Stellar Shot of the Month!
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Jon Talbot captured this incredible shot of NGC 4236 (Caldwell 3) in Draco with his SVX152T. This barred spiral galaxy is about 11.7 million light-years away from Earth and 140,000 light-years in diameter. It is also a part of the M81 local group of galaxies which includes M81 (NGC 3031) and M82 (NGC 3034). | |
Stellarvue SVX127D. This model is shown with a 3" Stellarvue focuser. The one offered has the new 2.5" focuser instead. | |
Bob MacArthur, the teacher we featured in one of our "Stellar People" articles, attended the Okie Tex Star Party. He brought his coveted SVX127D with him and had a chance to view through the SVX152T. He was so impressed that he traded in the 127D for the very telescope I had at Okie Tex. So here is his SVX127D with Stellarvue 2.5" focuser, dual rings and case. This is a great visual instrument, and it will sell for $2200. Just email us at mail@stellarvue.com or call Vic at (530) 823-7796 if you are interested in this .993 Strehl instrument. Certified preowned telescopes carry the 30-day money back guarantee and 2-year warranty, same as a new telescope. | |
What's Up?
By Bob MacArthur
Winter is coming… Well, I guess if you live in the northern hemisphere, it is. The winter solstice is on Thursday, December 21, 2023, at 8:27 pm MST. With winter coming it means long nights of observing. I love observing during the cold crisp, still winter nights. Seeing Orion rising in the east excites me like visiting a longtime friend.
Let’s start with what is happening with the solar system objects this month. If you are one who is up before sunrise Venus is shining bright in the east. A telescopic view will reveal a gibbous phase of Venus. Jupiter has the solar system spotlight this month. Opposition was last month so Jupiter is pretty much visible all night in the constellation Aries. If you check it out multiple times a night, you can watch the Galilean moons change their position as they dance around Jupiter. Saturn is visible in the west in Aquarius. On the 17th the crescent moon will join Saturn. Then on the 22nd the moon will split the difference between Jupiter and Uranus. I love watching the Moon skip across the sky from planet to planet. It really shows our solar system in motion. Speaking of Uranus, this little green disk is in a great position to check it out. If you are in for a solar system challenge, give the asteroid Vesta a try. It is hanging relatively bright in the constellation Orion. We are lucky this year with the Geminid meteor shower. This enjoyable meteor shower peaks on the evening of 13/14, which is near the new moon, so the skies will be nice and dark. Bundle up with a blanket and hot cup of cocoa and enjoy. As for the moon, the new moon is on the 12th and the full Moon is on the 27th.
Now let’s head out of the solar system. Let’s talk about just a few wonderful binaries for this time of year. Almach is a beautiful blue and gold pair at the end of Andromeda. I like stopping by this pair after gazing up on the Andromeda Galaxy. Gamma Aries is just a good all-around binary with bluish white stars. Lastly, Zeta Aquarii, this tight binary is fun to try and split depending on your scope and seeing conditions. Once you are able to split it you will see 2 nice white stars about the same brightness
This is an interesting time of year for nebulae. While our favorites of the summer are not visible, we start to get a preview of the winter nebulae. Still hanging on from the late summer/fall objects we have the planetary nebula NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula). This is a fun object to try and spot. Using a UHC or OIII filter can help you spot it. It is a small pale green disk. You might be able to spot the ‘ring” structure that gives this planetary its name. Now let's move over to M1 (Crab Nebula). This supernova remnant is in the horns of Taurus the bull. Once you spot it you may see its vein-like structure. Try using nebula filters on the Crab. It might bring out the details for you. Finally, the Great Orion Nebula (M42). As the month goes on it will get higher and higher. This nebula looks great in any scope. You will start to see more detail with a larger aperture. I have looked at this object ever since I was a kid, and it still blows my mind.
As we head into the busy holiday season sometimes, we forget to step out and look up. With that said, even if it is for a few minutes or for a holiday party, get your scope out and share the night sky with friends and family.
Keep Looking Up,
Bob MacArthur
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"It's made a huge difference in what I do now."
"The learning never stops."
-Jon Talbot
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For this month’s “Stellar People” interview, we got to hear from world renowned Astro Imager Jon Talbot. Jon Shared with us his love for the night sky, as well as the path he took to becoming an amateur astronomer with a passion for imaging. His story shows the dedication that it takes to master one’s craft and the hard work that is required to do so. He also shares how Stellarvue has allowed him to better image the night sky, in greater detail. Without further ado, here is Jon’s story. | | | |
Jon in his observatory standing with his SVX152T. | |
Jon first became interested in the night sky when he looked through a refractor that his cousin got for Christmas. While this sparked his interest in science, it wasn’t until he took an elective course in astronomy that he was truly able to observe the night sky. “The night sky above the college I went to in Northern Vermont was dark. As part of the course, we had to find all the constellations visible during that time of the year. Later, in the late 90’s, I read a story about Comet Hale Bopp, and I actually saw it one night, and it was huge. I spent the next year reading books about astronomy and researching types of telescopes. In 1997 I bought my first telescope. A Walmart special Tasco refractor." After spending a couple of years looking at the night sky, reading about astronomy and using the cheap Tasco scope to look at Jupiter, Jon bought a small 4” reflector in May of 2000. He used it to see “small faint fuzzies” in his backyard and learn about the night sky. Around this time, he got a subscription to Sky and Telescope Magazine and saw many cool pictures in the gallery section, that normal people had taken through their telescopes. “I thought, how hard can this be? In July 2001 I upgraded to an 8” Meade LX 200 and thought that now since I have a “real” telescope, I can start taking pictures.” Jon then convinced his wife to let him buy a digital camera that he could use with the scope. "Of course, it would be dual purpose to take normal pictures too." He then decided that he needed a building to put the scope in. So, he built a small roll off roof building in his backyard, to host the Meade scope. This is where he took his first eyepiece projection image of Saturn. We asked Jon, what exactly it was about taking images of the night sky that sparked his interest? He responded by saying, “At first, when I tried eyepiece projection photography, it was more of the challenge aspect of it, to see if I could do it. The planets are bright, and good detail could be seen even from my suburban location. Once I tried taking images of deep sky objects, it was exciting that I could actually see these things, where otherwise, they were invisible. It was extremely gratifying to actually be able to see detail in these objects too. Seeing detail pushed me to want to do better.” When asked, what in particular was the aspect of astro-imaging that attracted him the most early on? Jon said that it was the idea that he could actually see things by imaging that he could not see visually. In regard to those who inspired him to image the night sky, he stated that early on, he “saw the images of Robert Gendler, Tony Hallas and others.” Their beautiful images made him want to learn how to do this too. “Robert Gendler, in particular imaged from suburban Connecticut. At the time, I figured if he could do it from light pollution, so could I.” | | | |
An image of starburst galaxy Messier 82 that Jon captured. | |
We wanted to learn what sort of feelings accompany Jon when he is imaging the night sky and processing his images. He explained to us that each image he takes and processes, brings up the wonder of what else is in the image, beyond what he thinks is there. He stated that “sometimes you see things as your state of processing moves along, that you never expected to see.” In regard to the sorts of objects he tends to image, Jon said that he has imaged almost all of the typical, bright deep sky objects and over the last several years he has decided to go after much more challenging things. “I’m really interested in imaging undiscovered objects, or objects that have been discovered but no image exists of. In the last two years, I’ve imaged multiple objects that had never been imaged before by amateurs. I’ve become very interested in helping several amateur researchers find new planetary nebulae. Luckily, there are resources online that list many of these objects. If they are super faint, I’m in.” There are several objects in particular that Jon is most proud of imaging. One is “an object called FR 2-30, a potential planetary nebula in Andromeda. Out of the blue, I got an email from a professional astronomer, asking if I’d be willing to be a co-author on a paper they were writing. They had seen my image which was the first color image of this object and they had taken spectra on it using professional equipment on Kitt Peak. They wanted to include the image in their paper. It was extremely gratifying that I could help professionals figure out the real makeup on an object. The paper was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Another object came from a similar “out of the blue” request. I had imaged an object discovered by team StDr, a group out of France and Germany. They saw my image, which was the first color image of this object called StDr 44 in Monoceros. They published it in the yearly calendar they do." | | | |
A shot of planetary nebula "A Heart in Monceros" (Strottner/Dreschler 44), imaged by Jon. | |
"After that, one of the team members who knew I was working with another amateur discoverer Dana Patchick, asked if I wanted to image an object he had discovered. No one had imaged this before. I gladly accepted and we produced the first color image of Pa J0637.4 +3327 in Auriga.” | | | |
The first color image of planetary nebula Pa J0637.4 +3227 taken by Jon. | |
Next, we asked Jon, when he first discovered Stellarvue Telescopes and how that has made a difference for him? He answered by saying, “I think I first saw a Stellarvue telescope in an ad. In 2001 I was looking for a small refractor and purchased one of the original Stellarvue Nighthawks. It made a huge difference in what I do now, since after that original purchase, Vic invited me to talk about some of the images I was taking with the Night Hawk. This led to me being able to help Vic test many of Stellarvue’s telescopes which ultimately led me to purchase an imaging powerhouse, the SVX152T.” To wrap up his interview, we asked Jon, if the knowledge and experience with astro-imaging has taken a long-time to build up? He brought things to a close with the following response. “Yes. Imaging is hard. Not only does one have to master their equipment (mount, camera, telescope), one has to also figure out how to process these images. I basically learned by doing, as there were no online courses available when I started, like there are now. One also never quits learning. It’s a never-ending process. The basics took about 5 years. The rest of the good stuff took another 10 years, and the learning never stops.”
Stellarvue is very inspired by Jon's story, and we hope our readers are as well. Our community is full of great people who have accomplished great things. We are truly thankful to all of you who support what we do and why we do it and look forward to covering more stories like this one.
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Tell us your story! Email mail@stellarvue.com. Include an image of you
and your set-up and what led you to choosing a Stellarvue. We want to hear your entire story as we help others make their first choice the right one.
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Message From
The President &
Vice President
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This month we are featuring Jon Talbot, a long time friend who has tested many of our telescopes and field flatteners prior to production. It takes a village to make a world-class refractor.
Given the success of our in-house field flatteners, we are now designing new reducer-flatteners made for specific telescopes. These projects may take a year to complete but will lower the speed while increasing the image circle of our big refractors.
We really aren't happy unless we are engaged in continuous improvement.
The adventure continues!
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The mission of Stellarvue is to inspire a healthy interest in science and astronomy by handcrafting precision telescopes. | |
Stellarvue Telescope | 11802 Kemper Rd. | Auburn, CA 95603
www.stellarvue.com | 530.823.7796
Open 9 - 5 Pacific Time; Mon - Fri
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