My class symposium for AMU.

1. Mike Chartrand
Symposium Project
Astronomy 134
Professor Katie J. Berryhill

2. My name is Mike. I am a Space
Studies major at AMU. After over a
decade of wishing, I have finally
gotten the chance to be bitten by the
amateur astronomy bug!

3. The sky is filled with
endless wonders to see…
and there is no better way
to share them than with
pictures!

4. My ‘Portable Observatory’
Celestron Nexstar 5SE
NexImage 5 Imager
Power Tank
HP Laptop
And most importantly…
**A Comfy Chair**

5. As a beginner, I am still working
on my photography & processing
skills- So I have been focusing
mainly on capturing images from
right here in the solar system…

6. Our Closest Neighbor

14. Just Past the Asteroid Belt…

15. Jupiter- My Very First
Planet Images…

19. Not the best shots- But
enough to have me
looking forward to more
practice next year!

20. Although seeing & imaging the
Moon and Jupiter is cool, every
amateur astronomer will tell you
that nothing compares to the
excitement of seeing Saturn for
the very first time…

21. First ‘Decent’ Image of Saturn
March 16th, 2013 @ 11:55pm

23. Second Attempt
Nearly at Opposition
April 24th, 2013 @ 10:00pm

24. 1,400 of 4,500 Frames
Stacked Using Registax 5

26. Final Processed Image…

28. Beyond our solar system, there are
literally billions of stars, clusters,
galaxies, nebulae; and other such
beauties and wonderments known
as “Deep Space Objects,” (DSOs)…

29. I am not currently equipped to
photograph DSOs. However, the
online-accessible Micro Observatory
telescope is!

30. The Micro Observatory telescope
array takes photographs using
monochrome (black & white)
cameras; which utilize Red, Green
and Blue (RGB-filtered) exposures
for full color stacked images.

31. Messier 8 (The Lagoon Nebula)
M8 is a star-forming region, 4,100 light
years away in the constellation
Sagittarius. I chose this target because
even though my imager is unable to
photograph this DSO; it is currently in
prime viewing position… and an
absolutely beautiful sight to see through
the eyepiece of my telescope!

32. M8 (The RGB Images)
Upon my first request to the Micro
Observatory array, only the green and blue
images of M8 came out. After two
additional requests for a red-filtered image;
I finally had all three in hand!

33. M8 (RED)
Telescope Name: Donald
Location: Amado, Arizona
Camera: Main
Date/Time: May 12, 2013 @ 3:06:25am
Filter: Red
Exposure Time: 60.00sec
Focus Value: 1800
Zoom: Out
Target Altitude: 33 degrees
Target Azimuth: 179 degrees

34. M8 (GREEN)
Telescope Name: Donald
Location: Amado, Arizona
Camera: Main
Date/Time: May 10, 2013 @ 3:15:24am
Filter: Green
Exposure Time: 60.00sec
Focus Value: 1800
Zoom: Out
Target Altitude: 33 degrees
Target Azimuth: 180 degrees

35. M8 (BLUE)
Telescope Name: Donald
Location: Amado, Arizona
Camera: Main
Date/Time: May 10, 2013 @ 3:18:25am
Filter: Green
Exposure Time: 60.00sec
Focus Value: 1800
Zoom: Out
Target Altitude: 33 degrees
Target Azimuth: 180 degrees

36. M8 RGB images stacked using
the Micro Observatory
software…

37. M8 RGB IMAGES STACKED
Stack of single 60sec R,G & B images
taken with Micro Observatory CCD
Camera.
Due to demand, targets are only
allotted single 1-minute exposures at
fairly high gain levels.
End result is a very ‘noisy’ final
photograph!
Albeit, the Micro Observatory is an
excellent tool to familiarize students
with RGB astrophotography!

38. Same image- After a little bit of extra
post-processing in Photoshop…

40. It would be all too easy to Google a
jaw-dropping image of M8 taken by
Hubble or any number of other
“professional” telescopes…

41. So I will conclude with a
‘personal’ touch!

42. Shortly, you will see an absolutely
STUNNING picture of M8 taken by
a guy named Joe… from his
California back yard on the
weekend of May 11th/12th, 2013.

43. Seeing pictures like his is what
drives me to peer deeper into
the heavens…

44. Joe’s Image Specifics…
10 @ 3 mins lights
4 @3 mins darks
Orion Star Shoot G3 Color
William Optics Megrez 90 mm Doublet refractor
Celestron CG5 ASGT Orion 80mm ST w/ Orion Auto Guider
Processed in Orion Camera Suite, PaintShop Pro X5 with Star
Spikes Plug in
**Although Joe used a color CCD camera, note he still used a
higher number of shots at longer exposures of lights/darks for
his final image. This is key to capturing as much detail as
possible.

45. The results speak for themselves…

47. References
http://www.astronomyforum.net/ccd
-imaging-forum/160682-m8-lagoon-
nebula.html

48. Special Thanks
• First and foremost- To my wonderful Fiancée, Tabatha for
her love and support; and for fulfilling my dream of being
able to see into the cosmos
• To Joe Colo for graciously granting me permission to use
his beautiful M8 image for this presentation
• To Professor Katie Berryhill for the great instruction; and
most of all… for the opportunity to do a project that
parallels my new-found passion for amateur astronomy!
• To the ladies & gentlemen of www.astronomyforum.net
for the endless supply of tips, tricks, advice & knowledge!
• Finally- To my classmates for the great discussions &
interaction. Our 16 weeks is almost up- I enjoyed working
with each and every one of you- Best of luck in all you do!

49. CLEAR SKIES!!!
**Mike**