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S01 |
Ethics in Astrophotography: The "Grail-Quest" - Anthropological Aspects
The increasing prevalence of global astrophotography is a most acceptable accomplishment of our high-tech-society, as requested equipment for such purpose has become comparably cheap and available nowadays. But why does man look up to the stars? When did it all begin and what is so fascinating behind stargazing and astrophotography? And the most important question: Why is it so important to keep up this "behaviour" and encourage more of our mates on earth to point their attention to the night skies?
These intriguing questions are thought to be answered in the presentation along with a swift historic overflight of human endeavors in grasping for star-light.
Speaker: Dietmar Hager
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S02 |
Partner Session: TSZ & Gemini
Product News
Speaker: Lajos Szantho
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S03 |
Mosaic Assemblage in DeepSky Imaging
Mosaic images play an important role in astrophotography. They tend to be more impressive and of higher quality than single-frame pictures. This talk addresses the questions of where and why it is convenient to bring mosaics into play. It focuses on the individual planning and processing steps that are involved in assembling such images. For example, how do I correctly choose the individual image sectors, how do I prevent image distortion for larger fields, or how do I get smooth and invisible image transitions?
Speaker: Fabian Neyer
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S04 |
Reflections on Reflection Nebulae and other Diffused Creatures
The variety of shape, size and colour of nebulae reflects closely the variety of physical conditions existing in the nebulae and the complexity of the interactions between light and matter. In the region of high ionisation the landscape is dominated by emission nebulae, in turn mostly dominated by the familiar hues of ionized Hydrogen and Oxygen. In regions of lesser ionisation, typically farther away from the galactic plane, a wider variety of subtle colours and morphologies appears. Here, the dominant mechanisms are absorption and scattering and the structures are often very large and diffused. The realm of reflection nebulae and dust clouds contains some of the most surprising and less photographed objects of the entire sky.
However, deep wide field exposures demonstrate how these bright nebulae are intimately connected with large clouds of gas. The high contrast between the brightest areas and the faint background luminescence requires some special techniques and great care to preserve chromatism. Because of the large size and beauty of these objects they are an ideal target for our chase, provided that enough time is allowed for integration and even more time is allowed for data reduction and post processing.
Speaker: Gimmi Ratto
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S05 |
Partner Session: Nikon Austria
Overview and News about Nikon DSLR
Speaker: Otto Gugler (Nikon Professional Services)
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S06 |
Remote Imaging versus Telescope Hugging: Experiences of a Southern Hemisphere Astrophotographer
With more and more high-end astrophotography being performed at remote sites, a logical question pops up: which is better, hands-on or remote? The purpose of this lecture is to provide some insight in the efficiency and quality level of both data acquisition methods. From personal experience over a few years, manning a private observatory and operating a prime site remote system, the speaker elaborates on the many facets, factors and the pro and cons of remote imaging.
Speaker: Daniel Verschatse
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S07 |
High Quality Deepsky Imaging with DSLR Cameras
Ivan Eder explains the advantages and disadvantages of a DSLR camera in comparison with a CCD camera. He will also focus on the differences between several Canon EOS cameras. Ivan will give a bundle of tips about important rules and imaging techniques concerning DSLR photography. Last but not least he will talk about the thesis "The faster the better".
Speaker: Ivan Eder
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S08 |
Partner Session: Intercon Spacetec
CCD Cameras from QSI
Speaker: Karl Thurner
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S09 |
Professional Astrophotopraphy
Nowadays Vicent Peris is leading a professional astrophotography program at Calar Alto Observatory, in Southern Spain, where the astrophotography team uses the 1.23 and 3.5 meter telescopes. The primary goal of this program is to make professional observatories aware of the need to dedicate a small fraction of their observational time to astronomy outreach. We'll see how this team works with professional instrumentation and the images they are achieving.
Speaker: Vicent Peris
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S10 |
The World At Night (TWAN)
The World At Night (TWAN) is an international program to produce and present stunning photographs and time-lapse videos of the world's landmarks against the celestial attractions, from the magnificent Milky Way above Amazon or deserts of Chile to starry sky of Arizona, and celestial wonders above heritages of Asia. Wide-angle TWAN photos have been used by astronomy educators world-wide as they educate viewers on many fundamental aspects of practical astronomy such as the natural look of sky, constellations, celestial motions, and sky events.
TWAN is a program by Astronomers Without Borders and it has been designated by UNESCO and IAU as a Special Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. However TWAN will continue for much further future.
Speaker: Babak A. Tafreshi
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S11 |
Partner Session: HP
Large Printing Solutions
Speaker: Christoph Kaltseis
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S12 |
Chasing the Perfect Sky
Have you ever thought why professional astronomers install their telescopes in certain places of the world ? The answer seems to be obvious. However in reality the telescope site selection process is far more complicated. Various factors needed to be considered in the selection process. The number of clear nights is only one of many parameters which have to be taken into account. In this lecture Yuri will unveil some fundamental principles of the astronomical site selection which are used by the professionals. He will also explain how amateur astronomers can benefit from that in their own backyard or remote observatories.
Speaker: Yuri Beletsky (ESO)
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S13 |
Keep it Deep
Nightsky and World Heritiage: Mapping and protecting starlight reserves in Central Europe - a lecture by Wuchterl, Trawöger and Reithofer.
The speakers present UNESCO-protected "Starlight Reserves" and "Light-Monitoring" networks as key strategies to save dark skies in the difficult years to come. The starlight reserves provide observation spots and windows to the universe for the public to keep and raise awareness of the beauty of the firmament. Candidate areas in Austria and their sky-quality will be discussed.
They will also talk about Lightmeter networks, which help to monitor the state of the skies, quantify light as environmental factor, provide a basis for legislation and allow to evaluate light-control measures. New world light pollution maps will be presented and it will be shown, how the satellite-measured "uplight" can be combined with continuous monitoring of "downlight", that disturbs observation to provide a synoptic view of light pollution: light-weather and light-climate.
Finaly the speakers will show how a simple, low-cost Lightmeter-station can be set up and used for night-sky monitoring and sky quality diagnostics to optimize observational strategies.
Speaker: Günther Wuchterl
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S14 |
Partner Session: Adobe Systems
Adobe Photoshop CS5
Speaker: Christoph Kaltseis
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S15 |
Advanced Astronomical Image Processing for Narrow Band Imaging
Jukka will talk about his narrowband imaging work in this lecture and will primarily cover the following topics:
+ Narrowband data handling and color balancing
(in different palettes, HST & natural compositions)
+ "Data mining" - find out every bit of information from your image data
(very suitable for LRGB work)
+ 3D-image-processing (this is not too serious, mainly fun and interesting)
Speaker: Jukka Metsävaino
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S16 |
Rivers of Stars
According to the most widely agreed models, galaxies grew over time by merging with other galaxies. Unfortunately, direct observation of these events involving star systems outside the Local Group have eluded astronomers until recently. For the past five years, R. Jay GaBany has been collaborating with an international group of professional astronomers and astrophysicists to discover the remnants of these ancient encounters using a modest sized telescope located under very dark, clear skies in New Mexico, USA. Jay will describe his work with the team, explain his techniques and present the team's latest findings.
Speaker: Jay GaBany
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S17 |
Partner Session: Wacom Europe
Product News
Speaker: Paul G.
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S18 |
Reducing Noise at Physical Layer on Cheap DSLR
Cheap DSLRs are very popular. Unfortunately they come with a lot of noise. Reducing noise at physical layer is the best way to obtain better astronomical pictures from a cheap DSLR. Choosing the right camera, the right ISO adjustment and cooling down the sensor will enable you to make quality pictures. Some easy mathematics will help to understand the connection between temperature, ISO and noise in order to help you to optimize your observing time.
Speaker: Peter Eppich
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S19 |
Lucky Imaging on Deep Sky Objects
Lucky Imaging is a consolidated technique in the astronomical community, especially on planetary subjects. The introduction of the EMCCD cameras on the market opens new applications, one of that is the opportunity to couple the advantage of the lucky imaging mitigating the seeing conditions and the great sensibility of EMCCD cameras on DSO subjects. Here some experimental results from an astroimager point of view, based on some test done on DSO with one off-the-shelf EMCCD camera.
Speaker: Filippo Ciferri
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S20 |
Partner Session: Oculum Verlag
Astronomical Publications by Oculum Verlag
Speaker: Ronald Stoyan
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S21 |
Disaster Astronomy
During their quest to explore and understand the Universe, astrophysicists have always pushed technology to its limits. Modern telescopes are enormously complex science machines, built and maintained at remote and sometimes extreme locations. However, humans are always involved. Thus infamy, failure, hilarity and serious mishaps ensue, and sometimes full-blown disasters are lurking just around the corner, waiting to hit the astronomers when they least expect it. Join the speaker on a tour to the funny and dark side of astronomical research which you have missed so far.
Speaker: Mischa Schirmer
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