Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[Andy Resnick]

You do know there are power packs to take your mount portable ?

Yeah, I have a battery that can run the mount for a few hours. Right now it's easier to just run the cord. KISS, right?

 

[davenn]

Yeah, I have a battery that can run the mount for a few hours. Right now it's easier to just run the cord. KISS, right?

So what is stopping you from going to a darker site so that you can do longer exposures and improve your signal to noise ratio ??

Do that and your imaging quality is going to improve "astronomically"

 

[Andy Resnick]

So what is stopping you from going to a darker site so that you can do longer exposures and improve your signal to noise ratio ??

Do that and your imaging quality is going to improve "astronomically"

Again, it's purely a question of convenience, especially since I can't make plans more than a day or two ahead of time. For example- Saturday night it was 12F and clear. No way am I going to pack everything up, trudge out, set everything up and freeze my a$$ off in the middle of nowhere for hours and then come home. What I was willing to do was move the lens and tripod outside for an hour to thermally equilibrate, then dash in and out of the the house to align and periodically check on everything while I sit inside a warm room and watch episodes of 'Deadly Class' while the camera acquires images of the Rosetta Nebula (which I am now processing...)

Right now I can get 'good enough' results. With the reduced opportunity cost of staying in my yard, I am able to regularly practice and improve polar alignment and I don't feel that I've invested a huge amount of time if something goes wrong or some clouds blow in, I can sit outside and have a glass or four of bourbon (Wild Turkey 101: accept nothing less!) and contemplate the universe, etc.

 

[Tom.G]

...and have a glass or four of bourbon (Wild Turkey 101...

Sounds eminently practical!

 

[Andy Resnick]

[...] images of the Rosetta Nebula (which I am now processing...)

And here it is: first pass on stacking- no noise reduction, for example. About 2 hours total integration time, ISO 1600.

 

[DennisN]

Wow!

"I took nearly 50,000 images of the night sky to make an 81 Megapixel image of Tuesday's moon. Uncompressed image linked in the comments."
Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/arer0k/i_took_nearly_50000_images_of_the_night_sky_to/

 

[davenn]

Wow!

"I took nearly 50,000 images of the night sky to make an 81 Megapixel image of Tuesday's moon. Uncompressed image linked in the comments."
Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/arer0k/i_took_nearly_50000_images_of_the_night_sky_to/

View attachment 239025

looks awesome but just remember that it's not a single image in 2 ways

1) there are multi-stack images of the moon in mosaic format to build up the moon image

2) this them is merged with a star background image(s)

this is what gives it the feeling of depth of field

Yes stunning but with some tricks in there. I could tell by the comments that many/most people thought this was just a single image,
even tho it was explained that there were 1000's of stacked images to build up the moon partDave

 

[DennisN]

Yes stunning but with some tricks in there.

Are you getting inspired to do some new tricks with your gear?

 

[davenn]

Are you getting inspired to do some new tricks with your gear?

hahaha, not like that

 

[bruha]

Hi its really awesome,-beautiful with really 3D effect-which software you use ?
Have nice day .. and night...

 

[DennisN]

Hi its really awesome,-beautiful with really 3D effect-which software you use ?

Hi bruha, it is regretfully not my photo.
See the link http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/arer0k/i_took_nearly_50000_images_of_the_night_sky_to/, there may be info about software and such in the comments. But I promise I will try to take such a photo in the future, if I get a better camera and/or telescope.

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you
I will look, (as I probably said, I have Registax software but unfortunately I have not equipment to make enough number images
of one object suitable for stacking...)

 

[davenn]

but unfortunately I have not equipment to make enough number images
of one object suitable for stacking...)

you just need a camera that can take video

I may have asked in the past what you have been using ? I cannot rememberDave

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you,
I use just small compact camera Sony -I can make video, but I suppose you need software, to generate series of images from video record. Do you know some
good software for this?
Thank you and good luck….

 

[pinball1970]

Another one I remembered:
Unprecedented 16-year long study tracks stars orbiting Milky Way black hole (ESOcast 2, 2008)


Links:

• A Black Hole at the Centre of our Galaxy
• Unprecedented 16-Year Long Study Tracks Stars Orbiting Milky Way Black Hole (more pictures and videos to the right on the page)
• Max Planck Institute For Extraterrestrial Physics (homepage, Galactic Center Research)

I thought I had that beat but I think this is wrong, the sounds (songs going back in time) does not fit with the pan out, those broadcasts should many light years further out

Still, not bad for 1997

 

[davenn]

Hi and thank you,
I use just small compact camera Sony -I can make video, but I suppose you need software, to generate series of images from video record. Do you know some
good software for this?
Thank you and good luck….

That's what the Registax software does

just in case you don't have the latest version (6), here's the link to their homepage...

http://www.astronomie.be/registax/index.html

There is probably how to's on the site, plus lots of tutorial videos on youtube :)

Dave

 

[DennisN]

That's what the Registax software does

just in case you don't have the latest version (6), here's the link to their homepage...

http://www.astronomie.be/registax/index.html

Excellent, thank you @davenn! I've been thinking about looking for a software that makes images from video, so I am going to try Registax now. I've got a couple of movies I've shot of the Moon...

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you very much for link -I will look

Yesterday I make star shots -Rigel and Sirius (with 5 mm Hyperion) .
Do you have some experience with shooting single stars?

Thanks and hve nice day

 

[Andy Resnick]

Stargazing season started last night (for me), here's the 'Leo Trio' (Leo Triplet), 1.5 hrs total acquisition time @ ISO 800. Image cropped and de-scaled (400/2.8 lens, wide-open):

Forecast tonight (3/26) is again for clear skies!

 

[bruha]

Hello,
it is beautiful picture, it is within Leo constallation? which are these galaxies and bigger round object in upper left? I made some pictures last saturday in my country cottage (Bohmerwald) - Sirius, Betelgeuse and Mars but with my small auto compact camera it is not amazing.:(( (I observed as well Orion great nebula but as I have no possibility of long (unlimited )exp. time I could not not catch it
Good Luck ...

 

[Andy Resnick]

Hello,
it is beautiful picture, it is within Leo constallation? which are these galaxies and bigger round object in upper left?

Thanks! Yes, it's a region within Leo, the two 'horizontal' galaxies are Messier 65 (top) and Messier 66; the third galaxy is NGC 3628. The 'bigger round object' is the star HD98338 (mag 7.57) - it's brighter so the post-processing results in it appearing larger.

 

[DennisN]

M87 - Infinity in your Hand - Deep Sky Videos

"The Earth goes round the Sun
The Sun goes round the Milky Way
The Milky Way goes round the center of the Local Group
And the Local Group goes round the center of the Virgo Supercluster
The center of the Virgo Supercluster is M87
Technically, the Earth is going round M87"

 

[bruha]

Thank you for information,
it is really very impressive.
I was able up to now satisfactory observe just Jupiter and Saturn … But I read that M87 should be observable as well, do you think that I could catch it ? - I have 600 x 100 mm Newton...but my home place is quite light polluted...

 

[davenn]

But I read that M87 should be observable as well, do you think that I could catch it ? - I have 600 x 100 mm Newton...but my home place is quite light polluted

may be somewhat difficult from a light polluted location overall brightness of around M8.6 but
a much fainter surface brightness of ~ M12.3

 

[Andy Resnick]

Thank you for information,
it is really very impressive.
I was able up to now satisfactory observe just Jupiter and Saturn … But I read that M87 should be observable as well, do you think that I could catch it ? - I have 600 x 100 mm Newton...but my home place is quite light polluted...

I live in a light polluted area as well. M87 is coming into view here for the next month or so, and while I can't see it by eye, even through my lens (e.g. live view), I can easily obtain an image with an 8-second exposure. Good luck!

 

[bruha]

Hello,
thank you very much for advice!. I will try catch these (M87, M12.3) next week (on eastern) on country house if will be good weather...

 

[davenn]

Hello,
thank you very much for advice!. I will try catch these (M87, M12.3) next week (on eastern) on country house if will be good weather...

M12.3 is the surface magnitude of M87 galaxy, not a different object

 

[bruha]

Hi, thank you for information (I was confused ..) Nowadays in Prague it is not possible to catch it (and extra with 3/4 moon) but I hope in particular success in countryhouse. Do you have some own images of this galaxy…: ?
Have nice days

 

[davenn]

Hi, thank you for information (I was confused ..) Nowadays in Prague it is not possible to catch it (and extra with 3/4 moon) but I hope in particular success in countryhouse. Do you have some own images of this galaxy…: ?
Have nice days

No, not of M87 ... maybe give it ago over the next month or so

I Had to check my astronomy mapping program to see if it even came above my horizon ...
It does during my autumn - winter monthsDave

 

[bruha]

Hi you tell you are from Australia are nt you?

 

[davenn]

Hi you tell you are from Australia are nt you?

Yes, I am from Sydney, Australia. I live in the inner west suburbs of Sydney. It is very light polluted. I can only see the brighter stars, I cannot see the Milky Way. To get a better sky view, I load my scope into the car and travel for around an hour out of the city

 

[DennisN]

Hi fellows, I'm still stuck with my cheap El Crapo telescope, and I used it last night to observe the Moon and also Jupiter for the first time. It was quite fun, since I could see a hint of the different bands of Jupiter, even though the planet appeared quite small in my view. I've never seen that before.

I also got a good view of the Moon with my eyes, and I tried to take some shots of it with a Logitech webcam on which I had removed the lens to use only the image sensor. Now, the telescope ain't exactly Hubble, rather Wobble , since the mount is really bad which makes the focusing very, very difficult.

Nevertheless I wanted to share my photo of the Moon, since it's the best I have taken so far. I filmed the Moon with a tablet, using the software SharpCap which was pretty easy to use and quite configurable. I then used Registax to stack and produce an image, and then I also did some adjustments to improve details.

Anyway, here it is (cover your eyes, professionals! ):

And here is "Wobble" with the attached webcam:

When I have more time I will put in some work to do a better mount for the webcam. I am also thinking of modifying the focus mechanism in order to try to make the focusing more easy, if I can.

 

[davenn]

One of the mentors deleted my previous answer (post) instead of moving it across to this thread when they
moved your one across.
Cannot remember specifically what I said now?? so let's try again

I also got a good view of the Moon with my eyes, and I tried to take some shots of it with a Logitech webcam on which I had removed the lens to use only the image sensor. Now, the telescope ain't exactly Hubble, rather Wobble , since the mount is really bad which makes the focusing very, very difficult.

Yes, a steady mount is essential and I suggest that if you really want to make good use of that scope,
you should look at buying something that =isn't going bounce the image all over the place every time
the scope is touched for focussing etc
You could get a mount that will happily handle that scope and maybe a better one in time to come if you
really get enthused and do a scope upgrade.

Nevertheless I wanted to share my photo of the Moon, since it's the best I have taken so far. I filmed the Moon with a tablet, using the software SharpCap which was pretty easy to use and quite configurable. I then used Registax to stack and produce an image, and then I also did some adjustments to improve details.

Anyway, here it is (cover your eyes, professionals! ):

Still a good effort considering what you were dealing with keep experimenting

I would also suggest that you do more experimenting with just single images.
You will be surprised with the results that can be achieved !
Stacked images from video frames can produce awesome images but you need a steady platform to begin withDave

 

[bruha]

Hi,
I got some strange artefact (darker middle spot ) on image of Sirius. ??
And secondly I attach image of Sun take directly (without) filter…-I am not sure if line on lower right quarter could be siluete of sun?
Now I already order solar folie for filter-do you some have experience with it?

 

[Andy Resnick]

Last night was just clear enough to get out and image. Had a really hard time finding anything, but I got a few (integrated) minutes of part of the Virgo supercluster- this is the Markarian chain, with a zoom-in on M87:

Trying to find this, I stumbled upon M53- it's the small near-centered smudge: here's the result of 3 minutes integration time...