The Julian Starfest is a major Southern California astronomy event, featuring a free public star party on Saturday, tours of the Palomar Observatory, astronomy supplies and vendors, astronomy guest speakers and presentations, a giant raffle with $7,000 worth of give-aways and four days of camping and astronomy.

Camping area at the Menghini Winerty, Julian Starfest

With plenty of room at the winery to spread out we had enough space to accommodate all four of our imaging rigs, complete with computers, workbenches and Fat Maxes (our super efficient, ultra compact tool chests). Our compound was flanked by the travel trailer on one side and two tents (for the adventurous) on the other. Plenty of room for our gravity chairs and binocular sky tours in the center, while our rigs were up and imaging all night.

Julian Pie Company

We pulled in Thursday just after 3:00 pm when camping registration opened. We picked our spot and got set up. The first night was perfect with clear skies that got pretty dark. Friday was overcast all day and it never let up, the night was clouded over, even raining on us a bit throughout the night. And good thing we stuck it out because Saturday night was again perfectly clear and dark (though very damp and dewy). I’m not a good judge of what is dark or not (and we’ve had much debate about Anza vs. GMARS, etc.) and Jamie didn’t think Julian was as dark as GMARS – and I disagreed. We were tempted to get a dark sky quality meter to start taking regular measurements of our locations – this tool would be a helpful tool to aid in our ongoing debate. All-in-all, we had two great nights of astronomy.

Craig Stark speaking at the Julian Starfest

Craig Stark from StarkLabs (author of Nebulocity, PHD Guiding and DSLR Shutter) gave a great talk on SNR (signal to noise ratio), similar to his series on Cloudy Nights, and detailed the differences between cameras for astro-photography. He also spend a few minutes with us discussing, and helping solve an ongoing debate about ISO settings and its impact on SNR. Look for more MBS stories discussing some of the Stark topics like increased aperture and its affect on SNR, and how single-shot color cameras differ from monochrome cameras.

We’re all good friends with Keith, Chris and Craig at OPT (Oceanside Photo and Telescope) so its always fun when we get to spend time out in the field with these guys. Check out Chris’ newest images on his website. OPT is one of the big sponsors of the Julian Starfest and they have a giant booth in the vendor village. In fact, this has become quite an event for all of us to do some “shopping.” This year Harvey bought his new CCD camera (Orion Starshoot Pro) and was like a proud poppa when he unpacked the box. Ippei was close to making his final decision on a new imaging OTA, but the OPT guys sold the last one in stock – right from under his nose. Jamie finally got his wide field imaging rig completed when he attached his camera ball head adapter (manfrotto 486) to his Celestron CG-4 mount, complete with hand-crafted, hardwood dovetail. This ended up being used by everyone for wide field imaging right off the camera – it’s awesome! And don’t worry, if they don’t have what you need at the OPT Booth – they call the store and have someone bring it up, THAT is customer service at its best! I finally got a new HoTech centering 2″ camera dapter, deliverd to Julian from the store (did I mention OPT is awesome!)

With all of our new gear, the great food, the heated debates (360º capabilities, dark skies, Gaysted, breathing in the particles once you can smell them, etc.), the apple (and berry) pie, the ice cream lady, Bridgette, Ippei’s new truck (really a big help packing in all of our gear), Sea Breeze and the Millionaire Mile – We even got the chance to meet a few guys from the SoCalAstroPhoto group, and chat a bit – The Julian Starfest 2009 was a huge success!

Look for updated images from everyone under the MEMBERS tab.

We loaded all four of our Stanley Fat Max gear boxes into Ippei's truck.

Planning our strategy over breakfast in Orange County before heading out to Julian, CA

We stopped for pie at the famous Julian Pie Company

Setting up our campsite - astro-imaging center - and saloon. Four telescopes, four computers.

Our first feast of many - BBQ steak sandwiches.

Santa Ysabel Casino, just a few miles from Julian, CA - we went for the $4.95 Prime Rib Dinner! And some of us like horseradish more than others.

Jamie, testing his new personal dark adapted eye protection system. Now he can use the bright light from his computer monitor to light his work area - and still protect his own eyes - Patent Pending.

Harvey studying the manual for his new Orion Starshoot Pro - just picked up from OPT booth in Vendor Village.

Ippei and John conducting highly technical binocular comparison testing ... complete with vodka drinks.

All you can eat chicken quesadilla Mexican breakfast - note: three is too many.

Brian and Jamie posing for a quick portrait in town - Julian, CA

Harvey won this great piece of framed art in the raffle.

Nightfall at the Julian Starfest 2009. The milky way is setting over our campground.

Nikon D40

The answer is yes. You can take exposures much longer than 30 sec. but you have to do it manually. Set your Nikon DSLR (D40, D50, D60, D70, D80, D90) to manual (M) or shutter priority (S) and move your shutter speed to bulb. Now manually hold the shutter open for as long as you desire. You might find the use of a stop watch or timer helpful.

Hold the shutter open for 60 sec.,  for example, and release. The trouble with this is that you actually touching the camera will likely create enough shake to blur your image. So there are remote and hands free options available.

Nikon DSLR cameras that use an InfraRed trigger sensor can all use the Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control. This is a small remote control with one button. You press the button as if you were pressing the shutter release on your camera with the big difference of not actually touching the camera. This will eliminate your physical contact with the camera and any shake and blur caused by your touch.

The big challenge here is that you’re still holding the shutter open manually. In order to automate this process and set more accurate exposure times beyond 30 sec., you need to use a computer and some software to control your camera. Nikon offers Camera Control Pro, which allows you to control all of your camera’s settings from your computer.

For Astronomy.

There are also astronomy tools available for astro-photographers that will allow you to program and script shutter times longer than 30 sec., for less money.

Stark Labs writes software called DSLR Shutter, that will allow you to control shutter times past 30 sec., and repeat multiple exposures. DSLR Shutter is available for Free download from their site (however they’re always accepting donations.) DSLR Shutter will control the shutter only, allowing you to set multiple exposures of any time.
http://www.stark-labs.com/DSLR_Shutter.html

DSLR Shutter works great using an InfraRed USB Shutter Control unit. Shoestring Astronomy makes an IR remote that will connect to the USB port on your computer. The software works with the USB unit to trigger your camera’s shutter without having to touch the camera.

Shoestring Astronomy USB Shutter Control Adapter (DSUSB-IR1)

There are also IR cable solutions available from another manufacturer, Happ Griffin Astrocable and you can find them online at
http://www.hapg.org/astrocables.htm

When you combine the Shoestring Astronomy USB Shutter Control Adapter with the Stark-Labs DSLR Shutter software – you can shoot multiple exposures of any length – fully automated, without touching your camera and blurring images.

Another word of advice.

As you continue to take longer exposures you’ll notice your camera battery won’t perform as well as you’d hope. The longer exposures means longer recording times and more drain on your battery. You should always carry multiple, fully charged batteries or consider an AC adapter for your camera. Depending on which Nikon DLSR you use, you’ll most likely need a Nikon EH-5A AC Adapter. D40 and D40X users will need a second AC adapter part, Nikon EP-5 Power Supply Connector (see the links on this page). Once you have an AC adapter, your shutter times can extend beyond your expectations, allowing you full exposure freedom over time and space.

I use these tools for taking astronomy pictures – so please feel free to ask questions.

Once again, the GLOBE community is invited to participate in the annual global sky observation known as GLOBE at Night. Join thousands of teachers, students and families around the globe March 16-28, 2009, in a hunt for stars. Participants simply choose a clear night on which stars are visible, look up into the night sky and enter observations into the GLOBE at Night Web site.

Compare your view to one of these Magnitude Charts, and visit the GLOBE at Night website to log your results.

Take part in this international event to observe the nighttime sky and learn more about light pollution around the world. GLOBE at Night is a fun and easy observation and reporting activity that takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete.

2009 is the Year of Astronomy

This event is part of the International Year of Astronomy. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) is a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture and marks the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei.

For more information about the event,
visit the Globe at Night website.

http://www.globe.gov/GaN/index.html

Orion above Joshua Tree

We were trying to chase the clear skies. We’d planned to camp at Joshua Tree all weekend (Thursday – Sunday, the first weekend in December, 2007) but the forecast called for rain. So we dropped down to plan B and drove up to Lake Isabella, Kern County, CA. They had clear skies.

We arrived at Tillie campground late Thursday night, and camped two very cold nights. Temperatures got to 33º and 31º each night. After the major rain storm blew through Joshua Tree on Friday, the forecast changed and now Joshua Tree expected to have clear skies. So we decided to pack up camp, and head to Joshua Tree.

Anthony met Jamie and I at the Cottonwood campground, Joshua Tree, CA on Saturday and we camped all night. We had what we believed to be great viewing – and Jamie even got some 4 min. unguided exposures before his battery went dead in the 25º cold.

We had a few ASTRONOMY hours on Friday night at Lake Isabella, and all night Saturday in Joshua Tree. Check the PHOTOS section for images from the trip – also, the now famous video on YouTube – Campfire Cookout.