Big Blue Captures Xi Cet Lunar Conjunction
65 Ceti is a type E variable double star in Cetus at 4.36 to 4.4 magnitude at RA 02 hr 14.1 m and DEC _08 Deg 57'
by Mike Otis
65 Ceti is a type E variable double star in Cetus at 4.36 to 4.4 magnitude at RA 02 hr 14.1 m and DEC _08 Deg 57'
Otis Astroimaging
Some astronomers believe this is the system likely to harbor planets in the habitable zone and hold evolved life forms. One can only speculate about the origin and nature of these faraway worlds, 380 light years from the Earth.
Technical Data - Above Photo
Technical Data - Above Photo
* Orion StarBlast telescope project 1
* July 4, 2021 3:03 am local time
* Hand held Apple iPhone 6 Plus
* Hand held Apple iPhone 6 Plus
* Built in 4.15mm lens at speed f2.2, ISO 500, 1/4 second digital exposure
* Blue StarBlast II EQ 4.5" with 23mm eyepiece, no active drive
* Blue StarBlast II EQ 4.5" with 23mm eyepiece, no active drive
* Image processing: remove window glass, temper grain, enhance star,
preserve reflected Earthshine
* Software: iMac Catalina 10.15.7 OS, Photos v5.0, PhotoScape X v4.0.2
* Location - South Pacific Ocean
This is the First Light project conducted with the new Orion StarBlast II 4.5-inch aperture reflector telescope on the EQ-1 German Equatorial mount.
Left: enhanced AR image created by Celestron's SkyPortal app running on an iPhone with a focus on Xi1 Cetus variable star at conjunction with the Moon. Don't think about looking for the double star as it's far too close to the primary. The star is a yellow orange giant has its second component at 0 arcseconds distance or 1 AU.
This highly unusual photo was taken inside the new Indoor Observatory and shot through window glass. The image has received computer image processing to remove window glass and take care of internal window glass reflections.
Stars are very tiny pinpoints of high resolution in the parabolic StarBlast and only cover a few pixels in the cell phone camera images. Image processing is necessary to somewhat expand a star to make it more visible. This is opposite of what usually happens with seeing conditions that are less than ideal causing bloated stars or with varied optics.
Due to additional stars in the Cetus system which are located at habitable zones, contention by astronomers, and debated, is that life can exist on these planets around the star system. This refers to the famous Tau Ceti system long thought to harbor alien life forms.
