This is the first Section report to be included in Universe [and on the ASNSW Web Site]. In future we will provide a report of the Section’s activities following each of our meetings
The Digital Astro Imaging Section meets every second month in Meeting Room 4 in the Epping Creative Centre at Dence Park. The room is immediately on the right as you enter via the front door. The ASNSW web site has full directions on how to get to Dence Park. The next meeting is on Wednesday 20 December commencing at 7.00 pm. It doesn’t matter if you are an expert or just someone thinking of doing a little casual astro imaging, you are very welcome to join us.
The astro imaging equipment used by Section members is quite diverse. Cameras range from webcams (ideal for planetary imaging), through modified and unmodified Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras to semi-professional, cooled CCD cameras. Some of us have permanent observatories and others image using portable telescopes and even through telephoto lenses.
We generally have a formal presentation at each meeting, which runs for about one hour. This is followed by informal discussion on matters of common interest. Presenters are mostly Section members although from time-to-time we have an outside guest speaker. Monte Wilson gave the presentation at our October meeting. He set up his Takehashi telescope on the old bowling green at Dence Park and connected it and the imager (an SBIG ST11000 cooled camera) via a remote interface to his PC which was located in a meeting room in the Creative Centre. From his PC he was able to control the telescope, to slew to images and then to take and to download the images to his PC. It was a very impressive demonstration.
At earlier meetings in 2006 presentations were given on the following subjects:
Back in January we held a “Night Under the Stars” in Kenthurst attended by Section members and their “better halves”. It was primarily a social occasion, (a BBQ). Two telescopes were in operation one taking images and the other, a Dobsonian kindly provided by John Flavin, was used by Richard Jaworski to give a guided tour of objects of interest to astro imagers.
Images taken by Section members can be found in the Photo Gallery on the ASNSW web site. Some of us also have our own web sites. Tony Hitchcock’s can be found at http://www.itchysastro.net/index.htm. My web site is at http:/www.kenthurst.bigpondhosting.com.
We have our own broadcast email group whereby members share ideas and experiences. It’s similar to a Yahoo news group but is hosted on the ASNSW web site (it is not directly accessible from it).
If you would like to join us at one of our meetings, or if you have any interest in or suggestions relating to the activities of the Section please drop me a line . It’s best to check before each meeting just in case there is an unexpected change in venue.
Happy (and successful) imaging!