ASKAP Timelapse, WA

[alexch (Alex)]

Hi All,

I've been to the outback WA this New Moon filming the dishes of the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope. It took a while to process 19960 images done with 3 cameras during 5 nights. Finally the timelapse is online (put the sound on):
http://vimeo.com/terrastro/askap

It was an unforgettable experience - I stayed at the telescope during the day, helped scripting and testing the antenna movement for the night with CSIRO scientist Max Voronkov and just enjoyed the remote location with no mobile phones.

It is a very impressive instrument with 36 antennas (with only a handful connected yet) spread over 6 km making it somewhat difficult for photography but I tried hard to find good angles. The telescope is in testing phase and it may not be possible to film there in the future due to Radio Frequency Interference once the testing is complete. The central building looks very cool with the RFI shielded doors and no windows.

CSIRO might use the timelapse for publicity in association with the opening day scheduled for the end of next week.

Cameras: Nikon D700 and D3s, Sony NEX5N.
Lenses: Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8, Nikkor 14-24mm at f/2.8, Samyang 35mm f/1.4 at f/2, Sigma 8mm f/3.5 circular fisheye.
Some moves with Dynamic Perception Stage Zero, pans with Vixen Polarie.

Don't ask me how did I get all that stuff on the plane...

Some stills attached.

Cheers,
Alex

[bartman (Bart)]

WOW!!!!
Absolutely Gobsmacked Alex!
Tremendous effort. I particularly like the cherry picker working on the dish at night and the Fish Eye sequence. ( and all the rest to be honest!)
I certainly hope that the timelapse will be used for the opening! You deserve it!
Thanks very much for sharing!
Bartman

[Octane (Humayun)]

I saw this on Facebook the other day. Remarkable effort, Alex. Kudos to you.

H

[iceman (Mike)]

Stunning work, Alex. Loved the cherry picker scenes too.

Well done as usual!

[stardust steve (Steve)]

Very entertaining. The highlight for me was around the 2 minute mark where the Milky Way was setting parallel to the Earth. Magic

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Stunning work as always Alex

[geoffsims (Geoff)]

W O W !

That is seriously amazing work, well done. It is a pretty interesting effect when the all sky fisheye is rotating.

[astroron (Ron)]

Brilliant as usual Alex
Really shows the beauty of the Night Sky and how busy it is with meteors and satellites.
Cheers

[rogerg (Roger)]

Excellent work Alex.

You've obviously put a lot of planning and time in to organising the trip and then being there and yet again processing.

I would find it hard in that situation choosing angles to photograph from. there would be a lot of choice. I suppose where the Milky Way will besetting would narrow that choice significantly, so possibly not as hard as I first thought, but still, to maximise the time out there I would feel the pressure of picking the right places to photograph from

[gregbradley]

Wow, that is terrific work Alex.

What camera/lens combo was the last scene done with?

It seems exceptionally sharp and detailed with pinpoint stars. 35mm F1.4 and shortish exposures?

Greg.

[RickS (Rick)]

Lovely work, Alex! I enjoyed it immensely.

[andyc (Andy)]

Once again, wow - very impressive. On the all-sky view at 1:48-1:52ish, in the upper/upper right part, I think you have a train of geostationary satellites winking in and out in southern Aries/Taurus along the line of ~10deg N. Been looking to see them in timelapses - very cool! And the all-sky view shows the Ecliptic dust too. So many interesting things in your timelapses, and always visually sumptuous.

[colinmlegg (Colin)]

Superb effort Alex. You nailed it mate!

A couple of questions:

1. What's the power source to the site? I guess all the cables are shielded.
2. Can any of the scopes be moved...on rails?

[alexch (Alex)]

Originally Posted by colinmlegg

Superb effort Alex. You nailed it mate!

A couple of questions:

1. What's the power source to the site? I guess all the cables are shielded.

Thanks Colin!


Currently some antennas are on the grid power from a diesel powerplant and some we were connecting to mobile generators. It will all be on the grid power very soon. All cabling is underground and I presume is well shielded.

Originally Posted by colinmlegg

2. Can any of the scopes be moved...on rails?

No. They are fixed on the ground but can move in three axes - alt, az and rotational. The rotation is the first in the world. Other antenna designs rotate the receiver but rotating the whole dish eliminates diffraction from the support struts.

[alexch (Alex)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Wow, that is terrific work Alex.

What camera/lens combo was the last scene done with?

It seems exceptionally sharp and detailed with pinpoint stars. 35mm F1.4 and shortish exposures?

Greg.

Thanks!

Yes it was the 35mm Samyang at f/2 and 15-second exposures with D3s.

[alexch (Alex)]

Gents - thanks a lot for the compliments and nice comments!

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Beautiful shots Alex, I stayed at Wooleen station while working on the MRO and the skies are just beautiful out there. I never got the chance to stay over night at The MRO though.
Wooleen also had the South West Astronomical Society out there although I believe the dust was playing havoc.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very cool footage Alex. Well done.

[Phil Hart]

nice work as always alex. no doubt you had fun out there in the dark. i like the fisheye shot too .

having no light pollution domes in any of the shots is impressive and there's a great zodiacal band through the fisheye shot. what was your impression of the darkness of the skies visually.. any difference high in the sky to other victorian dark sky sites?

i do want to know how you got it all on the plane though!

cheers
Phil

[alexch (Alex)]

Marc and Malcolm - Thanks heaps!