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I spend this website many hours each week to share my knowledge and experience from the areas of Astronomy, Cars and Travels. Most pages are written in English that is not my own native language, so do not judge me too hard if you find grammatical errors and more.

Highlights!

(these pages could be a mix of Swedish and English)

Contents:

• NewsMostly highlights on Astrofriend's homepage, see also left column Latest News
• New linksInteresting information
• Must do stuffWhat makes your life valuable
• Speech nature science, Föredrag naturvetenskap(most speeches in Swedish)

News:

Here I have collected news I found interesting.

Technology, Astronomy, Cars, Travels etc.

February 24, 2020 Astronomy: Tutorial

• Calc sheet how to find parameters to a synthetic flat image. This is the preparation for a new function in AstroImageJ. I have some old photos left from earlier owned cameras and telescopes. The flat frame images to these were not perfect and I can't take any new. There are other advantages of making synthetic flat also and some disadvantages:

  astronomy/ tutorials/ tutorial-flat-synthetic/ 01-tutorial-flat-syntethic.html
  (Calculating the parameters for a synthetic flat image)

Other astronomy tutorials:

February 23, 2020 Astronomy: Tutorial

• The last month has been intensive. I have updated my macros which I use in AstroImageJ to be more user friendly. Now there is menus, you don't have to write the parameters direct into the text in the macro. I also have added more functions:

  astronomy/ tutorials/ tutorial-astroimagej/ tutorial-aij-01-introduction.html
  (How to rotate raw-files)

I have added a function to stack aligned images.

Other astronomy tutorials:

February 210, 2020 Travel

• Once again we travel to the Canary Islands, this time the island Lanzarote:

  travel/ europe/ spain-lanzarote-2020/ 01-puerto-del-carmen.html
  (Lanzarote, Spain 2020)

Other travels in Europe:

February 13, 2020 Astronomy, photography

First time I use my 5 Inch APO refractor to take a photo of the Moon:

• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ solar-system/ moon/ moon-2020-ts130/ moon-telescopets-2020.html
  (Moon 2020)

Other Solar system objects (very uggly):

Februari 13, 2020 Astronomi, min nattbok

• Åter en misslyckad natt med en klar himmel som inte blev så klar efter någon timme. Men jag kan berätta om något annat spännande för er som vill ha mer kontroll över den viktiga förkalibreringen av kamerans raw bilder:

  .. lars-karlsson-night-balcony-work-20200213-se.html
  (Min nattbok om mina vedermödor ute i kylan)

Jag använder alltid AstroImagej till förkalibreringen, men har varit väldigt krångligt att ställa om för olika krav, nu löser jag det med ett nytt menysystem. Lägger till några nya funktioner också.

Andra astronomi historier:

January 24, 2020 Astronomy, photography

In Southern direction I have a cluster of galaxies centered around NGC 4111 galaxy:

• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ galaxies/ ngc4111/ ngc4111-galaxy.html
  (NGC 4111 galaxy and neighbours)

Other galaxies:

January 20, 2020 Astronomy, photography

One of few chances to get a photo of the Orion Nebula from our balcony, it's normally hidden behind the houses:

• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ comets/ atlas-c2017-m4/ atlas-c2017-m4.html
  (M42, Orion Nebula)

Other nebulas:

January 19, 2020 Astronomi, min nattbok

• Åter sitter jag här och observerar från balkongen. Idag råder inget vidare väder för astrofotoande, men tiden är bra för annat:

  .. lars-karlsson-night-balcony-work-20200119-se.html
  (Min nattbok om mina vedermödor ute i kylan)

Här kan ni läsa om mitt återuppvakande projekt med AstoImageJ och batch inläsning av raw filer.

Andra astronomi historier:

January 13, 2020 Astronomy, calculation

• Calculate the minimum diameter of your filter without causing vignetting. Even the minimum distance off-axis adapter prism to optical axis:

  astronomy/ astronomy-calculations/ minimum-vignetting/ minimize-vignetting.html
  (Minimize vignetting calculator)

Other astronomy calculations:

January 11, 2020 Astronomy, photography

When looking through my old data I found this unprocessed photo, a comet. Very weak and hard to see:

• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ comets/ atlas-c2017-m4/ atlas-c2017-m4.html
  (Comet C/2017 M4)

Other comets:

January 10, 2020 Astronomy, photography

In Southern direction at night from where I live there is an Open Star Cluster, M44:

• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ open-clusters/ m44/ m44-open-cluster.html
  (M44 Open Star Cluster)

Other open star clusters:

January 10, 2020 Astronomy: Tutorial

• If you by mistake let the camera's auto rotation be enabled it cause you problem when doing astrophotography:

  astronomy/ tutorials/ tutorial-rotate-raw-files/ tutorial-rotate-raw-files.html
  (How to rotate raw-files)

Have you ever got the experience that your raw astrophotos are in portrait orientation and your software needs them to be in landscape orientation ? This tutorial is about a fix to that problem.

Other astronomy tutorials:

January 8, 2020 Astronomy: Tutorial

• I have taken one page from my EQ6 rebuilding and made a tutorial of it. How to setup EQMOD and PHD2 for auto guiding:

  astronomy/ tutorials/ tutorial-eqmod-phd2-setup/ 01-tutorial-eqmod-phd2-setup.html
  (How to setup EQMOD and PHD2)

Other astronomy tutorials:

January 4, 2020 Astronomi, min nattbok

• Jag fick ett återfall och började skriva i min nattbok om mina observationer jag gör:

  .. lars-karlsson-night-balcony-work-20200104-se.html
  (Min nattbok om mina vedermödor ute i kylan)

När det inte går att observera kanske jag skriver om något annat.

Andra astronomi historier:

January 5, 2020 Astronomy, photography

At last, a night with clear sky:

• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ galaxies/ m102/ m102-galaxy.html
  (M102 galaxy, first real test of my rebuilt EQ6 mount)
• astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ galaxies/ m106/ m106-galaxy.html
  (M106, compare three different telescope / lens setups from 2014 to 2020)

Other galaxies:

January 2, 2020 Astronomy

• With no dark nights during the summer it's time to do some work on the equipment. My old EQ6 mount needs some, I disassembling the mount and rebuilt it partly:

  astronomy/ projects/ project-eq6-dismantling-rebuilding/ 17-eq6-dismantling-rebuilding.html
  (EQ6 mount rebuilt)

  Update:
  After 3 months of bad weather I now had a clear sky. I could do more test of my rebuilt EQ6 mount and got good results. Look at the page 18 !

Other astronomy projects:

January 1, 2020 Astronomy

• What is it with our weather ? Clouds and rain every night. The motivation for all amateur astronomers go deep in the ground.

  The last days I have spent on the Gaia space satellite. It's a astrometry observatory with extremely high precision. Could it be used to do something interesting ? I have collected some information here and a simple test by me to start with:

  astronomy/ science-data/ science-data-gaia.html
  (Gaia data archive)

  You can use it as a tutorial how to use the Gaia data.

  Update:
  New calculations of histogram over the positions of nearby stars.

Other astronomy science data archives:

30 december, 2019 Resor till sjöss

Min fars äventyr som sjöman under åren 1937 till 1945:

Uppdateringar om fartygen som Skepparen tjänstgjorde på, se sid 18.

• Vem har inte drömt om att göra en jorden runt resa någon gång i sitt liv. Min pappa Evert gjorde det redan innan han var 20 år fyllda. Han mönstrade på handelsfartyg och hamnade ända borta i Kina och andra länder i Asien. Det här skedde delvis under Andra Världskriget, det var många fartyg som gick under från minor och torpeder, även svenska fartyg. Tre av fartygen han var på förliste pga detta, dock något efter att han mönstrat av. Trevligt nog har jag en hel del bilder till pappas alla berättelser om de här 7 åren till sjöss. Denna spännande historia kan ni följa här:

  travel/ world/ evert-at-sea-1937-1945/ 01-evert-at-sea-start-sv.html
  (My father's adventures at sea, 1937 - 1945)

Other history related:

December 29, 2019 Travel

• I have updated the travel inspiration page with new sites:

  travel/ travel-inspiration/travel-inspiration.html
  (Travel inspirations)

Other travels in Europe:

December 19, 2019 Sound & Image

• I was a teenager in the 1970s and listened a lot to Disco music and still like it. There are a lot of other music I like as well. I have collected them in a list to share to you::

  sound-image/ song-music-favorites/ favorite-music-list.html
  (My favorite music list)

Other Sound & Image:

December 12, 2019 Astronomy, calculation

• Try my calculator based on Frank Drake's Equation:

  How many intelligent civilizations are out there in Milky Way ?

  astronomy/ astronomy-calculations/ drakes-equation/ drakes-equation.html
  (Frank Drake's Equation calculator)

Other astronomy calculations:

December 11, 2019 Travel

• This travel was different compare what we are used to, between the cities we travel by trains and ferry on the river:

  travel/ europe/ krakow-bratislava-budapest/ 01-stockholm-krakow.html
  (12 days in Eastern Europe, visiting the cities Krakow, Bratislava, Budapest, 2010)

Other travels in Europe:

December 6, 2019 Home Theatre

• It's dark and winter now. I can't use my summer car and most days are cloudy so can't do my astronomy hobby either. What to do ? Restart my old hobby Home Theatre, of course !

  sound-image/ home-theatre-resurrection/ home-theatre-resurrection.html
  (Home Theatre resurrection, 2019)

  Update:
  More details about HTPC setup and MPC.

Other Sound and Image:

November 28, 2019 Astronomy

• Photos from an evening walk at Stockholm's Observatory:

  Read more:

  astronomy/ observatory-sites/ stockholms-observatory/ stockholm-observatory.html
  (Stockholm's Observatory, 2009)

Other observatory sites:

November 23, 2019 Travel

• 14 years ago it was an exiting day, I had read about a steam train. This day it will start from where I lived at that time and go to Katrineholm. Wonderful !

  travel/ sweden/ katrineholm-steam-train-2005/ 01-katrineholm-steam-train.html
  (Steam train from Stockholm to Katrineholm, 2005)

Other travels in Europe:

November 22, 2019 Travel

• This travel to Switzerland I did just a few weeks before the big travel to Germany. It was partly a course:

  travel/ europe/ switzerland-zug-1988/ switzerland-zug.html
  (Five days in Switzerland and Zug, 1988)

Other travels in Europe:

November 21, 2019 Travel

• Thirty years ago I and two of my friends did a car travel through Germany and Austria. Very exiting and it was the first time for me to visit Germany and Austria. I have restored the old photograph and written down the story behind them with help of my friend Lars J:

  travel/ europe/ germany-austria-1988/ 01-germany-austria.html
  (Two weeks by car in Germany and Austria, 1988)

Other travels in Europe:

January 5, 2019 Astronomy / equipment

• Big news ! Canon has released a mirror less astro modified camera, Canon EOS Ra. Full frame and 30 Mpixel:

  https://www.sky and telescope.com/ astronomy-equipment/ first-look-canons-eos-ra-mirrorless-camera/
  (First look Canons EOS Ra mirror less camera, Sky and Telescope)

Other astronomy links:

November 8, 2019 Astronomy / seminar

• Seminars "The ALMA Fornax Cluster Survey" by Nikki Zabel.

  How does the galaxy cluster environment affect molecular gas and star formation? 2019
  (Institution of Astronomy, Stockholm's University)

Other speech, seminar and articles:

October 6, 2019 Astronomy: Tutorial

• An off-axis adapter could be tricky to setup correctly first time. Here is a tutorial I have done to help:

  astronomy/ tutorials/ tutorial-setup-off-axis-adapter/ 01-tutorial-setup-off-axis-adapter.html
  (Setup off-axis adapter)

Other astronomy tutorials:

October 22, 2019 Photography

• Looking out through the window, the sunshine comes and goes. Took a break and go out with the camera to catch some nice colors in the fall:

  photography/ seasons/ fall-in-hagsatra-2019/ fall-in-hagsatra-2019.html
  (Fall in Hagsätra, 2019)

Other Photography:

October 15, 2019 Astronomy, 3D printer

• It's time for me to adapt to new technology, 3D printing:

  3d-printing/ 3d-printer-setup/ 01-3d-printer-setup.html
  (3D Printer, assembling and setup)

Update:
Printer calibration
Update 3D printer software

Other astronomy projects:

September 30, 2019 Astronomy

• My EQ6 mount is good but there are some weak point in the construction. One of them is the Altitude polar align adjustment. When living at 60 degree latitude as I do it doesn't work very well. Here I starting a study of what others have done and what equipment there are to buy to solve this problem:

  astronomy/ projects/ project-eq6-wedge-rebuilding/ 01-eq6-wedge-rebuilding.html
  (EQ6 wedge rebuilding)

Other astronomy projects:

September 21, 2019 Astronomy / History

• Walking among meteorites, one day at Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet (Nature museum) i Stockholm:

  astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ meteorites/ naturhistoriska-riksmuseet-2019/ meteorites-naturhistoriska-riksmuseet-2019.html
  (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, 2019)

Other Astronomy Photographys:

September 13, 2019 Astronomy and Travel

• Mariestad have a meeting every year, a Star Party. That something we like and Mariestad isn't too far away for us either. After the star party we visited some other places too:

  travel/ sweden/ mariestad-star-party-2019/ 01-mariestad-star-party-and-others-2019.html
  (Mariestad Star Party 2019)

Other travels in Sweden:

September 5, 2019 Astronomy, vignetting of lenses

• I have collected my master flats and examine the vignetting of the lenses and telescopes I use or used:

  astronomy/ projects/ project-different-lenses-vignetting/project-different-lenses-vignetting.html
  (Vignetting of lenses and telescope)

Other astronomy projects:

September 1, 2019 Astronomy, photography

• Our own Star Party and first light with Canon 300 mm f/4:

  astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ galaxies/ m31/ m31-galaxy.html
  (M31, first light Canon 300 mm f/4)

Other galaxies:

August 16, 2019 Travels / Sweden

• Southern of Sweden is very beautiful. I have been there before but wanted to visit it again. We took my car for a 7 days travel through Blekinge, Skåne and Småland:

  travel/ sweden/ blekinge-skane-smaland-2019/ 01-stockholm-stegeborg-kristianopel-2019.html
  (By car in Blekinge, Skåne and Småland, 2019)

Other travels in Sweden:

July 27, 2019 Cars

• A visit at the junkyard in Osby:

  vehicles/ osby-scrapped-cars-2019/ osby-scrapped-cars-2019.html
  (Osby USA bildelar, 2019)

Other ships, cars and aircrafts:

18 juli, 2019 Historia, Slussen

• Återigen ett besök till Nya Slussen för att se hur långt arbeted kommit idag:

  history/ sverige stockholm slussen/ sverige stockholm slussen 20190302.html
  (Nya Slussen byggs i Stockholm, 2019)

Other history related:

July 14, 2019 Travels / Sweden

• One place I always have found beautiful in books is Norrköping and its river Motala Ström. We have travel by car through Norrköping many times but never stopped at the old town center. This day my girlfriend had to visit the archive of Norrköping in her research and I follow to walk in the old city of Norrköping and take some photos:

  travel/ sweden/ motala-strom-norrkoping-2019/ motala-strom-norrkoping-2019.html
  (Walking along Motala Ström in old town of Norrköping, 2019)

Other travels in Sweden:

July 9, 2019 Ships

• A visit on the Swedish icebreaker Atle:

  vehicles/ icebreaker-atle-2019/ icebreaker-atle-frihamnen-2019.html
  (Icebreaker Atle in Frihamnen 2019)

Other ships, cars and aircrafts:

July 3, 2019 Travel, walks with old and new photos

• One old idea I have is to take old photos and then take new ones from the same place and compare. I have started with the island Riddarholmen in Stockholm. The old photography is from the 19th century. Much more complicated then I first thought, it will take long time, here is the beginning of the work:

  travel/ sweden/ old-and-new-photographs/ introduction-old-and-new-photographs.html
  (Old and new photography from Stockholm)

Other things about Swedish history:

June 12, 2019 Travel / Walk

• A walk along Stockholm city's Southern harbors:

  travel/ sweden/ stockholm-harbors/ stockholm-harbor-hammarby-2019.html
  (Stockholm City's harbors, now three walks included)

Other travels / Walks in Stockholm:

June 7, 2019 Boats / Monalisa

• Big news! The anchor that belonged to Monalisa:

  vehicles/ everts-cruiser-monalisa/ everts-cruiser-monalisa-03.html
  (Photos of the anchor)

Other ships and boats:

May 19, 2019 Sound / Image

• Biograf (Cinema) Sländan Museum:

  sound-image/ cinema-slandan-museum/ cinema-slandan-museum.html
  (Biograf Sländan Museum)
• We had a visit to a camera flee market today, we was a bit early and found this when we waiting, a cinema machine museum.

Other things about sound and cinema:

April 14, 2019 Astronomy

• At our last vacation at Rhodes we visited the observatory Astronomy Cafe in Faliraki. This is a place where you can stay and rent astronomy equipment.

  Read more:

  astronomy/ observatory-sites/ rhodes-faliraki-astronomy-cafe/ rhodes-faliraki-astronomy-cafe.html
  (A visit to the Astronomy Cafe observatory in Rhodes, April 2019)

Other observatory sites:

27 januari, 2019

Nya kartor över fornlämningar: Fornhistoria

• Kartor för fornfynd, det är för dig som gillar att vara ute i naturen och leta efter vår spännande historia.

• Här finner du de nya kartorna:

  history/ sverige-fornlamningar-kartor/ fornlamningar-kartor-sv.html
  (Fornlämningskartor, Sverige)

Other history related in Sweden:

All other news: News.

New links:

Here I have collected new links that I found interesting.

Technology, Astronomy, Cars, Travels etc.

September 29, 2019 Astronomy

• New links about telescope mounts:

  links/ links-astronomy-mount.html
  (Information about mounts)

DIY and tweaks.

August 20, 2019 Physics

• 3D printing links:

  links/ links-astronomy-3d-printing.html
  (3D printing info files)

3D printing can be useful in astronomy, I have collected some links with info and 3D drawings.

August 20, 2019 Physics

• Funny Physics related to Gravity:

  links/ links-others.html #funny-physhics-gravity
  (Funny Physics, link collection from Youtube)

I think you will find it interesting too (but don't believe everything).

April 18, 2019 Travel and Astronomy

Astro-tourism, a growing tourist travel area.

• Astro Tourism:

  links/ links-astronomy-astrotourism.html
  (Astro Tourism, link collection)

I have primarily chosen places that I can reach from Sweden within 6 hours by air. Most of them are in Spain.

You find above links later on the link page:

• Links

Must do stuff:

Technology, Astronomy, Cars, Travels etc.

(look carefully that it has not been canceled or has a changed date)

November 11, 2019 Astronomy

Mercury transit 2019:

• https://www.planetary.org/ blogs/ bruce-betts/ how-to-see-the-2019-mercury-transit.html
  (Mercury ytansit 2019, Planetary Socity)
• https://www.popular astronomi.se/ 2019/ 10/ se-merkurius-korsa-solen-den-11-november-2019/
  (Merkurius transit 2019, Populär astronomi)

It happens only 6 times per hundred years !

Of course we got clouds, but Nippe have provided me a link with direct broad cast from La Pamla:

• https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v= 0kr-8ESM-8M
  (Mercury Transit - SST, La Palma)

October, 2019 Astronomy

• Comet C/2018 W2 Africano visit us:

  http://www.aerith.net/ comet/ catalog/ 2018W2/ 2018W2.html
  (C/2018 W2 Africano, Seiichi Yoshida)

• Look at your local star map where it is and its orbit, you can use CdC or Skychart:

  CdC or Skychart (Free to download)

It could be as bright as magnitude +8, you need a big binocular to see it or a camera.

Föredrag: (Stockholm, Sverige)

This is only for you who live in Stockholm, Sweden or want to travel and make a visit here.

De flesta av de här föredragen hålls i Stockholm. Vanligtvis är de på svenska men ibland på engelska. Läs noga på deras hemsida så att det inte blivit inställt eller flyttat.

Området är naturvetenskap.

31 January to 1 February, 2020

European Astro Fest:

• https://european astrofest.com/
  (Astro Fest 2020)

9 december 2019 till 5 januari 2020 Utställning (OBS ! Flyttad till Lidingö stadshus !)

För er som gillar gamla båtar.
På Lidingö Stadsmuseum kommer under december till januari pågå en utställning om Boghammar Marin. Mina minnen från min pappas berättelser är att han hade hört från den tidigare ägaren av hans Petterssonbåt Monalisa att den var byggd på Lidingö. Mina efterforskningar om Monalisa leder till varvet Gustafsson & Andersson på Lidingö som idag heter Boghammar:

• https://www.upplev lidingo.com/ sv/ 290727/ Utstallning-Boghammar-Marin/
  (Utstallning Boghammar Marin, Upplev Lidingö)
• https://www.lidingo nyheter.se/ boghammar i stadshuset/
  (Boghammar i stadshuset, Lidingö Nyheter)
• everts-cruiser-monalisa/ pdf/ boghammar-flyer.pdf
  (Boghammar Marin – en varvsepok över 100 år, PDF-fil)

Se även min berättlase om min fars Pettersson kryssare Monalisa.

2019 Visning / Föredrag

• Visningar av Alba Nova teleskopet:

  http://www.astro.su.se/ om-oss/ evenemang/ teleskopvisningar
  (Alba Nova teleskopet, Stockholms universitet)

Advertisement / Annons: