Astro 9A/B/C:
Astrophotography
Schedule, and
Suggested Projects , AdPage
Welcome!
Astro 9 is a bit of an interdisciplinary class, bridging the worlds of astronomical
imaging and the visual arts. Students from both areas enjoy these classes. Astro
9 is taught 7-10pm in the Fall semester, when nights are longer and the skies
usually clearer. Clear nights are spent at
Cabrillo Observatory, cloudy and full moon nights in the
photolab. Learn either classic film/darkroom techniques or digital imaging -
your choice. We have the gear, and will do our best to help you realize your
own goals. Formal requirements are minimal, as often we have busy adults who
want an enjoyable experience and learn somethings along the way. Photographic
subjects include star trails, widefield, telescopic moon shots, special effects,
and high magnification digital imaging of nebulae, galaxies, and clusters. Our
goal is for you to take home some beautiful and creative mounted photographs
of night sky subjects at the end of the semester. Returning students sign up
for 9B then 9C. The class includes an optional overnight camping/astrophoto
trip to a scenic dark sky location, often determined by first looking at the
central California
light pollution map, and the wider area light
pollution map. (I and Astro 9 alumni also do strategic guerrilla-style
photo mini-trips for targeted opportunities, and these are usually at one of
the nearby dark sky sites listed
on this link). Our photo trips in recent years have been to the crest of the
Panoche Hills above Mercey Hot Springs, about a 2 1/4 hour drive southeast of
Santa Cruz. It's very dark and very quiet and very good for astrophotography.
Equipment and Facilities
This is an exciting time for Cabrillo Astronomy. Our new observatory is almost
finished and will be ready for the Fall '08 semester. Constructed by the CEM
students under Chuck Mornard as well as myself over the past year, this new
400 sqft building houses our 12" f/10 Schmidt Cassegrain on a G11 computer
controlled mount, under a TI fiberglass dome controlled by infra-red dome sensors
for positioning. The warm room has two computers for student control of the
telescope and of the new ST4000XCM
color CCD camera - a 2K x 2K single-shot color detector that should
allow us incredible pictures. Other computers in the control room are available
for student processing of their digital images with a full collection of software.
The construction of the
observatory is shown here.
This page is under new construction in spring '08 in preparation for the fall
'08 semester. Check back later as I update this page. Things are only getting
better!
In addition to use of the Cabrillo College photo lab, the Astronomy Department
has 6 computers for student use in room 705, each loaded with Adobe Photoshop
and other astronomy-oriented imaging software. Room 705 also has a Minolta Scan
Elite II film & negative scanner. The observatory has Minolta Dimage 5 and
A1 digital cameras, and Canon ZR45MC camcorder which can be mounted for afocal
work to our Meade telescopes. Our 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) under
the dome has an SBIG ST4000XCM CCD camera, and we have two ST2000XCM color CCD
cameras for use on portable scopes. Our best photo setup uses our SBIG ST2000XCM
color CCD camera mounted on either an 8" f/4 Schmidt Newtonian Meade LXD75
telescope system, or our Megrez
80mm APO flourite refractor, on a Losmandy
GM-8 mount. See my photo
page for the kind of pictures this setup can do. We also have a
new Meade LX200GPS 8" scope for high magnification autoguided pictures
with the ST2000XCM. For film work, most students should expect to use their
own cameras. However, we do have two Olympus OM-1's and one or two other film
cameras. These can be mounted on the department's tripods, or on a mounting
board which is carried on our GM-8 mounted for long exposure guided shots. An
Orion Short-Tube refractor can be used as a telephoto lens for many film camera
types.
Our field trips will take advantage of some of our favorite
local dark sky sites.
Fall '08 Course Highlights
Still in the planning phases, but here are some astronomical highlights to
focus on.
Jupiter - will be closest to the earth in summer and still
be well placed for photography for most of the semester. In October we'll schedule
time at a good seeing site, likely at Bonny Doon Airfield, where we can use
our camcorder to record footage and later stack frames into a finished image.
...I'll post more soon...
Projects: Here's projects
suggested for students. Astro 9A students make choose between doing
projects using class film techniques, or using digital imaging, or a combination
of both.
Optional Field Trips
We traditionally have a Saturday night overnight field trip to a dark sky location
so you can get a chance to really photograph faint Milky Way star fields and
nebulae using our portable telescopes and digital cameras. It's optional, but
is a highlight of the class. Past trips have gone to Mercey
Hot Springs 2 hours southeast of Santa Cruz in 2003,
2004, and 2005,
and a special trip to Pleasure Point
to photograph the total lunar eclipse in Oct 2004.
Field Trip #1 - To Bonny Doon Airport with the Santa Cruz
Astronomy Club. At 2000' and with spectacular horizons, this will be a great
opportunity under pretty dark skies. Last year's trip has a photo
page here.
Astro 9 Dark Sky
field trip - Oct 13,
2007, 7:30-> midnight
We're still "on" for going to Bonny Doon Airfield on Saturday,
joining the Santa Cruz Astronomy Club for their bi-monthly star party.
Meet at 7:30pm. Weather forecast is for a break between storms. It's possible
there still may be lingering clouds in the mountains, so check back here
LAST THING before you start your engines! Cancellation at the last minute
is not unheard of! As of 5:45pm, the weather forecast is for the lingering
convection clouds over the hills to clear away at sunset. I'm bringing
the 8" f/4 + ST2000XCM CCD camera as per usual, and also the LXD75
polar mount which will allow students to mount their camera on our tripod
heads and get hassle-free guided images of star fields with their film
or digital cameras. We don't have the capability of doing through-the-telescope
film photography on these battery-operated field expeditions, so plan
accordingly. We'll stay until the last student burns out! Or until dew
zaps the power from our 12v hair dryer, whichever occurs first!
Directions: Drive up High Street towards UCSC and go
right on past, it's now called Empire Grade. Drive up the mountain, eventually
passing the fire station on the right at Felton-Empire Road. Continue
on for a few more miles, till you see "Sunlit Ln" on your left.
It's a standard road corner sign so look closely. Stay on Empire Grade
for 1/2 mile more, looking for a row of big wooden posts on your left,
and an ornate gate entrance with a home on the right. Yes, it's actually
an airfield! Drive in and you'll see cars parked on the edge of the field.
I will be setting up on the far left near the edge of the parking area
w/ my Purple RAV4.
Here's a link to the topographic
map of the site and here's the link to SCAC's
directions page
Post Trip: We had a great night! Here's
the download |
Field Trip #2 Saturday Nov 10 - to Bonny Doon. The
weather is expected to be a problem. Showers are predicted. Maybe the
front will pass and we'll get a chance. The front will clear through Bonny
Doon before Mercey Hot Springs (a 2 hour drive), so we're going to Bonny
Doon again. We'll bring the same gear as last month. Check the "last
minutes announcement" page.
Here's a link to the topographic
map of the site and here's the link to SCAC's
directions page |
Our past events
page is full of other impromptu astrophoto mini-adventures locally, enjoy!
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