If you got to see the 2016 Transit of Mercury I congratulate you. If you didn’t, check the time table here. Looks like you’ll get to see one again on November 11th, 2019 . . .nice that would be my youngest sister’s birthday. . . maybe I can get a few pictures and better video for a gift. . .. Next time I hope to have a lunt.
For the transit I got up early, had coffee ready and set up before the sun came up. . .the trees in the neighbors blocked my view until it was underway for about an hour. I then drove over to a friend’s house to record the rest tree free, and so they could see it as well. The transit was something I was like OK, I’ll see it then be bored really fast. honestly It was pretty cool to look and keep checking back to see how far it crossed. I had a great itme and if the sun wasn’t so hot from it being a clear sunny Florida day, on top of it making the laptop overheat and shut down even though it was in the shade, I would have stayed looking the hole time.
What’s the big deal?
The transit occurs on two specific events happen. mercury is on the ascending or descending node. What is this? well an ascending node is described as : “The point in an orbit where a body traveling from south to north crosses a reference plane, such as the plane of the ecliptic (in the case of a Solar System object) or the celestial equator. The opposite point in the orbit, where the body moves from north to south across the reference plane, is the descending node. The longitude of the ascending node is an orbital element. “[1] – David Darling
Secondly the planet Mercury has to be between the earth and the sun on one of those nodes. Mercury’s orbit is inclined 7 degrees that of earth’s so it has to be in the node while we are in line with the sun and Mercury slips in between us. Depending on locations of all parties involved, it makes a huge difference on the incline the planet Mercury passes along the sun’s disk and how long the transit lasts.
This year we got a particularly nice and long view, It was around 7 hours.
The intervals happen at such a frequency that the transits happen 13 or 14 times every century. it gives you a good chance to see it if you miss one or two or three. . . .
Not only do you get to see a celestial event, but there are several notable astronomers that witnessed it as well. If you get to see one you join the ranks of those who have witnessed it such as : William Herschel in England 1802[2] or Observed by Charles Green and James Cook from Mercury Bay in New Zealand.[3] Noted that Mercury had little or no atmosphere 1769 Nov 9. Others such as when Joseph-Nicolas Delisle coordinated scientific observations worldwide. The notable Pierre Gassendi, Jeremy Shakerly, Edmund Halley, Richard Towneley in Lancashire when they tried to determine solar parallax, also noted by Jean Charles Gallet in Avignon; as reported in letter from John Flamsteed to Johannes Hevelius on23 May 1678.[4] Sorry I got caught up in the moment. . . .if you get to observe this celestial event you join the giants that have seen them as well. . . .and if that doesn’t get the hair on the back of your neck up then you might not have a pulse!
The Transit
ok, ok, ok, I know you are excited to see it because I got you all worked up on the intro.
The first set of images which I just took the photos and processed I didn’t worry so much about orientation on the transit. mercury is the little black orb on the disk. the sunspot groups are near center.
This was the first image I got to take about 2 hours into the transit. Trees where in the wayThe second image I took after having to relocate across town to a friend’s house so they could join in.I gave it a little time after my laptop crashed from overheatingMy fourth in the series that came out well towards the end of the transit.Mercury is about to slip off the visible disk of the sun.
In this shot of Mercury slipping off the disk I was there with my 2 friends as we watched, it was somber in tone as we all watched it slip away as if we had just seen something grand come to a sad end. . . I didn’t get the black drop effect image, but this was one of my favorite shots right there.
Of course no transit would be complete with out getting a composite of all the images that show the pathway of the planet across the surface.
2016 Mercury Transit Composite – the true north south orientation of the sun along with the various snapshots of the planet skirting across the visible disk.
If you would like to see better quality images, I keep copies of everything in flikr. they let me use .tif files which are 16 bit over 8 bit jpegs, meaning better detail. feel free to check out the album here. I don’t mind people seeing or taking a copy they like just so long as they give me credit, I do the same for others and would appreciate the acknowledgement. Heck take it down and print it out and put it on your wall in a nice frame 🙂 just remember where you got it from!
For the last few days sun spot group 2529 has marched across the sun’s surface and is looking right at us here on earth. Seeing how there has not been a major group like this in a while I was able to get outside and photograph, I took the opportunity for 2 days to try to get images.
the sun’s surface showing almost no spots. Image courtesy of NASA Solar Dynamic’s Observatory
So far the spot has only produced minor C class flares all directed away from earth. The following probabilities for flares are as follows : C: 60%, M: 10%, X: 1%. The guess I have is that it would pop off at least a C class due to the magnetogram looking like this :
Magnetogram of the Sun image rights NASA SDO
and a close up :
Magnetogram of region 2529 image courtesy of NASA SDO
That being said with he gear I have you can get decent images. I really enjoy looking at the sun. . .weird I know but you can see it waver and boil. It really changes the way you look at things from then on out. . . any way
To get my pics I used my Celestron Neximager5 and my Celestron 6se an for my solar filter I used a glass Solar filter made by Seymour Solar. For software I used Icap which came with my camera and I stacked in Registax. For the settings I tried a few settings, I used the RGB settings and that gives me a almost white disk. I personally prefer the natural look of the BY settings when capturing the sun with this filter as it gives it the familiar orange/yellow color. This is by no means a definitive guide. I just use what works for myself as this is not a solar telescope by Lunt or Coronado.
I don’t think this was too bad considering with out both focal reducers I was able to take a picture of the sun in 9 mosaic shots. . . .which gets old.
Now I will go closer and closer to the spot group I think I did ok for getting some granulation. My seeing conditions were clear but hazy with low wind and med humidity.
Enjoy!
My orientation was slightly off
I should have rotated my camera to reflect the north is about the 10 o’clock region of the sun there. I will make sure in the future.
and even closer:
I zoomed in using my barlow
I used a X2 Barlow lens to help zoom in. I learned to zoom using lenses instead of the camera zoom. zooming using the camera zoom only blows up the pixels making images look blurry and exaggerating the pixels.
I’ve really enjoyed observing the sun. Before you start observing yourself, read over my safety on how to observe the sun here. Last thing I want is some one to not do it properly and lose their eyesight or damage their equipment. Once you start studying the nearest star, and observe it, you start seeing features change, it’s never the same thing twice. Add in the fact that the sheer power and magnificence of it on it’s own scale. . .and then throw in a dash of knowing the same things happen on other stars. . .and wow. . it’s beautiful.
So the events that lead up to this observing session is that on Sept. 2nd or Sept. 3rd there was a large X class flare that shot off the far side of the sun away from earth. On Sept. 5th the sun spots responsible started to come into view, sun spot 2158 and group 2157. we aren’t sure what of the two did it, however, I took some pictures of both. The skies here are not the greatest all the time so I try to get things when they are available. Unfortunately there was too much humidity and I had tracking issues with my scope. The pictures where not of very good quality and not worth trying to get the detail out of them.
On September 10th, the skies cleared and I was able to get a better view of the spots.
Sun pots labeled and solar equator marked
The large group seemed rather strange looking and I kept an eye on it. the reports had been stating that there was a lot of Geomagnetic activity around the spot. I tried to get some Ha shots (Hydrogen Alpha) but they didn’t come out right, the scope didn’t track enough for me o get good images during processing.
I ended up getting a few closer views:
First of two shots of the sunspot 2158Second of two shots of the sunspot 2158
I took these images about 1 hour before it launched off the solar flare. By the time I had called it a day, broke down and brought all the gear inside, downloaded and transferred the images I checked the reports and found it had shot off a flare. I attempted to get a closer shot, what I end up doing is zooming in with the camera, a Celestron NexImager 5. I use the default setting of 4X4 Binding, to “zoom” I decrease this to the lower setting. I’m not sure if it was artifacts caused by using Registax 6 or not, but there is a “line” that seems to go between the 7 o’clock position to the 2 o’clock, I’m pretty sure its from processing in Registax that caused it.
Spot 2158 zoomed in
Now the group to it’s south looked like this:
group 2157
when the sun spot flared, 2158, it launched a Coronal Mass Ejection or CME that registered as a X1.6 directly at us.
2158 impact prediction image from NASA
We had just had a moderate M class right before it by half a day so the X class caught up to and overtook the shock of the smaller M class. This was the first significant activity since January as it’s been pretty calm and relatively small spots or no spots. The northern hemisphere was able to enjoy some very nice Aurora. Otherwise nothing really to report about the sun so far this year.
Are you interested in getting started in astrophotography? How do you know if this is the right hobby for you? I get asked quite often as I share photos with friends and family members how I do it because they are interested in doing it as well. I have been diligently tracking my progress in a journal and have decided to bring it to this format so as to share what I have seen and what I will see, but where to begin? This would be a great spot to start.
What I suggest is to first find the right equipment. I did an article on this and touched the surface on what kind of telescope to get. There are three ways you can go about this, you can find out what the people that are really into this hobby want to get or have and get the same thing. (I hope you got some deep pockets as the equipment is not cheep.) Buy the cheapest gear out there, or get a starter set up and figure it out from there. Am I trying to deter you from this? not at all, I’m encouraging you to get involved and try it. Look I did this with a budget and so can you. I’ve run into too many elitists in this hobby that try to be the only ones doing something so they try to scare people off, that’s not me. I will say this, the first and foremost thing is you have to be willing to just look some nights, if you are not into astronomy at all, then you are going to get frustrated. Yes this hobby is going to get expensive in some aspects, but trust me, it’s worth it, I’ll help you get into this with a budget and not cut corners on quality.
First things first, I am linking equipment in the articles. I am not a paid advertiser of any vendor. I am only doing it so you can see and read specs on the equipment or possibly find the places to download software or review it yourself. I do not get paid for my referrals and you clicking it does not get me money or anything what soever.
Telescope:
First and foremost you need a telescope. Personally I bought mine a 6″ Celestron Nextstar 6Se. (I am not advertizing vendors, but linking to where you can purchase items or find them. Celestron uses authorized vendors and this is one I used and have used a few times with success. . . .and honestly has the best prices on Celestron gear) If you are on a budget I recommend this. I’ve had quite a bit of debate with people who say no get the 8″ or the 8SE instead. I’m going to put this out here now so you can chose what you want. If you can afford the 8SE then do it. You will see more and get fainter images. It’s not the magnification or power you want, it’s aperture. However I suggest the 6se if you have never done this or are unsure how committed you are about the hobby. I paid around $800 for the scope, (comes with tripod), the power tank and the case that has the extra eyepieces. for all of it, the 8se is about $1,299 for the same thing. This leaves you enough for a camera if you get into it. While you are learning, if you get good with some less than epic gear you will be fantastic when you do get the good stuff, not to mention you are going to take some bumps, some lumps and nicks along the road, I treat my gear like I am carrying a holy relic, yet things come apart, things fall and get messed up. It is also worth noting if you learn on the cheaper step into the art, you know what you will need afterwards.
let me show you some examples of how this pans out.
I did a quick Google search and found this guy’s photos all rights retained by Mr. Phillips
Now this is not me making fun of, being critical or anything other than giving you a visual image in which to make a comparison between the optics in a telescope, and why I suggest the 6se as a starter. The vast majority of your results are 1 part telescope, 1 part camera and 4 parts your processing. which I will help people walk through the method I learned.
My own I took of Saturn
As you can see this is not a bad image. The difference between this photo and my first ones are a lot of practice, trial and error, hard frustrating moments and nights where I didn’t get anything good.
With this example I am showing you how you can get quality results with the 6se as well as the 8se. But if you are going to come into this hobby and not sure how much you want to spend as well as not sure how dedicated you are going to be, try the 6se. Yes it is difficult to get amazing shots, but this is your entry into the hobby. The thing is, I can get images on par with an 8se with just the 6se and I got into the hobby cheaper, but can do more with the 8se.
The absolute must on this is you need a motorized mount. one that is an Equatorial mount is ideal, but you can use a regular mount that the 6se comes with aka a fork mount. I’ll explain in a bit
Software:
The cameras all come with capture software. that’s the good news. the bad is Photoshop is a must. am I saying we Photoshop images to alter their looks? not like the modeling industry does. we use it more of a tool to pull the data that is in the photo out to make it visible. It’s like being able to raise and lower the water level in a lake to see what is where in the lake.
Fortunately, my wife had bought a copy of Photoshop and I can tell you it is worth every single penny paid. There are other programs out there, but I have not been able to get them to work. there are some programs like Gimp, a free alternative to Photoshop, I didn’t know how to work it and once I had Photoshop and learned it I have not tried Gimp. Startools is out there and Maxim DL I have only used startools in the trial version, it gave ok results if it had more tutorials or maybe a trial that was say 30-60 days I would possibly recommend buying it, but the trial was so limited in the free version I can’t say to one way or another. Maxim DL, I hear good things about, but again never tried it. once you have Photoshop, you can do many of the things those programs do, it’s just the programs make it easier for you to do them. Once you learn Photoshop, it’s not that bad. . . I do forget a step now and then and a real problem with this is that it’s after many times of trying that you learn what to apply where and why. That’s what I was looking for when I started and it took a lot of reading to figure it out. Focus magic is one I have heard of but never tried, I have downloaded it, but never tried it. I will though to see if it does any good.
A must have is Registax I should say that this is a must have depending on what camera you choose to use. If you use anything that is a video camera this is what you will need to make a picture out of it. These cameras are the CCD versions. you can go crazy with cameras and buy all kinds. but
why do you need software for cameras? well the reason is this, the CCD is nothing more than a very good webcam. a digital camera recorder, the programs like Registax and Autostakkert serve the purpose of taking your recorded video and staking the individual frames on top of each other, lined up and it then picks the best pixels out of all the frames creating a nice picture from your video.
Cameras:
There are a few routes to go here and I will only be covering what I have done and why. There are many cameras out there, you can buy the nice cameras from Canon or Nikkon. Canon made the Canon Canon EOS 60Da DSLR Astrophotography Camera, but it will cost you a few pennies. . .about $1,600+ it’s a darn good camera. They happened to have success and realized they were o to something when people used the 20 Ds series and had a bit of luck in using a good camera for astrophotography. They then made the 40Ds, and have since found it is a specialized tool and started with the 60 and jacked the price pretty high. I’m not fond of the cameras and Canon makes a damn good camera, however if I am going to spend that much cash on a camera, I’m personally going to go with a high quality CCD from a company that is specifically making the camera for the purposes of astrophotography. If you where a photographer and have one, great, use it. If not, I would recommend going this route of ccd cams made for the purpose of this hobby, yes you spend a bit of cash, and the camera is good for nothing but this hobby, but out will find more help and support and less frustration using the gear that is designed for the task.
I started with an I-Phone. My wife held the camera up to the eye piece and got a shot. We kept trying and trying this, it was annoying and hard to do. I came up with a way of recording video with a webcam. . .and made a mount. this was not the way to do it. So if you are looking for a way to start, you do not need to do it this way, let me save you tons of frustration.
The camera is the eyepiece, the telescope minus the eyepiece is a zoom lens. that’s it. You focus using the telescope directly shooting into the camera. Some folks have had a lot of success modifying a webcam and making it work. Let me let you in on a protip here. Don’t bother! The time and effort it takes to get it going as well as the money invested is more than if you just buy a damn camera. Yes a webcam costs you about $40, then you have to buy a box, another 8, then modify it and deal with the frustration that comes with this . . . I tried it and am thankful I just bought the camera. The webcam ended up getting ripped out and thrown in the middle of the street one night. . I left it there. The neximage5 is about $160-$200 and worth every penny.
Now what camera do you want to get? I first had a hard time asking this question and getting an answer, the reason, every piece of equipment seems to have a specialty. The neximager5 is great for solar system pictures, but crappy for much else. My Starshoot camera from Orion is great at some long exposure shots, and when I upgrade my system it will be useful for being an autoguider.
Of course we all want to get great pictures of lots of things, but if you had to start off, I would recommend the Neximager first, get your feet wet. The process if far different with the Orion camera. but I use the Neximager for planets, moon and sun. The Orion cam is for long duration shots to get galaxies, nebula and planetary nebula, things you have to leave the shutter open for a lot longer to get. To process these pictures is a whole different process, as in you skip the stacking and use a different process combining images you might have taken. Just know that all equipment is coming up as pretty specialized to some extent. from what I have found there is no one size fits all for equipment.
One other camera I have is the Orion StarShoot Deep Space Video Camera II. I find this camera does a really good job on bright objects like binary stars or single stars. You can also use it to do alive feed if you so choose. I have been able to get faint objects, just not as well as the camera designed for long term exposures. The Neximager is not as good for things like stars, but is better at planets than this camera. I find that the quality of color images for binaries and stars is really good and seems to capture color in those objects the best. Again, every piece has a purpose.
Solar equipment:
I have not purchased a solar telescope, I dipped my toes in the solar side by buying a solar filter and getting addicted. I thought “Meh it’s just the sun let me take a look. I probably won’t do it much.” boy was I wrong.
The sun is a star, you can see what happens here and picture it happening on distant suns. of color and size. once you see the bubbling surface, you start to get addicted to granulation.
there are what I see as two companies that make solar telescopes, Coronado and Munt. Personally I am leaning more towards the Lunt. I’ve read great things and shooting for the $1.5-$2k price range. if you are unsure if you want to drop that kind of cash you can get decent shots as well as see things just fine. I bought a solar filter to put over my telescope. In particular I bought a Seymour filter.I chose them over Baader because they were glass filters and not just film. I take the safety of my eyes serious and you should too. I have had some real good views of the sun and enjoy it as much as a night out. I don’t get quite the images that I would be getting with a solar telescope, but I can get good shots of spots and granules. I have not gotten proms, but I am finding it’s all technique and seeing conditions. As with the rest of the hobby, the more you do it the more you get better.
Summary:
Is this list the best equipment out there or is it going to be the best fit for you? no but it works for me and has allowed me to get into the hobby and expand my interests. It has allowed me to get better with what I have and learn. I have been able to figure out the right questions to ask, as I find that is the biggest frustration. . . how do you ask the right questions if you don’t even know what to ask.
But if you are looking to dip your toes in to this realm and see how much you like it, it’s a good way to step in cheap. Not so cheap it sacrifices quality and make you decide to stop, but skipping the errors I did. I hope this helps and leads you down the rabbit hole. I can say that if you are unsure how committed you are going to be, get the 6se, if you are not worried about a $300 price difference by all means get the 8se. But the rest of the gear I suggested should get you rolling.
Six Alberts Astronomy & Astrophotography 