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Editing images

A dark calibration image is an image that is being taken by either a camera or a computer that can capture sensor noise and other artifacts that can occur when you take an image. When an image sensor is taking a picture, even with no light, there are still electrical signals being picked up. To get rid of this, a dark image is taken to cover the lens of the camera with the same exposure setting. In this process, the dark calibrated image is subtracted from the actual images to remove the sensor noise, which results in a more accurate image.

A flat calibration image is a flat field or flat image that is taken to account for variations in illumination across the sensor. The purpose of this is to correct the barons in immunizations. When a flat image is being taken by pointing the camera at a uniformly illuminated surface, When you process an image, a flat calibration is taking an image and dividing it pixel by pixel. Thus creating an image with more brightness.

Median and average are different combined modes that you can use in editing your picture. It can help with getting specific characteristics as well as achieving the overall final product.

The reason median is used more commonly than average when we combine darks or flats is because of how much it has to offer. When you use median, it helps with robustness to outliers, preservation of features, reduction in noise, and ease of implementation. With all of these, you can do so much more for your picture and can help in creating an overall better product.

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One of my favorite projects I did this semester would have to be creating my Andromeda picture. I learned so much about the basics of calibrating and took all the skills I learned throughout the semester, and my final product flourished. The Andromeda Galaxy is something I have always had a fascination with. Some background information says that it's around 2.5 million light years away from Earth. It houses around one trillion stars, while the Milky Way only has 300 billion. Every hour, it is around a quarter million miles per hour approaching our planet. In about four billion years, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way will merge into one galaxy. When this happens, it will look like a giant elliptical galaxy. Which is a galaxy without its spiral arms or internal structure. The Galaxies are around 260,000 light-years across and are our largest galactic neighbor. This galaxy is so huge that it had to take 11 different segments and merge them all together to get the full view. I have always had a fascination with the Andromeda galaxy because of the likelihood that it will one day merge with our galaxy. To me, it is so interesting how many things will occur when we are long gone. 

This is the reason why I chose the Andromeda galaxy to be what I wanted pictures to be taken of for my requested picture. It was a very long process to be able to not only get the pictures but also create a final product. When we were able to start working on everything, we had over 40 or a little less for each color. These were clear, green, red, and blue. There were many pictures that we were going to have to go through on a software known as Maxim DL. It's an editing software that makes it possible to merge pictures. It took our class a very long time to get them done because there were a lot of little steps in between. For example, how long did it take for one single picture to be taken if there were darks or lights? It was just a huge process, and with the number of students in our class, it was impossible to complete these tasks. Another reason why this happened was that technology was not cooperating on our side. It's very funny how we keep getting more advanced in technology, but it can be so hard to navigate sometimes. Because of how it was, our professor stepped in and did the process for us. 

The next big step was bringing these pictures over from Maxim DL and putting them through Gimp. Just like when we did our Crab Nebula, it had the same process of putting each of the clear, green, red, and blue into the software. After this and moving the images to be in this exact order, we then start to bring up the brightness of each picture. One of the harder things I went through in this process was that my blue was very bright when I first got it, but there was no blue showing. To overcome this challenge, I first went to the part where I can brighten an image, but instead of doing that, I brought the curve to the bottom. But doing this, I was able to get the picture darker and was then ready to brighten it. After this challenge, everything else went very smoothly. I was able to add color to every one of my pictures. After these simple steps, the next parts are always the most fun for me. I love how there are endless possibilities to make my image come to life. I love how I can focus on being able to color or enhance my picture. This can be a game-changer if there is a lot of fuzz in a picture. For these pictures, instead of using hard light for my mode, I used soft. That was how I was able to create my image, ready for my presentation.

Overall, I had so much fun bringing my pictures to life this whole semester. But my pride and joy would have to be my Andromeda picture. I had so much fun with it that I made a whole new picture with it. Editing these pictures doesn't feel like class work; to me, it has turned more into a hobby and stress reducer. Overall, I wish I could repeat this class to keep on working on making new images. But I'm very excited about the opportunity to get a job helping with editing these pictures.

sources:

The Andromeda and Milky Way collision, explained (astronomy.com)

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Class Experience second semester

One of the most interesting experiences I had this year was attending a class that I had been eagerly waiting for. I have always been fascinated by space and have tried to capture its beauty through photography. However, I was always limited by the lack of proper equipment. So when I found out that Bridgewater State University Honors Program was offering a class on space photography, I was thrilled.

On the day we were allowed to pick classes, I woke up early at 5:30 in the morning with my friends, and I can confidently say that this was one of the best classes I had in my first year. The hands-on experience of editing space pictures was fascinating and I enjoyed every bit of it. I always wanted to improve my photo editing skills, and this class gave me a chance to do so.

It was amazing to see my progress throughout the semester. Initially, it would take me a few days just to get the brightness and color of the pictures right, but towards the end, I could get the desired effect in just 20 minutes. I was surprised to learn how much you can do with a picture - blur it, enhance it, use soft or hard light, the possibilities are endless. I enjoyed the class so much that I even made two copies of the same picture for my Andromeda project because I was bored.

The class didn't feel like a class at all because there was so much to do. One of the most interesting things we learned was calibrating the pictures that were given to us. Even though we couldn't calibrate our pictures as a class due to technical issues, we still learned a lot. I gained a whole new respect for pictures, especially the ones posted by NASA and other individuals.

Overall, this class was the highlight of my year, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who shares an interest in space photography.

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Poster presentations

One of my favorite experiences that I underwent this first year at college was being able to submit my poster. It was cool to see people's faces in awe when they saw beautiful pictures of space. But the best part was when they learned that students were the ones who created them. They loved learning about how each one of the pictures was made. I loved explaining that the actual picture they were looking at was actually around 40 or more pictures. And how we had to go onto Maxlm DL 6 to calibrate the pictures into one photo for the clear: red, green, and blue. Once we finished that step, we then played with the lighting of the image. We would then follow that by stacking, and it was just very interesting to see how other people were blown away. But if you take a step back, it blows me away. When I started this semester, I struggled to make these images. But now I can create multiple images at a much faster pace than when I first started. However, talking to people about the process made me realize how far I had come this semester.

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The Rosette Nebula is a large nebula that can be found near the end of a giant molecular cloud region in the constellation of Monoceros. It was first discovered in 1864 by a German astronomer named Albert Marth. It is around 5,219 light-years away from the Earth and spans over 130 light-years. It is larger than the more well-known Orion Nebula, which is around 24 light years across. From our point of it appears much closer to us making it much brighter. This is because it is 1,344, making it appear much brighter. The Rosette has a mass of around 10,000 solar masses, and it is currently home to 2,500 stars. In a few million years, it will slowly start to disappear, leaving only its central cluster NGC 2244. 

It is an active stellar nursery full of cosmic gas that is creating many new stars. It received its name because of its high resemblance to a flower. But it is sometimes confused with the skull Nebula NGC 246. In the center of this nebula, there is a group of very hot young stars called NGC 2244. These stars were formed over 5 million years ago, but most of its stars were born much earlier. The satellite cluster is responsible for the nebula's glow. The radiation that is created ionizes the surrounding clouds, causing them to emit their light. One interesting fact about the Rosette Nebula is that its central cavity should be 10 times as big because of its stellar winds. Another is that different astronomers from the 17th and 19th centuries discovered different parts of this Nebula. The open cluster, better known as NGC 2244, was discovered by an English astronomer in 1690. In 1830 John Herschel discovered NGC 2239. The best time to observe this nebula is in winter, with the best months being January and February under a long exposure time.

The Rosette Nebula, Astrophotography Examples through a telescope, AstroBackyard

Getting to the heart of the Rosette Nebula: How it got its Rose Shape, Space, Sarah Lewin

Rosette Nebula and Satellite Cluster (NGC 2244) – Constellation Guide (constellation-guide.com)

2024 February 14

Rosette Deep Field Image Credit & Copyright: Olivier Bernard & Philippe Bernhard

Explanation: Can you find the Rosette Nebula? The large, red, and flowery-looking nebula on the upper left may seem the obvious choice, but that is actually just diffuse hydrogen emission surrounding the Cone and Fox Fur Nebulas. The famous Rosette Nebula is really located on the lower right and connected to the other nebulas by irregular filaments. Because the featured image of Rosetta’s field is so wide and deep, it seems to contain other flowers. Designated NGC 2237, the center of the Rosette nebula is populated by the bright blue stars of open cluster NGC 2244, whose winds and energetic light are evacuating the nebula’s center. The Rosette Nebula is about 5,000 light years distant and, just by itself, spans about three times the diameter of a full moon. This flowery field can be found toward the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240214.html

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Harvard Photographic plates

One of the most interesting things that we went over in class was the Harvard photographic plates. I find it so interesting how many there are in their collection, and how advanced their technology was at the time. Harvard has accumulated over 550,000 classifications from the northern and southern hemispheres since the 1880s. They are in such undamaged shape that astronomers are still using those plates. But one of the most interesting things was how these plates helped lead to females being more involved in the discoveries in space. Before, it was mostly something men would study, but they did not want to analyze the findings. Consequently, women assumed the responsibility. This all started when Edward Pickering hired a male assistant to help document the stars. But he was completing an extraordinarily small amount of the work he was tasked with. Thus, Pickering, with his lack of work, gets done. He would then hire his female housekeeper, Williamina Flemming.   The whole point of looking over the plates was to catalog the brightness and size of the star. There was a mission to map every single star that was able to be captured. This was something very time-consuming, so it was highly undesirable to do. However, by undertaking the task, women made many discoveries in mapping the brightness and size of every single star that could be captured. But they also discovered new ways to study the stars. One of the most accomplished and talented women was Annie Cannon, who classified more than 350,000 spectra of the Harvard plates. Fleming would help classify over 10,000 stars, nebulae, and the existence of white dwarfs. Later, they published a catalog that included the ordering of stars based on their size and brightness. This was called the Harvard classification system. In conclusion, the Harvard photographic plates are not only something that mapped out the stars, but it led women to enter a field mostly dominated by men and helped change the way we document the stars. 

Sources: Annie Jump Cannon Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline (thefamouspeople.com)

How Female computers mapped the universe and brought America to the Moon, By Natalie Zarrelli March 4th, 2016

How Hardvard's vast collection of glass plates still shapes Astronomy, By Meghan Bartles February 1, 2017

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Throughout editing my crab Nebula, I came across multiple challenges I needed to overcome. One of the very first challenges I faced was the need to completely restart after I brightened all my pictures and added color. It was too grainy, and I wanted a better overall product. I resolved this by being more careful next time about how much I brightened my pictures as well as how far I moved the bar that helped dim the picture. One of the next problems I went through was that my blue picture was very dim and was being completely overpowered by my other colors. I resolved this by brightening my picture much more than I originally did. After that, it was much easier; all I had to do was merge all of my pictures. I focused on a major star and made sure it was all merged. After that, I used a hard light after I copied my clear picture. The biggest problem with this project was being able to post it. I first really struggled to get my picture off of Gimp and then posted it. When I originally made my first post, the picture drastically dimmed, taking away much of the green and red. I resolved this by manually going into my finished picture and brightening it.

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Star cluster IC 348 is a young star cluster that is 1,000 light years away from Earth. It is located in the Perseus star-forming region which can be visible to Earth from the Northern hemisphere in the winter. This region currently has seven young clusters of stars, but one of the more interesting things that was discovered was three brown dwarf stars. One of the smallest stars is making scientists reconsider theories for star formation. This is because one of the smallest stars found only weighs three to four times as much as Jupiter. What is interesting is this is the smallest brown dwarf found to this day. Scientists are still trying to explain how this can be possible. Brown dwarfs form like stars but because they have smaller and lighter clouds, it should be impossible to form a star. Brown dwarfs are astronomical objects that are between a planet and a star. Despite their name brown dwarfs are a deep red that can also range to magenta. The main difference between a brown dwarf and a star is how brown dwarfs do not reach luminosity by thermonuclear fusion of normal hydrogen. Their cores do continue to get hotter to the point they fuse hydrogen. But the main difference is that brown dwarfs prevent any further contracting because how they possess stronger and more stable cores. If we are comparing a brown dwarf to our solar system, its mass is .075 less than the mass of our sun but 75 the mass of Jupiter. The line between a brown dwarf and a planet is that the lower fusion boundary is 13 Jupiter masses.

Brown dwarf | Astronomy, Formation & Characteristics | Britannica

substructure of the Perseus star-forming region: a survey with Gaia DR2 | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

2024 January 15

Star Cluster IC 348 from Webb Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and K. Luhman (Penn State U.) and C. Alves de Oliveira (ESA)

Explanation: Sometimes, it’s the stars that are the hardest to see that are the most interesting. IC 348 is a young star cluster that illuminates surrounding filamentary dust. The stringy and winding dust appears pink in this recently released infrared image from the Webb Space Telescope. In visible light, this dust reflects mostly blue light, giving the surrounding material the familiar blue hue of a reflection nebula. Besides bright stars, several cool objects have been located in IC 348, visible because they glow brighter in infrared light. These objects are hypothesized to be low mass brown dwarfs. Evidence for this includes the detection of an unidentified atmospheric chemical, likely a hydrocarbon, seen previously in the atmosphere of Saturn. These objects appear to have masses slightly greater than known planets, only a few times greater than Jupiter. Together, these indicate that this young star cluster contains something noteworthy – young planet-mass brown dwarfs that float free, not orbiting any other star.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240115.html