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Posts Made By: Weiman Kissinger

May 3, 2004 07:39 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Help for IRIS

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

Hi all. I've recently downloaded IRIS to determine if it has better registering/stacking processing than Registax for my particular application. I have several Mars and Jupiter AVIs that suffer from atmospheric turbulence (i.e. Jupiter's disk is not always the same shape). I am looking for a method to weed out those frames that do not conform to a specific planetary "shape", regardless of the level of detail on the disk itself.

IRIS has a planetary processing technique called "contour" which supposedly does what I need. However, I am having difficulty understanding how to use this process. Does anyone have any additional information/help/tips/newsgroup, etc on processing AVIs with IRIS? I have downloaded and reviewed the PDF "Help" file for IRIS, but it is several versions old and the other reference for contour processing is written in French.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks... Weiman Kissinger

March 8, 2005 12:17 AM Forum: Star Parties

Calling All Northeast Observers!

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg is pleased to be hosting this year's Cherry Springs Star Party (CSSP). This four night (Thursday through Sunday) star party offers plenty of observing opportunities, excellent speakers, good food, workshops, door prizes, and much more. Speakers include comet hunter Don Machholz, Dr. James Kaler, "The StarGazer" from the University of Illinois, Bob Naeye, Senior Editor at S&T, plus several others. Registration is open now through April 30, 2005. For more information visit www.astrohbg.org

March 26, 2005 06:18 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

First Saturn Post

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

Hi All,
I finally got around to processing some AVIs I took of Saturn on Jan 22, 2005 using the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's 17 inch Classical Cassegrain and a Toucam 740. Attached is the result from one of the best AVIs.

In the upper left of the image I added a slightly reduced version of the best frame from the stack of 95.

Comments and suggestions appreciated.

Weiman Kissinger

September 7, 2005 04:24 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Re: Tackling Mars in IR - to pass or block?

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

Robert,
Maybe I'm ignorant about such things but just like in football I don't think you can "pass" and "block" at the same time. I guess the outcome is "unknown" if you stack an IR Pass filter on an IR Block filter.

Clear Skies
Weiman

March 30, 2006 08:58 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn through a 17 inch Cassegrain in poor transp

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

Attached is a stack of 250 hand selected images (reduced 50% of the original 640x480 image) taken around 11pm EST on 3-27-06 through the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's 17inch Cassegrain at Naylor Observatory, Lewisberry, PA.

The CSC was calling for average seeing and transparency through about 10pm that night or I wouldn't have even attempted to do any imaging.

I started capturing AVIs around 9:30 at prime focus (F15, 6477mm f/l) with mixed results. Near the end of the evening I decided to insert an Orion Shorty Plus 2x barlow into the optical path to try to increase image scale (although I knew it was exceeding the diffraction limit at almost a 13,000mm f/l). Saturn was so large at this f/l I had to rotate the Toucam in the focuser so it would fit totally inside the 640x480 frame. I also had to constantly adjust the RA/DEC on the drive to keep it from moving off the frame. At the time this AVI was captured I looked through the shutter on the dome and could barely see Saturn visually, the transparency had degraded to 1/5.

The resulting image is a bit noisy and you can see a dust mote on the lower section of the Cassini division, however I was surprised how good this turned out given the average seeing and 1/5 transparency.

Comments/suggestions welcome.

Weiman

February 20, 2007 08:54 PM Forum: Star Parties

CSSP 2007 - Coudersport PA

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

Cherry Springs Star Party

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg is pleased to announce dates for the annual Cherry Springs Star Party! The Cherry Springs Star Party or CSSP will be held the 17, 18, 19, and 20, of May 2007 at Cherry Springs State Park near Coudersport, PA. Cherry Springs State Park is well known for nice dark skies and we hope you'll enjoy them with us at the Cherry Springs Star Party! Our 2006 Star Party was a tremendous success and featured great speakers/programming and opportunities for observing. The Star Party will run from Thursday Night thru Sunday Morning. The Registration Desk will open at approximately 12 PM on Thursday and will be open throughout the weekend. We hope to see YOU at the Star Party! May's Munchables, absolutely the best food service provider for a Star Party, will be providing food 24/7 for the Star Party attendees.

Visit http://www.cherrysprings.org for more information

Weiman Kissinger (Astronomical Society of Harrisburg)

January 15, 2009 09:35 PM Forum: Star Parties

2009 Cherry Springs Star Party registration is now open

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

See the following AM calendar entry for more information. The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg hopes to see you there!

http://www.astromart.com/calendar/list.asp?calendar_event_id=184

February 19, 2010 08:06 PM Forum: Star Parties

CSSP 2010 registration is now open!

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

Registration for the 2010 Cherry Springs Star Party is now open.

Last year we were cursed by a weather pattern that left us with three days and nights of rain, also drenching the 2009 U.S. Open being held in NY that same weekend.

The way we've been inundated by snow here in the northeast this winter I figure we're going to be blessed with steady, transparent skies this June for CSSP 2010.

You can get more info here http://www.astrohbg.org/CSSP/Information.html or visit the Astromart calendar.

We always have an enjoyable weekend at CSSP and we hope you will join us this year.

Weiman Kissinger,
Astromical Society of Harrisburg

March 10, 2011 09:41 PM Forum: Star Parties

Registration for Cherry Springs 2011 is now open!

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

The Cherry Springs Star Party (CSSP) will be held at Cherry Springs State Park near Coudersport, PA May 26th to May 29th, 2011.

Sponsored by the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg (ASH), last year's CSSP was an overwhelming success with good weather, exceptional speakers, and numerous helpful vendors. Cherry Springs State Park is well known for some of the darkest skies on the east coast. The Registration Desk will open at approximately 12 PM on Thursday and at various times throughout the weekend.

More information can be obtained at http://www.astrohbg.org/CSSP/Information.html, or if you're ready to register visit http://www.astrohbg.org/CSSP/Registration.html

We hope to see YOU at CSSP this year!

April 12, 2012 08:11 PM Forum: Star Parties

CSSP 2012 registration is now open!

Posted By Weiman Kissinger

The Cherry Springs Star Party (CSSP) will be held at Cherry Springs State Park near Coudersport, PA June 14th to June 17th, 2012.

Sponsored by the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg (ASH), last year's CSSP was a sellout and a tremendous opportunity for astronomy enthusiasts to share observing experiences, listen to exceptional speakers, and browse the wares of very helpful vendors.

Cherry Springs State Park is well known for some of the darkest skies on the east coast and is a beautiful place to visit in late spring.

The CSSP Registration Desk will open at approximately 12 PM on Thursday and at various times throughout the weekend for your convenience.

More information can be obtained at http://www.astrohbg.org/CSSP/Information.html, or if you're ready to register visit http://www.astrohbg.org/CSSP/Registration.html

We hope to see YOU at CSSP this year!