing. This is yet another example of how the MSP program, which uses weather forecasts and email for scheduling, has enabled us to hold star parties on clear nights in spite of rather bleak conditions earlier in the day. “GO” has been called for more than 30 potential MSP nights in the last 3 years and we’ve had only two occasions that I can remember when observing was seriously impeded by clouds. And, in one of those cases, we were able to observe many of the showpiece objects in spite of persistent haze and wispy clouds. The moral is this: don’t let a bleak daytime sky convince you not to come out to one of our MSPs. If the MSP supervisor issues a GO, it’s an excellent bet that the sky will actually be clear for the MSP, even if it isn’t already clear. Coming up in November, we’re planning to hold the Fall Messier ½ Marathon MSP on either the weekend of The Messier November 9 / 10, or November 16 / 17. As in years past, the Chart of objects at right are the event will be held at Gus Swartout’s Elk River site south of targets sought Elkton, MD. Gus will be the MSP supervisor for the event. If during events of good weather allows the Messier ½ Marathon to take place the type hosted on November 9 or 10, we may hold an additional MSP on by the DAS featured this November 16 or 17 at a site to be determined. month. For more Potential MSP dates for December fall on the info on Messier weekends of December 7 / 8 and 14 /15, all of which come up objects go to before the main meeting in December. http:// messier.seds.org/ The final plans for all of our MSPs will, as always, be or click on the announced via the DAS Yahoo Group email. The mechanics photo at right. of the MSP program are described separately under “Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs)” on page 4 of this issue of the FOCUS.

“PUBLIC NIGHTS” at the Mt. CUBA OBSERVATORY...

MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS Greg Weaver Programs are presented on Monday nights at 8pm. Please check the website for full details and updates on The Mt. Cuba programs planned. Interested individuals or groups can apply Observatory Public by letter or call 654-6407 (preferably between the hours of 9 Nights continue year and 11 am, Monday through Friday) to the Observatory to round! In addition to obtain reservations for these “Public Nights”. learning about many The Public Nights schedule for November and aspects of the heavens, December, 2012 follows: you’ll have a chance to Date Speaker Topic visit and view our all-digital full-dome planetarium. You can pick up a schedule when you next come to a meeting or get Dec 5 Bill Hanagan How to Choose your First Telescope the latest updated version off the website at: http:// Nov. 26 Jack Fisher Is there a God? MountCuba.org. Dec. 10 Stan Owocki TBD -2- DAS Special Interest Groups for Photography and Telescope Construction...

DAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY NEW The last of our AP-SIG on-site meetings this year will SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan be held at the Sawin Observatory on the weekend of Novem- ber 30 / December 1 and hosted by yours truly, Bill Hanagan. The DAS astrophotography special interest group (DAS If the weather allows, I’ll be demonstrating planetary imaging AP SIG) meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm every other month at Mt. of Jupiter using a DSLR, a laptop computer, and the Sawin Cuba regardless of weather. The SIG also meets for photo shoots 12.5” telescope. scheduled on 1-2 day notice to synchronize with the weather. Even if you aren’t an AP-SIG member, you’re wel- The monthly meetings are informal and typically come to attend the AP-SIG meetings to learn more. Be sure include the presentation of astrophotos taken by the members to sign up for the DAS Yahoo Group email in order to receive along with an extended question and answer period. Objects the detailed meeting announcements. commonly photographed include constellations, auroras, lunar As always, please consider submitting one or more of eclipses, and planetary photos, as well as a wide variety of deep- your favorite astrophotos for publication in the FOCUS. A sky objects such as nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, etc. The recent photo is not required. You can email your photo(s) as topics discussed cover the entire gamut of astrophotography, .jpg files to our FOCUS editor, Joe Neuberger at his address at from how to get started with a minimum of equipment, to polar [email protected]. Please include a text file briefly aligning your telescope, all of the way to the fine points of using describing how you made each photo (in Microsoft Word auto-guiders and post-processing digital images. format) along with any by-lines or captions you would like Joe You can get started in astrophotography with just to use. If you would like, you can write a more in-depth your current camera mounted on a tripod or a motorized discussion to go with your photos. Joe can make a masterful telescope by taking wide field photographs of meteor showers, layout, but if you would like to suggest a layout of your own conjunctions, constellations, and star trails. As you move to you can insert copies of your photos into the Word document progressively fainter and smaller subjects, you’ll need better to give him an idea what you would like to see. Either way, equipment. Joining the AP SIG is a great way to learn what don’t forget to attach a high resolution .jpg file to your email for equipment you’ll need and what works well before you spend each photo. Joe has done a great job improving the look of the your money. If you are interested in joining the AP SIG, just FOCUS and adding relevant links to take advantage of the fact email your name, address, and phone number to me at that the FOCUS is now on-line, but like all newsletter editors, [email protected]. he needs as much material as he can get from club members.

DAS. AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) Special email their name, address, and phone number to me at Interest Group (SIG ) meets on evenings and weekends [email protected]. according to the availability of the members and the particu- Meeting dates are announced primarily by email, so lar projects that are underway. Currently the ATM SIG has a if you are interested in telescope making, be sure to let medium Dob building program under way. The general range me know! of activities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of telescope making, mirror making, and the making of accessories for The refiguring of the club’s 17.5” f/4.5 mirror is telescopes and observing. proceeding. If you would like to participate in this effort, Anyone interested in joining the ATM SIG should please let me know.

LOANER TELESCOPES and SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER Tom Sidowski One of the best advantages of being a member of the The DAS also maintains a club observatory on the grounds Delaware Astronomical Society is that all members have the of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory. The Sawin Observatory privilege of being trained to use and then borrow equipment houses the club’s permanently mounted 12.5" reflecting telescope owned by the club for personal use. Currently, we have two and a 17.5" Coulter Odyssey 2 Dobsonian telescope. They are for scopes available for loan: a Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain, the use of club members once they are trained and checked-out in and a 6" Orion Sky-Quest XT6 Dobsonian reflector. The loan is a simple operating procedure. Members who are interested in for at least a month. If you’re interested in checking out either becoming key holders of the Sawin Observatory should contact me of these scopes, contact Tom Sidowski at 302-239-1844. at 302-239-1844 to arrange for training in the use of the facility.

Treasurer’s report, we’ll be discussing the following items. NEW The PRESIDENT’S DAS BOARD The first two of these are carry-overs from last month. MEETING AGENDA for NOVEMBER 1) Plans for the DAS Christmas Party 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 20, 2012 2) A possible speaker. for our May dinner meeting suggested In the Library at the Mt. Cuba Observatory by Mike Cimorosi 3) Other topics to be determined. In addition to routine items of business such as the As always, DAS board meetings are open to all DAS members. -3- Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs) Bill Hanagan MSP cycles are timed for a minimum of intrusion by moonlight during the hours before midnight to maximize opportunities for deep sky observing and imaging. For each MSP cycle there are usually four potential dates designated in advance. These are usually the Friday and Saturday nights which immediately precede a new moon, and the Friday and Saturday nights that follow or include the new moon date. That means that we usually have 4 potential MSP dates associated with each lunar cycle. Which of the four potential dates is used for an MSP is “flex-scheduled” according to the weather using the DAS Yahoo Group email system. Please be sure to mark your calendars with the potential MSP dates that appear in the table! Obviously, you need to keep as many of these dates open as possible so when a GO announcement is made you’re in a position to attend the DAS Member Star Party regardless of which date the weather favors! The DAS has a core group of dedicated visual observers and astro-imagers who travel to Tuckahoe, Cherry Springs, West Virginia, and other dark sky sites as opportunities and the weather allow. If you’re interested in going along or meeting up on any of the road trips mentioned in the MSP schedule, let me know and I’ll fill you in on the details and keep you apprised as plans develop. Road trips to distant observing sites like Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania require that several DAS members commit to going in advance should the weather prove favorable for at least two nights. When the weather forecast only looks good for one night, the MSP will often be redirected to a closer site such as ChesLen, the Elk River site, or the Sawin observatory. While DAS members who go on road trips are often involved in both observing and imaging, these road trips are particularly valuable for visual observers because they offer the best opportunity to see deep sky objects through large aperture telescopes under dark skies. Most of today’s big Dobs produce vastly superior visual images compared to older, large aperture observatory telescopes with which you might be familiar, thanks in part to better optics, the use of a “thin” primary mirror which cools faster, and the use of fans to cool the primary mirror and to remove warm air from the optical path. If you are truly interested in visual observing, you owe it to yourself to see first-hand what dark skies and a modern large aperture telescope will allow you to see. Finally, I’d like to remind you that you need to be signed up for the DAS Yahoo Group to receive the scheduling announce- ments for the MSPs. A full description of the MSP program appears on the DAS website at http://delastro.org/ and in the December 2009 issue of the FOCUS. Laser Collimator Now Available for Loan to the Membership If you would like to take advantage of this new tool available for lending to the membership, please contact the O&E Group by calling Tom Sidowski at 302-239-1844. It’s a quick and easy procedure and will improve your visual observ- ing experience GREATLY! EASY to USE & YOU’LL LOVE IT, GUARANTEED! It’s one of the handiest and most useful things the club has ever offered for loan to the membership! You owe it to yourself to CHECK IT OUT!

FOCUS uses plenty of photos in banners & elsewhere each issue, and we want to use YOURS...not Hubble’s!! Please forward photos to the FOCUS editor Joe Neuberger at [email protected] Just click the graphic above!

-4- A Report on the Oct. 11-13 MSP Held in

Conjunction with the “No-Frills” Stargaze Bill Hanagan On October 11, 12, and 13 we held our 9th MSP of at about 1:45 AM (10/14/2012), with my tent in the fore- the year at Tuckahoe State Park in conjunction with the ground. This wide-angle view covers 97 degrees vertically Delmarva Stargazer’s “No-Frills” Stargaze star party. I’d like and 74 degrees horizontally. Images like this should be to share my account of the event along with some photos. viewed as LARGE as possible for full appreciation. However, In addition to myself, DAS members Rob Lancaster, no photograph can fully convey the grandeur of the night sky. Jeff Lawrence, Greg Lee, Bill McKibben, Dave Sewel, and You have to be there to fully appreciate the beauty of the Leonard White attended. We also met up with past DAS night sky at a dark sky site like Tuckahoe. (This photo appears members Pete Lizza, Keith Love, Don Surles, and Jerry in a larger format Truitt, among others. My apologies if I missed any other on page 25 along DAS members who were also present. with other of Bill’s The DAS encampment (which was on the north end Astro-Photography of the field this year) can be seen in the first photo below. efforts of late. Ed.) The awnings in the center of the camp were provided by Greg Jupiter is Lee and Bill McKibben. By night, these awnings sheltered the brightest object star charts and eyepieces from the dew. By day, they in the view and provided shade from the sun as needed. appears slightly above center. Just to the right of center you can see the unmistakable outline of Orion, and to the left you can see the Gemini twins stretched out parallel to the horizon. The Although this photo doesn’t show it, there was plenty Pleiades appear of empty space on the field for more astronomy enthusiasts. near the top of the The next photo shows a view of the sky to the east (continued on page 6)

CLASSIFIEDS: For sale - Celestron 8 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain -- Classic black Aluminum optical tube assembly with Celestron’s premium Starbright coatings; 2032 mm focal length (f/10); Visual back comes with upgraded Blue Fireball Technologies 2" brass compression ring style SCT adapter, not the standard 1.25". This allows use of 2” accessories; and also includes Celestron’s 9 x 50mm finderscope to help more easily and accurately locate objects in the night sky, not the normal 6 x 30 finderscope common to this model. To purchase a C8 new today would cost $1049 - I am asking ONLY $225! -

I’ve seen used C8 Tube Assemblies selling for hundreds of dollars more on Astromart than what I’m asking here. Telescope has been well cared for. Contact Dave Sewell by email at [email protected] or by phone at 302-757-5000 for any additional details or to arrange for a closer examination.

-5- Report on “No-Frills” Stargaze (Continued from page 5) photo and a little to the right of center. The horns of Taurus the bull (which open to the left) are visible to the right and a little up from Jupiter. The bright circle of stars in Auriga can be seen to the left and up from Jupiter. At the top of Auriga you may be able to see the small triangle known as “The Kids”. Note that the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, can be seen just above the tree line directly below the belt of Orion. Tom Sidowski At the time this photo was made, Sirius had an altitude of only 5.5 degrees above the eastern horizon, which should give you some idea of the horizon limits of the observing field. Visually, the glow at the horizon is much less apparent than it appears in the photo. Even hours after my eyes were fully dark adapted, the small amount of light bring this telescope to star parties. pollution visible along the eastern horizon was barely notice- Greg’s 15” scope was the main instrument used by able. The sky near the horizon appears brighter in the photo those of us present on Thursday night and it was used both because this is a 30 second exposure and because the heavily on all three nights. contrast of the image was raised to insure that the stars would Our club’s new “Barlowed Laser Collimator” saw be visible in the FOCUS. Other technical details for this photo heavy use on all 3 nights and was used in the collimation of appear in this month’s section on DAS AstroPhotography. more than 5 different telescopes on one night alone. A view The next photo shows Jeff Lawrence in the canteen of the collimator in operation can be seen in the next photo. on Friday. Just down and to the left of the dark hole in the center of the target screen you can see a small part of the shadow created by the donut on Rob Lancaster’s primary mirror, indicating that the primary was not yet in perfect collimation when the photo was taken. Identifying the shadow is made easier by seeing it with the primary farther out of collimation. The idea behind the club acquiring a barlowed laser collimator was in part to allow DAS members to experience first-hand the speed and ease-of-use advantages that this approach to collimation has over the older Cheshire eyepiece. However, both of those tools will allow you to collimate your Newtonian primary mirror accurately. In contrast, a simple straight beam laser collimator does not insure the necessary accuracy, especially at lower focal ratios (f/6 or lower).

Jeff brought along a smoker-cooker and set it up to cook a large batch of pulled-pork (lightly smoked pork shoulder) over Thursday night. He monitored the tempera- ture with a radio based thermometer as he observed and he even got up during the night to adjust the temperature. Talk about multi-tasking! Jeff also provided several side-dishes to go with the pork. Everyone at the star party applauded Jeff’s cooking as they feasted on the pork at both lunch and dinner on Friday and again at lunch on Saturday. Several excellent soups were also provided by Don Surles and the Delmarva Stargazers. The traditional fish-fry was held late on Saturday afternoon, but being the “No-Frills” Stargaze, there was no raffle afterward. During the day on Saturday, the DAS contingent The next photo at the top of the right column shows headed off to a nearby Rocket Launch held by the Maryland/ Greg Lee and Jeff Lawrence discussing Greg’s 15” split-tube Delaware Rocketry Association, of which Bill McKibben is a Discovery Dob. While this design is noticeably more member. The next photo, on page 9, shows Bill’s rocket portable than a monolithic tube, Greg has mused about the during its first launch of the day. possibility of converting this to a truss tube Dob to improve The following photo shows Bill with his rocket shortly its portability. Since retiring his full-sized station wagon, after successful recovery of his equipment after flight. Greg has had to either borrow or rent a mini-van in order to (continued on page 9) -6- ASTRO-PHOTO of the The Swan Nebula MONTH Photo Credit: DAS Member Rob Lancaster

Rob says he got his new Astronomik UHC filter in mid Septem- ber and on the first clear night he decided to try it out. The results were phenomenal. He says the filter is worth what he paid for it. In spite of the high levels of light pollu- tion in his area, he took some of the best pictures he has taken with his 10” Newtonian telescope. He plans to do more with this filter . This was a stack of five 60 second exposures. Compare this with the shorter exposure of the same Nebula Rob took from a dark sky site that appears on page 15 that was taken with an 18” telescope.

The Swap Table at Last Year’s Dec. X’mas Party was a GREAT SUCCESS, So We’re Doing it AGAIN...SO BRING OUT YOUR STUFF--MAKE A MEMBER HAPPY & Put some Extra Holiday Money in Your Pocket as Well!!

Last year’s Swap Table at the Annual Holiday Christmas Party was such a huge success that we’re going to do it again this year--ONLY BIGGER. So rummage through those drawers and aluminum briefcases for what you’re no longer putting to use, for there is a member out there who will likely think “This is just what I’ve been needing” and will take it off of your hands and put in them some extra cash for Xmas presents for your family and friends! There will be PLENTY of table space to display your wares, so start thinking now of that astronomical equipment, books, telescopes, binoculars, software, etc. that have been collecting dust. Something you’ve been thinking of getting rid of, to sell or just give away. There’s someone in the Club that could put those items to good use! So check what you’ve got, and bring it to the December Xmas Party swap table. You’ll be glad you did!!

-7- Lagoon Nebula - Taken with a 10” Newtonian scope using a Canon Digital Rebel XSi and acquired on his Macbook Pro using Equinox Pro, stacked and processed in Canon Digital Photo Professional and Lynkeos. Photo Credit: by DAS Member Rob Lancaster.

LIBRARY NEWS Glenn Bentley DAS FORUM / E-MAIL SITE ON YAHOO NEW Members are invited to drop by the library after the Don Shedrick November meeting to peruse our shelves for interesting This is a restricted e-mail service for use by DAS materials for the cold nights ahead. members for DAS purposes. To use this site, go to http:// groups.yahoo.com; search for Delaware Astronomical ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP Society; and click on the link that comes up. To join, you must have a Yahoo ID and password; if you don’t, you can DAS members have the opportunity to become register at this time by following Yahoo’s instructions. You members in the Astronomical League at the discounted rate will then be allowed to “Join the group” upon clicking in that of $7.50 per year. Benefits include the Reflector (a quarterly box. You must then register for the DAS group and add your newsletter), observing programs, awards, discounts on books profile by clicking on “add new profile” and completing the form. and educational materials. For questions on joining the When adding or editing your profile, you will need to Astronomical League, contact Lynn King at meetings, call enter your actual name in the “Real Name” box so you can be 302-764-8816 or email [email protected]. identified as a DAS member so Don Shedrick can approve your application to join the DAS group, and everyone will know to MT. CUBA LENDING LIBRARY Paul Stratton whom they are communicating. Finally, specify your desired email address for delivery Please remember that the lending time period is 3 of messages. Note: you may choose to not have your name months. We have some books that have been on loan for and email address displayed to anyone other than DAS several months. If you’d like to keep the book longer, members who are members of the Yahoo DAS email group. please let me know by either re-signing the sheet or email For more detailed instructions, go to the DAS me at [email protected]. website under DAS Resource Links. DAS Main Meeting Topics and Speakers for 2012-2013 November 20: Mini-talks: 1) Harnessing the Full Power of Skytools 3-- An in-depth guide to getting the most from this observing and astro-photography planning tool, by Doug Norton; 2) Winter Observing Gear-- A guide to keeping warm and happy while observing in cold weather, by Fred DeLucia. December 18: The DAS Annual Christmas Party and Swap Meet (as in the last several years, there will be no Board meeting in December to allow time for setting up the Swap Meet and Christmas Party), plus a mini-talk in the Planetarium by Rob Lancaster: January 15: Newtonian Mirror Making and the Mid-Atlantic Mirror Making Seminar-- An overview of how amateur telescope makers (ATMs) make their own high-quality telescope optics, by Bill Hanagan. February 19: Mini-talks: 1) MCAO’s Research Programs-- by MCAO Astronomer Judy Provencal; 2) OPEN. March 19: Mini-talks: 1) Filters for Observing and Imaging-- A review of the various filters available to enhance visual observ- ing and imaging and how they work, by Rob Lancaster; 2) The Blue Mountain Vista Observatory-- A review of the observatory and its remote imaging capabilities, by Chesmont Astronomical Society’s Frank Collisomo. April 16: Gamma-Ray Astronomy with VERITAS-- A discussion of how ground based telescopes like VERITAS can detect gamma rays using the atmosphere, as well as the properties of known astronomical gamma ray sources, by University of Delaware Assistant Professor Jamie Holder Here’s the longer version of Dr. Holder’s abstract: Gamma-rays are the highest energy form of light (photons). They can only be produced in very extreme environments in the Universe, in places where charged particles have been accelerated up to almost the speed of light. These include the regions around objects such as pulsars, black holes and supernova blast waves. Gamma-rays cannot penetrate through the atmosphere, but ground-based telescope arrays, such as VERITAS, can detect gamma-rays by using the atmosphere itself as part of the detector. Dr. Holder will explain how this works, and describe some of the properties of known astronomical gamma-ray sources. May 21: Annual Dinner Meeting-- OPEN. June 18: OPEN.

-8- In the next photo, Report on “No-Frills” Stargaze Rob is seen preparing his (Continued from page 6) imaging rig shortly before sunset on Saturday night. Rob’s rig is built around a 10” f/6 Newtonian telescope and a primary mirror that he made at the Mid-Atlantic Mirror Making Seminar. The next photo, below, shows Bill McKibben remov- ing the cover from his 18” truss tube Dob shortly after sunset. The white scope cover helps to minimize heat buildup in the tele- scope during the day so that it requires less time to The following two photos show the largest rocket cool at night. It also keeps launched that day, weighing in at 30 pounds. This and dew on the scope to a several other rockets were engineered to produce a lot of minimum after retiring for sparks, smoke, and noise just for show. Many other rockets the night. built around creative themes (such as a flying crayon) were launched as well. The event was attended by roughly 75 adults and children.

Early on Saturday evening, the sky was filled with light haze and thin clouds, giving us the colorful sunset seen in the next photo. Luckily, by about 9:30 PM the haze and clouds cleared out and gave us our third spectacu- lar night of clear skies for observing and imaging. With the exception of that brief period of haze and thin clouds, we had very transparent skies for all three nights. Later Saturday evening, we returned to the star party The final photo shows several of our members on the at Tuckahoe to find the fish fry already in progress. morning of Sunday, October 14, before packing up and In the next photo, at the top of the right column, Rob heading out. Appearing from left to right are Bill McKibben, Lancaster is seen pointing out the new addition to his 10” f/6 Rob Lancaster, Jeff Lawrence, Greg Lee, and Bill Hanagan. imaging Newtonian, a device known by the trade name of “Dew Buster”. The “Dew Buster” controller has the advantage over previous dew controllers that it can measure the ambi- ent temperature as well as the temperature of two compo- nents. By using actual temperature measurements, the Dew Buster controller can apply the exact amount of power needed to keep each component at or slightly above the ambient temperature where dew will not form. This consider- ably reduces the drain on the battery and still provides all of the heat needed to keep the dew off and even clear it off of an already dewed optical surface.

As in the past, our October MSP in conjunction November is the Month with the Delmarva Stargaze was one of the best of the year, That DAS Dues are Payable thanks to the combination of relatively dark skies, the While You’re Thinking About It, participation of a congenial group of observing and imaging Fill-Out the Form on Page 30 & Get Yours In NOW! enthusiasts, and a relatively short drive time (1.5 hours).

-9- Fred Packed Firepower on the Mountain Top & Ready to Roll on to the An October Astro-Viewing Trip to Spruce Knob, W.V. WVa Dark Fred DeLucia with Sky Site at input from Robert Werkman Spruce Knob. but it reminded me of such as it spread its arc across the sky, all the way down, deep and thick into Sagittarius. Through my 31 mm Nagler at 73x provi- ding over 1° true field of view (TFOV), the two dark lanes of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) were nested within the galaxy’s glow probably with the best contrast I’d ever seen. The three dimensional depth of the galaxy’s tilt and the 18 inch without Fred satellite galaxies M32 and M110 were so clearly detailed that M110 showed its face-on figure brightly. Pushing magnification to 377x with my 6mm Delos eyepiece I searched for NGC Timberline Four Seasons Ski Resort 206, a large star cluster not too far from M32, inside M31. Picture it, a 25" f/4, a 24" f/3.66, a 22" f/4.5, a 22" f/ While searching for NGC 206 I couldn’t tell if I was stumbling 3.6 (with a 152mm f/4.8 Mak-Newt piggy-backed on its mirror upon very distant field stars of the Milky Way or some of the box), a 10" SkyWatcher collapsible DOB, two apochromatic 500+ globular clusters of the Andromeda Galaxy. Scanning refractors (130mm and 90mm), plus my 18" f/4.3. That was slowly at that power along the outer dark lane fired my the line-up on Spruce Knob, WV Tuesday, October 16, 2012 imagination to some distant future, traveling on an intergalactic at 4,846 feet elevation. Firepower on the mountain top, for starship coasting through the cosmos on a scenic pass of the sure! Although some of the observers, more skilled than I, local group of galaxies as M110 and later M32 came back into complained that the transparency was not up to par, I was view. Then as I looked up from my scope to look towards quite happy with it because this was my first visit to “The Sagittarius… Sagittarius was gone. While I was lost in Knob” with my 18 inch. On previous excursions I used either M31the entire southern portion of the sky had blacked out. No an 11” or 8” SCT, so having the 18” there was enough to stars. Just black. Soon the blackness had crept overhead overcome any disappointment with transient sky conditions. leaving only a small “sucker hole” with some Milky Way A caravan of 6 peering through. Clouds were rolling in, obliterating the sky but vehicles, two of them I couldn’t see them. With no artificial light, from anywhere, to towing trailers, made reflect off clouds, it was so dark that the only way we were the one hour drive to aware of the presence of clouds was by the absence of stars. Spruce Knob from the This lasted for about an hour before beginning to clear. Canaan Valley resorts Not to waste a moment, before the clearing was area. At that same complete, I eyeballed the area of the Pisces-Perseus time a seventh driver Supercluster, pondered a few seconds on what awaits there concluded a business and executed a GoTo for NGC 708 in Abell 262. With eye to The 6 Vehicle Caravan begins the trip to WVa trip in Washington, DC eyepiece my vision accommodated the dim to not-so-dim and was heading to Syria, VA to hook up a waiting trailer view of 15th to 12th magnitude galaxies, so, I began scanning. laden with his 24” f/3.66 telescope before embarking on his It wasn’t too difficult to make out the small spirals, face-ons and rendezvous with “The Knob.” edge-on galaxies. I would linger on one field, then move to The six arrived on Spruce Knob at 6:15PM. Upon another, letting my eye absorb parking at the summit one pick-up truck’s sound system the 260 million year old photons triumphantly announced arrival with the strains of John before pressing a button to Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” for all to relish in move the field of view slightly. the lyrics, “To the place I belong On the Pisces/Pegasus West Virginia, mountain momma.” border, the galaxies NGC By 9:30 PM the 7th vehicle arrived from Syria, VA. 7619 with NGC 7626 were Now, seven enthusiastic observers commonly bound by the standouts at 12.1 and 12.2 compulsive allure of the darkest observing site on the east magnitude, respectively, while coast had convened for a night enveloped in an environment a dimmer companion, NGC completely free of artificial light encroachment. The seven of 7617 at 14.9 magnitude was us owned the mountaintop that night. There was no one else also identifiable. under that canopy of stars that spread from horizon to horizon. I didn’t pass up any The Milky Way wasn’t quite the core of a dense globular cluster Karl & his 22” F4.5 offers to share (Continued on next page) -10- Firepower on the Mountain Top (Continued from preceeding page) views in the larger scopes and making comparisons of the aperture. In my 18” the outer limbs of the nebula showed objects proved a fascinating exercise, generating the usual pinkish hues with some bluing towards the Trapezium and aperture envy. One particular object that saw much eyepiece very well defined high contrast dark patches. Although the E time in everyone’s scopes was Comet 168/P Hergenrother. and F stars were apparent in everyone’s scopes, the elusive Its short tail varied in length from scope to scope depending G and H stars were not visible. This view confirmed what the on aperture. In the 25” f/4 we were able to pull in a small 17th others had said earlier about the transparency. Two years magnitude galaxy within the same field of view as the comet. ago, while on “The Knob” M42 was nearly awash in color in The five galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet (Hickson 92) in the 25” with deeper and varying intensities of pinks, blues my 18” were a beautiful tangle of interacting star cities, yet with and grays. careful observing it was relatively easy to count all five distinctly. Thor’s Helmet (NGC 2359) was one of my last Mirach’s Ghost (NGC 404) looked very much like a targets of the night. With an OIII filter it was well defined and face-on galaxy, especially, when moving the bright star very bright, its horns stretched out from the round helmet Mirach out of the field of view. shape of the nebula displaying some filamentary strands Under dark skies I can amidst speckles of stars. It was appreciably much more so never resist a lingering view of in the 22” and 24” scopes. However, the owner of the 24” f/ galaxy NGC 891. Here, its edge- 3.66 said that he could not recall a better view of Thor’s on profile with dark lane contras- Helmet as what he saw in the 22” f/3.6. ting so artfully along its length, There were comments about an interesting cluster of invited study under various mag- galaxies in Orion that others viewed through the 22” f/3.6 that nifications. At low power it sat I unfortunately missed and the California Nebula (NGC 1499) majestically in a wide field of through a 2" H-beta filter, simultaneously observed in that 22” stars, while at high power it and its piggybacked f/4.8 Comet Hunter (34x, 2.8° TFOV) stretched to the extreme edges that I also missed out on. Afterwards this made for some of the field of view. Its bright stimulating but, in a way, frustrating discussion. There was core impressed me, darkened More Setting Up on the Knob just too much going on among all those scopes of aperture by the dust lane that distinguishes it as one of the most for one obsessive observer to keep up with in one night. striking edge-on galaxies in our Local Group. And it was an all-nighter. One does not want to risk But what I would consider as the “View of the Night” leaving the mountain until at least first light of dawn. IT’S was the region around the galaxy NGC 1275, the Perseus A TOO DARK TO DRIVE EVEN WITH HEADLIGHTS. Although Cluster. In my 6mm Delos eyepiece with about 11.5 arc the road is paved all the way to the top, with a nice parking minutes TFOV, quickly and easily I counted 6 galaxies, and lot and vented lavatory, there are no guardrails and the drive more came into view as I lingered. It’s a gorgeously rich is a whirl of narrow switchbacks and steep declines. Do expanse of space, full of fuzzy patches of galaxies of many yourself a favor. If you go and stay after dark, nap in your car sizes and shapes. This is an area well utilized by large if you’re tired and drive down the mountain at dawn. aperture telescopes for mind numbing appreciation of how This was my fourth observing trip to the Canaan dense the galaxy count is in our universe. Valley, WV and the first time without any wind on “The The view of the trip for another observer was the North Knob.” It was very refreshing not having to wait for the scope American Nebula (NGC 7000) with the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070 to calm down from wind gusts. An added bonus was the and IC 5067) through a 30mm Leitz eyepiece and Lumicon OIII comfortable temperatures. It was 42°F when I began my drive filter in his 22” f/3.6. The dark WV skies assisted, generously back to the hotel at 7:30AM but it was 31° at the bottom of enhancing the contrast between the clear outline of the the mountain. Go figure. Pelican’s bill from that of the coast of Florida portion of NGC The next night, Wednesday, we passed up observing 7000. It was better demarcated than he’d ever seen before. at Dolly Sods and opted instead for the parking lot of the A special treat was when I borrowed a 2” H-Beta filter Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge, a mere 10 minute drive from and sought out the Horsehead with my 17mm Ethos (133x, the hotel and a meager 3000’ elevation. The seeing only 3.4mm exit pupil). The image was surprisingly LARGE, taking supported lower power views up to about 150x but the sky up about 1/3 or more of the right side of the field of view. A was still dark enough to keep us observing until 3AM. There very experienced observer with whom I shared the view said was Polarissima Borealis, aka NGC 3172 at 14.1 magnitude, it was the highest magnification he had ever seen of the a 1 arc minute by 0.7 arc minute spiral galaxy in Ursa Major. Horsehead and was surprised it held up so well. He sug- It’s the nearest NGC object to Polaris and sits next to dim gested I use something with about a 5mm exit pupil, so out GSC 3644-0086, a 12.4 magnitude star. Others observed it came my 24mm Panoptic (4.9mm exit pupil) and he was but I missed that opportunity as well, being that I was right. It popped much more easily, with the Horsehead now a wrapped up in my own guilty pleasures of eye candy. clear stand-out against the brighter nebulosity. As I write I’ve only highlighted some of the many Deep Sky this I’m kicking myself for not thinking of trying my 31mm Objects observed on Spruce Knob. There’s just not enough Nagler, too. time or space (no pun intended) to relate how well When the Orion Nebula (M42) finally crept high Cleopatra’s Eye held up to high magnification, or the excep- enough to take advantage of the 4800+ feet altitude, many tional clarity of the Crab and the Dumbbell nebulae, the were back and forth among the scopes comparing views. subtlety of the Flame Nebula, the eyebrow raising view in my Color was apparent in the larger scopes, more so the bigger binoviewers of the galaxy pair M81/M82 and (Continued on page 30) -11- 2nd Annual FOCUS Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography Talents of DAS Members How Equipment Level Affects the Range of

Astronomical Objects that can be Imaged Bill Hanagan Background Depending on what astronomical object you wish to photograph or image, the equipment you would want might range from a relatively inexpensive camera and tripod arrangement, such as that seen in photo 1, to a simple equatorial mount and telescope like that seen in photo 2, all of the way up to and even beyond the sophisticated (and expensive) autoguider equipped imaging rig seen in photo 3.

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

The table below summarizes the progressive relationship between the level of equipment employed and the number of astronomical objects you can expect to image without serious blurring.

(Continued on Next Page)

-12- How Equipment Affects Range of Objects Imaged (Continued from Preceeding Page)

One of the most important points to take away from Of course, if we could also double the aperture as this table is that you can get started in astro imaging by well as the focal length of the telescope the same exposure shooting a few relatively bright and large astronomical time would work for both telescopes and we would only need objects with inexpensive equipment, such as lunar eclipses. to reduce mount errors by 4x. However, doubling the Then later, after you develop your skills, move up to better aperture has significant costs as well. and more expensive equipment in order to image a wider One other interesting point that’s worth making here range of objects. However, to image the large majority of is that some sort of image can sometimes be obtained with deep sky objects well, you will want an autoguider equipped lower level equipment, but that image won’t necessarily be mount with a cooled astronomical CCD camera. equal to an image produced using better equipment. For Another important principal that’s extremely impor- example, photo 4 shows an image of the Andromeda Galaxy tant to recognize is that using a longer focal length lens or shot with a 50 mm lens and a DSLR mounted on a tripod! telescope places vastly greater demands on the telescope The galaxy appears in the upper half of the image just to the mount. right of center. To illustrate, let’s look at a simple example. Sup- pose a barely acceptable level of blurring occurs due the Photo 4 constant drift of the image over the detector. This could be caused by polar misalignment as well as a number of other errors. The apparent blur size caused by a constant angular shift in the aim of the telescope relative to the subject being imaged can be predicted from the following equation. Blur size = k • á • t • F2 where: á = the angular drift in the aim of the camera relative to the subject per second; t = exposure time in seconds; F = the focal length of the lens or telescope in use; and k = a proportionality constant. In this case, doubling the focal length F will increase blurring by 22 or a factor of 4x. But, we must also account for the change in exposure time that the second telescope Now check out the following link to see another image demands. If the two telescopes have the same aperture and of the Andromeda Galaxy made with a 20” Ritchey Chretien the second telescope has twice the focal length, the expo- mounted on a Paramount ME equipped with an autoguider. sure time will also need to be increased by a factor of 4 upon http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/M31NMmosaic.html switching to the second telescope. So, simply doubling the Though the first image certainly shows the Androm- focal length of the telescope that we use, without also eda Galaxy, it is in no way equal to the image seen at the link. increasing the aperture, would require us to reduce mount The point of this discourse is that the image quality errors by a factor of 16 in order to get back to a barely that you can hope to achieve is very definitely dependent on acceptable level of blurring! the quality of the equipment you use.

-13- FOCUS 2ndThe Horsehead Annual and Flame Nebulas Special - Photo taken by FeatureDAS Member on the Rick Davis. The Horsehead Nebula at right, also known as Barnard OUTSTANDING33is a dark AstroPhotography nebula in Orion. The Flame Nebula or NGC 2024, of at left, DAS is Members an emission nebula in the same constellation. Taken September 21, 2012 this photo of the Dumbbell Nebula is a stack of 11, two minute images taken with my Modified XSi DSLR on my homemade 10" telescope with a Astronomik UHC filter attached, trying out Rick Davis’ Sigma Clip Method. The mount is my Losmandy G11.

The Recent Work of Rob at his computer- controlled 10” Newtownian self-built Astro-Photo Rig. Rob Lancaster

Rob Lancaster is one of our youngest DAS members who has become involved in all aspects of club activities--from the Astro Photogrphy Spcial Interest Group, to the Telescope Making Special Interest Group creating his own outstanding 10” f/6 Newtonian primary mirror and went on to build a complete optical tube assembly (OTA) around his mirror and now uses it for his astroimaging. The photos from Rob’s Facebook page at http:// www.facebook.com/lancaste/photos_stream shows the progresion of this telescope’s construction. From constructing a top-flight optical instrument, he moved to the self-modification of a DSLR camera to enhance specific frequencies of light thus enhancing the photos he is constantly capturing of the Heavens above. Rob Chaired the group that oversaw the most recent DAS Officer Elections and was instrumental in creating the system that now has us voting online. He is a Physics teacher at Concord High School and is recently married to the beautiful former Lindsay Karzon. Rob is a also a past winner of the DAS’ highest honor, the 2010 Annual Amateur Astronomer of the Year. With “young blood” like Rob in our midst the DAS has a bright future to carry on the traditions of the last 60 years of Astronomy that is the Delaware Astronomical Society.

This photo of the Transit of Venus was taken This is a video I shot of the Transit of Venus on the evening Rob grinding his telescope’s using my 10” Newtonian scope during the DAS Star Party of June 5th, 2012. The Canon 60D DSLR was on my mirror ahead of the Delmarva at New Garden Township using my Canon 60D DSLR. homemade 10" telescope with a homemade solar filter on it. Mirror Making Seminar. A plane dramatically flew across the sun while I was taking the video. Here are the results. You can see Venus, the Sun, Sunspots, and the Airplane. — taken at the DAS Star Party of the Transit of Venus at New Garden Township Building in PA. You can see the video by clicking above or below at http://www.facebook.com/ photo.php?v=666336963394&set=vb.17303222&type=2&theater

February, 2012 picture of the Orion Nebula. It was taken in horribly light polluted skies right in my backyard. I took the picture with my Losmandy Note: All images are the G11 mount, my 10" newtonian I built copyright of Rob Lancaster, myself, and a Canon Digital Rebel and may not be reproduced XSi that I modified to make it better in any manner without for astro-photography. The image is a stack of 4 five minute exposures written consent. and a stack of 3 one minute exposures combined to make one image.

-14- This image of Saturn was taken at ChesLen on June 20, 2012 from 2 movies I made using my Canon DSLR camera with Fred DeLucia’s 18” Dobsonian scope, stacking the best 200 frames from each movie, and stacking the result. .North American Nebula-- 5 minute stack of 3 taken at the recent Delmarva Stargazers Fall Star Party with my 10" Newtonian telescope, Losmandy G-11 Telescope Mount, Canon XSi DSLR that I modified by removing the IR filter and replacing it with one more sensitive to H-Alpha Light, Astronomik 2" UHC Nebula Filter, and Macbook Pro Computer for Data Collection and Analysis.

This image from ChesLen of the Swan Nebula was also taken through Fred DeLucia’s 18” Dobsonian scope. It was a 26 second long exposure. Compare this with Rob’s page 7 image.

Veil Nebula-- 5 minute stack of 3 Lagoon Nebula-- 60 second stack of 8 taken at the recent Delmarva Stargazers taken at the recent Fall Star Party with my 10" Newtonian telescope with a mirror I made at the Delmarva Star- Delmarva gazers mirror making Seminar, Losmandy G-11 Telescope Mount, Canon XSi DSLR that Stargazers Fall I modified by removing the IR filter and replacing it with one more sensitive to H-Alpha Light, Star Party with my Astronomik 2" UHC Nebula Filter, & Macbook Pro Computer for Data Collection and Analysis. 10" Newtonian telescope, Losmandy G-11 Telescope Mount, Crescent Canon XSi DSLR Nebula-- that I modified by 2 minute removing the IR stack of filter and 10 taken replacing it with one more sensitive to H-Alpha Light, Astronomik 2" UHC at the Nebula Filter, & Macbook Pro Computer for Data Collection and Analysis. recent Veil Nebula Delmarva East-- 2 minute Stargazers stack of 3 taken Fall Star at the recent Party with Delmarva my 10" Stargazers Fall Newtonian Star Party with telescope my 10" with a Newtonian mirror telescope, made at Losmandy G-11 the Telescope Delmarva Stargazers mirror making Seminar, Losmandy G-11 Telescope Mount, Canon Mount, Canon XSi DSLR that I modified by removing the IR filter and replacing it with one more sensitive XSi DSLR that I to H-Alpha Light, Astronomik 2" UHC Nebula Filter, and Macbook Pro Computer for Data modified by removing the IR filter and replacing it with one more sensitive to Collection and Analysis. H-Alpha Light, Astronomik 2" UHC Nebula Filter, and Macbook Pro Computer for Data Collection and Analysis.

-15- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of DAS Members

This photo, taken just before dusk at the DAS’ dark sky site on the property of member Gus Swartout prior to a June Member Star Party (MSP), shows the beauty of this location which overlooks the Elk River approximately 10 miles outside of Elkton, Maryland. Diana, a physician by trade, is a relatively new member of the DAS who has begun to dabble in AstroPhotography with her camera alone at this juncture while she makes inquiries, listens and learns. She has also participated in the ATM SIG that is reworking the Sawin’s Coulter telescope by assisting in the mirror grinding sessions that have been taking place at President Bill Hanagan’s Diana Metzger “Lab” in the basement of his home in Newark, DE. Diana is a welcome addition to the DAS!

Here is a photo of the waxing moon over Rocamadour, France, taken the 19th of September, 2012 on my trip to France and Spain. Taken with my Olympus SP550UZ with 18x optical zoom (how much of that I was using, I don’t know). f/3.5 ISO 400 (according to the camera settings—I had set the camera to “outdoor at night”), taken at 8:58 pm France time. I was touring France and Spain with 7 friends, and we were at Rocamadour,France. Rocamadour is in the Midi-Pyrénées portion of southwestern France and is an historic religious and pilgrimage site. It is on the Alzou River, a branch of the Dordogne River.

-16- The Recent Work of Note: All images are the copyright of Wayne King, and may not be reproduced Wayne King in any manner without written consent.

DAS members might find some of my recent work with a Hyperstar system interesting. This system converts my C11 into an f/2 wide field astrograph. Here are images of NGC 7023, left, the Iris Nebula and NGC 7635, below, the Bubble Nebula. Each was taken as a series of 12 5-minute dithered exposures through an IDAS LPR filter with a Starlight Xpress SXVR-M26C color camera using Maxim DL. Each image was then dark subtracted and flat field corrected. The images were color converted and combined using standard deviation masking. The final images were prepared in Photoshop by combining luminance, red, green, and blue frames from the original images taken.

-17- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of DAS Members

An earlier Rick Davis photo of the Crab Nebula from 2009. The Recent Work of Rick Davis

Rick is one of the DAS’ most prolific Astro Photographers In the photo below, Rick demonstrates a particular image and also a recent recipient of our club’s highest honor, being athe processing procedure on the image of M33 that he just obtained. The 2011 Annual Amateur Astronomer of the Year awardee. On data from the telescope mount is relayed via network to a laptop in September 7 of this year, members of the AP-SIG including Rob Rick’s garage and from there to a second laptop connected to the 60” Lancaster, Rick Davis, Bill Hanagan, and Ron Worden met at Rick Plasma display seen in the photo. This system allows Rick to image in Davis’s home for the first of this year’s “On-Site” AP-SIG meetings. the cold winter months from the warmth and comfort of his family room. Rick acted as host and demon- Rick Davis, left, strated his new SBIG ST- shows Rob Lancaster and 4000XCM cooled astronomical Ron Worden CCD camera with which the the new recent color Astro photos seen workings of his ST-4000XCM here were taken. camera on M33 . In the photo, at left, as displayed on Rick Davis rolls his Losmandy a 60” high definition TV G11 based imaging rig out of his screen at the garage with Takahashi FSQ- September AP- 106N refractor in preparation to SIG “On Site” meeting. set it up in his driveway. The telescope is polar aligned and Note: All Astro images are ready to create a pointing model the copyright of Rick Davis, for accurate GOTO operation in and may not be reproduced about 15 minutes. It was ready to in any manner without begin imaging in about 30 minutes. written consent.

The Horsehead Nebula at left (also known as Barnard 33 in emission Nebula IC 434) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. This photo of the Horsehead Nebula I acquired the data on Friday night December 2, 2011. It consists of 24 five minute exposures through the red filter of my SBIG ST-7XME camera. The telescope that I used was a Takahashi FSQ-106N refractor. I used a red filter to minimize the effects of light pollution and to reduce blooming of the bright stars; the ST-7XME is a non-antiblooming camera. The processing included calibration, removal of a few blooms, stacking, and Digital Development Processing (DDP) for stretching the histogram.

Messier 81 at right (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constella- tion Ursa Major. This image of M81 was acquired on the same night and in the same manner as the Horsehead above using the same SBIG ST-7XME camera, except that it was taken through a clear filter instead of a red filter. It consists of 24 five minute images that were calibrated, blooms removed, combined, and histogram stretched by Digital Development Processing (DDP). With this image the background was smoothed using a median kernal filter.

-18- The images below I obtained in September, 2012 with my new camera (received in late July) and are probably my best overall because of the color. All of these images were acquired using an SBIG ST-4000XCM one shot color camera attached to my Takahashi FSQ-106N refractor (4" aperture, 530 mm focal length). The individual image acquisition details are included below each image. All of the images were acquired from my driveway in North Wilmington.

The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, and Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million about 5000 light years away. light-years from Earth in the Andromeda constellation, is also known as Messier This image is the “first light” image from my new camera. It consists 31 or NGC 224. of nine 10 minute images stacked and processed using calibrated color This image consists of twelve 10 minute images stacked and processed conversion and combined Digital Development Processing (DDP) curves. with calibrated color converted and combined color balanced Digital Development Processing (DDP) 2 gradient removal curves to remove background color.

This image of the Veil Nebula consists of eight 5 minute images The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC5070 and IC5067) is an stacked and processed with calibrated color converted and combined color bal- emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The gaseous contortions of this anced Digital Development Processing (DDP) curves to remove background color. emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name. To the east (left side) of the nebula near the edge of the image This image of the Pelican Nebula consists of twelve 10 minute you can see some additional nebulosity (red) from the supernova that images stacked and processed using calibrated color converted and combined formed the Veil. Digital Development Processing (DDP) adjusted color curves. -19- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of DAS Members

A March, 2012 photo of VENUS by Ron Worden- The Work of 7 stacked photos of Jupiter through an LX200 10” Ron Worden Telescope, FL 1625mm with SBIG STV camera..

Venus Transiting the Sun - Photo below was captured on June 8, 2004 at Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Photo was taken using 10X50 binoculars on a tripod with someone holding a full spectrum solar filter. A digital camera was used set to 2x zoom held up to binocular eyepiece. Compare this will the pictures below of the June, 2012 Transit where the techniques utilized by Ron & his SNOBIE OBSERVATORY had by this time risen in sophistication by orders of magnitude. You can see Ron’s equipment shown Ron’s SNOBIE work online at here are, at left, his Meade www.unique-treasures.com. LX200, 10” F/10, 2500mm focal length with an Orion Auto-Guider on the Orion 80mm Short Tube Refractor; above is a Coronado Solar- max 40; Control Room in gar- age at top right; and Control Room in my home, right, where the computer in the garage can be controlled in comfort. 2012 VENUS Transit of the SUN 7:32:00 pm 2012 VENUS Transit of the SUN 7:33:20 pm

Venus Transit of the Sun Photos at left were captured on 6/5/2012. They were taken with an Orion 4" 20x- 60x Spotting Scope with a Canon 40D DSLR at ISO 400. 2012 VENUS Transit of the SUN 7:35:35 pm

Note: All images are the copyright of Ron Worden and may not be reproduced 2012 VENUS Transit in any manner without of the SUN 7:37:14 pm written consent.

-20- Moon Photos above taken with f6.5 1625mm 10” LX200 Telescope utilizing an STV Camera.

December 2010 Lunar Eclipse photo above taken with a Canon 40D camera with 300mm lens on tripod.

Sun with Solar Prominances photo above taken with a Coronado SolarMax 40 telescope and a Canon 40D camera.

The photo above is the central region of the Orion Nebula, M42, showing the multiple star Theta Orionis, commonly known as the Trapezium. Upper right is Theta 2 with its companion. Photo captured with a f6.5 1625mm 10” LX200 Telescope utilizing an STV Camera. Messier 15 or M15 (also designated NGC 7078) is a globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus..This photo is composed of 25 - 60second guided exposures, stacked using an F6.5 MX7C camera. -21- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of DAS Members

Before Green Flash 1--Indian Ocean--Leaving Nosy Komba, Madagascar looking for a green flash 12/1/02. The day we left Nosy Komba the evening sky was The Outstanding Work of very clear and promising for viewing the rare and elusive World Traveler green flash.Taken with an Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f1.8, Kodak Kodachrome Don Shedrick 64 Scanned with Polaroid Don in Yiwu, China in August, 2008 Sprintscan 35 Plus.

Don has chased eclipses of the sun across the face of the globe, from China in 2008 featured in last year’s Note: All images are the November FOCUS edition on DAS member Astro Photography, to Egypt in 2006, on the Indian Ocean in 2002, Zambia copyright of Don Shedrick in 2001, and on the Black Sea in 1999. He is, without a doubt, a world traveler in general and an eclipse chaser in particular. This year we concentrate on some of Don’s other achievements at capturing Astronomical phenomena. and may not be reproduced in any manner without More photographs from Don’s many other adventures can be found at http://www.pbase.com/firstlightimaging/root. written consent.

Very rarely, at sunrise or sunset, there are flashes of green light visible at the top edge of the sun for a fraction of a second as the sun just disappears (sunset) or just starts to appear (sunrise). This effect only happens when there are no clouds near the sun, the atmosphere is clear and free of dust or haze, and where there is an unobstructed view of a very low horizon, such as on the ocean. The green flash (also called green ray) is caused mostly by refraction and scattering of the blue end of the sun’s light spectrum by the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving the green portion of the spectrum visible.

Before Green Flash 2--Indian Ocean--Sunset just before the Green Flash Green Flash!--Indian Ocean--12/1/02--At the last instant before the sun 12/1/02. The sun flares out at the water line like the Greek letter Omega, an disappears below the horizon, the green flash miraculously appears! This indication that the sky clarity and refraction may be favorable for viewing the is an unusually shaped one with 4 segmented components. Olympus OM1, green flash.Taken with an Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 200mm f4 & 2X-A tele- Zuiko 200mm f4 & 2X-A teleconverter, Kodak Kodachrome 64. Cropped at converter, Kodak Kodachrome 64. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus. approximately 3x. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus.

Eclipse Baileys Beads--Indian Ocean--Only moments before totality, a few rays of sunlight pass through the deep valleys at the Moon’s edge, causing the Baily’s Beads, which look like Comet Hyakutake C/1996 B2-- taken on the the jewels on a necklace. Red chromosphere is evening of 3/26/96. Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 50mm also visible. Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 200mm f4 & f 1.8,3M 400 speed slide film. Film was push 2X-A teleconverter, Kodak Ektachrome E200 Slik Comet Hale Bopp--Taken on the evening of 3/27/97. processed to ASA1600, exposure f 2.8 for 50 sec. U212 tripod, Olympus OM Auto Winder 1 and Olympus OM1, Zuiko 50mm f 1.8, Kodak E1600 slide Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus. film Exposure f1.8 for 10 sec. piggy backed on telescope remote electric shutter release. Exposure 1/1000 equatorial mount. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus. sec @ f11. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus. Image processed with minimal tweaking in Photoshop to match the slide. -22- Lunar Eclipse 11/8/03--Taken with an Olympus New Crescent Moon with Earthshine--Taken with OM-1, Zuiko 200mm f4 & 2X-A teleconverter, an Olympus E-500, 2 second exposure, f/5.0 at Kodak Ektachrome E200. 283.0mm, ISO200. Venus Transit 6/8/2004--Transit of the Sun by Venus is a very rare event. I took this through early morning haze, which barely cleared in time to catch the end of the transit.Taken with an Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 200mm f4 & 2X-A teleconverter, Kodak Ektachrome E200. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus.

Sagitarius--Sagittarius is a constellation of the zodiac, the one containing the galactic center. Its name is Latin for the archer. This photo, at left, was taken from the beach in Ocean City, NJ in July, 2002 using an Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f1.8, Kodak Ektachrome E200. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus.

Scutum--Scutum is the only constellation that owes its name to a non- Crux--a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern classical historical figure. It was created in 1684 by Polish astronomer Cross, is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the Johannes Hevelius[1] (Jan Heweliusz), who originally named it Scutum most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross. This photo was shot at the Sobiescianum (Shield of Sobieski) to commemorate the victory of the Mala Mala Game Reserve, So Africa, in Kruger National Park, in June, Polish forces led by King John III Sobieski (Jan III Sobieski) in the 2001. Stars to magnitude 5 are visible in this photograph (not as many as Battle of Vienna in 1683. Later, the name was shortened to Scutum.This can actually be seen by the unaided eye under the magnificantly dark photo was taken from the beach in Ocean City, NJ July 2002 with an African bush country skies). Taken with an Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f1.8,Kodak Ektachrome E200 Exposure 1.8, Kodak Ektachrome E200, exposure f 1.8 for 25 seconds. Scanned f1.8 for 12 seconds. Scanned with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus. with Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Plus.

-23- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of DAS Members

Two Leonid Meteors streaking through Cassiopeia in 2001 - Photo by DAS Member Bill Hanagan using a Canon F1 on The Work of a tripod, 7 min. at f/2.0 at 50mm, on Kodachrome 100 film later digitized & reimaged using an Olympus C3040Z Bill Hanagan camera. DAS President & AstroPhoto Special Insterest Group Chair

Bill Hanagan, above cap- turing the Transit photos that appear on the left. Note: All Astro images are the copyright of Bill Hanagan, and may These photos of the Transit of Venus were not be reproduced taken at the DAS Star Party in New Garden in any manner with- Township, PA with a 998mm TEC 140 APO out written consent. ED at f/7 using a TEC field flattener and a Canon 50D DSLR. The ISO on the camera was set to 400. The first photo, above left, was obtained with a 1/40th second exposure. In the second photo, iin the center, a 1/400th second exposure. The third photo, a 1/800th second exposure was taken with the sun very near the horizon. The last transit photo was taken with a 1/1000th second exposure.. As we left, a spectacular sunset, which can be seen in the last photo, capped off this last in a lifetime observing experience of the Transit of Venus. The final two new images below are from the MSP at Tuckahoe on October 11-14 that show the view to the east from two positions on the observing field. The one on the right was from in front of my tent, and the one below was from the center of the field and shows the barn and canteen in the foreground.

Both images were taken with a tripod mounted Canon 50D DSLR equipped with a 10-22 EF-S zoom lens. Both exposures were made at a focal length of 10 mm, giving a field of view that is 97 x 74 degrees in the first image and 74 X 97 degrees in the second image. Both images were taken as 30 second exposures at f/4.5 and ISO 800. In addition, 4 dark frames (with the lens cap on) were made under the same exposure conditions and later used in the freeware program “Blackframe NR” by Mediachance to perform "dark frame subtraction" in order to remove hot pixels in the original image. Otherwise, hot pixels would show up as brilliantly colored blue, green and red pinpoints which might be mistaken for stars. Blackframe NR generates a TIF file which was processed in Canon Digital Photo Professional to obtain images of appropriate brightness, contrast, and color balance. -24- This image of the radio antenna was taken on 6/22/2006 at the Starquest Star Party at the Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. The star party was attended by DAS members Bill Hanagan, Bill's Nephew Ryan, Bob Mentzer, Marc Hutton, Rich LeMay, Bill McKibben and in spirit Jack Fisher. We had great tours of the Cass Scenic Railroad and Radio Observatory, but the observing was washed out by rain.

The Work of Bill McKibben DAS Treasurer

This image of the Orion Nebula was taken through a Vixen 80ED at f/7.5 on a Celestron Advanced Series mount. The camera was a Canon 20D (not modified). All images were at ISO 800. I combined 12 images at Note: All Astro images are 90 seconds each, 9 at the copyright of Bill McKibben, 30 seconds and 2 at 10 seconds along with the and may not be reproduced appropriate dark frames in any manner without to make the final image. written consent. I used blending techniques from the book Photoshop Astronomy by R. Scott Ireland to bring out more of the detail in the Trapezium.

This image of the Trifid Nebula was taken with a Canon20D (standard) DSLR camera at prime focus through a Vixen ED 80 f/7.5 refractor. The mount was a Celestron CG5 ASGT Mount. The final image was made up of 14 exposures at 120 seconds each at ISO 800. The exposures were stacked in Registax 3.0 and touched up in Photoshop CS2. The image was taken from my back yard in Elkton, MD on an exceptionally transparent night on August 12, 2006.

-25- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature on the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of DAS Members

SATURN-- This image was obtained using a 16" Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at f/10. The camera was a SBIG ST-8; acquisition and image manipulation software was Cyanogen’s Maxim DL. Ten exposures were taken through each of three filters; blue, green and red. The best image from each filter “run” was chosen; the three separate color images were combined to form a raw combined color The Work of image. Dark and flat-field exposures were taken and applied to the raw images. An unsharp-mask computer routine was then applied to the combined data, resulting in the final color image shown here. Willis Greiner

Willis at work.

“Chena Aurora 8”-- Chena Hot Springs, Alaska March 19, 2004. Kodak Portra Professional Film, ISO 800 color negative film — normal development. Pentax 6x7 camera with 105mm lens at f2.4/ ~60 second exposure.

“Canyon Moon”--Summer, 1994-- This photograph was taken from a shoreline camp in the Inner Gorge of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. My feelings are described in the narrative “The Ribbon of Sky.” This image is used as a logo for Space Systems of Colorado Springs, and has been the recipient of numerous awards.

“...And the Cosmic Dance Continues”--7/13/1991--1/60th second, 55mm f/2 on Kodak Kodachrome II film. This photo was taken from 30,000 feet on an airliner above Mexico with cabin lights off, through the window; subjects are Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury above a spectacular sunset whose colors were caused in part by the eruption of Pinuntabo in the Philippines — the photo was luck, but was successful partially because the exposure meter was ignored, and the exposure (much quicker than the auto expose would select) was taken on the moon, thereby not overexposing the whole frame. I took a whole roll; only a few frames did not display double images.

Note: All Astro images are www.astrophotographs.com/ is the copyright of Willis Greiner, Willis’ award-winning instruc- and may not be reproduced tional site of astrophotography in any manner without and nature-centered narratives. written consent. Check it out by clicking above!

-26- Zimbabwe Total Solar Eclipse – June 21, 2001

“Zimbabwe Second “Zimbabwe Full Contact”—Rushinga, Corona”— Zimbabwe June 21, Rushinga, 2001, Celestron C-8 Zimbabwe June with f/6.3 focal 21, 2001, reducer, Fujicolor Celestron C-8 with Superia ISO 100 color f/6.3 focal reducer, negative film, Pentax Fujicolor Superia Spotmatic camera at ISO 100 color 1/1000th second. negative film, Pentax Spotmatic camera at 1/30th second.

“Zimbabwe Third “Zimbabwe Contact”—Rushinga, Diamond Ring”— Zimbabwe June 21, Rushinga, 2001, Celestron C-8 Zimbabwe June with f/6.3 focal 21, 2001, reducer, Fujicolor Celestron C-8 with Superia ISO 100 color f/6.3 focal reducer, negative film, Pentax Fujicolor Superia Spotmatic camera at ISO 100 color 1/250th second. negative film, Pentax Spotmatic camera at 1/500th second.

“Hyakutake III”—3/25/ “Lunar 1996 from Conifer, CO, Eclipse Over 5 minute time exposure Yellowstone — 55mm f/2 on hypered Lake”— Kodak Technical Pan Summer, 1989-- film. Notice tail This photo- detachment event, which graph was is quite rare on film. The taken from the event only took about 20 shores of minutes, proving that Yellowstone one must actually look Lake, with a and give the comet a 28mm East chance to “perform.” German wide- Also, the tail has angle lens, with enlarged to almost 40 color negative degrees long (the Moon film. A very is 1/2 a degree wide) bright eclipse, and very bright, obvious this exposure to the most casual shows many observer away from background city lights. stars and the reflection of the eclipsed moon on the surface of the lake.

-27- FOCUS 2nd Annual Special Feature: With the OUTSTANDING AstroPhotography of a DAS Friend

The Horsehead region in Orion—Date: Feb 15,16,17 2009, Location: New Ringgold PA, Optics: Televue NP-101 at f/5.4, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera/Filters: Apogee Alta U8300 FLI CFW-2-7 FLI Filters, Guiding: Orion Starshoot Autoguider in Orion ST-80, The Work of DAS Friend Exposure: Luminance: 16x5 minutes unbinned, R:15x4 min G:15x4 min B:15x6 min HA:15x5 min all binned 2x2 for a total of 6.1 hours, & Chesmont Astro Society Member Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing using Photoshop. Frank Colosimo

Note: All Astro images are the copyright of Frank Colosimo, and may not be reproduced Photo Shows Views from Frank’s Blue Mountain Observatory-- in any manner without written consent. BMO offers remote imaging services to interested Astro Photographers. He will be giving a talk in the coming months at the DAS March Monthly ALL of the Photos below were taken at the Blue Mountain Meeting outlining the Observatory’s capabilities and services. Observatory in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania.

M17—also known as NGC 6618 or the Omgea or Swan Nebula, is an HII nebula in Sagittarius. Messier 13—(M13, NGC 6205) is a magnitude 5.8 globular cluster in the constellation of It has an apparent size of 11 arc minutes for the central area and is located at a distance of about Hercules, Date: July 24 2008, Optics: Meade LX200R 12 inch at f/5.9, Mount: Paramount ME, 5,000 - 6,000 light years. Date: July 3,5,6, 2010, Optics: Starizona Hyperion telescope, Camera: SBIG ST-8XME / CFW-8, Guiding: ST-8XME integral guiding chip controlled by 12.5 inch/2529 mm focal length, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera: STL 11000, Guiding: self Maxim CCD, Exposure: LHaGB - Luminance: 10x2 min, R:6x2.1 min, G:6x2 min, B:6x3.38min guided, Exposure: L 28x10min, RGV 12x7 min each binned 2x2 - Total 8.4 hrs. Processing: Image (lum unbinned and color binned 2x2), Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing with Photoshop. processing with Photoshop.

M42 / M43 is in M51 or NGC 5194 the center of the is a spiral galaxy image with the in Canes Venatici Running Man and is accompa- Nebula, or NGC nied by its 1977 at the upper interacting left. M42 (NGC neighbor, NGC 1976) is a 5195. It is magnitude 4 estimated at 37 nebula in the million light years constellation of distance. It was Orion, and is discovered by located at a Charles Messier distance of about in 1773. This 1,344 light years. galaxy is the first Date: Jan 9-13, one where spiral 2010, Optics: structure was observed, by Lord Rosse in 1845, and is sometimes named for him. Note Takahashi FSQ 106 at f/5, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera: Apogee Alta U8300, the extensive blue star forming regions in the main spiral, but how few there are in the Guiding: Orion ST80/SBIG ST402, Exposure: LRHaGB - Luminance: 23x5sec and companion galaxy. Date: Mar 23, Apr 3,14,15, 2008, Optics: Meade LX200R 12 inch at f/ 23x6min, R:19x6 min, G:16x4 min, B:19x7 min - Total 7.5 hrs. Processing: Image 10, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera: SBIG ST-8XME / CFW-8, Guiding: ST-8XME integral acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with guiding chip controlled by Maxim CCD, Exposure: LRGB: Luminance: 14x10 minutes subsequent processing with Photoshop. unbinned; RGB: 5 each binned 2x2 - 8 min for R,G, and 9 min for B. Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing with Photoshop. -28- NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula, is a bright (mag 6.8) reflection nebula in Cepheus, M64, NGC 4826, or the Black Eye Galaxy, is a magnitude 9.4 spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices. about 1300 light years away and is around 6 light years across. Date: October 2010, Optics: It has an apparent size of 10.7 x 5.1 arc minutes, and is estimated to be 24 million light years Hyperion 12.5 inch f/9 2532mm focal length, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera/Filters: SBIG away. Date: Mar 2009, Optics: Meade LX200R-14 at f/7.9 28llmm, Mount: Paramount ME, STL 11000 camera Baader filters, Guiding: integral guiding chip controlled by Maxim CCD, Camera/Filters: Apogee Alta U8300 FLI CFW-2-7 FLI Filters, Guiding: Orion Starshoot Autoguider Exposure: LRGB: Luminance: 58x6 minutes unbinned; RGB: unbinned - R-42x5 min, G- 36x5 in Orion ST-80, Exposure: Luminance: 30x5 minutes binned 2x2, R:19x5 min G:22x4 min B:21x6 min, B- 33x5 min, for a total of 15 hours. Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. min all binned 3x3 for a total of 9.3 hours. Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing with Photoshop. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing using Photoshop.

M78: This image M81, NGC shows the area 3031, or surrounding the Bode’s reflection nebula, Galaxy is a M78 (NGC 2068), magnitude which is the 6.9 spiral brightest blue area galaxy in in the lower center, Ursa Major and is a magnitude and part of 8.3 nebula in the the so-called constellation of M81 group of Orion, and is galaxies. located at a Also seen distance of about are M82, the 1,600 light years. Cigar Also visible are Galaxy at the NGC 2071, the top, and blue reflection NGC 3077 at nebula to the center left, and NGC 2067, the nebula above M78 across the dark rift. This the lower continues to the right and becomes NGC 2064. If you move farther to the right into the center of left. Date: Feb 2009, Optics: TeleVue NP-101, at f/5.4, 540mm focal length, Mount: the dark nebula, you will see McNeil’s Nebula as a small white reflection nebula. Date: Feb 8 - Paramount ME, Camera/Filters: Apogee Alta U8300 FLI CFW-2-7 FLI Filters, Guiding: 12, 2010, Optics: Takahashi FSQ 106 at f/5, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera: Apogee Alta Orion Starshoot Autoguider in Orion ST-80, Exposure: Luminance: 22x5 minutes unbinned, U8300, Guiding: Orion ST80/SBIG. ST402. Exposure: LRGB - Luminance: 22x10 min, R:12x10 R:14x4 min G:14x4 min B:14x6 min all binned 2x2 for a total of 5.1 hours. Processing: min, G:9x6 min, B:11x10 min - Total 8.4 hrs. Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing with Photoshop. subsequent processing using Photoshop.

Messier 101 NGC 281 (M101, NGC (PacMan 5457) also Nebula) is an H- known as the II region (ionized Pinwheel molecular gas Galaxy is a cloud) in magnitude Cassiopeia. It 8.3 face-on is estimated to spiral galaxy be 10,000 light in the years from us. constellation Date: Sep 30 - of Ursa Oct 10, 2011, Major. Date: Optics: Hyperion Jun 2,9,11, f/8 12.5 inch, FL 2008, Optics: 2540 mm, Meade Mount: Paramount LX200R 12 inch at f/5.9, Mount: Paramount ME, Camera: SBIG ST-8XME / CFW-8, Guiding: ST- ME, Camera: Sbig STL-11000 Guiding: Internal Exposure: HaRHaGB: Ha:26x15 min 8XME integral guiding chip controlled by Maxim CCD. Exposure: LRGB (color 2x2 bin): Luminance: R:19x8 min, G:12x5 min, B:15x8 min, Total=12 hours. Processing: Image acquisition using 12x10 min, R:8x5 min, G:8x3.3 min, B:8x6 min. Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing Chris Abissi did a great job of processing this for me. Comments: A large but faint galaxy. Chris’ with Photoshop. The HA narrow band data was mixed with Red image to bring out detail in careful stretching of the spiral arms accentuated the red-magenta nebulas and the young blue star the nebula. The HA was also used to create a Luminance layer. clusters while capturing the warm yellow glow from the old stars making up the core. -29- Firepower on the Mountain Top (Continued from page 11) There’s no other way that any one can see such a many, many more thrilling sights, such as grabbing several variety of objects with so broad a range of visual magnitudes degrees of Milky Way in the rich field views of the 130mm without the generous company of fellow observers combined and 90mm refractors. I wish I spent more time with those with 7+ magnitude skies and observing for as long as the refractors. Anyone who thinks an observing trip to West night lasts. Such opportunities are uncommon and unobtain- Virginia is just for large Dobs needs an attitude adjustment. able at local monthly star parties or impromptu gatherings. My writings cannot do justice to the host of celestial won- ders we observed or adequately describe all of the inevitable comparisons, such as the brief shoot-out between the 22” f/3.6 and 24” f/3.66 while using a 21mm Ethos 100° eyepiece on NGC 7789, an open cluster in Cassiopeia. Like a good observing buddy says frequently, “If you WANNA know, you GOTTA go.” I’m looking forward to the next trip to share the camaraderie, the good food of several area restaurants, gorgeous colorful daytime views and the very, very dark night skies of “Wild and Wonderful” West Virginia. Note: The Chesmont Astronomical Society organizes an annual stay in the Canaan Valley Ski Resorts area in West Virginia. Members (and wives or companions) of various clubs make the trip. Any number, usually from 8 to 18 or more stay for 2 to 4 nights or more or less depending on everyone’s schedules and spend the daytime non- observing hours however they desire. There is no formal schedule. It’s a complete no pressure, relaxation-filled, tension depleting getaway that just happens to involve banding together with each other’s favorite telescope(s) to observe West Virginia’s magnificent night skies from Blackwater Falls Area of West Virginia several of the area’s outstanding vantage points. DAS Outreach at Woodside Farm Creamery Continued Again This Past Summer The DAS’ outreach program continued again this past summer at the Woodside Farm Creamery, the home of farm fresh ice creams. Led by DAS Board Member-at-Large Jeff Lawrence, this year’s events were held in June, July, August and September. Most were at dusk with alternate rain dates with the exception of the August event which was a noon Solar observing event. All were well attended by customers of Woodsite who got a taste of Astro-Viewing along with their top-notch ice cream treats. Sadly, the last event in September was clouded out, but DAS members were still on hand as the pictures below attest, hoping for the skies to clear, but it was not to be. The club will be back next year, and we thank the hospitable folks at Woodside Farm Creamery for permitting our outreach efforts at their fine facility.

Jeff Lawrence, who was the DAS coordinator for the outreach events this year at the Woodside Farm Creamery.

Jeff , left, and DAS President Bill Hanagan waiting for the skies to clear at the last of this year’s Woodside DAS President Bill Hanagan, left, with the new Mr. & Mrs. Rob Lancaster, outreach Jeff Lawrence and Bill’s wife, Mary Ann Hanagan, at the Woodside Farm Creamery. events.

-30- INFORMATION ON DAS MEMBERSHIPS AND MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS

DAS MEMBERSHIP · DAS membership dues are $30.00 per year and due on November 1 for all members. · New members joining at various times of the year may be eligible for a prorated dues amount. - New members joining March-May pay $20 for membership through November 1 of the current year. - New members joining June-August pay $10 for membership through November 1 of the current year. - New members joining September-October pay $30 for membership through November 1 of the following year.

ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP · The DAS offers an optional membership in the Astronomical League (AL) at a discounted rate. · AL membership dues are $7.50 per year and are due on June 1 for all members. · The AL does not offer any prorated discounts for new memberships starting mid-year.

SKY & TELESCOPE MAGAZINE · The DAS offers subscriptions to Sky & Telescope at a discounted rate of $32.95 per year. · Subscriptions to S&T will be processed by the club for the first subscription year only. · The publisher should then send renewal notices directly to the subscriber at the club rate of $32.95. · You may receive renewal offers for amounts other than $32.95. If so, check to see if they are special offers and how close you are to your renewal date. · Your subscription expiration date should be displayed on the mailing label on your magazine. · If you are within 3 months of your renewal date and still have not received the correct renewal notice, please contact the publisher and tell them you should receive the member rate. · If all else fails, send a check to the treasurer and request to have it renewed by the club.

ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE · The DAS offers subscriptions to Astronomy magazine at a discounted rate of $34.00 per year. · Subscriptions to Astronomy will be processed by the club for new and renewal subscriptions. · Your subscription expiration date should be displayed on the mailing label on your magazine. · For renewals, please send a check for $34.00 payable to “Astronomy” to the treasurer to have it renewed by the club.

MEMBERSHIP FORM · Please review the membership and magazine information above carefully. · New members are requested to fill out the membership form completely. · Renewal members do not need to fill out any information we already have but, be sure to include any corrections. ------MEMBERSHIP or RENEWAL FORM Please be sure to review the membership and magazine information above carefully Please make checks payable to DAS and forward to: Bill McKibben, DAS Treasurer, 27 Mary Jane Lane, Elkton, MD 21921

New Member Senior / Family Membership $30.00 Renewal Junior Membership (16 or under) $10.00 Astronomical League $ 7.50 Sky & Telescope Magazine $32.95 Astronomy Magazine $34.00 Total

Name______Email Address______Street Address______Phone Number______City______State______Zip______Notes______For questions or concerns, contact Bill McKibben, DAS Treasurer at 410-392-3444 or [email protected] -31- DAS CONTACTS Please call any of us with your concerns! Board members: Officers: President: Bill Hanagan -- 302-239-0949 or [email protected], also, Amateur Telescope Making and Astronomical Photography Special Interest Group, By-Laws, Programs & Star Parties

Vice-President: John Case -- 302-838-1568 or [email protected]

Secretary: Rich LeMay-- [email protected]

Treasurer: William McKibben -- [email protected], also Sky & Telescope & Astronomy magazine issues

Board Members at Large: Terry Lisansky [email protected]

Jeff Lawrence [email protected]

Bob Mentzer [email protected]

Standing Chairs: Publications: Joe Neuberger -- 410-398-7394 or [email protected], also, FOCUS Newsletter contributions / submission of Articles and Astro-Photos for publication

Awards: Gus Swartout - [email protected]

Education: Seat is presently vacant

Observing: Greg Lee -- 762-5358 or [email protected], also, What’s Up in the Night Sky? segment at each monthly meeting.

Observatory: Tom Sidowski -- 302-239-1884 or [email protected]

Library Glenn Bentley -- 610-869-0706 or [email protected] MCAO Web Page: www.MountCuba.org

Elections Rob Lancaster -- [email protected] DAS Web Page: www.DelAstro.org Other Chairs and Important People: Sheila Vincent --302-322-4739, Ad-hoc star parties Daniel Chester-- [email protected], DAS’ Web presence SEE PRECEEDING PAGE FOR MEMBERSHIP or RENEWAL FORM If you have questions, call any of the member representatives listed. Otherwise, just check the appropriate boxes and complete the form below. Print it or cut it off and send it with your check to Bill McKibben at his address on the form. The magazine prices are group rates to DAS members. If you’re just joining us for the first time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, and WELCOME to the DAS!

The Whew! What an Issue! Think I’ll go have a snort of a good Single Malt Last Scotch now that it’s put to bed & in the Members’ hands. I hope you, the DAS Membership, get as much enjoyment out of this issue Word. . . as I had fun in putting it together. It was truly a labor of love and astonishment!

And to the Astro-Photographers who made it possible, I extend my HEARTFELT THANKS to EACH & EVERY one of YOU extraordinarily talented people!

Let the accolades begin to flow. They are well deserved by ALL of these FOCUS editor dedicated, hard working, and adventurous individuals! I stand in awe of Joe Neuberger their efforts, expertise and their products whether beginner or advanced expert.