Posts Made By: Anthony Ayiomamitis

May 14, 2009 11:48 AM Forum: Astro-Physics

HAT-P-12b - A transiting "Hot Saturn" in CVn

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

A couple of weeks ago we had the announcement surrounding the discovery of the twelveth exoplanet by the HAT-P-Net exoplanet hunting team and involving the third find and example to-date of a "Hot Saturn".

This particular find involves a star which is somewhat dim at magnitude 12.84 (pretransit) and which dims to 12.865 during transit. In spite of many false starts due to very dim sporadic clouds which almost made me call it in, I managed to capture a very beautiful light
curve over the course of four hours.

The exoplanet HAT-P-12b in the constellation of Canis Venatici completely orbits its parent star in only 77 hours and requires 140 minutes to transit it as viewed from Earth. Aside from being the least dense of any massive gas giant exoplanet discovered so far, it is even less dense than Saturn itself.

For the resulting light-curve from last night based on 4 hours total data, please see http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Photometry-HAT-P-12-20090513.htm .

Anthony.

May 17, 2009 03:22 PM Forum: Takahashi

One multitasking FSQ

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

The Tak FSQ makes for a great lens when used in conjunction with a digital camera and which puts to shame standard lenses which are invariably employed when doing "landscape work" involving astronomical phenomenon.

I would like to present you with a couple of really neat examples where the FSQ acted as a long focal length lens in capturing the rising full moon at Sounion against the Temple of Poseidon as well as the rising sun against the Parthenon in central Athens:

(1) http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Lunar-Scenes-Sounion-04.htm
(2) http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Lunar-Scenes-Sounion-05.htm
(3) http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Lunar-Scenes-Sounion-06.htm

(4) http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Scenes-Parthenon-01.htm
(5) http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Scenes-Parthenon-02.htm
(6) http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Scenes-Parthenon-03.htm

I hope you enjoy the above landscapes involving a very special long focal length "lens".

Anthony.

June 6, 2009 11:11 AM Forum: Astro-Physics

Exoplanet XO-1b in CrB

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

Good weather and very good seeing are finally here and represent an opportunity to brush off a serious amount of rust accumulated during winter and spring due to inactivity thanks to clouds, clouds and more clouds.

I was somewhat apprehensive in pursuing XO-1b due to the rich presence of the twelve-day old moon. As was the case with other occasions involving rich lunar light, I used my Baader IR-Pass filter for the pursuit of this 180-min transit and the resulting light curve exceeded my expectations.

The exoplanet XO-1b is very similar to Jupiter with respect to its mass and radius. Similarly, the host star is also very similar to our sun with respect to its spectral type, mass and radius.

For the result based on five hours total time and which includes 60 minutes pre-ingress, 180 minutes for the transit itself as well as 65 minutes post-ingress, I kindly direct you to http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Photometry-XO-1-20090604.htm and where the 17 mmag drop in the magnitude of the parent star (11.19 pre-ingress) is beautifully documented.

I would like to thank my two faithful assistants - my AP160 and AP1200 - whose efforts make all of this possible!

Anthony.

June 20, 2009 03:13 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

Globular cluster PAL 11 in Aql

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

Finally I had a chance to do some DSO work last night thanks to the clearing of the haze which characterized local skies all of this week. In addition to the very good transparency, seeing was also quite good.

I decided to pursue the globular cluster PAL 11 in Aquila and which is an observer's challenge along with the remaining members of the PAL catalog.

For a result based on just under three hours total exposure time, I kindly direct you to http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-Cluster-Palomar-11.htm (the image is hyperlinked and leads to a higher resolution result).

I have no idea what Rolando feeds these scopes but it must be really good (and illegal)!

Keep'em coming Rolando.

Anthony.

July 5, 2009 02:27 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

Unusually Deep Solar Minimum (aka A Tale of Two Su

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

Who stole the sunspots?! Where have they gone?!

As noted by Dr Phillips (SpaceWeather), "As of March 31st, there were no sunspots on 78 of the year's 90 days (87%)." (see http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/01apr_deepsolarminimum.htm?li... ) and this a continuation of 2008 where 266 days were characterized without any sunspot activity (same reference).

For an interesting collage of two images spaced precisely four years apart and which is a perfect representation of what is happening (actually NOT happening) with Sol at this moment, I kindly direct you to http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Scenes-Deep-Minimum-2005-2009.htm . More specifically, one of the two component images in the collage is from July 5th, 2005 and which documents the sample rich activity which is characteristic of the sun during non-minimum periods. The second component image in the collage is from July 5th, 2009 and is most characteristic of the blank sun which has become the norm and status quo. Please remember to click on the hyperlinked image which really brings the message forth in a higher analysis rendition of the same result.

Some research suggests this lack of sunspot activity impacts the levels of UV in our atmosphere and which in turn impact the development of clouds. Certainly winters have been unusually severe and it seems each and every winter manages to find a way to be worse than the previous one.

Clear skies and at least one sunspot for July 22nd!

Oh yeah, Rolando, four years of bliss with my babe (AP160) !!!!!!!!!!!

Anthony.

July 28, 2009 03:54 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

B133 - Dark Nebula in Aquilla

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

In spite of a noticeable wind as well as average seeing, I sat down last night to pursue the dark nebula B133 in Aquilla. I wish I had taken a few more luminance subs but at least I now have a baseline reference image for a future visit. For a result based on just two hours total time, please see http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-Nebulae-Dark-B133.htm (the image is hyperlinked and leads to a higher analysis version of the same).

Anthony.

July 28, 2009 03:54 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

M11 - Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

I have generally avoided imaging the southern sky and especially at low altitudes since I have problems with both the seeing as well as serious light pollution from the national highway which joins northern Greece with Athens.

Just for the heck of it I thought I would go after M11 - aka Wild Duck cluster - in Scutum It is one of the richest and most dense open clusters in our galaxy and is somewhat of a challenge to image. For a result based on just two hours total time, please see
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-6705.htm (the image is hyperlinked and leads to a higher analysis version of the same).

Anthony.

July 30, 2009 10:47 PM Forum: Astro-Physics

Sh2-101 Tulip (Emission) Nebula in Cygnus

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear friends,

Lats night I sat down to finish some business with Sh2-101 in Cygnus and which is perhaps more commonly known as the Tulip Nebula.

I imaged this gem two years ago but never circulated the result due to the noise result which was produced by my ST-2000XM (at least when looking at the hires version). Last night was prime for a repeat visit due to the fact that I had very good transparency as well as very good seeing.

My only apprehension was the fact that there are two bright stars within the central portion of the field of view and which somehow ties my hands in relation to how deep I can go with my (blooming) ST-10XME. Unfortunately I had to restrict me integrations to six minutes and in contrast to my desired 10- or 15-minute subs.

For a result based on four hours total time, I kindly refer you to http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-Nebulae-Sh2-101.htm for the RRGB result (120:60:60:60) and please make sure you click on the hyperlinked image for a larger version of the same. I hope to revisit this target with a better ABG camera and deeper integrations at some point in the future.

Clear skies.

Anthony.

August 24, 2009 06:53 PM Forum: Takahashi

Mewlon 210 ... ready for action

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

In a message to the group, James had asked for group members to post a photo or two of their prized toys.

Well, here is a shot of my Mewlon 210 ... another new thread shortly following its capabilities.

Anthony.

August 24, 2009 07:01 PM Forum: Takahashi

NGC 891 - Test with Mewlon 210

Posted By Anthony Ayiomamitis

Dear group,

In an earlier thread - see http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=659400&poll_id=&news_id=&page= - I had my first impressions of the M210 in relation to its potential for DSO work.

A few nights ago I had some free time at the end of an imaging session and I decided to take some test images of the beautiful edge-on galaxy NGC 891 in Andromeda.

For my sample result based on two hours total data, please see http://www.perseus.gr/Images/dso-ngc-0891-20x6min.jpg and which is based on twenty six-minute subs. I purposely pursued six-min test subs since my master dark library did not have a 10-min master dark for the cooling temperature I was working that particular night.

Please note this result has partial reduction, namely the use of a master dark and nothing else. The full resolution image looks much nicer and with the stars being very nice circles.

There is no question in my mind the M210 is a very good scope for DSO work and in spite of the general concensus to the contrary due to a supposedly non-flat field from edge to edge and its slow f-ratio.

Anthony.