New Forest Observatory» mini-WASP Array

Pointer Star Dubhe in the constellation Ursa Major

Greg Parker — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:16:20 +0000

Taken last night (2nd Feb 2012) in -3C temperatures with a blazing Moon overhead. Camera 1 on the mini-WASP, Dubhe, one of the two “pointer stars” in Ursa Major. A nice orange coloured star and another one for the “single star image” portfolio.

Reprocess and crop to the Double Cluster and Stock 2

Greg Parker — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:25:56 +0000

I guess it must be obvious that the weather hasn’t been too good recently and there’s no new data to work on. So I revisited the Double Cluster and Stock 2 data taken using the Sky 90s and M26Cs on the mini-WASP array and came up with this. Quite happy with this one now

Double cluster and Stock 2 reprocess

Greg Parker — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:29:11 +0000

A reprocess of the Sky 90/M26C data with North to the right – cropped to a smaller field of view.

Double Cluster sans spikes

Greg Parker — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:03:50 +0000

A reprocess taking the ugly spikes off the Double Cluster itself!

This is precisely the sort of image the mini-WASP array was designed to capture!

Greg Parker — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:10:54 +0000

The Double Cluster and Stock 2 region in Perseus. Grabbed the last bit of this data last night. Also managed to get rain into the observatory as a solitary rain cloud passed over and chucked it down All dried out this morning

Some earlier Stock 2 data added to the mini-WASP Double Cluster image

Greg Parker — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:43:10 +0000

When this is framed properly, and at least 3 hours worth of data taken, then this is going to look good

Double Cluster from the mini-WASP array just before grabbing the lunar halo image

Greg Parker — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:23:35 +0000

Managed to get half an hour on the Double Cluster with one camera before it all went pear-shaped with the weather last night. The Double Cluster and Stock 2 is one image that the mini-WASP array was actually designed for Just as well I did this “test shot” as it shows my framing is out and now I know where to place the clusters in the FOV for a much better image. The second camera (with the Stock 2 image) didn’t have the same number of sub-exposures as camera 1 so the complete image doesn’t look so good. Never mind – I am at least prepared now to do the thing properly next clear evening. One thing is for sure – the mini-WASP array is going to be perfect for those BIG star fields

Bellatrix, Polaris and Pollux re-loaded

Greg Parker — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:02:31 +0000

The earlier images of Bellatrix, Polaris and Pollux re-processed using a new process step.

California nebula reprocess

Greg Parker — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:56:07 +0000

The Cone nebula – a mini-WASP single framer

Greg Parker — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:30:46 +0000

This image is a single frame from the mini-WASP and comprises 12 subs at 10-minutes per sub, so a 2-hour total exposure time (again well short of the 8 hours needed). The reason for only one frame is that due to hiccups I only got 5 subs for the upper frame and the data difference was just too big to match reasonably Still, once again it shows me what is required for mini-WASP imaging, and I am now very glad that I resurrected the Hyperstar III as I may need to use this instrument to grab the faint data to paste into the mini-WASP bigger frame. I reckon composites are going to be the order of the day at the New Forest Observatory.