Bandung – BRIN Public Relations. Astrophotography is the art of light painting which specializes in astronomical objects, where the number of astronomical objects is unlimited. Ahmad Junaidi from IAIN Ponorogo in the 100 Hour Astronomy Webinar, Sunday (1/10) talked about his experiences, from making a telescope to using the telescope to do photography.
Astrophotography is divided into two categories, first in terms of the area of the object, and second in terms of the intensity of the light. On this occasion, Ahmad shared experiences related to astrophotography, from hilal objects to nebulae.
“In 2014, I was given the opportunity to meet directly with an astrophotographer from France, his name was Thierry Legault. That was the first time I became interested in astrophotography, especially in the field of crescent moons, because I am also a rukyat practitioner. “Every month we do rukyatul hilal to help the process of determining the start of the month,” said Ahmad.
Ahmad continued, the IAIN Ponorogo observatory was the first in a religious college.
In terms of the area of the object, there are broad and narrow objects. Vast objects such as the Milky Way Galaxy, or what is known as the Milky Way, star formations that form certain constellations and dawn.
Preparations need to be made for data acquisition, determining location, polar alignment, testing polar alignment results by pointing. For example, during a test heading to a planet, the sun determines the accuracy of the tracker or mounting in tracking the object.
Next is the focus on when to carry out astrophotography. If it is for the crescent moon, then it is done midday to evening.
“The easiest thing, for example, is focusing with the help of a sunspot. “Sunspots can be used as a medium for focusing telescopes,” he said.
Ahmad continued, this focus also plays a very important role in the data acquisition process. Even though the alignment, calibration and pointing are good, if the telescope equipped with the camera is not focused, these very faint objects will certainly not be able to be recorded. Especially later when you enter the data repeater stage.
“Objects recorded in an out-of-focus condition will not be able to be processed well, so an out-of-focus image will certainly not be possible to make a good image, even if it has gone through a complete data repeating process, for example. So this focus is also very important in the astrophotography process. “This is in the preparation stage,” he said.
The next stage is technically data acquisition or data recording. “First, we will record a calibration image, and second, we will record an image of the object. Of course, if it is to be projected for the crescent moon, what is included in the image of this object is the crescent object itself. “The calibration image is the image that we use to correct the recorded data,” explained Ahmad.
If applied to nebulae, he continued, the calibration image actually has flat, dark and biased images. But specifically for this crescent moon, you don’t need a dark and biased image, but only a flat image is needed. This is because the process of recording hilal data that is most needed is processing speed.
By using a very fast shutter speed, electromagnetic noise rarely occurs. What most often happens is dirt that sticks to the lens or sensor.
“So what needs to be cleaned is only that aspect, so that when you use the flat image, there are no worries,” he said.
You can also record in fast mode. For example, a certain camera can record 30 frames every second, another camera can record 60 frames per second.
“It also really depends on the power of the computer used. The more powerful the computer, the frame rate can usually be set as fast as possible. So, for the crescent moon, you usually need a fast frame rate. “And usually there is a limit on how many frames you record each time, for example, 200 or 300,” explained Ahmad.
Then later the next technique is to enter data processing techniques. Starting from pre-processing, processing, and post-processing. Pre-processing can be started by creating a master calibration.
At the end, Ahmad reminded astronomy enthusiasts to continue learning. “Astronomy is not limited to objects that can be observed or recorded, and tools should not be an obstacle,” he concluded.
The 100 Hour Astronomy Webinar for four days (1-4/10), was held to commemorate World Space Week. This warning is part of the outreach or outreach to astronomy by the International Astronomical Union to promote astronomy in the context of Space Week.
Lead Expert Researcher at the BRIN Space Research Center, Thomas Djamaluddin, in his introduction conveyed the importance of astronomy for the development of the young generation in Indonesia to love science, especially space science. (sc, cw/ ed: kg, tnt)
2023-10-05 03:21:04
#Exploring #Astrophotography #Hilal #Nebula
