BPAA Photographs

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Astronomy Photos

Ursa Major over the Observatory "Doghouse". Photo by Charlie Johnson, October, 2003. Full Image. Two Jupiter Sized sunspots during the Solar Storms of October 2003, photo by Paul Below. full image Wild Duck Open Cluster (M11) full image 32k Photo taken by Dave Warman at Table Mountain Star Party July 2002 with a ST-8 camera and a Celestron GP-C8, with an f6.3 reducer/flattener.

Partial Solar Eclipse, June 10 2002! This is a scan of a picture the Bremerton Sun reporter took through Dave Warman's GP-C8 using his little point&shoot digital camera hand-held to the eyepiece. full image 22k Swan Nebula (M17 aka Omega Nebula) taken by Dave Warman at 2003 Table Mountain Star Party. full image Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) full image 137k Photo taken by Dave Warman at Table Mountain Star Party July 2002 with a ST-8 camera and a Celestron GP-C8, with an f6.3 reducer/flattener.

Solar Maximum 2000 - 2001! Following images were taken through a 10 inch reflector, stopped down to 80mm, from Bainbridge Island.

Very active groups were observed in the late summer of 1998 as we started toward the solar maximum. When viewing the full image, note that sunspots viewed toward the limb of the sun reveal a variation in altitude that is not visible when the spot is centrally located on the sun's disk (from the vantage point of earth). full image (31k) The largest sun spot of the 2000 Solar Maximum. It appears that the peak of solar activity occured in late 2000. Image taken at Battle Point Park during one of our regular Saturday Observatory Tours. (full image 23k) The largest sunspot of 2001. At its largest, this group was visible naked eye (through filter) and was the largest in 12 years. Image taken from Winslow. full image 32k

Enlargement of the 2000 group: Enlargement of big sun spot

M13

M57 Ring Nebula

Leonid Meteor Shower, 2001! We experienced a peak rate of about one meteor per 5 seconds. The following image was taken by Terry Hubbert from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. A Leonid meteor passes through Orion's shoulders. full image 40k M13 taken during the 2000 Table Mountain Star Party, by Ray and Jared Barnhill. M57, taken during the 2000 Table Mountain Star Party, by Ray and Jared Barnhill.

Solstice

Noon on winter solstice, December 21, 1999. The sun shone, through the solstice port in the observatory and onto the white board in the meeting room. These images show the progression of the event.

The next 4 images were taken by DavidWarman, along with Frank Anderson, on David's C-8 with the club's CCD camera from the observatory in August, 1999.

Jupiter in Color

This is a 0.3 secs initial image. Processing yielded either Jupiter's Moons or its bands, but not both. David generated two images, one with moons and one with bands, then transposed the banded Jupiter over to the mooned image to make this composite. full image (12k) Here is a single 0.3 secs exposure of Jupiter. full image (8k) This image of Jupiter is 0.2 secs (R), 0.32 (G), and 0.36 (B) single filtered exposures combined into a single color image.

Saturn in Color

Saturn with a 1.0 secs(R), 1.6 (G), and 1.8 (B) composite of simgle monochromatic exposures into a color image. Very small, hence rather pixelated. Longer focal length or eyepiece projection would help here. No Cassini division visible, but there is some surface detail. Photo taken through BPAA's ST-8 camera, through Dave Warman's C8 SCT, on July 10, 1999 during a Battle Point Park star party. Image is 90 second exposure of M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. full image(34k) Photo taken through BPAA's ST-8 camera, through Dave Warman's C8 SCT, on July 10, 1999 during a Battle Point Park star party. Image on right is a 60 second exposure of M57, the Ring Nebula. full image (17k)

M27 is about 1000 lightyears from us, and is about 2 lightyears in diameter. M57 is probably a couple of thousand light years away and perhaps one lightyear in diameter. Both are called "planetary nebulaes" even though they have nothing to do with planets. The nebulaes are clouds of cold gas, mostly hydrogen and helium which is expanding away from a small hot central star.

This image is not so amazing for what it looks like, but rather for how it was captured. In an impromptu July 10, 1999 pre-star party activity, Dave and Jeanne Blain set up their 80mm short tube refractor on a video tripod, and attached Paul Below's sun filter to view sunspots. Dave Warman hooked up his BoardCCD camera (a 1/4", medium resolution, low light level video camera) and ran the live output to a TV monitor for everyone to view. The image was captured directly from the video feed. There are numerous faint black sun spots visible in both the northern and southern solar hemisphers, as we approach the solar 11 year maximum. full image (18k)
Here are the very first photos ever taken with BPAA's 27.5 inch reflector! These were taken with a film camera through a 2x barlow which means the effective focal length was over 6800 mm, and were done partly as a test and partly for fun and partly to demonstrate that we can really see something through the scope! Click on the images for a full size image and annotation about the craters in the pictures. Full image (44k) and Full image (35k)

One of the first two photos taken through the Club's SBIG ST8 camera in April, 1999. These were taken by Dave Warman, using his C8 telescope. The first two are the first quarter moon. . Full image (79k) One of the first two photos taken through the Club's SBIG ST8 camera in April, 1999. These were taken by Dave Warman, using his C8 telescope. The first two are the first quarter moon. Full image (16k) A 30 second exposure of the globular cluster M3. Full image (13k)

Star Trails in the northern sky over the observatory. Cassieopea is at upper left.

Full image, 69k

above photo by Jared Barnhill

BPAA Photo Pages:

All photos by Paul Below, unless otherwise noted.

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Ursa Major over the Observatory "Doghouse". Photo by Charlie Johnson, October, 2003. Full Image.	Two Jupiter Sized sunspots during the Solar Storms of October 2003, photo by Paul Below. full image	Wild Duck Open Cluster (M11) full image 32k Photo taken by Dave Warman at Table Mountain Star Party July 2002 with a ST-8 camera and a Celestron GP-C8, with an f6.3 reducer/flattener.

Partial Solar Eclipse, June 10 2002! This is a scan of a picture the Bremerton Sun reporter took through Dave Warman's GP-C8 using his little point&shoot digital camera hand-held to the eyepiece. full image 22k	Swan Nebula (M17 aka Omega Nebula) taken by Dave Warman at 2003 Table Mountain Star Party. full image	Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) full image 137k Photo taken by Dave Warman at Table Mountain Star Party July 2002 with a ST-8 camera and a Celestron GP-C8, with an f6.3 reducer/flattener.
Solar Maximum 2000 - 2001! Following images were taken through a 10 inch reflector, stopped down to 80mm, from Bainbridge Island.

Very active groups were observed in the late summer of 1998 as we started toward the solar maximum. When viewing the full image, note that sunspots viewed toward the limb of the sun reveal a variation in altitude that is not visible when the spot is centrally located on the sun's disk (from the vantage point of earth). full image (31k)	The largest sun spot of the 2000 Solar Maximum. It appears that the peak of solar activity occured in late 2000. Image taken at Battle Point Park during one of our regular Saturday Observatory Tours. (full image 23k)	The largest sunspot of 2001. At its largest, this group was visible naked eye (through filter) and was the largest in 12 years. Image taken from Winslow. full image 32k


Leonid Meteor Shower, 2001! We experienced a peak rate of about one meteor per 5 seconds. The following image was taken by Terry Hubbert from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. A Leonid meteor passes through Orion's shoulders. full image 40k	M13 taken during the 2000 Table Mountain Star Party, by Ray and Jared Barnhill.	M57, taken during the 2000 Table Mountain Star Party, by Ray and Jared Barnhill.

Noon on winter solstice, December 21, 1999. The sun shone, through the solstice port in the observatory and onto the white board in the meeting room. These images show the progression of the event.
The next 4 images were taken by DavidWarman, along with Frank Anderson, on David's C-8 with the club's CCD camera from the observatory in August, 1999.

This is a 0.3 secs initial image. Processing yielded either Jupiter's Moons or its bands, but not both. David generated two images, one with moons and one with bands, then transposed the banded Jupiter over to the mooned image to make this composite. full image (12k)	Here is a single 0.3 secs exposure of Jupiter. full image (8k)	This image of Jupiter is 0.2 secs (R), 0.32 (G), and 0.36 (B) single filtered exposures combined into a single color image.

Saturn with a 1.0 secs(R), 1.6 (G), and 1.8 (B) composite of simgle monochromatic exposures into a color image. Very small, hence rather pixelated. Longer focal length or eyepiece projection would help here. No Cassini division visible, but there is some surface detail.	Photo taken through BPAA's ST-8 camera, through Dave Warman's C8 SCT, on July 10, 1999 during a Battle Point Park star party. Image is 90 second exposure of M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. full image(34k)	Photo taken through BPAA's ST-8 camera, through Dave Warman's C8 SCT, on July 10, 1999 during a Battle Point Park star party. Image on right is a 60 second exposure of M57, the Ring Nebula. full image (17k)
	M27 is about 1000 lightyears from us, and is about 2 lightyears in diameter. M57 is probably a couple of thousand light years away and perhaps one lightyear in diameter. Both are called "planetary nebulaes" even though they have nothing to do with planets. The nebulaes are clouds of cold gas, mostly hydrogen and helium which is expanding away from a small hot central star.

This image is not so amazing for what it looks like, but rather for how it was captured. In an impromptu July 10, 1999 pre-star party activity, Dave and Jeanne Blain set up their 80mm short tube refractor on a video tripod, and attached Paul Below's sun filter to view sunspots. Dave Warman hooked up his BoardCCD camera (a 1/4", medium resolution, low light level video camera) and ran the live output to a TV monitor for everyone to view. The image was captured directly from the video feed. There are numerous faint black sun spots visible in both the northern and southern solar hemisphers, as we approach the solar 11 year maximum. full image (18k)	Here are the very first photos ever taken with BPAA's 27.5 inch reflector! These were taken with a film camera through a 2x barlow which means the effective focal length was over 6800 mm, and were done partly as a test and partly for fun and partly to demonstrate that we can really see something through the scope! Click on the images for a full size image and annotation about the craters in the pictures. Full image (44k) and Full image (35k)

One of the first two photos taken through the Club's SBIG ST8 camera in April, 1999. These were taken by Dave Warman, using his C8 telescope. The first two are the first quarter moon. . Full image (79k)	One of the first two photos taken through the Club's SBIG ST8 camera in April, 1999. These were taken by Dave Warman, using his C8 telescope. The first two are the first quarter moon. Full image (16k)	A 30 second exposure of the globular cluster M3. Full image (13k)