Timeout for Sunrise

TIMEOUT FOR SUNRISE AT THE LAB
includes not only the colorful sunrise but the planet Jupiter rising above Taipei 101. Priceless.

Radio Telescope Observatory Lab 58

RADIO TELESCOPE OBSERVATORY LABORATORY 58

LOOKING FOR ET
A radio telescope laboratory is in the works at the Asian Arena International Taiwan location, being built as part of the open sky-faced balcony radio observatory BRO project. The purpose of the radio telescope is to observe radio sources, particularly the Sun and the planet Jupiter, as well as any signals that may be of extraterrestrial origin.

LOCATION
Taiwan is an island favorably faced by ocean on all sides - the South China Sea, the East China sea, and the Pacific Ocean. This water is uninhabited and creates a surrounding zone of quiet radio, more than a land surrounded counterpart. Taiwan has the greatest zones of uninhabited ocean space to the North towards Japan and to the east leading out into the deep ocean. Ideally situated is the city of Taipei to the extreme North of Taiwan that takes advantages of these oceanic voids.

EQUIPMENT
The equipment deploys a decametric 10-band radio receiver and a custom constructed antenna designed to match the correct frequency or to engage in a tunable sweep. Additional components include an electronic computerized strip chart recorder which handles the signals fed through the computer's sound card, and a DVM for numerical output, plus an audio buffer to match the signals to the equipment. Additionally, audio out permits one to listen to the actual signal for tuning and signal acquisition. This also helps in the case of guiding on moveable objects like satellites, spy planes, military vehicles, and alien spacecraft should one make a dramatic entrance into air space.

ANTENNA
It's planned the antenna will have a moveable scaled mounting to be able to track both natural and artificial sources, including satellites and aircraft. As part of a Tiny SETI Program, the mount will move to track anomalous sources which could be of extraterrestrial origin.

FIRST CONTACT FREQUENCY
We don't necessarily subscribe to the notion that first contact will result in the microwave spectrum. We believe other broadband frequencies may be used for wide spectrum first contact. Our deepest belief is that advanced aliens would use a technology for transmitting and receiving particles which we are currently not aware of.

DETECTING ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS
This radio observatory could tap into an alien civilization which is evolving around a star, given its radio signature is bright enough to be seen by the equipment. So this technique of First Contact uses this method which first detects their TV, radio, and other sources of activity. This is a viable program that could examine closer star systems in the North from East to West in scans, as recently planets around stars were discovered as close as a hundred light years away that reside in the habitat zone where it is believed that life could be supported.

THE APPEARANCE OF ALIENS
Most of these detected planets are quite large, having their detection based on the gravity wobble influencing its star. The intense gravity on these planets would evolve very large life which is able to cope with great gravity. Our technique is indicative of detecting radio bright planets and not directly observing the stars. So these planets detected could be very small but exhibiting very bright radio signatures. 

PHONE HOME
In this setup, it's ET who needs to phone us as we have the receiver. We are not going to transmit any signals or give out our location position indicating that any intelligent edible life may live on Earth. The problem is that predator ET may live out there and want to eat us. The Asian Arena International Taiwan Radio Open Sky-faced Balcony Observatory Laboratory 58 is ideal to mask our identity with only one way communications from the aliens to the Earth. 

BUDGET
So far, the project has spent a total of about $10 for the multi-band tunable receiver. The antenna is in the works. The software is Mac based and free. The computer is the Big Brain already in operation. The buffer will be constructed. The DVM is already in the lab. Additional software may be provided by the BIG Brain using Propeller chip technology. It's possible other software will be programmed and written on a supporting iMac computer. Our budget, not counting the equipment already on hand, is under $50. A target goal would be $25. Operating budget would ideally run at about $5 a month for supplies and materials.

R&D
The Asian Arena International Taiwan Radio Open Sky-faced Balcony Observatory Laboratory 58 will be heavy into Research and Development, and the collection & analysis of observational data.

Venus Jupiter Conjunction Ends

VENUS JUPITER CONJUNCTION COMES TO A CLOSE

 The Jupiter Venus Aldebaran conjunction comes to a close because its southern path puts it behind the skyscraper's south wall at Observatory Lab 50 and the project must be concluded. Lab 50 is used for celestial events rising in the East, northerly objects and star fields, and testing various Big Brain eyes.

In the small photo, at top is Jupiter, to the right of Jupiter is Aldebaran in Taurus, with Jupiter below.

At least three other stars are visible, some of which can be corroborated with the black and white photo.

The color photo was taken July 29th, 2012 at 04:01:46 am at f/2 with a CCD imager and a one second exposure (IE at 1.7). The ISO was pushed to 1,600.

The photo converted to black and white was taken at 04:04:31 am with the same imaging settings. The image is processed to see more stars through the heavy light pollution of downtown Taipei. Shown to the left of 101 is Auriga and Capella with the Pleiades at top right.

One might wonder why not continue to take shots like the small color photo...this was dangerously obtained by hanging out over the safety guard railing at a height of hundreds of feet in the air. Another reason the photo is small is because the CCD is hand held for this view and motion occurred during the exposure. To minimize the appearance of trailing, the image was reduced.

Venus Meets 101

SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF VENUS AT TAIPEI 101

THE CONTINUING  SAGA OF THE VENUS JUPITER ALDEBARAN CONJUNCTION AT 101

Photo 1 - Panorama

Photo 2 - Wide View

Friday July 27th 2012 

Photo 3 - Zoom

Photo 1 The panoramic view in photo 1 was shot in the early morning of July 27th, 2012 at 3:22:06 am, with a Canon Powershot S95 at 1 second exposure (2 EV) with a 28mm f/2 lens and ISO 1,600 shows a rich field of celestial sky objects - from top: the Pleiades star cluster, the planet Jupiter, the Hyades star cluster, Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull, Capella in the constellation Auriga. Note the position of very bright Venus to the immediate right of Taipei 101. Click on the photo to see the full panorama. 

Photo 2 The next photo shows a wide view shot in portrait format obtained earlier at 3:20:12 am. These first two images were at 1080 x 1920 1.2MB and screen shot for reduction.


Photo 3 The zoom is highly detailed at f/4... and perhaps the most dramatic with Jupiter, Aldebaran, and Venus poised immediately next to Taipei 101 (at the right side aboub 3/4th of the way towards the top).

Jupiter Venus Conjunction Widens

JUPITER VENUS CONJUNCTION WIDENS

Along with more stars and the return of another UFO!

All observations made at Humanoido Lab Number 50.

Wednesday July 25th 2012 3:53:18 am

Clear skies returned this morning to reveal the stunning Jupiter Venus Aldebaran conjunction above the Taipei 101 skyscraper.

The event was double spectacular as another UFO buzzed the surrounding sky for a short time. This time, the UFO made a wide sweeping pass and did not appear to land behind the Skyscraper 101 as some UFOs did in the past. It's believed some type of landing strip is located there, although it was confirmed that the conventional airport is located in another direction.
 

The earlier time at 3:53:18 revealed a darker sky and more stars, thus showing constellations Taurus the Bull and Auriga with the bright star Capella (to the left) more clearly. The small cluster of stars located about three fourths of the way toward the top is the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. In the photo with trailed star images, clearly the elongation of the UFO follows the path of a different angle.

The favorite imaging settings for this type of view are Program, ISO 1,600, 2 EV, f/2, no zoom, 1-second exposure, 1064 x 1600 727K image format with AWB in JPEG setting. A 28mm lens was used for this hand held shot. The first photo does not show the UFO.

The second image shows the UFO located directly above the 101 Tower. It appears elongated or saucer shaped on its North-bound trek. Numerous images were obtained showing the object moving across the sky.


 

Photos have no guiding from the hand-held camera. To capture these images, the author must hang out of the skyscraper several hundred feet above the open ground to avoid the building obstruction to the south. The entire process is a bit risky but result in very good images. Pieces of the this obstruction are visible in some photos at the right side.

The third photograph shows the unidentified object changing position again, moving from right to left. This shows the elongation of the object most clearly as the stars are not trailed. Photos were pre-processed with Apple iPhoto using enhancements: Exposure, Definition, Sharpness, and De-noise. The fourth photo shows another UFO change in position towards the North.

The final photo shows an enlargement of the UFO with saucer shape and a plume appearance directly to the top. The visual view of the craft exhibited some noted red color lights at times, not seen here in this photo.

Sky Haze Experiment with Venus Jupiter Conjunction

SKY HAZE EXPERIMENT WITH VENUS JUPITER CONJUNCTION

SATURDAY JULY 21ST 2012

4:39:40 am

This test exposure is maximum processed to show clouds and haze (at top of photo) that was not visible to the naked eye. It's obvious that on nights of this typical haze, which apparently is often, the limiting magnitude takes a reduction hit. Planets shown are Jupiter and Venus next to Aldebaran in the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus the Bull. This is a screen capture from the original 1016 x 1529 (752K) image. Exposed at 1/10th second, the ISO 1,600 image was at f/2 with a 28mm lens without zoom, using a Canon PowerShot S95.

The next color photo shows a normalized enhanced conjunction view with two planets and three brighter stars including Aldebaran in Taurus (at right of Jupiter and Venus) and Capella (far left) in the constellation Auriga, visible in this early morning dawn view. The conjunction view shows less stars around 4:30 am due to the encroaching sky glow. However, earlier clouds prevented completely clear sky imaging. Refer to the previous conjunction images for the identification of stars.




 
In the next view, a kind of "Where's Waldo" of stars, shown at larger image scale, a maximum number of eight stars are visible. Two above 101, four at left, and three at top.

07.20.2012 Venus Conjunction Sky Map Experiment

Above right: Taipei 101, Jupiter, Venus, Capella in Taurus

July 20, 2012 Venus Jupiter Conjunction Sky Map Experiment

Constellation Auriga with bright star Capella

Friday morning was clear enough to capture Venus Jupiter conjunction and the most stars ever photographed in the early morning dawn sky. This experiment shows that a simple hand held camera shooting a very clear sky at high ISO ratings can create a "downtown" star map from a heavily light polluted high density populated city. This 1 second exposed (2 EV) image was taken at 4:20:06 am with settings of f/2, a 28mm lens, and ISO 1,600. No UFOs were seen during the sequence of observations. Enough stars are seen to clearly define the constellations. This view is screen captured from the original 1064 x 1600 pixel image. The star map is rotated to match the actual view of the constellation Auriga and the brightest star Capella, in the photo to the left of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. The photo shows the Pleiades star cluster, Venus, Jupiter, Aldebaran in the Hyades star cluster, and the constellation Auriga with the bright star Capella. A PowerShot Canon S95 CCD camera was used to obtain the sequential images in this study. The camera eye is recording numerous stars not seen to the naked eye view. To conduct a program of creating the aforementioned sky maps, a simple tripod is recommended. It may also be possible to go deeper on the exposure and this deserves continued experimentation. The Lab 50 is obstructed by a brick structure on the South, so for an all sky mapping project another lab is recommended, like Area 51 atop the skyscraper.

6 Objects Conjunction

Rare 6 Celestial Conjunction

SPECTACULAR 6 OBJECTS CELESTIAL CONJUNCTION

Sunday July 15th 2012 4:19:53 local Taipei time

 This is a rare recorded image of the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Aldebaran, Hyades, and Pleiades Cluster, Conjunction as seen next to the second tallest skyscraper in the world - Taipei 101.

All six celestial objects moved together on the morning of July 15th 2012. Seen on the original to the right is the Hyades Star Cluster (see map for Aldebaran and positioning).

Imaged at 4:19:53 am and shot with ISO 1,600 at f/2 with a one second exposure. The Canon PowerShot S95 has a CCD element and a 28mm lens. Although imaged before sunrise in darker skies, the great sensitivity of the CCD element collects sky glow, pre dawn light, and light pollution, creating a spectacular view including full visible clouds and a bright blue sky looking like daytime with a city skyline! This image was taken at the right moment, just when the clouds cooperated by making a clearing for the mentioned celestial objects. This event marks the first conjunction viewed with a combined set of 2 planets (Jupiter and Venus), 2 star clusters (the Pleiades and the Hyades), the Moon and a bright star (Aldebaran) in the Hyades Star Cluster in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Also visible but farther away is a bright star near the zenith.

Star map from John Walker's "Your Sky"

Star Map prior to the actual event shows the Moon in a slightly higher position. From top to bottom, the Pleiades, Moon, Jupiter, Hyades, Aldebaran, and Venus. Adapted from Your Sky by John Walker.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/

Related Web Software

Earth and Moon Viewer

Solar System Live: interactive orrery

Moon at Perigee and Apogee

Terranova: a new terraformed planet every day

Lucky Shot Venus Jupiter Conjunction

Lucky shot through clouds

BIG BRAIN PROJECT'S LUCKY CONJUNCTION SHOT

THIS IS A LUCKY SHOT showing the current Venus-Jupiter-Aldebaran Conjunction as the objects popped into view through openings in cloud cover.

Astro Image Details

The astro image was obtained at 4:23:12 am on Thursday July 12th 2012 with the Canon Powershot S95 eye at ISO 1,600 and a setting of f/2. The 1/2 second exposure recorded this pre-sunrise view of Taipei 101 with clouds illuminated by the city lights and a number of stars.

Processing
Processing is with Apple iPhoto 11 v9.2.1 running on the Big Brain's Right Brain with activated 724 processors. This is a screen shot from the original 2736 x 3648 5.2 MB JPEG image. (processing to reduce file size, increase contrast to 100, adjust white balance AWB, sharpen 95, adjust highlights 100, set shadows 9, increase definition 100, verify temperature 21, adjust exposure to 0.79, set saturation to 56 and de-noise at 33.

Celestial Objects

Venus is the lower brightest object. Venus is said to appear as a small crescent shape in a telescope at its current distance of 44 million miles. Jupiter is seen above Venus - the gas giant is currently 530 million miles away. Note the star just to the immediate right of Venus. This is Aldebaran in the Hyades Star Cluster, located in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Click on the photo for a larger image showing more stars in this early morning view.

Sky Chart
The star map is only approximate as the locations of Venus and Jupiter have changed. Note the small star cluster towards the top known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters.

Venus Jupiter Aldebaran Study

Venus Jupiter Aldebaran Conjunction

Venus-Jupiter-Aldebaran

NOTE: YOU CAN View this ongoing planetary conjunction of Venus and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran all throughout the month of July 2012.

IMPROVING CONJUNCTIVE VIEW STUDY

Tuesday July 10th 2012

Several factors improved images of the ongoing planetary conjunction with Venus, Jupiter and the star Aldebaran in the constellation Hyades. An earlier observation time led to a darker sky and better contrast and fewer clouds compared to the previous observation made the event appear spectacular. In this view, the focus is slightly offset to successfully make larger planetary dots and more accurately represent visual brightness levels. Jupiter is above Venus and the star is very close to Venus at the bottom right. The first photo shows both planets appearing very bright but does not come close to representing the human eye view which was spectacular. The star is barely visible in this view taken on July 10th 2012 at 4:24:36 am with ISO 1,600 at f/2 and 1.8th second exposure. This is a digitally enlarged snippet screen capture of the original 2594 x 3459 pixel 2.3 MB JPEG image.

Aldebaran to lower right of Venus

STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF CLOUDS & ATMOSPHERE PARTICULATES RELATIVE TO STELLAR EXTINCTION

In the next photo, taken at 4:27:49 am on July 10th, 2012, the star is clearly visible and most clouds have momentarily passed by this section of the sky. Cirrus clouds appear very light and tenuous although are very good at blocking stars - this is because the city of 8 million has many lights that can reflect off not only the bottom of the clouds but the atmospheric particulates. Keep in mind the clouds can absorb starlight, reflect starlight, and block out starlight with a shroud of reflective brightness. This image was captured with a Canon PowerShot S95 at Telephoto f/3.5 and 12.8mm focus. The 1/8th second exposure was combined with ISO 1,600 sensitivity to compensate for the encroaching sunlight. This is a screen shot snippet from the original 2736 x 3648 pixel 2.9 MB image.

Full Zoom & All 3 Conjunction Elements

ZOOM CAPTURE STUDY

In the Zoom Capture Study, full Zoom is set to include both planets and the star in the same FOV. This was shot at 4:36:16 am on July 10th, 2012. ISO was increased to 3,200 manually, and the 22.5 mm Zoom focus was combined with a 1/4th second exposure at f/4.9. This is a screen capture snippet from the original 2736 x 3648 pixel 3.4 MB JPEG image. The Zoom Capture is more suitable for measuring relative object positions. Due to the fast ISO and relatively fast exposure, this and similar images are made possible by merely holding the camera by hand.

OBSERVATIONS OBSERVATORY

These observations were made at Observatory Lab 50. The Lab is very convenient at it locates off an adjacent wing to Static Lab 49 where images are processed. For higher resolution on similar Zoom studies, shoot in RAW mode rather than JPEG mode to increase resolution and reduce artifacts.

Two more stars at left seen in between clouds

MORE STARS VS CLOUD COVER STUDY
At left in the image, two more stars are visible through clearing in the clouds. This was taken on July 10th at 4:27:21 am local time at ISO 1,600 with a 1/8th second exposure (no telephoto) and f/2 lens, using a Canon PowerShot S95 in 2662 x 3550 pixel 4.5 MB file size JPEG mode. The image is cropped and processed in this screen shot snippet.

GRAIN REMOVAL STUDY
Photographic grain at high ISO is removed with Apple iPhoto function. This effect further delineates the cloud to sky differential showing which areas of clearing will have the opacity to show better stellar and planetary viewing.

CONJUNCTIVE COVERAGE

This Conjunction is currently observed a total of four times. It was imaged on July 3rd, July 8th, July 9th and July 10th. Other days were overcast, cloudy or raining and observations were not possible.

Humanoido Labs List

http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/humanoido-labs-list.html

Other Observations of This Conjunction

Venus Conjunction 

Deep Camera Venus Experiment 

Venus Jupiter Conjunction Revisit 

Lab 50 Observatory 1st Astro Image

Venus Conjunction

Tiny dot at top right is a planet

BIG BRAIN'S EYE FOLLOWING VENUS CONJUNCTION

In continuing with the series of images showing the conjunction of planets Venus and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran in the constellation Hyades near the famous 101 skyscraper, this new view was captured on Monday July 9th, 2012. A Canon PowerShot S95 was handheld with 12.8mm telephoto focal length at f/3.5 and a 1/80th second exposure. ISO 500 was used for this view just prior to the rising sun. 101 is located to the East, as seen from Area 51. Area 51 is a Big Brain Observatory and Laboratory located very high up on a skyscraper rooftop peak and has viewing access to the entire sky. Previous conjunction images were obtain on July 3rd and July 8th. However, today, due to some cloud cover, only one planet is visible.

July 8th Image
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/veus-jupiter-conjunction-revisit.html

July 3rd Image
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/lab-50-observatory-1st-astro-image.html

Area 51
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/area-51.html

Venus Jupiter Conjunction Revisit

VENUS JUPITER CONJUNCTION REVISITED

The Observatory Lab 50  revisited the early morning sky to find the Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the Hyades.

Finally after several days of overcast weather, the sky has cleared enough for new Venus-Jupiter conjunction photos. The photo was shot with a Canon PowerShot S95 at ISO 1600 (due to the brighter sky), 12.8mm, F3.5 with a 1/15th second exposure. Photo was taken on July 8th, 2012 at 4:41:21 am. This is five days later from the first conjunction image taken on July 3rd.

 


First Conjunction Image

At left is the first Venus-Jupiter-Hyades conjunction image taken a week ago (refer to the blog for more details) from Observatory Lab 50. This sky was much more clear and was absent of the Cirrus clouds, reaching a fainter limiting magnitude. This photo was captured July 3rd 2012 at 4:27:38 am - Taipei 101 and planets Venus (brightest) and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran in the Hyades Cluster. This is a rare twilight conjunction shot with a telephoto at ISO 6,400 and exposure of 1/20th second at F4 using a hand held Canon PowerShot S95.

http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/lab-50-observatory-1st-astro-image.html

Lab 50 Observatory 1st Astro Image

Early Morning: Rare double planet

& star conjunction seen next to

Taipei 101 in the Hyades Cluster

BIG BRAIN LAB 50 TAIWAN OBSERVATORY 1ST ASTRO IMAGE

This is the first astro image photo taken at Big Brain's Taiwan Lab Static Observatory (TSO) early this morning 

JULY 3RD 2012 AT 4:27:38 AM - Taipei 101 and planets Venus (brightest) and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran in the Hyades Cluster. This is a rare twilight conjunction captured at 4:30 am this morning. The telephoto was shot at ISO 6,400 with an exposure of 1/20th second at F4 using a hand held Canon PowerShot S95. This example shows great sensitivity to capture planets and bright stars with a hand held telephoto lens and a rather fast exposure of 1/20th second. This demonstrates the real potential for fast shooting entire digital star maps at F2 with a hand held camera and a dark sky. Closer inspection of this photo (at full size) reveals another star. This image is taken downtown in the heart of Taipei. The Taipei metropolitan area consisting of Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung, has a population of 6,900,273. Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan.

Twilight The diffused light from the sky during the early evening or early morning when the sun is below the horizon and its light is refracted by the earth's atmosphere.

NULT Telescope Jupiter Great Red Spot

NULT TELESCOPE AND JUPITER'S GREAT RED SPOT GRS

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter has existed for centuries - a giant storm raging on the planet. We thought it was one big storm. NULT examined the Jovian environment inside the Red Spot and discovered the GRS has hundreds, if not thousands of storms going on, all at the same time, deep inside the confines of the GRS boundaries. The GRS continues to live up to its name, remaining great and portraying a majority red hue. However, we can't say it's a tiny spot - not in the eye of the 24-meter NULT Telescope! Note the entire photo, edge to edge, shows storms, currents, and eddies all raging at the same time inside the GRS.