ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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Hickson 50 a dream came through.
I remember when I wrote a post on Danish astro forum, when I got the camera.
Imagine if one can see “The Pillars of Creation” or the “Hickson 50” LIVE and in color on a small monitor by the telescope. That must the ultimate observing.
Well guys that’s what happened last night…
Today I realized that my dream had come through.
This was a joint observation with people from many continents. The signal was send out over the Internet in an adjusted version using Yahoo Live and a “raw” version using SparkCast. This way everybody could join the observation.
Although it was my telescope, my camera etc., I could never have done this without help from very skilled observers.
The best part is that it was Dennis Legault, Canada that suggested that we should go for it.
So what happened?
A little background info on the Hickson 50
HICKSON 50 (11 17, +54 55) This one truly looks impossible on the photo! Mag. 18.4--good luck! Did not even try for.
Shkh 5 is also recorded as Hickson 50 and obviously the most unusual and challenging member of the 100 galaxy groups for both visual and CCD observers. With less than 1 arc minute of diameter it is the most inconspicuous Hickson group as well. Usually the total magnitudes of individual Hickson member galaxies range between 14 and 16.
Nevertheless this exceptional group of galaxies is still interesting because of its vicinity to the planetary nebula Messier (Owl Nebula), a famous deep sky showpiece in the "big dipper" area. The angular separation between Shkh 5 and M 97 is about 20 arc minutes.
Hickson 50 is by far the most difficult of a generally tough catalogue of galaxy groups. There are 5 tiny members of this extremely distant galaxy group. The brightest member, "A" registers at a grim 18.4 magnitude, far beyond the reach of all but the largest amateur scopes.
The Observation
[All frames are ”raw” captures from my laptop, so they are very compressed]
Observation was made from Holstebro, Denmark, with almost a full moon.
The first thing we had to do was getting a kwon object into the field, M96 The Owl Nebula. Now we could get the orientation correct and get feeling about the size of the field.
Continues...
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
Edited by ZielkeNightsky (04/22/08 04:10 PM)
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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Next Dennis asked me to move the Owl out of the FOV in the lower left corner.
Continues...
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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Here the telescope is working its way up to the right. Dennis recognized the 3 star pattern.
The 3 stars were placed in the field, so that the Hickson 50 was approx in the middle of the FOV.
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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And then WOW – After 56 secs. of integration, the first frame showed up in my monitor and a lot of other people computer screen around the world.
Here is the first good frame that showed up on my laptop.
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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I can’t show a ”real” good capture. The digital technology makes a heavy compression. The difference was fairly large between the view on the laptop and the view on my analog monitor.
Below is the best documentation I can make of this for me great event. The pictures are the compressed version of what my laptop was showing. Imagine the view on the monitor.
Welcome To A New World Of Observing Using Sky Channels
A full size version can be found here :
Full version best shots
I still have many many more hours of work to do, going through the night’s observation notes and captures.
Can we be the first in the world to find a SuperNova using live technology and the Internet?
Dennis Legault – I can’t thank you enough for guiding me through this observation. THANKS
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
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midway199
super member
Reged: 04/21/04
Posts: 108
Loc: Illinois
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Congratulations Lars! Very exciting. Thanks for sharing and walking us through your experience visually. That was a treat.
I was looking for some H50 images to compare, and found the following. An image from a 25" dob after a single 30 minute exposure.
http://www.dansdobimaging.com/Hickson50_image.htm
I like the fact that we can to this in one minute. That's why I'm all about astro video right now.
Thanks again Lars, and Congratulations. I think a lot of people's dreams are going to be visualized with these amazing devices.
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Matthew Sherman
StellaCam 3
Celestron NexStar 11 @ f/3.3
Starmaster 12.5"
Starmaster 18"
Tom Osypowski Equatorial Platform
Butterfield East Video Observatory
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HendyPhoto
Sith Lord
Reged: 08/09/06
Posts: 1496
Loc: Bountiful, Utah
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That was great Lars! Steve (starcam) got a nice stacked one from your show that has alot of detail. I am sure he will post it here! Way to go!
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~jon
SparkCast
CGE1400XLT w/HyperStar
90FD 66SD C6-R SN-8
CPC1100XLT Hutech 20D
Manny-Mod Vixen Porta
Mallincam MCHP
SPC900NC
CG-5 GT
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe." --Albert Einstein
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raf1
super member
Reged: 11/18/05
Posts: 102
Loc: Texas
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This really is an amazing image - isn't Hickson 50 about 2bly distant? Very cool indeed.
Cheers.
Ron
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-Ron
****************************
TEC 160ED APO
WO 80mm Megrez Triplet APO
Orion 100ED
MI-250 Gemini
SBIG STL-4020CM
SBIG STL-11000M
FW8-STL Filter Wheel
Astrodon LRGB
Astrodon Ha OIII SII
MallinCam Hyper Plus Color
Deep Sky Instruments RC10C on order
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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Hi
A friend just made a stack of some the captures.
Notice how the compression move stars a little. Strange...
BTW it pretty much looks like the view on monitor, from memory that is.
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
Edited by ZielkeNightsky (04/22/08 05:41 PM)
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 5098
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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It sure was great being part of history, congratulations Lars, job well done
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M102ED S.V., ZS 80FD 10th Anniv, ZS 66SD, PST
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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Ruthenius
member
Reged: 11/15/06
Posts: 27
Loc: Gatineau, Quebec, CANADA
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Quote:
Can we be the first in the world to find a SuperNova using live technology and the Internet?
Maybe, but we may have better luck turning our telescopes and cameras to Gamma-ray bursts. These are short-lived and any observation is valuable to determine it's light curve, duration, and intensity.
I believe it's the SWIFT spacecraft that tries to go to these as soon as they appear.
It would be interesting to search the Internet to find out where can we get up-to-the-second information on these.
Congrats on last night! 
Michael
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Michael F. Vasseur
Galaxy Blues Observatory
IAU Observatory Code H89
Gatineau, Quebec, CANADA
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Astrojunk
member
Reged: 11/02/06
Posts: 82
Loc: Australia
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Well done guys. Nice find. If you don't mind shoving them a bit lower in lattitude so I can have a go ...
As for Science - Gamma ray bust measurment, asteroidal occultation timing, nova hunting/confirming, comet hunting/confirming. You have the technology, go make a name for yourself.
(and don't forget to have some fun broadcasting too!!!!)
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Astrojunk
20" f5 Alt Az Newtonian
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Mike Harvey
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/01/04
Posts: 589
Loc: Orlando, FL.
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Look what you started! 
OK...Hickson 50 has been "officially" added to the observing list for the 28" f/3.6 at Chiefland next weekend.
We'll do a visual search and report - then another run using the Mallincam.
Mr. Hickson's Quintet will be performing with several of Mr. Arp's groups including Duos, Trios and an odd Quartet.
Perhaps the evening's program can be rounded out with Mr. Seyfert's Sextet!
Come one, come all...immediate viewing on three screens!
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bigdob24
member
Reged: 04/19/08
Posts: 52
Loc: Central Illinois
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Mike
We hope you share some pics of some of these faint galaxys
Love to see them thru your 28
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midway199
super member
Reged: 04/21/04
Posts: 108
Loc: Illinois
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While Leo is up, might as well catch Copeland's Septet!
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Matthew Sherman
StellaCam 3
Celestron NexStar 11 @ f/3.3
Starmaster 12.5"
Starmaster 18"
Tom Osypowski Equatorial Platform
Butterfield East Video Observatory
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starcam
sage
Reged: 09/24/07
Posts: 221
Loc: MD
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Here is Lars Hickson 50, 100 frames stacked from sparkcast.
Since this was video streamed this may better represent what was seen on Lars monitor being stacked? Since being video streamed the image quality was lowered.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s172/starcam_photos/lars100a.jpg
Also further degrading the image convering from tiff to jpeg.
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Celestron 9.25 SCT f/10 fl/2350
William Optics Megrez 72mm F/6 fl/432mm
Stellarvue SV102ED2 F/7 fl/710
Coronado PST
CG-5
40mm Paragon
28mm UWAN
22mm Panoptic
17mm T4
13mm T6
10mm Pentax XW 8-24 zoom
8,12,15,21,28 RKE
5,8,17 Hyperion
4,6II,7,9 Burgess Planetaries
6,8,12brass Brandon
Oberwerk bino 15x70
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starcam
sage
Reged: 09/24/07
Posts: 221
Loc: MD
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Hickson 50 cropped.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s172/starcam_photos/lars100ac.jpg
Hickson 50 cropped & brightened. The cores can be seen.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s172/starcam_photos/lars100acb.jpg
Reference from internet:
http://www.dansdobimaging.com/Hickson50_image.htm
Done on a 25" probably at a dark site.
Lars did it, with full moon, 10" scope and of course a MALLINCAM video streamed to the net. With a color camera in which the ccd chip is not as sensitive as b/w mallincam.
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 519
Loc: Louisiana
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There is at least 6 more PGC galaxies, in addition to Hickson 50, down to magnitude 18 visible in the 100 frame stack. That is phenominal considering the size of the scope used and the fact that it was done under a full moon.
Lars, keep pushing the envelope.
Jack
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Orion ED80
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
Tricked-out 17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
 Waning Moon II Observatory
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 230
Loc: Denmark
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Thanks for all the nice words. This have really been a great week.
I can tell that I'm more than ready to go for new challenges, so lets see what comes up next. Today a couple of my friends and I have really made some big plans
Here is a capture that where I used 3 other caputers to identify "bad" pixels. Its still a single capture.
Non compressed version can be found here
Non compressed Hickson 50
I've also putm on a small gallery of the shots from a very great week. All is taken with my 10" Newton running at F/6.3 , LXD 75, MallinCam under a full or almost full moon.
What a week
Gallery can be found here
Gallery from a great week
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
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HendyPhoto
Sith Lord
Reged: 08/09/06
Posts: 1496
Loc: Bountiful, Utah
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LARS  LARS
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~jon
SparkCast
CGE1400XLT w/HyperStar
90FD 66SD C6-R SN-8
CPC1100XLT Hutech 20D
Manny-Mod Vixen Porta
Mallincam MCHP
SPC900NC
CG-5 GT
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe." --Albert Einstein
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