Posts Made By: Dennis Persyk

I imaged Q2 Machholz and have a movie showing its motion across the sky during a 96 minute period. The comet was clearly visible under the full moon with the C-11 scope at 93x, but quite difficult to find in the 7x50 binoculars. Transparency was 2/10 Pickering with high thin clouds.

Finder chart, isophotes, movie, image and supporting data at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

This web page is a bit larger than my usual ones, so I’d appreciate feedback from my modem viewers as to download time – is it acceptable?

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

I imaged Q2 Machholz and have a movie showing its motion across the sky during a 60 minute period.

Simulated eyepiece view, isophotes, movie, image and supporting data at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

I imaged Q2 Machholz and have a movie showing its motion across the sky during an 80 minute period. I have shrunk the movie to a mere 208 kB for my modem viewers, so please take a look.

Simulated eyepiece view through the NP101, finder chart, isophotes, movie, image and additional supporting data at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

In my “simulated eyepiece view”, a/k/a “digital sketch”, I show a faint greenish cast to the comet head. I viewed the comet with the NP101 with eyepieces varying in focal length from 6.4 mm to 30 mm. The 9 mm Nagler gave the best view for me under the moonlit sky.

It sure seemed to me that I saw a faint green color. Was I just imagining it, or have other visual observers seen some color lately?

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

I obtained a used 135 mm Soligor lens with Pentax screw mount to use with the SXV-H9 camera. An example of the images this inexpensive lens takes is my LRGB of IC1396 at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

I also have some photos of the piggyback setup and my new permanent computer installation in the ten-foot ProDome which my neighbors have christened the “Igloo Observatory”. Please take a look.

Thank you for visiting my site. Feedback always welcomed.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

Continuing my wide-angle imaging with a little camera lens, I imaged Barnard’s Loop via a Hydrogen-alpha filter during the full moon. I was shocked at how big it really is! My planetarium program, SkyMap Pro 10, depicted a considerably smaller loop than my camera captured. Imaging

The image and SkyMap screen shot are at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

In searching other images on the Web I was quite surprised to learn that Barnard’s Loop has been observed visually by quite a few backyard astronomers. This I find extraordinary, as I can see nothing whatsoever of it in any of my scopes from my 3.5 VLM site. Have any group members actually seen this very faint and expansive object? If so, I am truly impressed!

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

I imaged Barnard’s Loop with a 50 mm camera lens using both one-shot color (SXV-H9) and monochrome (SXV-H9) cameras. The comparative images are at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

Unfortunately several parameters were changed in the experiment, rendering impossible an exact comparison of sensitivities. I offer neither apologies nor excuses for my botched experiment. Now that I am retired, I no longer report to the Director of Research at a large company. I am my own boss now and the boss says it’s ok.

There are a couple of things to be learned from my experiment:
1) I assumed I could image wide-open with H-a because there would be no chromatic aberration. Ha! There was no CA, but there was severe coma.
2) The visual impact of exposing 8 times longer (1 x 10 minutes vs. 8 x 10 minutes) is not very great.

I have always assumed that the 10-nm Schueler H-a filter would block out completely the effects of moonlight. Now I am not so sure. I’d like to hear others’ opinions about this.

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

Machholz is past its peak but still the brightest comet in the sky. Mosaic, isophotes, planetarium screen shot and other supporting data at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

I imaged the Seagull Nebula with a 135 mm camera lens using the SXV-H9 camera and Schueler 10 nm FWHM H-a filter. The image is at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

I used the 135 mm ($35 used Soligor) wide open at f/3.5. Previously I used a 50 mm lens wide open at f/1.8 for H-a and had severe coma. With this lens I can apparently image wide open with H-a (no chromatic aberration, of course) and not get coma.

I’ve also included an eyepiece view of what I _thought_ I saw through the eyepiece of the 4-inch refractor. Perhaps you visual observers can comment on whether I really saw the nebula or not under the conditions I describe.

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

Rich Bowden kindly reprocessed my H-a Seagull Nebula to bring out the faint nebulosity better. The before-and-after images are at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

For me, processing is much harder than acquiring the initial image.

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL

Comet 9P/Temple 1 is 122 days from impact with the NASA Deep Impact spacecraft. On July 4th the spacecraft will smash into 9P. The impact is hopefully going to dramatically increase the magnitude of the comet. Image and supporting data at
http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

The comet is presently magnitude 12.7 and brightening steadily. It should be visible from dark sites in larger scopes.

Thank you for visiting my site.

Clear skies,

Dennis Persyk
Igloo Observatory Home Page http://dpersyk.home.att.net
Hampshire, IL