The dimensions for most astronomical objects are given in degrees of arc in most cases. While the apparent size of an object is interesting, it’s sometimes useful to convert the apparent size into something...
Category: Research
Composing Images Using Aladin
Aladin is a free, interactive sky atlas that draws data from a broad range of sources, giving you access to a very detailed all-sky view that’s comparable to the most advanced planetarium software. Aladin...
Determining The Proximity Of The Moon To Any Target and Any Date
The Moon is probably the second most important thing in the sky when you’re imaging a target. The first most important thing is, of course, your target. The proximity of the moon to your...
Investigating Your Images Using The Aladin Sky Atlas
Aladin is a free, interactive sky atlas that draws data from a broad range of sources, giving you access to a very detailed all-sky view that’s comparable to the most advanced planetarium software. Aladin...
Plate Solving Your Images – What Is It and Why You Do It
Plate solving your images is a process where you find a match between the stars on your own image and an astronomical catalog. Along with the position of the stars in your image, the...
Selecting Objects for High SNR and Great Images
The question I often get asked after someone has been imaging for a while is, “How can I select the best objects in the sky for the highest signal to noise ratio (SNR) so...
Planning Ahead: Figuring Out When An Object Is In The Sky
In another post I discussed Andromeda’s Parachute – a quadruple lensed quasar. From the post we found that the coordinates are RA 01:47:09 and Declination is 46:30:37. So now you know where it is...
Researching Numbered Objects
Sometimes you’ll come across an object that doesn’t have a name or designation yet want to know more about it, or perhaps even image it. This post discusses how you can find more information...
Converting Redshift to Distance
When researching an object to observe, or when you want to find out more about an object, there’s often a Wikipedia page about it which gives you a lot of good information about it....
Understanding Simbad
I mentioned Simbad just once in my book, Remote Astrophotography Using Slooh.com (which you can download for free here). But what is Simbad and how can you use it? What Is Simbad? Simbad is...
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