Sirius and its companion

[pilleway]

Dear friends I been working a little on trying to astrophotography Sirius A and Sirius B, I know that Sirius A is approx -1.8 while Sirius B is about 8 in magnitude, meaning that Sirius A is 10000 brighter that Sirius B.
Is there anybody that know how can I see and catch them in a Photo. Initially I try a mask and the following is what I got


I used a Hex mask but I do have doughs it is Sirius B shown.

Any comment or re commentadion?

Regads
Pille

[Ron]

Pille,

I don't know if it is possible to capture Sirius B or not.

Your image looks very interesting though, especially the one spot at about 1:00

I did a Google and came up with some very interesting info, and saw a couple  of xray images, and some very short exposures from very large telescopes.

I'm going to have to do more research myself because I just don't know if it is possible.

Thanks for sharing,

Ron

[pilleway]

Thinking about the  situation, I think the trick will be to make the best balance between Sirius A and Sirius B to get the best compromise to be able to picture them.

I had taken the picture I shared to someone that knows some on optics and he told me that it might be a reflection of the image when passing through the Cristal, and because the mask was not touching the corrector lens ( there was about 2 or 3 mm he thinks that it is because of it. But Looking in to the following picture

Here you can see that there is no star rays due to the lack of the mask but still see something in the same position as the previous picture. FYI, both pictures in this chain were taken the same day at different times and was by playing with and without the mask.

Ron you referrer that had done some investigation in Goggle and did not see to much, but if there is any interesting information sure I will like to see it.

Gracias!
Pille

[Ron]

Pille,

I am still researching and found a few items, one from our own good Doc http://www.weasner.com/etx/ref_guides/sirius.html

Also http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2243312/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

I have tried to split it myself but Sirius has always been too bright, but I guess it can be done.  I'll  have to try again

Ron

 

[pilleway]

Ron, thanks for the links.

You got me material to work this week.

Muchas Gracias.
Pille

[Skywatcher]

Hi Pille
There was an article by Jay B. Holberg in Sky & Telescope Feb 2008 discussing Sirius B. This article says it is possible to see Sirius B and it has been done by amateurs. The 50.2 year orbit of Sirius B is moving it out of the glare of Sirius A and now is the best possible to find it. Your explanation of the mask you are using may mean you have already seen the article?

Jay B. Holberg  is a senior research scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona in Tucson so you may find some info there.

James C.
Arkansas

[Skywatcher]

Pille

I found this site at the University of Arizona at Tucson.

http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/lpl?q=sirius+b

James C
Arkansas

[Ron]

James,

Thanks for the link.

I'm going to have to try to split A & B maybe this next new moon in May

Can anyone explain this mask further?  Can the center obstruction of an SCT be used for the mask?

Thanks,

Ron

[Skywatcher]

Hi Ron

How are thing going in Tampa? The article in Feb 2008 S&T says this about a mask:

"Cut a square or hexagonal hole in a piece of cardboard, sized so its diagonal width matches your scope's aperture. Tape it over the telescope's skyward end. Bright stars now have four or six very strong diffraction spikes. Rotate the mask so celestial east is midway between them."

 In otherwords rotate the  mask so that the spikes don't cover Sirius B.

James C
Arkansas

[pilleway]

James you are correct, as it can be seen in the first photo of the Chain, you can see 6 spikes, those are a result of the Hexagonal mask , reason why you can see them. The mask I installed on top of the corrector lens and it was the one that generated the effect.

If needed I can take a picture of the mask so it is more clear.

Regards.
pille.

[Ron]

James,

Things are going pretty good in Tampa, had some unseasonably cool weather.  In the fourties in the morning, but that helps keep the mosquitoes down.
I'll have to check my Feb issue of S&T.


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Pille,

A picture would be good, one showing it mounted  on the telescope.

Thanks,

Ron

[pilleway]

Ron, I would ask for some days because today the Telescope is in the closet and I will be out of town over the weekend, but I will work it out and during the week I will take the picture and show you the mask mounted in the telescope.

Regards, have a nice weekend.

Pille,

[pilleway]

Ron, here is the picture of the mask I used for the excessive I did

As you can see it was made out of a card box of cookies and it work oK!
I did read the links you shared with me but it is been raining for almost 2 weeks, first opportunity I will try to see if I can improve the seen.

Regards
Miguel.

[Ron]

Thanks Miguel,

I'll have to try one of those out while Sirius is still in pretty good position for viewing.

Ron