Feeble attempt at the Mercury Transit

After considerable post-processing I was able to salvage one image of the transit of Mercury.  So, nothing to write home about, but alas, I can say that I did get to photograph the event.

This was taken with my QHY10 astro-camera through my EdgeHD11 telescope and Baader solar filter.  The exposure was 0.005 seconds.  Post processing with PixInsight, Registax and PSP.

Mercury is the small black dot just to the lower left of center.  There is a large sunspot group just above center.

Mercury transit - from space, yes.

Those pesky clouds just wouldn't get out of the way.  The transit of Mercury started around 6:40AM but the sun was far too low in the east behind my treeline.  The sky was cloudy with clear breaks at places, and the clouds were of the cirrus variety, high and thin. Imaging the transit would be possible even through these type of clouds.

But alas, the thicker clouds were quickly approaching from the west.  So the race was on - the sun creeping slowly up in the east while the clouds moving in from the west.  By the time the sun was high enough to see from my telescope location, the clouds were just too thick.  I did get to see part of the transit, and I managed to image it, but the results were very poor.  One somewhat fair image and a short video.

The NASA SDO satellite had a much better view.  See video at: NASA Mercury Transit

May 9th Transit of Mercury: Everything You Need to Know

On Monday the littlest planet will cross the enormous Sun for viewers in most of the world. Find timetables for your location, a viewing guide, and safe solar observing tips.

Mercury in transit appears tiny, but unlike sunspots, it’s round and has no penumbra. It moves noticeably in 15 minutes, the average time between these exposures taken by Dominique Dierick during the transit of May 7, 2003.
Dominique Dierick

For complete and detailed information on observing this event see:  SkyAndTelescope.com

I will, of course, be photographing this event with my telescope.  Just have to pray the clouds go away!

SpaceX reportedly sets its sights on Mars "as soon as 2018"

In a tweet, the company says it's prepared to send a Dragon to Mars within the decade.

SpaceX

See the full story at:  Astronomy.com 

Methane Sea on Titan

We knew that Saturn’s moon Titan had seas and lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, but their exact composition was unknown until recently.

Sunlight glints off of Titan’s northern seas this near-infrared,
color mosaic from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Image via NASA/JPL/Univ. Arizona/Univ. Idaho

Complete story at EarthSky

Recovery Attempts End for Hitomi X-ray Satellite

An artist's conception of Hitomi in space.
JAXA

On a sadder note, the X-Ray Observatory launched by JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) seems doomed. Observations show that the solar panels were flung off during the spacecraft's too-fast rotation, depriving Hitomi of power and ending the mission.  All this because the spacecraft's attitude control system (ACS), which keeps the spacecraft pointed in the right direction, determined that the spacecraft was rotating — even though it wasn't. So the system commanded the spacecraft's reaction wheels to counter the rotation, and that caused the spacecraft to actually start spinning. And things went 'down hill' from there.

Complete story (and timeline of events) at SkyandTelescope.com

Observations show that the solar panels were flung off during the spacecraft's too-fast rotation, depriving Hitomi of power and ending the mission. - See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/recovery-for-hitomi-observatory-now-unlikely/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-160429&utm_content=840839_SKY_HP_eNL_160429&utm_medium=email#sthash.UxgGeDzm.dpuf

Observations show that the solar panels were flung off during the spacecraft's too-fast rotation, depriving Hitomi of power and ending the mission. - See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/recovery-for-hitomi-observatory-now-unlikely/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-160429&utm_content=840839_SKY_HP_eNL_160429&utm_medium=email#sthash.UxgGeDzm.dpuf

Observations show that the solar panels were flung off during the spacecraft's too-fast rotation, depriving Hitomi of power and ending the mission. - See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/recovery-for-hitomi-observatory-now-unlikely/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-160429&utm_content=840839_SKY_HP_eNL_160429&utm_medium=email#sthash.UxgGeDzm.dpuf

Mission Manager Update: Kepler recovered and returned to the K2 mission

NASA

The Kepler spacecraft has recovered from a system failure and, as of Friday, April 22, is back on the job as the K2 mission searching for exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system.

Full story at Astronomy.com

So, you think human-looking robots are far off in the future?

CNBC via YouTube

I don't know about you, but I was a bit surprised to see just how far we have come in creating robots that are very human like in appearance and in facial expressions and voice mannerisms. Check out this Discovery News report on a robot named Sophia.

Final Rosette and Markarian's Chain

I've been in conversations with Ken at MainSequence Software about some issues with SGP.  SGP (Sequence Generator Pro) is the software that essentially runs all my equipment - the telescope, cameras and focuser. It is the tool I use to remotely operate the telescope.

It seems that some functions of the software weren't working properly with my QHY10 camera.  New software was released and so I had to test it to let Ken know if the fixes worked. So, Tuesday evening the skies were fairly clear and I could test the software. And, since the Rosette was still visible in the west I decided to get those additional subs I wanted to add to my existing set to really get the final image to have as little noise as possible (a later post will explain this process for anyone that is interested. For now just know that the more images you stack together, the less the noise).

With 56 subs stacked and processed (2.8 hours of image integration) here is the final result.

Rosette Nebula (NGC 2238)
EdgeHD-11 w/Hyperstar
QHY10 camera - 56x180sec

I was also able to get a photo of Markarian's Chain - a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. It is called a chain because, when viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. It was named after the Armenian astrophysicist, B. E. Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s.

Markarian's Chain - M86 and M84 to the right; M87 lower left
EdgeHD-11 w/Hyperstar
QHY10 -  41x180sec 

If you zoom in on the image you can see many more galaxies scattered about in this rich region of the constellation Virgo known as the Virgo Cluster.

Ceres' Puzzling Bright Spots, Giant Mountain Feature in New Close-Up Photos

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Ceres is coming into focus, but many mysteries about the dwarf planet remain.

Newly released images captured by NASA's Dawn spacecraft reveal a close-up look at Ceres' odd bright spots and giant mountain, and hint at the existence of ice sheets at the dwarf planet's poles.

See more at: Space.com

ExoMars sets off to solve the Red Planet’s mysteries

The spacecraft has begun a seven-month journey to Mars, where it will address unsolved mysteries of the planet’s atmosphere.

Read complete story in Astronomy.com