Re: [APML] Science in Astrophotos?

["Brian Larmay" <brileau@earthlink.net>]

Just last year while trying my new 105 mm nikon with the combination of tech
pan and an H-a filter, I discovered something odd in one of my pics of
Aquila...some fuzzy looking thing i couldnt see in any pictures of
comparison or star charts.
I went to Brian Skiff to get some feedback on what it might be and it was a
defect in my developing....very convinicing though and good I checked it
out.
Apparently the next day someone took a pic of the region and captured a new
nova a few arc minutes away from my defect.

Brian asked me if I would be interested in taking pics of various regions
consistantly everynight with the 105mm being that it has a nice widefield
lens to scan a good chunk of region.
I still think about doing it, but its just too difficult for me to get out
that much and drive 50 miles each night, or every other.

So now, beside just taking a pretty picture I examine them pretty closely to
look for any oddities.

Good fortune,
Brian


>
> If I find a comet or discover a nova on an astrophoto this could be
scientifically important.
>
> BTW:
> (just some random ideas about the scientific value of astronomical
images:)
>
> Images are important for science, not only if they are quantisized and
calibrated to the last bit!
>
> Heck, some people even make important discoveries visually! (Rotation of
Uranus, most comets discovered by amateurs)
>
> Of course much of scientific research is based on hard data, but if - for
example - you are studying star formation, then you will
> have to take a close look at pretty pictures of HII regions, to study and
interpret the way these clouds of gas and dust are shaped,
> illuminated or ionized by the newborn stars. There is a lot room for
visual interpretation of pretty pictures!



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