Category: Astronomy Report

[category  astronomy-report]

Name: Avery Abramson

Crew: 299

Date: 5/13/24

Robotic Observatory

Robotic Telescope Requested: MLC-RCOS16

Objects to be Imaged: BD-07 3632

Problems Encountered: None

Notes: Attached are the raw images and their bias and dark. I resubmitted the observation request per the instructions of Peter Detterline, the Director of Astronomy.

Musk Observatory

Solar Features Observed: TBD

Images: None

Problems Encountered: Needed additional emergency instructions from Peter for closing the dome; received his contact information from Mission Support. The Gamma setting in SharpCap was missing and the telescope could not be set to Hibernate. The only settings were Goto and Set. We attempted to troubleshoot the former to no avail, and for the latter we used Set instead of Hibernate. Please see attached.

Notes: None

[category  astronomy-report]

Name: Avery Abramson

Crew: 299

Date: 5/15/24

Robotic Observatory

Robotic Telescope Requested: MLC-RCOS16

Objects to be Imaged: BD-07 3632

Problems Encountered: None

Notes: Attached are the new raw images and their bias and dark. I previously resubmitted the observation request again, but this did not yield reliable results. Instead, we used the previous request’s data for testing. Please also see our processing progress. So far, only the bias has been applied, and we are currently trying to apply the dark. Finally, redoing the test runs cost 243 credits. We would like to politely request reimbursement of these credits. If they cannot be reimbursed, please advise on how we can receive more.

Musk Observatory

Solar Features Observed: Prominences

Problems Encountered: My laptop is not designed to handle the programs used for image processing. Breaks are needed for my laptop to cool down as it has weak fans. Masking on Photoshop is difficult as the outline generated by the Paintbrush tool makes a random rectangle appear. Consequently, we had to manually mask our practice image. Use of the observatory has been limited to suitable weather.

Notes: We practiced processing an image taken from the first sol, which is attached. This was at the end of the solar storm. We would like to politely request feedback on it for reprocessing later. Additionally, we will likely process future images all at once, so they will likely be uploaded in the same manner. Please advise if this is not preferred.

[category 

astronomy-report]

Name: Maxime Foucart
Crew: 296
Date: 11-04-2024
MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY
Robotic Telescope Requested (choose one) MDRS-WF
Objects to be Imaged this Evening: M51, M104
Images submitted with this report: None
Problems Encountered: None
MUSK OBSERVATORY
Solar Features Observed: A lot of prominences and sunspots, I did a composite image to try to capture as many details as possible.
Images submitted with this report: Sun_240411_Prominences_Sunspots
Problems Encountered: None

[category 

astronomy-report]

Name: Foucart
Crew: 296
Date: 120424
MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY
Robotic Telescope Requested (choose one) None
Objects to be Imaged this Evening: None
Images submitted with this report: M104_240412, M51_240412. I wanted to process the RGB but I did not have time today, I will try to process them after.
Problems Encountered: None today, but as I did not have a lot of time to use the robotic observatory, could I have more credits to image more objects later ? I made a request on the website.
MUSK OBSERVATORY
Solar Features Observed: None
Images submitted with this report: None
Problems Encountered: None

[category 

astronomy-report]

Crew 296 Astronomy Report 10-04-2024
Name: Foucart
Crew: 296
Date: 10-04-2024
MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY
Robotic Telescope Requested (choose one) MDRS-WF
Objects to be Imaged this Evening: M51, M104
Images submitted with this report: M100 100424
Problems Encountered: The website is saying again that there is a camera error. With the two new observations I am almost out of credits, would it be possible to get some more ?
MUSK OBSERVATORY
Solar Features Observed: /
Images submitted with this report: /
Problems Encountered: /

[category 

astronomy-report]

Name: Maxime Foucart
Crew: 296
Date: 07-04-2024
MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY
Robotic Telescope Requested
Objects to be Imaged this Evening: M100
Images submitted with this report: None
Problems Encountered: The skynet website is reporting a camera error for MDRS WF, and it seems I can’t access the telescope RCOS-16 from the Skynet website
MUSK OBSERVATORY
Solar Features Observed: There were a lot of prominences and sunspots, I did multiple captures and created a composite image of mostly the entire Sun by using Photoshop.
Images submitted with this report: Sun 240207 Prominences and sunspots, composite.png
Problems Encountered: None

[category 

astronomy-report]

Name: Maxime Foucart
Crew: 296
Date: 03-04-2024
MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY
Robotic Telescope Requested (choose one) None
Objects to be Imaged this Evening: None
Images submitted with this report: None
Problems Encountered: None
MUSK OBSERVATORY
Solar Features Observed: Multiple prominences and sunspot, imaged at 4:50PM.
Images submitted with this report: Sun 240403 Prominence and sunspot.png
Problems Encountered: I could not find the GAMMA slider in Sharp Cap, so I made the picture without modifying the GAMMA.

[category  astronomy-report]

Astronomy Report

Name: Bourgély Léa
Crew: 293

Date: 13March2024

Sky Conditions: 60% of cloud cover
Wind Conditions: 20 km/h
Observation Start Time: 8:30 am
Observation End Time: 12:30 pm
Summary:
Tracking of sunspots
Looking for solar prominence/solar flares
Observations were conducted every hour
Objects Viewed:
Sun

Telescope used :

Musk observatory
Picture attached to this e-mail :

1_ 11:13 Sunspots with a little bit of "granularity" of the sun and a prominence
2_ 11:22 Prominence formation

3_ 11:23 Prominence development
4_ 11:25 Prominence disappearing
Problems Encountered:

Lower shutter of the dome is still not functional
It seems that the astronomer laptop is not charging anymore. Any info about that ? It works while plugged but stays stuck at 8%

[category  astronomy-report]

Astronomy Report

Name: Léa Bourgély

Crew: 293

Date: 09/03/2024

MDRS SOLAR OBSERVATORY

Telescope Requested: Solar Observatory

Objects to be Imaged this Evening: None

Images submitted with this report: Sun prominence

Additional Notes:

1. The lower part of the shutter is still stuck, but we’ve got some improvements. Peter shared with us new guidelines for tomorrow, we will apply them during the morning. We are making progress.

2. About imaging with the solar telescope : here is a nice picture of a prominence, and it disappeared some minutes later. I’ve been trying to get good images of sunspots (like the ones that are present in the guide book) but there is no "GAMMA" to tune on SharpCap, and I am not able to tune really well the telescope with only exposure and gain. @peter, any piece of advice on that ? Also, I think tomorrow’s conditions for imaging are better than today’s. I am also wondering how to tune the telescope with the 2 big black knobs ? I’ve been trying them but I can’t see the sun’s surface like the one present in the guide books. Thanks for your help !!

[category  astronomy-report]

Astronomy Report

Name: Bourgély Léa
Crew: 293

Date: 10March2024

Sky Conditions: Clear, 64% of humidity
Wind Conditions: 3 km/h
Observation Start Time: 10 am
Observation End Time: 2 pm
Summary:
Tracking of sunspots
Looking for solar prominence/solar flares
Observations were conducted every hour
Objects Viewed:
Sun

Telescope used :

Musk observatory
Picture attached to this e-mail :

1_ Sunspots with a little bit of "granularity" of the sun

2_ sunspots with no granularity.
Problems Encountered:

Dome is not functional
Two screws located on the eyepiece seem to be a bit used, and may need replacement.
I was not able to show the Sun’s surface .@Peter I followed your procedure but could not find the right balance. Turning the knobs changes the exposure, and I think I was sometimes able to guess the texture, but nothing compared to the pictures in the guide books.
Another question : is there a way for me to know if the Sun has no prominences, or if my settings are just wrong ? Because I was not able to see prominences today, but I don’t really trust myself for the settings.