|
Note -- you have reached the original astrophotographs.com website. Thanks very much for visiting. Logo contact information has been updated (i.e. we moved to Taos, NM) as below: Willis Greiner You may also want to visit Willis' new astronomy site at: taosastronomer.com/ Welcome to the "Digital CCD" gallery of astrophotographs.com! The photographs below are more examples of our most recent efforts. Included are digital photographs from an observing session "experienced" by Cheryl Price and Willis Greiner at Kitt Peak (west of Tucson), Arizona.Ý We were fortunate to gain a reservation with the National Optical Astronomical Observatories' special Advanced Observing Program. This program allows the opportunity to spend an entire night observing, imaging and generally learning under the expert guidance of lead observer Adam Block of the public outreach program operating at the United States' National Observatory complex atop Arizona's Kitt Peak. Please explore the links indicated above to get a full description of the program. Essentially stated, anyone with a reservation (one participant per night!) can develop and execute their own observing program during the all-night session. We chose to use the advanced CCD (charge coupled device) digital camera and equally advanced (and difficult!) computer software available to obtain deep-sky and planetary images. Mr. Block operated the telescope/computers and taught us many of the nuances of this complex and exciting new field of astro-imaging. We obtained some excellent images and post-processed them with the on-site computers. Because CCD imaging is such a complex subject I won't be able to fully elaborate here. I have written a short overview on this subject; this blurb appears in the "Narratives" section of astophotographs.com. Please also link to the Advanced Observing Program site to learn more. I have further included additional links within the "Cool Links" section of astrophotographs.com to allow advanced exploration of the realm of CCD digital imaging. Leaders in the remote application of this technology (operating the telescope and camera electronically from a distant location -- much like the Hubble Space Telescope) are located near Denver. Software Bisque of Golden, Colorado is on the cutting edge of this technology; they offer world-class hardware and software to operate and image from remote telescopes, including an instrument on California's Mt. Wilson. The educational and research implications of these technologies are truly mind-boggling! I was so excited after our observing session at Kitt Peak that I went to Software Bisque and immediately purchased an advanced Santa Barbara Instrument Group CCD camera and operating software. Tom Bisque was kind enough to personally teach me his superb world standard The Sky planetarium (star chart and telescope aiming) software and associated camera operational software. I was honored that for my benefit and understanding the inventor/developer of the software "ran through it" on his own desktop!To further explore the
"Something New" section of
astrophotographs.com please use the various
navigation strategies below the photographs.
All images and narratives copyright Willis Greiner, all rights reserved.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
