Images of M 13, M 51 and M 11 taken with the new club refractor

On Saturday, June 1, 2019, several club members gathered in my backyard for an astrophotography night. We used the new 80 mm refractor, that the club purchased at the end of 2018, with a Canon DSLR camera to take these next images.

The first one was M 13, the Great Hercules cluster. We took 60 images of 120 seconds each which I processed in AstroPixelProcessor.

Next we took again 60 images of 120 seconds each of M 51, the Whirpool Galaxy. And again I processed them in AstroPixelProcessor.

Finally the weather found out about our imaging session so we were only able to take 11 images of 120 seconds each of M 11, the Wild duck cluster.

I think we can conclude that the telescope performs really well, even on such wide fields. The stars are round (but unfortunately unsharp due to inaccurate focussing done by us) from the center all the way to the corners and no annoying blue or red halos are visible around the stars.

Super blue moon

On Jan 31st we observed the full Moon from ESAC (European Space Astronomy Center). This moon was special and widely announced in the media, as it was a blue moon (second of the month), a super moon (at perigee) and a blood moon (eclipse). Unfortunately the eclipse was not visible from Madrid.

Super blue Moon, 31 Jan 2018, from ESAC

So we modified the day-time CESAR solar telescopes set-up such that we could follow the Moon. It was also an important observation, as we succeeded in the first live streaming with the telescopes.

The telescope is the top one (visible light). Filter was removed.

ESAC Star Party 2017 - astronomy talk video

Video (in Spanish) with some pictures from the Star Party 2017 and the talk about "Astronomía desde el Espacio" (Astronomy from Space) by Eduardo Ojero Pascual.

Iridium flare, 3rd July 2017

Iridium flare captured on July 3rd.

The video is a sequence of 20 frames with 1sec exposure. The total duration of the satellite visible to the naked eye was ~40 seconds, but the flash has a rapid increase and decrease in brightness at the center of the flare, of a few seconds. It was so bright (magnitude -7.4) that you can clearly see its reflection on the lamp post on the top left. Another Iridium post can be found here.

Iridium 11 flare: stacked images

Iridium 11 flare and other celestial objects for reference

Iridium flares are one of the most surprising events visible to the eye in the night sky. They are extremely bright, more than the planets and night stars. Only the Moon is brighter. Unfortunately these flares will not happen for much longer. The old Iridium satellite constellation is being replaced by a more advanced generation, Iridium Next, but those will not develop such intense flares. 

ESAC Star Party 2017

The ESAC Astronomy Club organized the annual Summer Solstice Star Party on Friday June 30, 2017, coinciding with the newly ESA adopted #AsteroidDay.

ESAC 2017 Star Party

Despite an unforeseen cloud cover, over 500 enthusiastic people gathered at the ESAC premises in Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, to enjoy this ESAC open night. Around 25 telescopes were mounted by several invited amateur associations (~50 astronomers) and the ESAC Astronomy Club, to allow the audience (411 external visitors) a wonderful and varied observation experience. The event was supported by 45 ESAC staff and contractors.

Setting up the telescopes

The first part of the Party was the Satellite Tour, conducted by Michel Breitfellner and Larry O'Rourke.  This was a general introduction to ESA and ESAC with description of our ESA space missions. The walking tour stopped at the outdoor scale models on-site (Rosetta, ISO, Herschel, SOHO) and the impressive VIL-1 15m radio-antenna.

Satellite Tour at the Rosetta scale model

Herschel and VIL-1 during the satellite walk tour

After that, Eduardo Ojero delighted 250+ people with an astronomy master class in the full main ESAC auditorium, in preparation for the observations to come (video here).

Eduardo Ojero during the general astronomy talk

After the talks, visitors relaxed and had some food and drinks in the air conditioned areas. Meantime the skies started to clear up. Some time after twilight there were enough patches in the clouds to start enjoying the Moon and the main gas planets, and the second part started. Jupiter, its four Galilean moons, Saturn and the highly tilted ring system raised the first wows of the audience. Observers could enjoy Jupiter's main belt and zone bands, Saturn's rings Cassini division, plus around 5 small Saturnian icy moons. After midnight the telescopes pointed to double star systems and fainter objects like nebulae and star clusters. People could also take home pictures of their favorite objects with their smart phones.

The Moon, Jupiter and Saturn were projected live in a large screen, and several satellites were seen crossing the night sky. The brightest sight was the Chinese Tiangong-1 space station, that will re-enter into Earth's atmosphere in a few months. So one of the last chances for many to see this object in space.

Spica, Jupiter, the Moon and a lenticular cloud

Moon projection

The night was accompanied with live spacy music by Ekhi, and visual image projections on the D-building walls.

Observing M13 stellar cluster up the ladder, with image projection on the D-building

Thanks to all organizers and ESAC site services for such a successful night!




Related images:

The main observation site

Leo Metcalfe mounting the 25" (63cm) dobsonian telescope

The observation site on the D-building terrace

SOLD OUT ! ESAC Star Party 2017, 30 June

For your information. We have reached the registration limit for the Star Party 2017.
- 450 people registered total
- 250 people for the General Astronomy presentation
We do not accept more registrations. We look forward to welcome this large crowd at ESAC, weather permitting!

ESAC Star Party 2017, 30 June

The ESAC Astronomy Club announces the annual Summer Solstice Star Party. This year it will take place on June 30, 2017, coinciding with the #AsteroidDay. The doors will open at 20:00, the programme will start at 20:30 and the observations with the telescopes will start at 22:30.

ESAC Star Party

Agenda:

• 20:30 tour along the satellites at ESAC 
• 21:30 presentation about astronomy in D building. 
• 21:30 second tour along the satellites at ESAC 
• 22:30 observation with telescopes, guided constellations tour, guided satellite spotting 

More:

Astronomy master class

As always you, your family and your friends are invited to attend the star party. However, the way we want to register the invitees is different than previous years! We have created a Google form that you, the ESAC employee, will need to fill out for every person that you want to invite. The form can be found here. Please make sure to fill out all required items and to also inform us if your invitees plan to attend either tour along the satellites and/or the presentation about astronomy by ticking the appropriate boxes in the form. The number of visitors is limited to 450 and the number of participants of the presentation to 250.

Telescope platform

As in previous years you are required to bring your own food and drinks. We will take care of ice to cool your drinks though. The restaurant terrace will be open for you to eat at. Parking will be done at the ESAC parking and the guards will let your invitees enter as long as they are on the list. So make sure to fill out the form for each invitee! Finally, the first tour of the satellites will start at 20:30 sharp and the presentation at 21:30 sharp so please make sure to arrive on time.

From 22:30 onward we will point our telescopes at various objects in the sky, including Jupiter, the Moon and Saturn. We will dedicate several telescopes to taking pictures and we will make sure that you and the other visitors can make pictures with your own smartphones through those telescopes.

Saturn Live projection during 2016 Star Party

Location: ESA - European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) Camino bajo del Castillo s/n, Urb. Villafranca del Castillo 28692 Villanueva de la Cañanda, Madrid, Spain

Please contact us in case you have any questions,
ESAC Astronomy Club