The Cone Nebula & Christmas Tree Cluster

Ishtim · 25th Jan 2009, 01:30 PM

I see where the cone gets it name but I haven't quite figured out the Christmas Tree part.

This is a combination of 18, 10 minute exposures in each Red, Green, and Blue or 540 minutes (yes, 9 hours

)of exposure. This was taken over several nights last week. This was my first image that used calibrated RGB based on white balance from 3 equal exposures of a G2 class (white) star directly overhead. Here is a JPG from the original.

Trinity · 25th Jan 2009, 11:28 PM

Awesome!

How the hell are you staying warm in there lately???

Let us see some new indoor pictures of the observatory.

Ishtim · 26th Jan 2009, 05:57 AM

Nothing has really changed indoors. When building, I installed Cat-5 so I can now sit in the house and remotely access the scope and camera via Windoze XP's Remote Desktop. It just takes a few minutes before it gets dark to setup and then I am back in the comfort of "home". I did install a network cam to monitor status whether I am at work or home but I haven's set up a public IP address yet. Attached is a screenshot with the roof partially opened. Notice my wife's showercap used to cover the scope tube.

jamotto · 26th Jan 2009, 09:08 AM

Sounds like a nice setup, out of curiosity how often do you resilver the mirrors on that scope?

Ishtim · 27th Jan 2009, 12:10 AM

This particular mirror set has never been re-coated. It is 18 years old but been kept inside with air con for most of its life. Funny you ask, if you shine a light from behind the mirror you can see pits where the coating is missing. You would probably bee suprised how imperfect the surface can be and still focus light as needed. I need to get it re-coated, and I believe that professional observatories (stored outside 24/7)have thiers re-coated once/year.

Adrian Wong · 28th Jan 2009, 11:54 AM

How does the coating get eroded? From debris flying in the air?

Ishtim · 29th Jan 2009, 04:08 AM

Dust, humidity and reactive gasses in the air cause the coatings to errode over time.

25th Jan 2009, 01:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ishtim Super Moderator Join Date: 14 May 2003 Location: Alabama, USA Posts: 3,765 Reputation: 3333 Rep Power: 43	The Cone Nebula & Christmas Tree Cluster I see where the cone gets it name but I haven't quite figured out the Christmas Tree part. This is a combination of 18, 10 minute exposures in each Red, Green, and Blue or 540 minutes (yes, 9 hours )of exposure. This was taken over several nights last week. This was my first image that used calibrated RGB based on white balance from 3 equal exposures of a G2 class (white) star directly overhead. Here is a JPG from the original. Attached Thumbnails

25th Jan 2009, 11:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trinity Little Kiki Join Date: 5 Jan 2003 Location: Ohio,usa Posts: 7,131 Reputation: 5836 Rep Power: 72	Awesome! How the hell are you staying warm in there lately??? Let us see some new indoor pictures of the observatory. __________________ (\__/) (-. - ) (> < )

26th Jan 2009, 05:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
Ishtim Super Moderator Join Date: 14 May 2003 Location: Alabama, USA Posts: 3,765 Reputation: 3333 Rep Power: 43	Nothing has really changed indoors. When building, I installed Cat-5 so I can now sit in the house and remotely access the scope and camera via Windoze XP's Remote Desktop. It just takes a few minutes before it gets dark to setup and then I am back in the comfort of "home". I did install a network cam to monitor status whether I am at work or home but I haven's set up a public IP address yet. Attached is a screenshot with the roof partially opened. Notice my wife's showercap used to cover the scope tube. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Ishtim : 26th Jan 2009 at 07:04 AM.

28th Jan 2009, 11:54 AM	#6 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 32,299 Reputation: 3574 Rep Power: 75	How does the coating get eroded? From debris flying in the air? __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

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26th Jan 2009, 09:08 AM	#4 (permalink)
jamotto I'm a regular Join Date: 3 Mar 2005 Posts: 496 Reputation: 269 Rep Power: 7	Sounds like a nice setup, out of curiosity how often do you resilver the mirrors on that scope?

27th Jan 2009, 12:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
Ishtim Super Moderator Join Date: 14 May 2003 Location: Alabama, USA Posts: 3,765 Reputation: 3333 Rep Power: 43	This particular mirror set has never been re-coated. It is 18 years old but been kept inside with air con for most of its life. Funny you ask, if you shine a light from behind the mirror you can see pits where the coating is missing. You would probably bee suprised how imperfect the surface can be and still focus light as needed. I need to get it re-coated, and I believe that professional observatories (stored outside 24/7)have thiers re-coated once/year.

29th Jan 2009, 04:08 AM	#7 (permalink)
Ishtim Super Moderator Join Date: 14 May 2003 Location: Alabama, USA Posts: 3,765 Reputation: 3333 Rep Power: 43	Dust, humidity and reactive gasses in the air cause the coatings to errode over time.