CNP Astronomy ...on an Astronomical Journey
James ("Jim") C. Chase, PE (ret.)
James ("Jim") C. Chase, PE (ret.)
MY ASTRONOMICAL JOURNEY
I am often asked, "How long have you been doing this?" and, "How did you learn Astronomy?" In answer to both questions I can honestly say, my Astronomical journey has been one of learning ever since I was a young boy. It has also been one of revelation - about God's creation. THE EARLY YEARS My earliest recollection of being completely "captured" by the hobby was in childhood. I was very young, ...maybe 7 or 8, ...on a warm summer night. It was late and dark outside, and I had just arrived at my suburban home; coming from some no longer remembered family activity, and accompanying my parents and older brother & sister. Just as we were getting out of the car in the driveway, two of my brothers' neighborhood buddies came clamoring up the street on a bicycle. They were riding the bike fast, one pedaling hard and steering, the other riding face-forward on the handlebars; and, they were both yelling something... As they got close, they jumped forward off the still moving bike and loudly proclaimed, "...We found it! ...Hey!! ...WooHoo!! ...We found Saturn! ...It's right there!!" (...pointing at a bright star in the sky.) Both my Dad and brother were quick to run inside the house, and come back out to the front yard with my brother's new (...and extremely fascinating...) 6" Newtonian reflector telescope. In reality, it was a cheap model; little more than a toy, secured by my Dad as a Christmas gift; ...but, it worked! It was the early 1960's; our suburban neighborhood was still very new, having been built on (what was then) the edge of town. Other than the profile of our house, our front yard had only one (1) small, scrawny, recently planted silver maple tree; so from the driveway, the open Texas Panhandle High-Plains skies were mostly unobstructed. In those days and at that location, light pollution wasn't yet considered a factor in viewing the night sky. I remember watching with amazement as Dad and my brother carefully set up the scope, and pointed it just so-so correctly at the star. Everyone took turns to look through the eyepiece; and when it came my turn..., Yes! ...I could see Saturn! ...right there, in the eyepiece! It was one of those moments you never forget. Many people often exclaim when they first see it, "...I can't believe it!", ...or, "it's so beautiful!!", ...or just a simple, low and breathy "Wowww!!!". All these express exactly the way I felt. Like others, I had seen pictures and sketches on television, in magazines, comic books and newspaper cartoons; but, I had never seen it for real, and "up-close" ...and yet, there it was! ...with its bright and shining rings, ...right in front of us where we could see it with our own eyes. It was a wonderfully memorable lifetime moment in my Astronomical journey. |
OPTICAL TUBE ASSEMBLY:
Explore Scientific ED102-FCD100 air-spaced triplet APO refractor in carbon fiber, prime FL=714mm, f/7.0 MOUNT: Celestron Advanced VX equatorial FOCUSER: Moonlite CFL large format (2.5") w V3 hi-res stepper motor IMAGE CAMERAS: ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro (CMOS OSC, cooled) Nikon D90 DSLR (astro-modified, full-spectrum) FILTERS (all 2"): Radian Triad Ultra QuadNB, Optolong L-Enhance DuoNB, Optolong L-Pro Light Pollution Suppression, Astronomik UV/IR-cut, various Neutral Density Spectrum full aperture glass solar filter CORRECTORS, REDUCERS and LENSES Nikon 10.5mm "fisheye" f/2.8 Nikon DX 18-105mm zoom ED f/3.5-5.6 Nikon DX 55-200mm zoom ED f/4-5.6 Nikon FX 70-300mm zoom ED f/4.5-5.6 Starizona "L" 0.65x fltnr/rdcr - makes ED102 (eff.) FL=464mm, f/4.55 Stellarview 0.8x fltnr/rdcr - makes ED102 (eff.) FL=571mm, f/5.6 Stellarview 1.0x fltnr - holds ED102 at prime FL=714mm, f/7.0 Baader Hyperion 24mm eyepiece (adapted to T-2), 1.73x afocal projection - makes ED102 (eff.) FL=1238mm, f/12.1 GUIDER: Orion 60x240mm refractor w ZWO ASI224MC planetary camera CONTROL/ACQUISITION/PROCESSING HARDWARE: Inside the house: Dell 15" XPS Laptop PC w Intel Core i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz, 64GB RAM, Western Digital 10TB HD (external), 2 x Dell S2340M 23" LED monitors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 1GB ethernet network by NetGear, Windows 11 Pro Outside the house: Ethernet to Netgear WAX214 WiFi6 5G network access point At the rig: Beelink SEi10 MiniPC w Intel i5-1035G4 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, WiFi6 5G, 1GB ethernet network by Intel, Windows 11 Pro Tenoak 4-port powered USB 3.1 switch, WYZE Cam v3 monitor camera SOFTWARE: Control/Acquisition: Stellarium, NINA, PHD2, QHY PoleMaster (cntrl app), PEMPro3_PEC, various ASCOM 6.6 drivers (incl. Celestron Telescope and Focuser setup 6.1.7350), Windows Pro Remote Desktop, VLC Media Player (for WYZE Cam monitors - RSTP connectivity) Processing: PixInsight (wAdd-ins: RCAstro, SetiAstro, and NVIDIA CUDA_Core 11.8.0), DSS, Photoshop (wAdd-ins: Lumenzia by Greg Benz, APF-R Sharpening, TopazDeNoiseAI, StarNet++ v2, Noel Carboni's Astronomy Action Tool Set, and Hasta La Vista Green by Deep Sky Colors) OTHER ACCESSORIES: QHY Polemaster polar alignment camera William Optics 63mm camera rotator (manual) 3 x "Dew-Not" dew heaters Thousand Oaks 4ch dew heater controller Shoestring Astronomy DSUSB DSLR Shutter Control Interface Wyze Cam v3 monitoring camera w RSTP firmware installed ADM saddle, 14" dovetail bar, azimuth and tripod knobs green laser star finder (mounted), Starizona bubble level for Celestron AVX, Apertura Solar Finder |
THE GREAT METEOR STORM OF 1966
Later in November 1966, I was 10 years old. I was sound asleep when I was awakened by Mom, and she seemed very excited, not telling me what was going-on, only telling me to hurry and get up to come outside with her. I had no idea what I was about to see would burn a memory in my mind that would be with me to this day. The 5:00AM autumn morning sky was moonless, dark, crisp and clear, and there was very little wind (unusual for the Texas Panhandle) and the temperature was cool. I remember pulling my evening robe tightly around me to try and hold-back the chill; but, I quickly forgot about the chill... There in the sky was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. It was as if every star was falling from that Texas Panhandle sky, in every direction. It was like raining fire! ...like snowflakes coming at your windshield when driving through. I can remember hearing a few of the larger and brighter meteors POP! as they disintegrated in the atmosphere, ...and seeing smoke trails left behind some of the very fast, bright ones. I watched with my mouth wide open for 30 to 45 minutes ...until the eastern sky began to lighten; and the show didn't slow down! ...it only slowly faded into the brightening eastern sky. What I witnessed would later become known as the "Great Meteor Storm of 1966", and it made for me, another one of those wonderfully memorable lifetime moments in my Astronomical journey.
THE TEXAS HIGH-PLAINS AND BEYOND
In my youth, I was involved in summer day-camp experiences almost every summer; and during frequent over night camp-outs, the starry nighttime skies were always a tremendous and wonderful lure for me. Those camp-outs, together with Star Maps, and news clips on TV about NASA's Gemini and Apollo space programs, especially when Neil Armstrong stepped out and onto the Moon, and the early years of Star Trek, ...they all captured my attention, and my imagination.
In my teenage high-school and early college years, I frequently camped overnight in Palo Duro Canyon and McBride's Canyon (in the far northern reaches of the Texas Panhandle) where the nighttime skies were always spectacular. Then in later college, and when introduced to my soon-to-be fiancée, we would drive into the rural areas of the Central Texas Brazos Valley region, and lie on the roof-top of my 1973 vintage Plymouth Fury station wagon to catch the occasional meteor, and wonder at the nighttime sky. As a young adult, I became a Boy Scout Troop Master (participation in which I am very proud) and helped both my two (2) sons along with many other boys earn their Astronomy merit badges. The outdoor camping experiences associated with Scouting helped me stay connected to the nighttime sky. Both before and after the Scouting years, my sons and I would venture to remote areas in North-Central Texas, and later West Texas where we would lay in the back of our Chevy pickup truck and watch for meteors, identify the major stars and trace the constellations. I remember seeing Comet Hale-Bopp with binoculars in 1997 from the back of that pickup. These are all wonderfully memorable lifetime moments in my Astronomical journey.
In 2007, just after the "Empty Nest syndrome" struck, my wife and I purchased a lakeside home in East Texas; and, I was captivated by the diversity of wildlife there, particularly birds. I became interested in photography, and acquired my first DSLR camera in 2009. I began capturing images of wildlife, insects, fauna and landscapes all over the Lake and across the forests of East Texas; and, I learned how to use a camera.
Later, it seemed like a natural step forward in my Astronomical journey to merge the two (2) interests together (astronomy + photography), and develop both hobbies further. The nighttime skies at the Lake were Bortle Class 4; ...not as good as the 1960's Texas High-Plains, but still good for amateur astronomy. Perhaps the most important aspect of Astrophotography is the study of long-exposure photography. I taught myself how to set my camera for full manual control, and to keep the aperture open for longer periods of time without blurring the image. I captured my first astro-images in the winter of 2012 with nothing more than that (now vintage) DSLR camera and a tripod. Honestly, those early images weren't very good. But with persistence and the help of the Internet for instruction, I progressed to the point of capturing a few somewhat respectable astro-images.
OKIE-TEX STAR PARTIES
Then in 2013, a very memorable event occurred... My older brother (who, is also still following his own Astronomical journey) called and invited me to my first-ever Star Party... "What is a Star Party?", I naturally asked. He replied, "Don't worry about it; just get ready for a camp-out, and let's go!" That's all I needed to hear. The words "camp-out" brought me instantly back to my youth; I knew exactly what he meant, and how to prepare.
Once each year, the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club organizes and hosts an amateur astronomers' event called the Okie-Tex Star Party. It is one of several dozen similar events that occur across the U.S and Canada each year. At Okie-Tex, amateur and semi-professional astronomers come together from across the country to spend a week to 10 days together in late September to observe the sky under Bortle Class 1 skies (very dark & clear; absent of light pollution), discuss equipment and techniques, listen to lectures and presentations by more experienced astronomers, meet & greet with equipment vendors, review the latest releases of vendors' equipment, and generally participate in 'all-things-Astronomy'. The event takes place at a rural and remote location in the far western tip of the Oklahoma panhandle. It is usually attended by between 150 and 250 amateur astronomers. And then there's the fellowship, ...where we join a group of friends (all astronomers), share our experiences, remember days gone by, and taste craft beers from across the country! ...This year (2022) was my fifth (5th) time to attend Okie-Tex.
THE TECHY-STUFF
The physical constraint of a fixed tripod mount quickly taught me I could only capture images taken at 24mm focal length or less, and no longer in exposure than appx 20s. Those constraints limited me to "wide-field" images of the Milky Way and whole constellation starscapes. Trying to press "deeper" beyond those limits into the details of the night sky resulted in "star trails", an effect I would later learn is very undesirable for astrophotography. In fact, I learned that photographers go to very great lengths to mitigate the effect. So in 2014, I succumbed and fell into the "rabbit hole" ...as so many amateur astronomers talk about. I acquired an early model of the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer (also known as a "tracker" in common astrophotography vernacular), being a motorized camera mount capable of compensating for the sky's apparent movement resulting from the rotation of the Earth. The tracker moved in only one axis - being that of right ascension, or "RA"; but it worked well and set me up to take the next step forward in my Astronomical journey.
The Star Tracker enabled me to use my full array of camera lenses, all the way up to the largest I owned at the time, at 300mm focal length. It also enabled me to take longer exposures (up to 180s = 3m). I learned how to take multiple exposures and digitally "stack" them on a computer to improve image quality. (I feel so lucky to be living in an age when digital photography and computers are so prevalent and available.) I managed to capture my first discernible image of M42, the Orion Nebula, and then went-on to capture several other bright and large, Deep Sky Objects (or "DSO's") including, M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, and M13, the Great Hercules Globular Star Cluster. At this point, I was totally and completely "hooked" into the hobby. Soon, I found myself wanting to go further, both to improve the quality of my images, and to go still "deeper" into space to explore smaller, fainter objects; ...and so the "rabbit hole" grew more wide and deep...
...AND THEN I BECAME "RETARDED"
In 2019, I retired from my professional career as an Electrical Engineer for the local power company. Then in 2020 I acquired my first "real" telescope: a 4" Apochromatic triplet refractor (or "APO") along with a German Equatorial (tracking) Mount. Both pieces of equipment were perfectly suited for astrophotography. The mount had motorized capability in two (2) axes, both RA and declination (or "DEC"). Over the ensuing years, I've managed to acquire an assortment of add-on accessory equipment; so that today, the assembly encompasses a fully automated rig with remote computer control of mount movement, length of exposure, sub-frame data capture, and automatic star-tracking / guiding. I have acquired a dedicated astronomical camera which is sensitive to the all-important hydrogen-alpha wavelength of light; and, I have learned to use advanced software applications developed specifically for capturing and processing astro-images like, "PixInsight" and "Photoshop" (with astro add-ins).
In addition to the study of long-exposure photography, Astrophotography is also a perfect melding of Science, Technology, and Art. ...Science because of the study of Astronomy and the Physics of light propagation, ...Technology because of the use of computerized control through advanced software applications, ...and Art because of the freedom and creativity one may express in the wide variety of results attainable through the computer processing of digital images. Between equipment set-up and calibration, exposure acquisition, and final image processing, it takes between 15 and 25 man-hours of effort to complete one (1) image.
LIVING IN GOD'S CREATION
Many amateur Astronomers tell similar stories to mine of growing up under the stars. Since the beginning of my Astronomical journey, I have been most fortunate to have learned a little about the subject, and to have figured-out a few ways to apply that knowledge. By no means is my knowledge exhaustive; I still have much to learn. ...But along my journey's path I have developed a better understanding of, and a much deeper connection to God's Creation. Our God has done a miraculous thing; the most amazing part of which is, He gave it all to us to see, dream about and explore. Not only is His creation awesome, but the fact that He gave us the "tools" to look up and see its beauty, and wonder, dream, question, envision, analyze, and reach-out and explore, is just as awesome.
It's never too late to begin your own Astronomical journey. At every nighttime opportunity that you can find, come outside with me, and look up! The wonderment and joy you will encounter are meant for you and me.
Later in November 1966, I was 10 years old. I was sound asleep when I was awakened by Mom, and she seemed very excited, not telling me what was going-on, only telling me to hurry and get up to come outside with her. I had no idea what I was about to see would burn a memory in my mind that would be with me to this day. The 5:00AM autumn morning sky was moonless, dark, crisp and clear, and there was very little wind (unusual for the Texas Panhandle) and the temperature was cool. I remember pulling my evening robe tightly around me to try and hold-back the chill; but, I quickly forgot about the chill... There in the sky was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. It was as if every star was falling from that Texas Panhandle sky, in every direction. It was like raining fire! ...like snowflakes coming at your windshield when driving through. I can remember hearing a few of the larger and brighter meteors POP! as they disintegrated in the atmosphere, ...and seeing smoke trails left behind some of the very fast, bright ones. I watched with my mouth wide open for 30 to 45 minutes ...until the eastern sky began to lighten; and the show didn't slow down! ...it only slowly faded into the brightening eastern sky. What I witnessed would later become known as the "Great Meteor Storm of 1966", and it made for me, another one of those wonderfully memorable lifetime moments in my Astronomical journey.
THE TEXAS HIGH-PLAINS AND BEYOND
In my youth, I was involved in summer day-camp experiences almost every summer; and during frequent over night camp-outs, the starry nighttime skies were always a tremendous and wonderful lure for me. Those camp-outs, together with Star Maps, and news clips on TV about NASA's Gemini and Apollo space programs, especially when Neil Armstrong stepped out and onto the Moon, and the early years of Star Trek, ...they all captured my attention, and my imagination.
In my teenage high-school and early college years, I frequently camped overnight in Palo Duro Canyon and McBride's Canyon (in the far northern reaches of the Texas Panhandle) where the nighttime skies were always spectacular. Then in later college, and when introduced to my soon-to-be fiancée, we would drive into the rural areas of the Central Texas Brazos Valley region, and lie on the roof-top of my 1973 vintage Plymouth Fury station wagon to catch the occasional meteor, and wonder at the nighttime sky. As a young adult, I became a Boy Scout Troop Master (participation in which I am very proud) and helped both my two (2) sons along with many other boys earn their Astronomy merit badges. The outdoor camping experiences associated with Scouting helped me stay connected to the nighttime sky. Both before and after the Scouting years, my sons and I would venture to remote areas in North-Central Texas, and later West Texas where we would lay in the back of our Chevy pickup truck and watch for meteors, identify the major stars and trace the constellations. I remember seeing Comet Hale-Bopp with binoculars in 1997 from the back of that pickup. These are all wonderfully memorable lifetime moments in my Astronomical journey.
In 2007, just after the "Empty Nest syndrome" struck, my wife and I purchased a lakeside home in East Texas; and, I was captivated by the diversity of wildlife there, particularly birds. I became interested in photography, and acquired my first DSLR camera in 2009. I began capturing images of wildlife, insects, fauna and landscapes all over the Lake and across the forests of East Texas; and, I learned how to use a camera.
Later, it seemed like a natural step forward in my Astronomical journey to merge the two (2) interests together (astronomy + photography), and develop both hobbies further. The nighttime skies at the Lake were Bortle Class 4; ...not as good as the 1960's Texas High-Plains, but still good for amateur astronomy. Perhaps the most important aspect of Astrophotography is the study of long-exposure photography. I taught myself how to set my camera for full manual control, and to keep the aperture open for longer periods of time without blurring the image. I captured my first astro-images in the winter of 2012 with nothing more than that (now vintage) DSLR camera and a tripod. Honestly, those early images weren't very good. But with persistence and the help of the Internet for instruction, I progressed to the point of capturing a few somewhat respectable astro-images.
OKIE-TEX STAR PARTIES
Then in 2013, a very memorable event occurred... My older brother (who, is also still following his own Astronomical journey) called and invited me to my first-ever Star Party... "What is a Star Party?", I naturally asked. He replied, "Don't worry about it; just get ready for a camp-out, and let's go!" That's all I needed to hear. The words "camp-out" brought me instantly back to my youth; I knew exactly what he meant, and how to prepare.
Once each year, the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club organizes and hosts an amateur astronomers' event called the Okie-Tex Star Party. It is one of several dozen similar events that occur across the U.S and Canada each year. At Okie-Tex, amateur and semi-professional astronomers come together from across the country to spend a week to 10 days together in late September to observe the sky under Bortle Class 1 skies (very dark & clear; absent of light pollution), discuss equipment and techniques, listen to lectures and presentations by more experienced astronomers, meet & greet with equipment vendors, review the latest releases of vendors' equipment, and generally participate in 'all-things-Astronomy'. The event takes place at a rural and remote location in the far western tip of the Oklahoma panhandle. It is usually attended by between 150 and 250 amateur astronomers. And then there's the fellowship, ...where we join a group of friends (all astronomers), share our experiences, remember days gone by, and taste craft beers from across the country! ...This year (2022) was my fifth (5th) time to attend Okie-Tex.
THE TECHY-STUFF
The physical constraint of a fixed tripod mount quickly taught me I could only capture images taken at 24mm focal length or less, and no longer in exposure than appx 20s. Those constraints limited me to "wide-field" images of the Milky Way and whole constellation starscapes. Trying to press "deeper" beyond those limits into the details of the night sky resulted in "star trails", an effect I would later learn is very undesirable for astrophotography. In fact, I learned that photographers go to very great lengths to mitigate the effect. So in 2014, I succumbed and fell into the "rabbit hole" ...as so many amateur astronomers talk about. I acquired an early model of the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer (also known as a "tracker" in common astrophotography vernacular), being a motorized camera mount capable of compensating for the sky's apparent movement resulting from the rotation of the Earth. The tracker moved in only one axis - being that of right ascension, or "RA"; but it worked well and set me up to take the next step forward in my Astronomical journey.
The Star Tracker enabled me to use my full array of camera lenses, all the way up to the largest I owned at the time, at 300mm focal length. It also enabled me to take longer exposures (up to 180s = 3m). I learned how to take multiple exposures and digitally "stack" them on a computer to improve image quality. (I feel so lucky to be living in an age when digital photography and computers are so prevalent and available.) I managed to capture my first discernible image of M42, the Orion Nebula, and then went-on to capture several other bright and large, Deep Sky Objects (or "DSO's") including, M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, and M13, the Great Hercules Globular Star Cluster. At this point, I was totally and completely "hooked" into the hobby. Soon, I found myself wanting to go further, both to improve the quality of my images, and to go still "deeper" into space to explore smaller, fainter objects; ...and so the "rabbit hole" grew more wide and deep...
...AND THEN I BECAME "RETARDED"
In 2019, I retired from my professional career as an Electrical Engineer for the local power company. Then in 2020 I acquired my first "real" telescope: a 4" Apochromatic triplet refractor (or "APO") along with a German Equatorial (tracking) Mount. Both pieces of equipment were perfectly suited for astrophotography. The mount had motorized capability in two (2) axes, both RA and declination (or "DEC"). Over the ensuing years, I've managed to acquire an assortment of add-on accessory equipment; so that today, the assembly encompasses a fully automated rig with remote computer control of mount movement, length of exposure, sub-frame data capture, and automatic star-tracking / guiding. I have acquired a dedicated astronomical camera which is sensitive to the all-important hydrogen-alpha wavelength of light; and, I have learned to use advanced software applications developed specifically for capturing and processing astro-images like, "PixInsight" and "Photoshop" (with astro add-ins).
In addition to the study of long-exposure photography, Astrophotography is also a perfect melding of Science, Technology, and Art. ...Science because of the study of Astronomy and the Physics of light propagation, ...Technology because of the use of computerized control through advanced software applications, ...and Art because of the freedom and creativity one may express in the wide variety of results attainable through the computer processing of digital images. Between equipment set-up and calibration, exposure acquisition, and final image processing, it takes between 15 and 25 man-hours of effort to complete one (1) image.
LIVING IN GOD'S CREATION
Many amateur Astronomers tell similar stories to mine of growing up under the stars. Since the beginning of my Astronomical journey, I have been most fortunate to have learned a little about the subject, and to have figured-out a few ways to apply that knowledge. By no means is my knowledge exhaustive; I still have much to learn. ...But along my journey's path I have developed a better understanding of, and a much deeper connection to God's Creation. Our God has done a miraculous thing; the most amazing part of which is, He gave it all to us to see, dream about and explore. Not only is His creation awesome, but the fact that He gave us the "tools" to look up and see its beauty, and wonder, dream, question, envision, analyze, and reach-out and explore, is just as awesome.
It's never too late to begin your own Astronomical journey. At every nighttime opportunity that you can find, come outside with me, and look up! The wonderment and joy you will encounter are meant for you and me.