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Criticism: N/A Well, maybe the companion appears too greenish on my monitor. Unless of course, that's the color you saw.

Beautiful. You put a lot of effort into it, Jason. It shows. Your technique is working nicely. I really like the way you're representing the star field, including the glow. I include my big hairy MCT diffraction patterns, too. LOL

Scope is cold, gotta run...

BTW, check out this gold mine of a thread.
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbarchive/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/645976/page/...

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Thanks for the input, Norme. I recall following that thread years back, and was impressed with the attention to detail. Thanks for the resource.

Regarding the blue component star, it may be that my monitor is balanced poorly. I'd love to hear if others are picking up more green than blue. It could also be the diffusion of the yellow star that is causing an optical illusion. Admittedly, I was running into some difficulty choosing the color so that is showed the blue I was seeing, without appearing too blue.

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Jason.

Its really beautiful. I like is so much.

Andre.

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Your technique is working nicely

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Very nice sketch Jason.
To me the companion appears the right hue. But might be over saturated a little.

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Thank you, Jim. I had been thinking that just yesterday when I glanced at the image again. Maybe I'll attempt to desaturate the companion and repost to see if it hits the mark. What else do I have to do with all these darn clouds?!?

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Fantastic sketch, Jason!

I see the companion as a definite blue. The greenish effect that some are seeing might be caused by the mixing of the yellow diffuse glow of the primary with the blue of the companion. To me this appears to be an optical illusion.



-stray-

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Thanks, Stray. I've been reading some interesting observational reports that have been made of Almaak, and descriptions of the companion range from icy blue to dirty greenish. It's amazing to me how different eyes can observe varying colors in the same subject. I may just leave the sketch as is. We'll call it an "honest impression".

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Fantastic sketch, Jason!

I see the companion as a definite blue. The greenish effect that some are seeing might be caused by the mixing of the yellow diffuse glow of the primary with the blue of the companion. To me this appears to be an optical illusion.



-stray-

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Thanks, Stray. I've been reading some interesting observational reports that have been made of Almaak, and descriptions of the companion range from icy blue to dirty greenish. It's amazing to me how different eyes can observe varying colors in the same subject. I may just leave the sketch as is. We'll call it an "honest impression".

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Heck, after reading the commentary on colors, I decided to give Almaak a glassing for myself (was planning on spending some time with Mintaka, but that can wait).

Okay, first look at Almaak was a heart-skipping experience (and what binary isn't? I always feel like a little kid at an Easter egg hunt with these gems!) The primary appeared as a light tangerine disc, almost golden in color; however, the companion was more gray than blue. I could sort of see a bluish tint to it, but my seeing was not all that good this morning (it was like trying to focus in on a spinning, flashing disco ball). I'll describe it as a mint cream whitish, beau bluish, timberwolf grayish object leaning heavily toward lupine gray.



-stray-

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But, sure enough others have reported green, er magic mint with a touch of honeydew, maybe.

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Alright gentlemen, I just got home from work a half hour ago; it is 1:55AM; I'm wearing two pair of thermals under my BDU trousers because it is 27-degrees outside currently and I'm going out there to see if I can detect any "minty green" on a tiny point of light in the sky.

My wife thinks I'm losing my mind.



-stray-

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But, sure enough others have reported green, er magic mint with a touch of honeydew, maybe.

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Alright gentlemen, I just got home from work a half hour ago; it is 1:55AM; I'm wearing two pair of thermals under my BDU trousers because it is 27-degrees outside currently and I'm going out there to see if I can detect any "minty green" on a tiny point of light in the sky.

My wife thinks I'm losing my mind.



-stray-

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She's probably correct...I am losing my mind...to the stars...heh.

Okay, I spent about 45 minutes observing Almaak and its companion. Used every EP in my collection, viewing both tightly focused and slightly unfocused...no green, minty or otherwise.

I would, however, after this extended viewing session like to change my color commentary of the companion from "white, blue, gray" to a simplified "gas-burner blue". Yep, that sounds about right.

Gas-burner blue...you can quote me on that.



-stray-

Edited by stray1 (11/15/12 03:43 AM)

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But, sure enough others have reported green, er magic mint with a touch of honeydew, maybe.

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Alright gentlemen, I just got home from work a half hour ago; it is 1:55AM; I'm wearing two pair of thermals under my BDU trousers because it is 27-degrees outside currently and I'm going out there to see if I can detect any "minty green" on a tiny point of light in the sky.

My wife thinks I'm losing my mind.



-stray-

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She's probably correct...I am losing my mind...to the stars...heh.

Okay, I spent about 45 minutes observing Almaak and its companion. Used every EP in my collection, viewing both tightly focused and slightly unfocused...no green, minty or otherwise.

I would, however, after this extended viewing session like to change my color commentary of the companion from "white, blue, gray" to a simplified "gas-burner blue". Yep, that sounds about right.

Gas-burner blue...you can quote me on that.



-stray-

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Hey, Stray, thanks for humoring this thread and giving two quality outings to the observation. Very nice sketch, both artistically and observationally. It's making me think I need to go back out and give the observation another go. I do believe that my first sketch was dominated be a strong sense of "psychological" color representation. I'm definitely not color blind, so I think something alse is at play, here.

BTW, "gas-burner blue" is fantastic! It's also a good way to represent real world color in an observation. Unless, of course, you are color blind and you think gas burner light is...greenish.

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Nice flowery color description, I hope this really takes off.

The other night I told my GF, who was waiting patiently for some attention, that I prefer observing Jupiter to drinking in the bars. She kind of liked that. But, then she realized I might prefer to be out drinking than with her. Anyway, nothing a good hug won't fix...at 3AM. At least you're home.

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Hey, nothing wrong with ditching the bar and having a nice drink at the telescope. Just drink slowly, otherwise all of your stars will start taking on a greenish hue...

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Hey, Stray, thanks for humoring this thread and giving two quality outings to the observation.

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No, Jason, thank YOU. This Almaak survey was just the diversion that I needed after repeated failed attempts at splitting 33 Orionis for the Haas Project. Frustrating to say the least.

After doing some research, I've come to the conclusion that it is not my equipment nor my seeing/transparency conditions.

The problem lies in definite lack of observational skills on my part. I'm using a 90mm refractor. Someone else has apparently split it with an 80mm. I'm thinking that I just do not know what I am looking for or how to look for it. This is not an easy split for me.

Am I ready to call it quits? Heck no! Did we call it quits when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?



-stray-

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Jason,

Yes! You got it!

Fantastic diffraction rings. How did you achieve the effect?



-stray-

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Thanks, Stray.

The effect was a combination of transparent layers in Photoshop.

Built from the ground up:

Layer 1 - third (outside) ring painted yellow, with green filter applied to left side and red filter applied to right side to mimic the "not perfectly apo" qualities of my 72ED refractor at 0.7mm exit pupil.

Layer 2 - slightly smaller black circle painted for separation.

Layer 3 - second ring painted yellowish gold.

Layer 4 - slightly smaller black circle painted for separation.

Layer 5 - first ring painted pale orange.

Layer 6 - slightly smaller black circle painted for separation.

Modified transparency of each individual ring layer to fade from center.

Merged layers 1-6.

New combined ring layer - used a soft eraser to create randomly sized radial spikes. New ring layer mimics the "dancing spikes" seen in refractor at small exit pupil.

Layer 7 - Painted primary star yellow.

Adjusted transparency of "dancing spikes" layer to reveal primary star without full distraction.


Repeated for companion, but with fewer layers.


FWIW, creating with layers in the finished sketch is what I enjoy most. A drawing program with layers gives extreme control over a finished sketch and enables you to kill and/or fix a layer individually without ruining the work you have put into the remainder of the illustration. I know, it's obsessive. That's how my mind works.

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what a fine scetch - Jason. Observing double stars is one of the finest things on our firmament

Michael

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Nicely done, Jason. Pale icy grey is a good description, and your diffraction patterns are quite good looking.

There are some complex things that go in in the eye when changing from rods to cones. I don't know what those changes are, others can speak to that. Maybe you know the physiology. I kind of trust the eyes to react properly given the stimulation.

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I understand it minimally...possibly just enough to BS my way through a conversation.

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