Photoshop Tutorial: Diffraction Spikes #1

Lately, I’ve been fooling around with my Adobe Photoshop, and decided to give a whirl at creating artificial diffraction spikes on wide-angle astrophotography. My final photograph will be submitted after this article because it is still in need of some processing, though I will include some great examples such as the preceding photo of the Pleiades, which has very visible diffraction spikes.

It should be noted that diffraction spikes actually detract from the scientific worth of a photograph, as certain features of stars may be obscured by their inclusion. They are strictly there to “pretty up” a photograph, and provide no calculable scientific value.

I have created a custom brush preset using instructions I found on IceInSpace.com, an Australian amateur astronomy website with some great information.

Do these steps and soon you’re astrophotos will have those cool diffraction spikes on them as well! Look forward to my published photographs of Mars (similar to one already posted) stacked with Registrax and using IceInSpace’s diffraction spike tutorial. It’s going to be pretty cool, and I think a gigantic leap forward in quality.

Featured Photographer: The Star Doctor

Not to get repetitive with the photographer posts, but this site is just too incredibly awesome to pass up and not blog.

Ruben Kier over at The Star Doctor has some of the most amazing astrophotos I have ever seen, but I think the real meat and potatoes of this website is the observatory this guy has set up in the mountains. The roof slides off and everything (and he even has a La-Z-Boy recliner in the observatory too!).

Says on the site he takes naps in the recliner and double-checks every hour or two that everything is still aligned, tracking, and in focus. Now that’s the life!

Once I get to retirement age, I hope I can have something this nice! This site is definitely something any amatuer astronomer can drool over!

Featured Flickr Photographer: OpoTerser

Summer Milky Way Full Frame at 50mm f/1.7
Originally uploaded by OpoTerser

This guy definitely has some awesome wide angle Milky Way shots. Cruise by his gallery to check them out; he also has some awesome Moon shots to boot.

Great Job OpoTerser!

Mars Near To Earth

This is a photo I took of Mars two nights ago. Mars is currently near its closest point to Earth, and I wanted to snap a shot before it returned in 2016!

Orion, the Hunter

Constellation Name: Orion
Observed Date: 12/27/07, 8:14pm EST

Sky Conditions: Clear

Coordinates: (Will be updated)

Note: This Orion photograph is to replace the original photos I have taken which can be found here.

Things to See in 2008

There’s a bunch of cool stuff that is going to be going on this upcoming year in 2008. A couple notable things are:

Comets – There will be quite a few comets coming around in 2008. Four of these will likely be visible with binoculars. 8P/Tuttle will remain visible for awhile. For a complete list of comets, check resources at aerith.net and the Institute of Astronomy to see what we can look forward to in 2008.

Planets & Moon - Look forward to many solar and lunar eclipses. Also check out the many planets coming into opposition (their closest approach to Earth) and conjunctions (in which planets appear very close to each other). A full list of expected phenomena can be found at Sea and Sky.

Asteroid Events - Any dedicated asteroid hunters out there can check out Poyntsource for a complete list of all global asteroid events. This site even let’s you import information into Google Earth.

Meteor Showers – According to the International Meteor Organization, ” The meteor year ahead starts well for the stronger showers, with moonless maxima for the Quadrantids, α-Centaurids, η-Aquarids and δ-Aquarids, but things go somewhat awry in August with the Perseids peaking near full Moon, while the Orionids in October, the Leonids in November and the Geminids in December are even worse-placed.” Check out their 2008 calendar for a full listing of what to expect when meteor hunting in 2008.

The year 2008 will be a great year for observing, and remember, 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy.

Flickr Find: Jupiter & Computer Science Geek

Opposition of Jupiter with Milky Way
Originally uploaded by Computer Science Geek

Check out this awesome twilight photo of Jupiter. I’m a real sucker for wide angle astrophotography, and this one is definitely a gem. Check out the author Computer Science Geek on his Flickr page.

Tunguska-sized Asteroid Misses Earth; Sets Sights on Mars

On November 20, 2007, NASA-funded observers discovered an asteroid, subsequently named 2007 WD5, after it had made its closest approach to Earth at 4.7 million miles. In terms of NEOs (Near Earth Objects), this is a very close call.

While we may be out of the woods, Mars certianly is not. At 5:55am EST on January 30, 2008, it is scheduled to pass within a mere 30,000 miles of Mars. This means there is at least a statistical probability of 1 in 75 that it would collide.

This would be an event the size of Tunguska, or larger. It would slam into the surface at more nearly 28,000 mph, create a crater more than a half mile wide, and release more than three megatons of energy.

On another note, notice that the asteroid was discovered after it made its closest approach to Earth. We need to do better than this NASA; you’re gonna let another Tunguska or dinokiller through.

Peace on Earth

Michele from the Earth and Weather Space has beat me to the punch on a great Christmas-related article. Dwight D. Eisenhower transmitted the first broadcast through space on December 19th, 1958 from the Atlas satellite.

Check out the Earth and Weather Space to find out what he said!

Ursid Meteor Shower

Referring back to our brief post on Comet 8/P Tuttle I actually forgot something very important about that comet; we are only two days from passing through the debris left along the path of the comet. The radiant will be in the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor), near Polaris.

The Ursid meteor shwoer has been quite dull in the preceding years, but experts are expecting a much grander show this year because the comet is quickly approaching us. For some pics of this comet, which is as big but not as bright as comet Halley, check out the always cool Flintstone Stargazing, or some more amateur photos at SETI’s dedicated website.

Unfortunately, viewing conditions will not be ideal for this meteor shower because of the fact that it will be peaking when North America is in the day time, and Europe and Asia will have a bright moon, obscuring their view of outburst as well. Suggestions for successful viewing on SETI’s website include blocking the Moon with an obstruction such as a telephone pole and viewing the constellation.

Interestingly, the dust in this comet that we see is centuries old; this year’s dust is estimated to be from the comet’s passing between 300 and 900 A.D. Results of a study making this claim can be found in the Journal of the International Meteor Organization.

Peter Jenniskens, a meteor astronomer with the SETI institute, says this on SPACE.com about a potential mission to study the Ursids meteor phenomena, “To investigate this, we are hoping for an opportunity to observe the outburst from a Gulfstream V aircraft in a mission similar to our campaign to study the September 1 Aurigids.”

“If approved, the Ursid flight will be a long 16-hour mission, involving one aircraft, departing from NASA Ames Research Center in the early morning of December 22nd. The plane will fly north-west towards Alaska, land in Anchorage for a refuel stop, and then continue on to follow the Earth’s shadow, fly over the Arctic and turn towards Canada to return at Ames just after sunset.”

“We don’t need to fly all the way to the North Pole, just far enough north to stay in darkness all the time. The aircraft will follow the Earth’s rotation, making the meteors fall from a radiant high in the sky throughout the mission. The moon will stay low on the horizon on one side of the plane.”

The can view the very cool, official prediction paper of the Ursid meteor shower here. Check this out; it is by far the most in-depth information about this meteor shower available this year.

Below I have included SETI’s official Ursid meteor shower debris prediction:

Very cool mission idea. Too bad that this meteor shower won’t be easy to view from North America; seems interesting. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to catch a stray…

I usually like to include an amateur photo of any meteor shower I’ve found, but I’ve yet to actually find any amateur astrophotography regarding the Ursids (other than the host comet 8/P Tuttle). Seems this is a difficult one to image; let me know if anyone is able to.

Happy meteor hunting!