Astronomy Pictures

[emw]

Alright, so this morning I opened my Father's Day present to find, surprisingly enough to those of you who seen some of my other threads, a camera mount for my telescope. Of course, since it's middle of the day, the only thing I can photograph is the sun, so here's my first reasonably decent picture:

I'm still trying to figure out the appropriate shutter speed to be using, given the focal length of the telescope, so I'm sure I'll have more to post later. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get some good moon shots. Focusing is also a bit of a challenge through the camera viewfinder, but I'm getting better.

Anyone else have some to share?

 

[Mr. Anderson]

very cool!

and Jupiter is just flying a bit ahead of the moon, so you should try that as well - since you could probably get 3 or 4 of its moons

Looking forward to seeing more

D

 

[JW8725]

Are those sun spots or a few bugs on the lens??

 

[emw]

very cool!

and Jupiter is just flying a bit ahead of the moon, so you should try that as well - since you could probably get 3 or 4 of its moons

Looking forward to seeing more

D

I had a nice view of it on Friday, and did see 4 of it's moons, which was cool. Hard to get great focus, and I'm not sure how much magnification I'll get with just the camera. I'll post what I get, though.

 

[emw]

Are those sun spots or a few bugs on the lens??

Definitely sun spots.

 

[wdlove]

Nice job emw. I look forward to seeing more of your pictures. You did an awesome job for a first picture like that.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

do any of the filters allow you to block out the sun and see the corona? That would be quite cool if there were some good coronal ejections

D

 

[emw]

do any of the filters allow you to block out the sun and see the corona? That would be quite cool if there were some good coronal ejections

D

Not sure - the one I have just allows you to look at the sun itself. I'm sure there are filters available, but none that I have.

On another note, my first real picture of the moon (forget the one I posted last week before the mount). This one's better:

Jupiter will be more of a challenge. I tried briefly tonight, but didn't have time to get as good a shot as I would have liked. I can see some great detail (such as the bands, and the moons) with my various eyepieces, but the magnification on the camera doesn't seem to be great enough.

 

[puckhead193]

emw, nice pics. Those would make great desktops

 

[JW8725]

Thats a stonking pic of the moon! So much detail. I think thats a good hobby to get into! Man I'm thinking about a telescope myself now!

 

[aussie_geek]

very cool!

and Jupiter is just flying a bit ahead of the moon, so you should try that as well - since you could probably get 3 or 4 of its moons

Looking forward to seeing more

D

Ahhh... I saw that the other night. I knew it was a planet because it was not fully dark. There were some other celestial bodies visible as well. One to the west and the other to the north. Anyone know what they are??

BTW emu, what telescope - camera combo have you got?, and what Apps are you using on your mac to capture the images?


aussie_geek

 

[MacSA]

I got this shott with my 4.5" reflector telescope and a Fuji Finepix 2400zoom (2mp) by pointing the camera into the eyepiece.

 

[emw]

BTW emu, what telescope - camera combo have you got?, and what Apps are you using on your mac to capture the images?


aussie_geek

I've got a Meade ETX-90 and a Canon 350D.

 

[emw]

I got this shott with my 4.5" reflector telescope and a Fuji Finepix 2400zoom (2mp) by pointing the camera into the eyepiece.

Very nice! I did a quick try pointing through the eyepiece, but didn't have much luck under the circumstances (dogs, son running near the tripod). I may try again just to get better magnification on Jupiter.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Shot this tonight when emw came for a visit with his telescope. I'll be interested in seeing what his shots looked like

D

 

[emw]

Shot this tonight when emw came for a visit with his telescope. I'll be interested in seeing what his shots looked like

D

The problem with a full moon is you lose so much detail - no real nice shadows on the craters and such. I still like the one above better. Over the weekend I'll try and hone my skills some more

Now, if I could just perfect that Jupiter shot!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

You managed to get a sharper image - maybe I wasn't getting the focus right....it is a bit tricky.

I have to agree on the half or crescent moon - it has much better detail....

D

 

[emw]

You managed to get a sharper image - maybe I wasn't getting the focus right....it is a bit tricky.

Or maybe I pulled mine through Photoshop real quick before posting...

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Or maybe I pulled mine through Photoshop real quick before posting...

Ha, I did and didn't get any suitable results....

Maybe next time....and the other pics weren't much better. Should have used a tripod on the moon rise.

D

 

[emw]

Ha, I did and didn't get any suitable results....

Maybe next time....and the other pics weren't much better. Should have used a tripod on the moon rise.

D

It's definitely tricky trying to get a great shot, especially since the ergonomics of looking through the viewfinder at that angle are poor.

When I'm at home, I take a few shots, bring them up on my Mac to check them out, then go back and make corrections and re-shoot. It's hard to see what you're getting on those LCD screens on the cameras.

Next step is to bring the Mac outside and hook it up to the camera, so that I get instant views of the image as I take them using Canon's EOS Capture software.

 

[MacSA]

Two of the largest sunspots of the current solar cycle - Sunspot 484 and 486 October 2003. Sunspot 486 on the upper right produced the largest solar flare ever recorded on November 4th 2003, luckily had just rotated over the edge.

 

[emw]

Wow - those are MASSIVE compared with the two small ones I saw the other day...

I'd love to be able to see a flare, but somehow I have to get a different filter. And have perfect timing, I suppose.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

There have been some really cool moon rises over the past couple days....here's one I got last night (the moon has been photoshopped from another underexposed shot to get the detial).

D

 

[emw]

I like the first one the best - the cloud cover is cool. I'm hoping to get a good shot or two this weekend, otherwise it will be another week before I get any as I'll be out of town (without the telescope this time).

I just don't have the lenses for my camera to allow me to take really good pictures without the 'scope.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I like the first one the best - the cloud cover is cool. I'm hoping to get a good shot or two this weekend, otherwise it will be another week before I get any as I'll be out of town (without the telescope this time).

I just don't have the lenses for my camera to allow me to take really good pictures without the 'scope.

I used my 70-300 4.5-5.6 on that one. Its just ok - I need to get a replacement, most likely the Sigma 70-200 2.8 and the 1.4x extender....eventually I'll get another 300mm

D