The Citizen C.A.T.E. Project and First Light with Daystar telescope on The Sun

THE CITIZEN C.A.T.E. EXPERIMENT:
I am a primary participant in the Citizen C.A.T.E. (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) Experiment.

This n attempt to image the inner corona of the Sun during the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse. Typically scientists have only 2 to 3 minutes to image (video in particular) this portion of the Sun during an eclipse. The C.A.T.E. project aims to establish over 60 sites spread across the U.S.A. (from Oregon to South Carolina) Here is a map showing the path over Oregon:

At set distances apart, with identical equipment, to HDR (high dynamic range) video the eclipse at totality, like this image:

The video files will be sent to Matt Penn at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) after the event where they will be stitched together to (hopefully) produce up to 90 minutes of video totality for scientists to study.

MY INVOLVEMENT:
I first heard about this project in the January 2016 edition of Sky and Telescope magazine.

Being an amateur astronomer and wanting to do something "significant" scientifically, this intrigued me and I "signed up" immediately. I had the opportunity to be a 'state coordinator' but my schedule is busier than I could handle so I deferred to a fellow Oregonian who is retired, Mike Conley of Salem, Oregon, who had done an excellent job in helping the project.

MY SITE #5 - MITCHELL, OREGON:
My site for this project is outside the little village of Mitchell, Oregon which is on the eastern side of the state. I had hoped to setup on the grounds of the Painted Hills (part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monuments.

But was informed by the ranger there that they are expecting untold 10's of thousands of people on that weekend because of the eclipse! A little two lane road and no parking... YIKES!

So I went to Mitchell, Oregon last August, 2016 to see if I could setup there.

As you can see, it is just a wide spot in the road, so to speak. But the only over-night places to stay were already booked... over a year in advance! Mitchell is expecting 10's of thousands as well which is going to be problematic again for I doubt it has even 50 places to park a car! Food, water, toilets for thousands... HA! Good luck on that, you who are thinking "This is the place to be!"
And the high school football field had been commandeered by emergency services (sheriff, paramedics, fire fighting government agencies, etc) as a helipad !

So I have found (hopefully) private property (location of which I will NOT disclose for obvious reasons) on which to accomplish this task.

THE EQUIPMENT:
The equipment for this project consists of, in short, a Daystar APO 80mm telescope on a Celestron CG4 mount with a Point Grey 5 megapixel b&w camera and a solar filter (more precise listing below).

No, that is not me in the photo but others being trained for this experiment.

Some of these pieces of equipment have been donated by various manufacturers and the rest has been financially supported by organizations like the National Science Foundation, NASA, Mathworks, Celestron (just to name a few) and as well as individuals who are purchasing their own equipment.

TRAINING:
Since the aim is to get video data worthy of science the C.A.T.E. Experiment (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) there is a need for quality training which is where the project is at the present time. Having received the equipment a couple of week ago, we are to do what we can to practice on the Sun and on the crescent Moon, working on field alignment, focus and data capturing.

My most recent PRACTICE:
As I have had little clear skies since receiving the equipment I have had little chance to practice until yesterday. Under partly cloudy skies (which even then were uncooperative) I was able to finally get the Sun in the clear to produce the following images. My goal was to image the tiny sunspot near the edge of the solar disk. After post-processing (sharpening, contrast and brightness, and sepia for effect) this is what I came up with (the second image is a cropped view).

And here is a shot of the Moon with the equipment (after post-processing)

A MORE DETAILED LIST OF THE EQUIPMENT
Telescope:
80mm diameter, 500mm focal length APO refractor from Daystar Filters
Solar filter, Thousand Oaks #S4250
Camera adapter, C-mount to 1.25", Baader/Agena, #2958515
Solar pointer, Sol Searcher

Mount and Drive:
Telescope mount, Celestron Omni CG4, #91509
Motor drive for CG4 Celestron #93522

Camera System:
5 Mpix CMOS camera, Point Grey GS3-U3-51S5M-C
GPIO Cable, Pt Grey, ACC-01-3000 (modifications needed)
USB3 Cable, Industrial Components.com #1673
USB2 Cable, Industrial Components.com, #UH2-2415
Arduino Uno, Rev 3, Mouser, #485-2877
Arduino Box, Karlsson Robotics, #PRT-10088
GPS Antenna, Banana Robotics, #BR010312
GPS Shield Board, ITEAD RoyalTek, #IM120417017 (modifications needed)
Arduino Jumper Cables, RobotShop, #RB-Dfr-353 (modifications needed)
Long female pin socket connector ICstation.com # 5831 (modifications needed)

Control Computer:
Core i5 laptop, 8Gby RAM, 256Gb SSD: Acer Aspire E15 E5-575G-527J #NX.GHHAA.004
8 Gb RAM, Ballistic/Amazon #BLS8G4S240FSD (must be installed in laptop)
32 Gb USB Drive, Amazon/San Disk, #CZ48
Laptop external power

 a Celestron CG-4 GEM mount & tripod, a simple RA/DEC motor system, a Daystar 80mm short-tube telescope, 

Adjusting RA Tension (tightness/looseness) on a Celestron OMNI XLT CG-4 German Equatorial Mount (GEM)

The mount I received from Celestron was overly tight in both DEC (declination) and RA (right ascension).

The problem with a tight mount is that you cannot properly balance the OTA (optical telescope assembly aka the telescope) and the result is that it places too much torque on the RA motor (for example) and will make it harder for the motor to track properly the motion of the stars across the night sky.

Finding precious little into on the web, I decided to put together a step-by-step instructional blog post to help my fellow astronomers who are having either a tightness problem or a looseness problem.

WARNING: You will likely VOID your warranty with Celestron if you attempt this fix. Just saying...

As for me, there is precious little to worry about. But proceed at your own risk.

***** First of all, remove the telescope from the mount so that you will not have it swinging around and potentially damaging both it and the mount needlessly.

The following instructions are for loosening or tightening the RA portion of the mount.

(DEC adjustments will be found HERE)

1. Tighten both the DEC knob and the RA knob and REMOVE all the counterweights but one (preferably leaving the lightest one on the long rod)

         WARNING: if you have the Celestron motor kit already attached to the mount

                      be sure to disconnect the RA gears from the motor (see your instruction manual)

                      just to be on the safe side.

                      If you do not do this you could ruin your RA motor while making this

                      adjustment.

2. At the back end of the RA axis you will likely have white plastic cover that slips on the RA circles area. Remove it.

3. You likely find three finger screws on the black portion. Remove them. And if you have a polar scope, remove it at this time. (Screws were removed for this photo)

4. Now we enter a fork in the road. If you have one of these rubber strap tools (Harbor Freight

...it just may be that you will be able to strap it on to the black portion
AND HOLDING the counterweight shaft FIRMLY,
TWIST the black portion COUNTER-clockwise and the entire part including the dial attached to it should be able to unscrew from the housing.

If however you don't have one of these tools... GET ONE !  

You could use a wrench or pliers but you risk really scratching it up (or worse!)

Your choice, your risk !

Remove the black housing:

5. Loosen the RA dial knob and remove the upper RA dial cylinder.

6. This will expose a metal disk that has two indentations on it:

7. Now comes the hard part: This disk is what holds the RA axis in place AND is where you adjust the tension on the RA axis. To turn this you MIGHT be able to use two nails or Allen wrenchs to twist the disk (if it is loose enough) OR you will need to construct a tool like I had to (because mine was WAY TOO tight).
     The holes are 1 9/16" apart.
     I took a small piece of 2x4, and near the end of it drilled two holes just sufficient to tap in
     two nails whose points would fit into those indents. (Personally, I drilled a little deeper into
     the disk, taking care NOT to drill too deep or to leave metal fragments in the housing).

Then I inserted the nails into the holes (notice that there is a black pipe with threads that you will have to adjust the depth of the nails to clear).

8. Now loosen and remove the back RA latitude adjustment "screw". This will allow your mount to be parallel to the floor making attaching your tool and the adjustment to the RA tightness easier.

Lower the head until it is parallel to the floor.

9. RELEASE the RA lock knob AND HOLD the counterweight still with your free hand and attempt to twist the disk with your homemade tool to tighten (clockwise) or loosen (counter-clockwise) the disk.

NOTE: It will NOT take very much to change the tension! Be careful not to overdo it !

Test the looseness/tightness of the mount by swinging the counter-weight shaft back and forth.

    (As mine was really tight it took several attempts to twist it and in the end even when I didn't
      think I had done anything, there was a sufficient looseness that made me happy)

10. Now LOCK the RA lock knob. It is time to adjust the tension on the RA lock knob.

Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the screw and knob. This will expose a square bolt.

At this point you may want to adjust the grip on the RA axis with this bolt. Using a 1/2" wrench, loosen the bolt a little (if it is overly tight) or tighten it (if your RA lock knob wasn't tight enough to hold the telescope in position.) Again, it will not take much to change the tension.

11. Reposition the RA black knob so that it is in a good position to loosen and tighten the RA then replace the Phillips screw.

12. Now slide the RA circle back in and lock it with the thumb screw

                                     

13. Screw the black housing for the polar scope back into the rear end of the mount. 

     Note: If you have a polar scope, now replace it in the black housing as per its instructions.

14. Replace the thumb screws that hold the polar scope in place

15. Replace the white housing cover

 

16. Now reassemble the mount and telescope as per normal including the counter-weights, RA motor shaft, OTA etc as needed... (see its instructions if necessary)

Adjusting DEC Tension (tightness/looseness) on a Celestron OMNI XLT CG-4 German Equatorial Mount (GEM)

The mount I received from Celestron was overly tight in both DEC (declination) and RA (right ascension).

The problem with a tight mount is that you cannot properly balance the OTA (optical telescope assembly aka the telescope) and the result is that it places too much torque on the RA motor (for example) and will make it harder for the motor to track properly the motion of the stars across the night sky.

Finding precious little into on the web, I decided to put together a step-by-step instructional blog post to help my fellow astronomers who are having either a tightness problem or a looseness problem.

WARNING: You will likely VOID your warranty with Celestron if you attempt this fix. Just saying...
As for me, there is precious little to worry about. But proceed at your own risk.

*****First of all, remove the telescope from the mount so that you will not have it swinging around and potentially damaging both it and the mount needlessly.

The following instructions are for loosening or tightening the DEC portion of the mount.
(RA adjustments can be found HERE)

1. Tighten both the DEC knob and the RA knob and REMOVE all the counterweights but one (preferably leaving the lightest one on the long rod)
         WARNING: if you have the Celestron motor kit already attached to the mount
                      be sure to disconnect the DEC gears from the motor (see your instruction manual)
                      If you do not do this you will likely ruin your DEC motor while making this
                      adjustment. It may be possible to loosen the slip clutch but better careful than sorry.

2. Remove the black plastic cover on the mount (see pics below)

3. Locate the nut in the center of the portion of the mount that holds the OTA (telescope)

You will be loosening/tightening the DEC axis with this nut with a 5/8" socket wrench

AND...

4. Locate the nut inside the DEC housing...

 

where you will use another 5/8" wrench to HOLD this nut while you loosen/tighten the other nut on top with the socket wrench.

Note: if you cannot get the 5/8" wrench inside the housing, then remove the counterweight

still attached and loosen or remove the counterweight bar until you can get the wrench inside

to hold that nut.

6. Loosen the DEC axis lock knob. Test the present tension by swinging the counterweight carefully to see if it is too tight or too loose.

7. Looking down on the top nut 

....* turning it clock-wise will tighten the DEC axis

....* turning it counter-clockwise will loosen the DEC axis

WARNING: It will not take much to affect the tension on the DEC axis! You do not want it to be too loose!

8. When you are satisfied, replace the black cap, tighten the DEC axis lock knob, add the counterweight(s) you believe will help balance the scope in the DEC.

9. Add your OTA.

10. CAREFULLY loosen the DEC locking knob slowly and adjust the position of the counterweight until the telescope is balanced (see your instruction manual).

IF you need to adjust the tension on the RA axis see this blog post.

First Light (on the Moon) with the CATE project equipment

Last Saturday I picked up most of the equipment for the C.A.T.E. project and received great training from our Oregon coordinator. Due to the fact that the solar filters had not yet arrived we were unable to practice on the Sun. However the training was necessary and it was good to put "hands on" all the rest of the equipment and still practice with it.
Last evening while the Sun was still up I set up the equipment in the backyard and did a little practice on the nearly full Moon.
The program they provided that will be used for the total eclipse of the Sun does not allow me to adjust exposures for high dynamic range photography (HDR) and though it takes 8 exposures in a set for HDR purposes only the least exposed image of  was useful:

It was very under-exposed but with a little post-processing I was able to get this image:

Due to the fact that this image was taken in BROAD DAYLIGHT I was quite pleased with the result.

By the way, the Moon was only about 35 degrees above the eastern horizon and the Sun was still up in the west. Under this kind of lighting the result is always a low contrast image.

Still, I thought I could draw our a little more contrast. So I went to work on it and came up with this:

The original image was taken with a Point Grey camera that is only produces a black and white image but is 5 megapixel, which I think would take a common DSLR color camera at 15 megapixels to produce due to the fact that it take 4 pixels to produce a single color.

I will write up more about the scope, mount, camera, etc in a later post.

Meade Focal Reducer Tests

I purchased and just received a Meade f/6.3 focal reducer/field flattener for my Meade LX200GPS 8" telescope.

The purpose of this optic (which is mounted between the telescope and the camera/eyepiece) is to provide a wider field of view which is much brighter than without. The telescope is build at f/10, which is quite dim, but that is made up in the fact that it gathers a lot of light because the mirror collector is 8 inched in diameter.
However, for astrophotography purposes, f/10 makes for longer exposures compared to a f/6.3 optic setup... in other words, the time of exposure is reduce by almost 40%. For example, if (without the focal reducer) it took 10 minutes to create an acceptable image of a galaxy, then with the focal reducer that time would be shortened to just over 6 minutes.
The disadvantage is that the field of view is much wider, thus making the object (in this case some galaxy) appear nearly 40% smaller than without the focal reducer. So it is a trade-off: either a short exposure (which is desirable) or a more magnified view.

In my tests, I took an image without the focal reducer. Here is the setup:

DSLR + T ring + camera adapter + telescope

And here is the "base line image":

Then I inserted the Meade Focal Reducer:

DSLR + T ring + camera adapter + Focal Reducer + Telescope 

And the resulting image:

Then I inserted the electric focuser for the telescope:

DSLR + T ring + camera adapter + electric focuser + focal reducer + telescope

And the result:

I was surprised to find that by adding more distance AFTER the focal reducer in this manner that the field of view increased and the exposure time was also shorter... and a bonus, it appears that there was less vignetting!

Again, here are the resulting images:

No focal reducer

Focal reducer with                      Focal reducer with

minimum distance                       maximum distance

What celestial objects will be visible during the August 2017 Solar Eclipse?

Using a freeware star program called Stellarium, I was able to set the time and date to the Great American Solar Eclipse (August 21, 2017) and removing the "atmosphere" found out that there will be at least three planets visible (Mercury, Mars, and Venus) and as a bonus, the Orion constellation and the Orion Nebula should be visible as well !  Here is a screen capture (click on the link below the photo it to get a larger view)

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPfqFp0lvlVaF0rx5XZL0OS04kducO3drzHP7ro

Here is a close up of the area around the Sun at that time: (Note the bright star of Regulus is just to the left of the Sun/Moon)