Wesley's Tool-Box

Those living in Korea was able to see the second total lunar eclipse of the year, following the one in January 31. I had multiple reasons to watch this eclipse. There wasn’t going to be another total lunar eclipse visible in Korea for nearly three years (next one is on May 26, 2021). Also, Mars was just past the opposition, shining bright next to the Moon and forming an interesting celestial pair. Finally, the eclipse was billed as the longest in the century, including more than 103 minutes of totality.

Weather cooperated well, and I was able to both observe and record the progress without a hitch. The result is the composite photo above. It was the first time my newly acquired Sony SEL55210 lens was put to use for astrophotography and it performed adequately.


One minor disappointment was that the Moon was to set below the horizon during the middle of the totality. So I focused on watching it comfortably in the house with my daughter instead of trying to see through every moment. In fact, it was first such eclipse visible through the southerly window since 2011, enabling Celine to see the phenomenon for the first time. She was impressed with how the full Moon progressively got dimmer from the left corner, eventually becoming red from the Earth’s shadow. Next time, I hope I can show her the comeback part.

Device: Sony A5000 + SEL55210 (E 55–210 mm F4.5–6.3 OSS)
Settings: 55mm - ISO 100 - 1/500s to 5s - f/4.5
Filters: None
Time: 2018-07-28 01:12-04:40 KST
Location: Naju, Korea

Indoor uses of thermographic imaging camera include finding leaks of heat or water, owing to the fact that people doing repairs may have the budget and the repeated usage that justify owning such a device. But as the cost to buy one goes down and the size becomes small enough to carry in a pocket, more uses come up. The one I found useful in raising kids is cooking and food safety. As you can see here, a bowl of spaghetti straight out of an oven didn't look particularly dangerous at first...


But with FLIR ONE Pro, you could see that the handle was quite hot. The spaghetti itself was also sizzling at over 70C. This image served as a good way to teach my kids why they should be careful with a bowl that came out of an oven.

I have been a long time user of a FLIR ONE, an infrared thermographic camera module that connects to a smartphone. This type of camera visualizes the hot and cold spots of a subject by measuring infrared emissions. Such cameras are generally quite expensive, but by reducing it to just the camera module and relegating much of the operation to the connected smartphone, having it at a much lower price point became possible. That's how the FLIR ONE series came about.

More specifically, I own a first generation of the series, which is shaped to fit on an iPhone 5 or 5S only. Subsequent generations were redesigned to support a wide range of phones. So I was quite thankful to have given the chance by FLIR to test out the high-end version of their latest generation smartphone attachment - the FLIR ONE Pro. I was eager to see what sorts of improvements were made during the past few years.


The product came in a colourful box that contained the main module, a USB-C charging cable, a compact carrying pouch, and some leaflets. The general style of the packaging had remained constant and professional, and the addition of a pouch was a nice touch since the module really shines when it can be brought to everywhere.

The quick start guide basically tells you to connect the module to your smartphone and install the FLIR ONE app. It is really a plug-and-go affair, so the simplicity is understandable. I do wonder if basic app functions could have been explained on paper a bit further, however.


Comparing to the first generation module, the look of the main component - the thermographic sensor and the regular camera bundle - hasn't changed much. However, the overall packaging has changed dramatically. The first generation was shaped to encase an iPhone 5/5S, so the long shape allowed it to house a large battery. It also has a recalibration / power switch next to the sensor bundle.

The FLIR ONE Pro, on the other hand, was designed to fit on a data/charging port of a phone and is smaller than a transit card. In order to accommodate thick phone cases, the length of the connector on the module is adjustable through the dial just below it. In order to make it compact, however, the integrated battery is much smaller and runs shorter than the first generation. There is a small power button at the bottom with status light. Automatic recalibration function did away with a need for a manual button.

Jupiter and its four major satellites (Galilean moons) are good targets for time lapse photography because of the relatively rapid movement. The rotational period of the planet is slightly less than 10 hours, and Io, the innermost of the Galilean moons, orbits the planet in about 42.5 hours. Under good conditions, these things become noticeable over a span of just about an hour.

Shortly after midnight of April 20, 2018, Io came out from behind Jupiter on the left side, while the Great Red Spot was moving towards the back of the planet on the right side after being in the center. These were all captured on my camera as I took 597 photos of the Jovian system over a period of 100 minutes between midnight and 01:40AM. The photos were then stacked and processed in 1-minute intervals (6 photos on average), like the one you see above, then put together into video as you see below.


I think it shows the dynamics of these celestial objects quite well. Now that I have a good grasp of the workflow for making a planetary animation, I should be able to make a similar one for Mars when it approaches Earth close enough to be seen as half the apparent size of Jupiter next July. Before wrapping up, here's a bonus picture of the Jovian system that I took just after photographing the Sombrero Galaxy. You can actually see Io casting a tiny shadow on Jupiter. I thought I would never see that sort of thing on my telescope.


Telescope: Celestron NexStar 6SE
Device: Sony A5000 (prime focus)
Settings: (1500mm) - ISO 100 - 1/15s(#1), 1/20s(#2) - (f/10)
Filters: Baader Moon & Skyglow
Time: 2018-04-20 00:00 ~ 01:40(#1), 2018-04-19 01:03(#2) KST
Location: Naju, Korea
597(#1), 6(#2) photos processed with PIPP 2.5.6 and RegiStax 6.1.0.8

I was looking to photograph a galaxy that was shaped distinct enough to look like something other than a blob of fuzzy light ball under limited equipment and conditions. Looking through the available targets, I picked out the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104. This is a spiral galaxy in the Virgo constellation that resembles the shape of a sombrero, a Mexican style wide-brimmed straw hat.

As you can see here, the observation and the photography were successful. The "brim" definitely makes the galaxy easily identifiable, helped by the use of a filter to cut down the ambient light pollution. The photo isn't quite as smooth as I liked due to the field rotation inherent in the Alt-Az mount. This prevented me from using an exposure time longer than a minute, and I had to compensate with a high ISO setting.

Telescope: Celestron NexStar 6SE
Device: Sony A5000 (prime focus)
Settings: (1500mm) - ISO 3200 - 60s - (f/10)
Filters: Baader Moon & Skyglow
Time: 2018-04-18 23:08 ~ 2018-04-19 00:48 KST
Location: Naju, Korea
7 photos stacked with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4