Astronomy Gallery

Astro-Gallery

These are all original images generated by me. Teachers may use these images
without restriction within classrooms they teach. All other uses, including
copying images for use on other web sites, requires my written approval.
Page numbers refer to my observing notebook logs, where I know them. Some
photographs are not in the log books.

This image is the first of many I hope to make via the HOU remotely controlled telescope sponsored by the Hands On Universe program out of the Lawrence Hall of Science.

The image was Saturn, observed on 2 October 2000, with a 24" telescope at Yerkes Observatory. At the time, the coordinates of Saturn were: RA 3:54:31.00 (hms) and Dec 17:58:21.00 (dms) in 2000 coordinates. No filter was used on this 5 second exposure.

The image was processed using Graphicconverter. The original FITS file was converted to jpeg for posting on the internet, and in processing the brightness and contrast were adjusted, and the image sharpness was increased using a parameter of 20%.

For more information on the Hands-On Universe program, click here.

Comet Hale-Bopp taken on March 4, 1997 with a 35

mm camera, using 1000 ASA Kodak Gold Film. The

[Image] exposure is about 3 minutes on a tracking

platform I built based on a design in Sky and

Telescope magazine. This is one of a series of

pictures I took that morning. (95K)

Jan-April 1997, page59

Here's the picture I took of Comet Hale-Bopp near

my house, also on March 4, using the tracking

platform and a 50 mm lens. The three minutes of

tracking caused the image of the house to blur

[Image] slightly as the platform moved, but the house

didn't. (95K)

Jan-April 1997, page 69

This is the nucleus of Hale-Bopp, taken with 1600

ASA Kodak print film and scanned and enhanced

using GraphicConverter. The image was taken with

a 17 mm lens in a camera adapter tube mounted on

a Meade 4500 telescope, with tracking motor. The

exposure was about 10 seconds. Taken 14 April

[Image] 1997, around 9 PM. Note the swirling, arclike

shape; to the naked eye it appeared as a

concentric circle or spiral. We believe this was

due to the nucleus rotating rapidly.

Jan-April 1997, page 163

Image of Comet Hyakutake (1996) taken with 400

speed film from a 35 mm camera, piggybacked on

[Image] Mike Harms' telescope for 5 minutes (thanks

Mike!) on the Saturday night before closest

approach. The picture was then scanned from a

print and enhanced and cropped here. (39 K)

Full moon picture taken in 1996 through a 13.1"

Odyssey 1 telescope using a QuickCam connected to

[Image] a Powerbook Duo 250. Image was inverted for

normal view and brightness/contrast enhanced

using GraphicConverter. North is at top. (39 K)

(not in observing notebook)

This image of the crescent moon's terminator was

taken in 1984 at Roberts Observatory at Berea

College, Kentucky, using their 16" Cassegrain

[Image] telescope and a camera adapter. Sorry, I don't

have the specs for the image any more.

Summer 1991 page 111

This image was taken on July 5, 1987 at mindnight

from McDonald Observatory's 30" Cassegrain

telescope. A sheet of unhypered Tech-Pan film was

used and a manual shutter (I mean manual--move

the plate over the film) exposed the image for

[Image] approximately 1/2 second. A slight blip in the

exposure caused the horizontal line near the

bottom of the image. The original is really much

better. This is a scan of the negative.

1987 page 3

[Image] This is Saturn. The original let's you see the

Cassini Division, but not too well. There's a

hint of a cloud belt here that came out better

after scanning and processing.

1991 page 118

Jupiter from the Roberts Observatory at Berea.

[Image] Eyepiece projection, using (I think) a 25 mm

eyepiece at f/13. The telescope is a 16"

Cassegrain.

Mars, highly magnified, taken in 1988 from the

[Image] Roberts Observatory at Berea College. You can see

the polar cap and some vague hints of surface

markings. This is near opposition.

What a difference 15 years makes. This image was taken with a 10" computer-controlled GPS self-aligning telescope. Fifteen years ago you could count the number of instruments this sophisticated on one hand, and this one belongs to my high school. Anyway, the image was made from a composite of dozens of images captured with a web cam and enhanced using Kieth's Image Stacker. Details are described here. Note the resemblance to the image shown in the next row.

This is a sketch I made of the appearance of Mars

at 4:00 AM on the night of September 17, 1987

from the Roberts Observatory. The polar cap at

top was plainly visible. The circular feature at

[Image] center was Solis Lacus. There was more detail

than I could draw. I watched Mars rotate during

the course of the evening.1987 P. 31

This is a picture of the total solar eclipse

observed from Mazatlan, Mexico on July 11, 1991.

This photo was taken through a 4" Bausch and Lomb

telescope. The exposure was at prime focus. 400

ASA film was used, for about a 1/15 second

exposure. A silvered Mylar filter covered the

aperture of the telescope during the exposure.

There was continuous light overcast during the

[Image] eclipse. The bright pink object is a solar

prominence, extending out from the limb of the

moon.

This picture is best viewed in thousands of

colors.

1991 page 63

This is about a 5 minute exposure using 1000 ASA

film taken piggyback on a 27" equatorially

mounted telescope at James McGaha's Grasslands

observatory. This portion of the Milky Way has

many nebulae and globular and open star clusters.

How many can you find?

[Image]

(I see M17, M8, M20 at least...)

I don't have a URL for Grasslands, but there is a

picture of theirs posted on a NASA web site

here.

1992 page 121

I took this image using Tech Pan film, eyepiece

projection, at McDonald Observatory's 30" Boller

and Chivens telescope in West Texas in 1987. You

[Image] can see the central star in the nebula. This is

M57, the infamous Ring Nebula.

1987 P. 3

Taken through the Steward Observatory 's 40"

telescope on Mt. Lemmon, stopped down to 30" .

Taken in July 1991.

This is the core of the Great Nebula in Orion.

[Image] The trapezium can be seen overexposed in the

center.

1991 page 119

Dave Fredericksen and Scott Kardel, who along

with Len, Donna, and Judy,(not pictured) made up

the infamous Dobson Gang from the ASSIST program.

Scott works at the Lake Afton Public Observatory

in Witchita Kansas; there are some really nice

[Image] Hale-Bopp photos there.

You'll just have to ask if you want to know.

June 1991 (#1 of 2) inside front cover

This is the tracking platform gizmo I used to

take some of the pictures. It is designed such

that if you aim the hinge at Polaris (using the

leveling screws on the bottom of the vertical

legs) and turn the wingnut on the bottom of the

upper platform at the rate of one turn per

minute, (even better, 1/4 turn per 15 seconds),

the screw will advance the platform at the same

[Image] rate the sky turns. Good for 3-5 minute

exposures. The lumpy thing on top is a standard

clamp-on camera mount. (126K)

Jan-April 1997 page 22

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This image is the first of many I hope to make via the HOU remotely controlled telescope sponsored by the Hands On Universe program out of the Lawrence Hall of Science. The image was Saturn, observed on 2 October 2000, with a 24" telescope at Yerkes Observatory. At the time, the coordinates of Saturn were: RA 3:54:31.00 (hms) and Dec 17:58:21.00 (dms) in 2000 coordinates. No filter was used on this 5 second exposure. The image was processed using Graphicconverter. The original FITS file was converted to jpeg for posting on the internet, and in processing the brightness and contrast were adjusted, and the image sharpness was increased using a parameter of 20%. For more information on the Hands-On Universe program, click here.
Comet Hale-Bopp taken on March 4, 1997 with a 35 mm camera, using 1000 ASA Kodak Gold Film. The [Image] exposure is about 3 minutes on a tracking platform I built based on a design in Sky and Telescope magazine. This is one of a series of pictures I took that morning. (95K) Jan-April 1997, page59
Here's the picture I took of Comet Hale-Bopp near my house, also on March 4, using the tracking platform and a 50 mm lens. The three minutes of tracking caused the image of the house to blur [Image] slightly as the platform moved, but the house didn't. (95K) Jan-April 1997, page 69
This is the nucleus of Hale-Bopp, taken with 1600 ASA Kodak print film and scanned and enhanced using GraphicConverter. The image was taken with a 17 mm lens in a camera adapter tube mounted on a Meade 4500 telescope, with tracking motor. The exposure was about 10 seconds. Taken 14 April [Image] 1997, around 9 PM. Note the swirling, arclike shape; to the naked eye it appeared as a concentric circle or spiral. We believe this was due to the nucleus rotating rapidly. Jan-April 1997, page 163
Image of Comet Hyakutake (1996) taken with 400 speed film from a 35 mm camera, piggybacked on [Image] Mike Harms' telescope for 5 minutes (thanks Mike!) on the Saturday night before closest approach. The picture was then scanned from a print and enhanced and cropped here. (39 K)
Full moon picture taken in 1996 through a 13.1" Odyssey 1 telescope using a QuickCam connected to [Image] a Powerbook Duo 250. Image was inverted for normal view and brightness/contrast enhanced using GraphicConverter. North is at top. (39 K) (not in observing notebook)
This image of the crescent moon's terminator was taken in 1984 at Roberts Observatory at Berea College, Kentucky, using their 16" Cassegrain [Image] telescope and a camera adapter. Sorry, I don't have the specs for the image any more. Summer 1991 page 111
This image was taken on July 5, 1987 at mindnight from McDonald Observatory's 30" Cassegrain telescope. A sheet of unhypered Tech-Pan film was used and a manual shutter (I mean manual--move the plate over the film) exposed the image for [Image] approximately 1/2 second. A slight blip in the exposure caused the horizontal line near the bottom of the image. The original is really much better. This is a scan of the negative. 1987 page 3
[Image] This is Saturn. The original let's you see the Cassini Division, but not too well. There's a hint of a cloud belt here that came out better after scanning and processing. 1991 page 118
Jupiter from the Roberts Observatory at Berea. [Image] Eyepiece projection, using (I think) a 25 mm eyepiece at f/13. The telescope is a 16" Cassegrain.
Mars, highly magnified, taken in 1988 from the [Image] Roberts Observatory at Berea College. You can see the polar cap and some vague hints of surface markings. This is near opposition.
What a difference 15 years makes. This image was taken with a 10" computer-controlled GPS self-aligning telescope. Fifteen years ago you could count the number of instruments this sophisticated on one hand, and this one belongs to my high school. Anyway, the image was made from a composite of dozens of images captured with a web cam and enhanced using Kieth's Image Stacker. Details are described here. Note the resemblance to the image shown in the next row.
This is a sketch I made of the appearance of Mars at 4:00 AM on the night of September 17, 1987 from the Roberts Observatory. The polar cap at top was plainly visible. The circular feature at [Image] center was Solis Lacus. There was more detail than I could draw. I watched Mars rotate during the course of the evening.1987 P. 31
This is a picture of the total solar eclipse observed from Mazatlan, Mexico on July 11, 1991. This photo was taken through a 4" Bausch and Lomb telescope. The exposure was at prime focus. 400 ASA film was used, for about a 1/15 second exposure. A silvered Mylar filter covered the aperture of the telescope during the exposure. There was continuous light overcast during the [Image] eclipse. The bright pink object is a solar prominence, extending out from the limb of the moon. This picture is best viewed in thousands of colors. 1991 page 63
This is about a 5 minute exposure using 1000 ASA film taken piggyback on a 27" equatorially mounted telescope at James McGaha's Grasslands observatory. This portion of the Milky Way has many nebulae and globular and open star clusters. How many can you find? [Image] (I see M17, M8, M20 at least...) I don't have a URL for Grasslands, but there is a picture of theirs posted on a NASA web site here. 1992 page 121
I took this image using Tech Pan film, eyepiece projection, at McDonald Observatory's 30" Boller and Chivens telescope in West Texas in 1987. You [Image] can see the central star in the nebula. This is M57, the infamous Ring Nebula. 1987 P. 3
Taken through the Steward Observatory 's 40" telescope on Mt. Lemmon, stopped down to 30" . Taken in July 1991. This is the core of the Great Nebula in Orion. [Image] The trapezium can be seen overexposed in the center. 1991 page 119
Dave Fredericksen and Scott Kardel, who along with Len, Donna, and Judy,(not pictured) made up the infamous Dobson Gang from the ASSIST program. Scott works at the Lake Afton Public Observatory in Witchita Kansas; there are some really nice [Image] Hale-Bopp photos there. You'll just have to ask if you want to know. June 1991 (#1 of 2) inside front cover
This is the tracking platform gizmo I used to take some of the pictures. It is designed such that if you aim the hinge at Polaris (using the leveling screws on the bottom of the vertical legs) and turn the wingnut on the bottom of the upper platform at the rate of one turn per minute, (even better, 1/4 turn per 15 seconds), the screw will advance the platform at the same [Image] rate the sky turns. Good for 3-5 minute exposures. The lumpy thing on top is a standard clamp-on camera mount. (126K) Jan-April 1997 page 22