Misc Astrophotography (Shoot the ISS, etc) besides moon shots...

[mtbdudex]

My photo has been shortlisted in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 competition held by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, therefore I decided to spend a little more PP time on it.
http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/

I've re-processed the image by individually removing the plane streaks from the 23 frames and re-stacking with those frames back in.

Got rid of almost all the gaps in the star trails.
The 1 remaining gap.....I went to the camera to check the camera setting's thinking I left the ISO at 200 not 800, hence that gap, darn mosquitoes caused me to doubt the settings upon starting the process.
Re-processed:

Prior:

 

[mtbdudex]

Milky Way and M31 via piggy back on my CGEM EdgeHD 800

Dark & clear skies here in Hillman Michigan Aug 6-7th while on vacation @ the Northern Shore Lodge .
Did skywatching and astrophotography 11pm till 1am both nights, besides boating/skiing all day.
(and then put the gear back in the lodge garage till next night)

Also saw lots of meteors, I did not set-up to capture meteors rather tried to show the crowd of 12-14 relatives (adult nieces/nephews) some viewable sights via old fashioned look thru the telescope besides imaging.

All of them have never done this before, yea I'm their geeky uncle, plus I had a few beers in me as well.
Showed them a skychart, how to use it, and some basic skywatching stuff.

Set-up, campfire was 50 yards away.

The green laser (attached to the optical tube) worked good showing them what we were viewing in the scope - such as M31 here.
Having the Camera mounted and taking exposure showed them how it looked with longer exposure, (image slightly outta focus here)
>>I'd like to have a laptop, would really help me dial in focus and show the crowd instead of LCD back.

First, some widefield Milky way single exposures while my T1i and 15-85 lens was mounted piggy back
....Base single 30 sec ISO 1600 f3.5 15mm exposure direct from camera ......................PP applied in Aperture 3.x (curves, etc)

Now I tried a longer exposure, same settings but 135 seconds
...............Base exposure ...........................................PP applied (curves to bring out Milky way detail, burn to darken the trees, etc)

I then took 7 lights and 2 darks of this Milky Way more overhead shot.
single 105 sec exposure @ 15mm, ISO800, f3.5.
...............1 of 7 base images .................................. Here is the DSS stacked result......I tried but could not PP out the moon glow

Here is M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), just above the treeline and the rising moon was washing it out
un-porcessed directly from camera; T1i, 70-200 L f2.8 IS II @ 200mm, f2.8, ISO800, 30 sec,

Used DSS with 6 light frames and 2 dark frames to process this

crop of M31 - this shows just slightly outta focus.
Blame it on too much sun and then some beers for dinner

 

[Ravaroo]

ˆˆ That's awesome.

I'm hoping the forecast for Saturday holds out and we get clear skies for the Perseid Meteor Shower

 

[mtbdudex]

ˆˆ That's awesome.

I'm hoping the forecast for Saturday holds out and we get clear skies for the Perseid Meteor Shower

Ditto - looks like here in SE Michigan Sat night might clear and Sunday is predicted good, I'll be out with the gear trying to capture some streaks...

 

[Shacklebolt]

Hey! Sorry for swiping your photo, but is this another galaxy in the background?

 

[Old Muley]

Hey! Sorry for swiping your photo, but is this another galaxy in the background?

Messier 110?

 

[mtbdudex]

Hey! Sorry for swiping your photo, but is this another galaxy in the background?

Messier 110?

Correct, I see M32 and also M110.
Here's a much better shot of them via wiki:

The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. The image also shows Messier Objects 32 and 110, as well as NGC 206 (a bright star cloud in the Andromeda Galaxy) and the star Nu Andromedae. This image was taken using a hydrogen-alpha filter.

 

[mtbdudex]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't express how disappointed I was when I clicked upon this only to discover it wasn't about Miss Astrophotography.

Ha!
Well here's the future 2020 "Miss Astrophotography" doing her thing while mom and grandma watch

 

[mtbdudex]

August 12, 2012 Perseid meteor shower, caught 3 next to the rising moon 3:30am - 5am.
The long streak at bottom is actually an Iridium Satellite flare.
You can see the 7 Sisters star cluster clearly here.

 

[milbournosphere]

My shots from the shower:

Meteor 1...

...meteor 2...

...and a Star Trails shot (there's a meteor in there if you look for it)

That's a stack of 75 30s exposures. It was aimed just northwest, where we were seeing the bulk of the shower activity.

 

[mtbdudex]

I did not win in my category called "Earth and Space" in the Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012.
But I did get a "Highly commended" and my image is posted on their webpage below, so I'm excited about that!
http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/2012-winners/earth-and-space/

Also check out the video, my image "Summer Nights in Michigan" is at the 4:48 mark, even the song is kinda cool!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19637073?ref=nf

I'm also here slide 8:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/picture-galleries/9551435/The-2012-Astronomy-Photographer-of-the-Year-competition-winners.html?frame=2343662

 

[Shacklebolt]

New Hubble "eXtreme Deep Field" (<facepalm> on the name, but whatever). 5,500 galaxies, some from 13.2 billion years ago.

EDIT: the area covered represents 1/30,000,000th of the sky. We are so very small.

 

[mtbdudex]

Orionids Meteor Shot

I've was up Sunday 10/21 since 4:30 am imaging with my DSLR, swapped batteries (6:10am).
Saw a few really nice ones with my eye that fortunately the camera was also on and pointed at....or so I thought
Once sunrise came I took the gear in, processed the 100's of images, and found 1 to post.
Also woke up my wife and boys, then took them outside to look "up" - on a chair - with them.

Seems I forget the eyes field of view is so much more than even a 15mm lens, and then the morning dew came and fogged my lens....

 

[fireman32]

on a trip out to the mountains the other weekend I tried my hand at astrophotography for the first time along with some light painting. I am pretty pleased with the way they came out. Would love your C & C on this.

_DSC0193.jpg by dspector32, on Flickr

 

[mtbdudex]

fireman32-kudos for trying this, IMO I'd go for 2/3 sky and 1/3 foreground, the sky sorta gets lost in the surrounding here.



Sky was clear so I tried again this morning Monday Oct-22, 2012 4:45-6am, here is lone one Orionids captured:
wide via 15mm shot:

[/IMG]

crop of it showing colors

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

sorry, no Orionids - was cloudy here for the peak so didn't get out. But did get out a little while back for the new moon. Nice clear night; drive up the hill to about 5,000 ft elevation, hike out to a lonely spot overlooking the river valley with no lights around. had an unobstructed northern view to practice what I've been learning - star trail shots.

The picture is 'meh' - now that I've figured out the basics, I need to learn to stack (to reduce the noise) and find a spot with something interesting in the foreground. Also need more battery power so I can extend the trails.

But what really mystified me was that glow in NNE. It was a pitch black night, with absolutely no glow at at all. But the sensor seems to have picked up the lights of Susanville, CA - over 100 miles as the crow flies in that exact direction. Amazing. So one other note to self - find somewhere with no significant lights within a couple hundred miles of the direction in which one is shooting!

Canon 40D, EF15mm 'fisheye', ISO 100, f/8, 90 minutes. White balance "daylight". In-camera long exposure noise reduction, Aperture 3.4.

 

[fireman32]

Here are a couple more that I took the other weekend

_DSC0296.jpg by dspector32, on Flickr


_DSC0172.jpg by dspector32, on Flickr

 

[Mito]

Great photographs guys!
I have been trying some astrophotography for a while and these are two recent photographs (about 2 days old)

1. just one single photograph, no stacking at all

Night sky at 25% moon by MitoPhoto, on Flickr

2. same night, same position just 3 hours of taking cca 450 photographs and then stacked in just one photograph.

Startrails by MitoPhoto, on Flickr

 

[Lebthree]

Old Faithful taken in September 2012.

 

[mtbdudex]

Driving home from Cub Scouts tonight there were clouds with ice crystals such that a "sun dog" was visible looking at either side of the sun, somewhat rare to see. crappy iPhone cannot capture it so well while driving either...

 

[nburwell]

Great photographs guys!
I have been trying some astrophotography for a while and these are two recent photographs (about 2 days old)

1. just one single photograph, no stacking at all
[url=http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8194/8104779266_8b3ddf3125_z.jpg]Image[/url]
Night sky at 25% moon by MitoPhoto, on Flickr

2. same night, same position just 3 hours of taking cca 450 photographs and then stacked in just one photograph.
[url=http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8048/8105987217_8056315a11_z.jpg]Image[/url]
Startrails by MitoPhoto, on Flickr

Absolutely awesome job with both images!

 

[MyRomeo]

Hey, love some of the photos in this thread, they have inspired me to build my own motorised barn door mount so I can have a go at capturing my own shots. In more than happy with the mechanics and the electrics required to get a smooth motorised barn door working as needed but I am at a loss as to how you guys know where to point the camera!!

I'll be using my d3100 and have a range of lenses including kit 18-55. 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 and 70-300 f4-5.6 telephoto

What I would really like is an app that I could use to find the likes of andromeda and other galaxies and interesting clusters.

Can anyone advise me?

Many many thanks

Ps - ill share my project with you all, parts are on order!

 

[mtbdudex]

Hey, love some of the photos in this thread, they have inspired me to build my own motorised barn door mount so I can have a go at capturing my own shots. In more than happy with the mechanics and the electrics required to get a smooth motorised barn door working as needed but I am at a loss as to how you guys know where to point the camera!!

I'll be using my d3100 and have a range of lenses including kit 18-55. 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 and 70-300 f4-5.6 telephoto

What I would really like is an app that I could use to find the likes of andromeda and other galaxies and interesting clusters.

Can anyone advise me?

Many many thanks

Ps - ill share my project with you all, parts are on order!

Old fashioned star finders work better then apps that are bright on iPad/iPhone, you keep your eyes adjusted to night skies and look at them via red light.
http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-93588-Astro-Vision-Flashlight/dp/B0000665V5/ref=pd_sim_b_3
Hangs around your neck for easy usage

I've had this one for a long time:

Bought this one in Nov-2010.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931559112/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With those and a compass you are all set, really you can plan a viewing session indoors and then go outside, or just go outside and explore....clear skies to you!

Remember it takes 20+ minutes for your eyes to acclimate to darkness, any bright white light will re-set your night vision.

Some links:
Cartes du Ciel - Free planetarium software
http://www.stargazing.net/astropc

Stellarium - Free (and open source) planetarium software.
http://www.stellarium.org/


Clear Sky Chart - Accurate (most of the time) weather forecast for astronomers
http://cleardarksky.com/csk/

Cloudy Nights - Pretty much everything you wanted to know about astronomy
http://www.cloudynights.com

Heavens-Above - Satellite predictions for your area along with other info
http://www.heavens-above.com/

RegiStax - Free stacking program - stacks multiple short exposures works best on planets and the moon
http://www.astronomie.be/registax/

DeepSky Stacker - Another stacking program, I find this one better for deep space shots
http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

 

[nburwell]

Here are some recent images that I took last weekend:


The Twilight Zone by nburwell22, on Flickr


Lonerism by nburwell22, on Flickr

 

[xStep]

Some links:
RegiStax - Free stacking program - stacks multiple short exposures works best on planets and the moon
http://www.astronomie.be/registax/

DeepSky Stacker - Another stacking program, I find this one better for deep space shots
http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

I'm wondering if you have tried such software that runs on OS X. Here are two I've located over the years.

Keith's Image Stacker

StarStaX - Cross platform star trailer.