WELCOME TO OUR 'SPACE'.......
The Plantation Astronomy Club meets regularly on the third Monday of each month at 8:00 pm in Hermitage Hall.
Meetings consist of a one-hour astronomy program presentation and discussion, followed by telescope viewing at Ernie's house.
Membership is open to all Plantation residents. Dues are $2.00 per month or $20 per year. Guests are welcome to attend meetings.
The next presentation Monday
Sept 16, Cosmic Collisions' I will also discuss what is in the sky in June, July, SATURN, is
still very bright and comes out early now and high in the sky.
If it's clear after the meeting we can come back to my place
and look at the many beautiful objects in the sky Including Saturn, and many clusters. In the coming months I'm
hoping to add new raffles, new presentations, and speakers.
any questions please call Ernie 352-728-16
The International Space Station Evolves.....
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M 20 is an Emission nebula made up of mostly Hydrogen gas and dust and is a nursery of stars being born. It is
located in the constellation Sagittarius about 5,200 light years away. This image was taken in Leesburg, Fl Temperature was
85 degrees, sky conditions about 3 magnitude poor transparency. Telescope was a 14" F/11 Celestron using a focal reducer bringing
it down to F/7. The mount was a Celestron CGEM DX with auto-guiding. Camera used was a Canon DSLR 60 Da. 15 images were shot
at ISO 3200 70 seconds each, and 10 images at ISO 6400 at 45 seconds each.
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C 11 at F/20 using a 2 x Powermate. Camera Image Source DMK 618. 600 to 1,000 frames each through
RGB filter. Saturn was imaged about midnight but I was shooting at times through a lot of high clouds and had to redo some
images and still some were shot through thin clouds. Saturn was also pretty low near the horizon around 15 to 20 degrees above
the horizon. I am satisfied with the image considering Saturn is almost 2 months from opposition, low on the horizon shooting
through unsteady air and clouds. You can easily make out the Cassini Division and the Crepe ring, plus the A and B rings.
Mars the first image the darker one was imaged at 11:30 and the
lighter one at 12:30 and you can see it had moved some what slower on it's axis then the Earth. The first image around 60
degrees some high cloud problems, the brighter image clear sky are around 70 degrees elevation. Mars is about 2 weeks away
from opposition and probably it's disc was no larger then 13.2 pretty small. This will be it's Far opposition and we will
have to wait for it's close opposition in 2018.
Just over the last several weeks its north polar cap has really
shrunk since its Spring time on Mars right now. Other detail is Syrtis Major, Iapygia, Mare Serpentis, Sinus Sabatis and the
list of detail would be to long to print here. From a huge white cap to a very small one in just a month, WOW.
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| 4/9/10 |
Using the Highpass filter procedure brings up dimmer stars, more contrast, and a sharper image.
This works exceptionally well on open and closed clusters. M 57 also known as the whirlpool galaxy is about 30 million light
years away. Total time for imaging and processing was about 7-8 minutes, no flats or darks used.
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M46&NGC2440 and M104 4-6-2011 Leesburg, Florida. C 11, F6.3, Autoguided. M 46 10 x 90 seconds, ISO 1600,
M 104 6 x 110 sec. ISO 3200, Canon 50 D. Processed Deepsky Stacker, Image Plus, and Photshop.
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| 2/26/11 |
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Saturn taken on 2-26-2011 at around midnight about 60-70 degrees above horizon. You can see the white storm
coming around, plus Cassini division, and inside the ring the Crepe ring. Celestron 11" F/10, CGEM mount, DBK21 color
camera 1,000 avi files, Registax version 5.0, Image Plus. The storm reported can be seen (white line south). This is really
the northern part of Saturn. Saturn's rings are just starting to open up a little so we can now glimpse detail.
| ROSETTE NEBULA 1-11 |
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| PHOTO BY ERNIE ROSSI |
Rosette Nebula NGC 2237 (Emission Nebula) is located in the constellation Monoceros. This image was taken with
a 4" APO refractor F/5.4 focal ratio on a GT-5 mount auto-guided. Long exposures are need because of all the light pollution
in the area. Canon 50 D 14 x 300 seconds at 1600 ISO. Processed using Deepsky Stacker, Image Plus and Photoshop, Leesburg,
Fl. Ernie Rossi
Hubble's variable nebula NGC 2261 taken from Leesburg, Fl. 1-26-11. C 11 at F/6.3, CGEM mount auto-guided.
Canon 50 D camera 12 x 120 sec. at ISO 1600. Processed with Deepsky Stacker, Image plus, Photoshop and Noel Carboni's software.
M 42 the Orion Nebula. This was done last night 1-26-2011 and I thought it came out pretty good.
The seeing was fair, and lots of dew from Leesburg, Fl. C 11 at F/6.3 using a Canon DSLR 10 x 90 seconds, at ISO 1600.
Ernie Rossi
Really fascinating pictures taken from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Col. Wheelock.
Hubble Photos <-----click here
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Ernie Rossi
I have been interested in astronomy for more than a half century belonging to many astronomy
clubs, writing many articles for several magazines, lecturer, teaching astronomy course in several colleges, avid observer,
owner of more than 30 telescopes, many built by myself, and co-founder of The Plantation Astronomy Club.
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Dr. Terry R. Mitchell
Born in Toledo,
Ohio, and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Terry holds academic
degrees from Florida State University, Catholic University
of America, and International Seminary.
He began a 35-year career with NASA in 1967 at the Kennedy Space Center, where he was a key member of
the Launch Team for the Apollo moon missions, Skylab, and the Space Shuttle. He served as NASA’s Congressional Liaison
in Washington, DC and as Chief of NASA’s Program Planning Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,
AL. He was responsible for planning and designing many of NASA’s projects including the International Space Station
and numerous space missions. Terry is now an Adjunct Professor of Astronomy and Earth Sciences at Lake Sumter Community College,
and co-founder of the Plantation Astronomy Club. He enjoys
teaching, speaking on astronomy and playing the dulcimer.
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