Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[DennisN]

I got this link from a friend yesterday, and I thought it was a pretty cool startup project, even though it may not be intended for folks as picky as us in this thread :), and I haven't checked the specifications) :

Dwarf Telescope

 

[bruha]

Hello, I send sun image with green filter Baader 2458390...
Do you have somebody experience with this filter?
Hi and thank you...

 

[bruha]

Hello, Mars from yesterday, these is with mobile camera. I have problem with focusing beacouse it is too
small on display to see it properly. Next problem is with stabilisation -short time delay is not enough stabilised
and with long time delay image move out of display...
Hi

 

[collinsmark]

Hello, Mars from yesterday, these is with mobile camera. I have problem with focusing beacouse it is too
small on display to see it properly. Next problem is with stabilisation -short time delay is not enough stabilised
and with long time delay image move out of display...
Hi

One of the more fundamental pieces of equipment used for astrophotography is some sort of mechanism that tracks the movement of the sky. Or, to put it more precisely: a piece of equipment which counteracts the Earth's rotation, keeping the telescope/camera pointed in the same direction as the Earth rotates underneath it.

When purchasing a telescope mount, at the very least you'll want to consider a motorized "equatorial" mount that automatically tracks on the right-ascension axis (the right-ascension axis [as opposed to the declination axis] is the one that needs to move to track the Earth's rotation), if you plan on doing astrophotograhy.

If you're not interested in an entire telescope, but just want a camera mount that tracks on the right-ascension axis, there are products called "Camera Trackers," or sometimes called "Sky Trackers," to which you can attach your camera and lens, without having a dedicated telescope.

Neither solution is inexpensive. Astrophotography can be a pretty expensive hobby. But at the minimum $$ end of the spectrum, some form of tracking mechanism fits in there.

Also, any mechanism that tracks the rotation of the Earth will require polar alignment. So you'll have to learn what that entails. Of course though, learning is nothing to scoff at. That's a big reason why we're in this hobby in the first place: to learn.

(There is one other option that doesn't require an equatorial mount or equatorial sky tracker, and that is an expensive computerized telescope on an alt-azimuth mount, with motors on both axes, combined with a field rotator. This is neither a particularly graceful solution nor is it inexpensive. I would not recommend this solution, but I thought I would list it here because it is a possibility.)

(More detailed discussion on this topic might warrant a brand new thread.)

 

[collinsmark]

Here's an image of Mars taken last Thursday night, roughly a day after opposition. (I tried to image Mars the night before too, closer to opposition, but ran into some trouble. Horror story below).

Midpoint timestamp: 2020-10-16 07:55.2 UT
Summary: 13.5 minutes total acquisition time.

---------------------------------
Details (skip if you're not interested in the details):

Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF mounted on an equatorial wedge
ZWO ASI290MM monochrome camera
Tele Vue 4x Powermate
ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC)
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel with Astronomik Deep Sky RGB filters

Acquisition:
Seeing conditions were quite good, perhaps on the lower side of excellent, but still excellent. And the good seeing lasted through most of the imaging session.

Before imaging started, I made sure to collimate the telescope while I was waiting for Mars to rise above the building.

FireCapture was used to capture sequences, where each sequences is comprised of nine, 90 second videos, while alternating filters in the order of RGBRGBRGB. The Region of Interest (ROI), camera gain and the exposure time was set to keep the frame rate pretty high -- at about 125 fps or so. This corresponds to exposure times of about 7 or 8 ms or so. Refocusing and rotation of the ADC was done in-between sequences. This went on for about 4 hours, before during and after Mars crossed the meridian.

Processing:
Each video was processed with Autostakkert! using lucky imaging techniques. For each video, approximately 70 APs were used, and 50% of the frames were kept. This processing not only outputs images for further processing, but also produces roughly sharpened image to use for evaluation in deciding which images should be used, moving forward.

I was like a kid in a candy store. Many of the sequences had beautiful data. Usually, I feel fortunate if I end up with a single sequence that isn't garbage, but this night I found one good sequence after another. I chose sequence 6 for the image above, but it was just a coin flip. There were other sequences that were just as good.

Of course I had to delete most of the raw data, because, well, "terabyte." But I'll keep the processed data and maybe make a time-lapse video out of them if I can find the time.

Each image was then processed with Registax wavelet sharpening.

The Registax sharpened images were then combined using WinJUPOS: Three images captured with the Red filter to produce one combined Red image, and so on with the Green and Blue filtered images.

Gimp was used to place the combined images in their respective color channels. Then Gimp was used for curve adjustments, contrast adjustments, and saturation adjustments.
-----------------------------

Horror Story: I also tried to image the night before, just a handful of hours after opposition.

It was a dark and dewy night. The neighbors had long retired for their evening slumber. It was just me and the telescope sitting alone in the eerie silence. A chill was in the air. Mars finally rose over the dank rooftops, beckoning me. No, not beckoning -- goading me. Goading me to capture an image. Mars laughed at me as I centered the planet on the capture screen. A drop of dew fell from the rain gutter.

I twisted the focus knob. A strange apparition appeared on the screen. It was Mars, but it wasn't Mars. Something else was there: an apparition of some kind. "What in the world?" I asked myself. "That's too big for a dust mote." I clicked the button on FireCapture to change the filter from L to R, just to make sure. Nothing changed; the apparition was still there. It was like something was blocking my view of Mars. A ghostly something was in-between Mars and myself. I hit the button again, this time G. Still no difference. A sound -- a murmur -- whispered out. "What is that sound!?" B. "Mrraww" came from somewhere. Nothing else. It was a hushed, cagily whine. The apparition remained. "Good god," I squealed. "My filter wheel."

A couple of turns on some thumbscrews and I rushed my camera and filterwheel inside the house. I grabbed a precision screwdriver set that I had handy and tore open the filter wheel enclosure right there on the kitchen counter. Sure enough, the belt that drives the wheel had come partially off its tracks and was sort of jamming things up. The apparition was nothing more than the partition between filters and possibly a little bit of belt. "Well, that's easy enough to fix," I told myself as I rolled the belt back on its tracks and reassembled the enclosure.

Back outside I slid the camera and filterwheel assembly back into the ADC. No sooner than I turned to the laptop did I hear a loud clang. The camera and filter wheel had fallen out onto the concrete. "Ahhh, Gad, Jaysus <redacted> <redacted> dammit," I cried as I picked up the assembly off the cold, hard ground. "What Have I done?!" I pleaded for mercy to the stars and planets. "What. Have. I. Done. Guaaah!" Porchlights illuminated. Heads came out of windows.

I re-plugged the assembly back into the ADC, this time making damned sure the thumbscrews were quite tight. Dustmotes galore. If I thought that apparition before was bad, this was godawful.

They say that you only get to drop sensitive astronomical equipment on the concrete twice: once on the concrete and once in the trash. "Guaaahh," I yelped.

Back into the kitchen. I disassembled the filter wheel a second time. 'Removed the camera. I Grabbed the handheld air blower and blew air all around every nook and cranny for about 5 minutes. I put everything back together, not knowing what to expect next.

I reattached everything back to the telescope (paying extra attention to the thumbscrews, of course). R. The filter wheel changed position. No dust motes. "Oh, thank god." G. It seemed to work. B. Yep.

I recalibrated the filter wheel positions, just to be sure, and everything seemed OK. I don't know how it survived, but yet there we were, fully functional.

Mars was still laughing.

I suppose that's not much of an ending to this story, but I'll take it!

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you for information and advise collinsmark.. I will check these and thinking over...
your Mars is beautiful

 

[DennisN]

@collinsmark , funny horror story!

 

[chemisttree]

Hello, I send sun image with green filter Baader 2458390...
Do you have somebody experience with this filter?
Hi and thank you...

Is the red fringing the concern for you? If so, it is well known that faster scopes have this problem with thin film interference filters. You get rainbow colors unless the light rays are very parallel just like thin film soap bubbles produce a rainbow of color. Very parallel usually means large f-numbers. Try converting your f4.5 scope into an f9 or f13.5 with a 2X or 3x Barlow and see what you get. Put the filter after the Barlow, on your eyepiece.

Google “constructive destructive interference thin film” for more background.

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you for advise.. . (in fact my f number is 600/100=6), but I understand, I will try it.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Cygnus @ 105mm, approximately 4x a single 35mm FOV:

The original is about 13k pixels on a side. You can clearly see the North American Nebula, Veil nebula, and the large-scale dust/gas distribution here, and as the image scales back up to 1:1, the Pelican, Crescent, and Tulip nebulae are clear. Near the Tulip nebula is Cygnus X-1, but it's not visible :)

The rainbow-y color banding is an artifact and eventually averages out- that's why it's predominantly along the edges, where there are fewer images.

With this one, I now have a set of printable images of Cygnus: this one and 3 @400mm centered on the three major features (North American, Veil, and IC 1318 nebulae) that I already posted here. Wall art!

 

[bruha]

Hi, next Mars attempt by mobile camera..

 

[chemisttree]

Yahoo Groups is going away on December 15 this year. Kind of sad to see some of the groups I frequent turned off, especially the Lunar Observers Group. Right now the Lunar Observers Group is dormant so you can't use it but you can still post to it and members will see the post.

Christian Viladrich has posted some very, very fine images of the Moon using his C-14 Schmidt-Cassegrain.

Here are the links to Clavius, Stofler, Tries, Ariadaeus, Hadley, Cassini, Exodus, Lacus-Mortis, Plato and Plato again.

I'll post just one so you can see... Clavius! (like I've never seen it)

Yeah, that was taken from Earth!

Just... WOW!

If you are interested in why he chose to image these using a green filter, see for yourself the spot diagrams of his OSLO simulation at 550 nm (0.55 μm).

 

[DennisN]

@bruha & @chemisttree and others who are using mobile phones as cameras:

I just learned that there are bluetooth remote controls (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y8MTW76/?tag=pfamazon01-20) that can control the camera on mobile phones. And e.g. OpenCamera for Android supports remote controls. I will try to get a suitable remote control, so I don't have to use the delay function anymore to remove vibrations.

 

[chemisttree]

@bruha & @chemisttree and others who are using mobile phones as cameras:

I just learned that there are bluetooth remote controls (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y8MTW76/?tag=pfamazon01-20) that can control the camera on mobile phones. And e.g. OpenCamera for Android supports remote controls. I will try to get a suitable remote control, so I don't have to use the delay function anymore to remove vibrations.

That’s really going to help! I wonder if it will work with ProCamera?

I just finished building a 5” f9.4 refractor and I can’t get any decent images from it with the iPhone due to vibrations and the speed of the image racing across the field of view. Definitely need to break out the Atlas for it.

 

[collinsmark]

Here's an image of Uranus. Uranus is at opposition on 2020, October 31st.

Uranus facts:

Although I've been taking a lot of images of Mars lately, Uranus is much farther away. Uranus is much, much bigger than Mars. It's the third largest planet in the solar system. Yes, Uranus is very big (63 Earths big).

Uranus is full of gas. Uranus is a gas giant, meaning it doesn't have a solid surface until very deep down. It's comprised mostly of icy/gaseous water, methane, and ammonia, with a little hydrogen and helium. Uranus is very gassy.

Uranus gets its cold, blue-green color from all the methane.

Hydrogen sulfide has been discovered in Uranus' upper atmosphere. That's what gives farts and rotten eggs their characteristic smell. Yes, that together with all the methane and ammonia, we can be sure that Uranus is very smelly.

Although Uranus is not the most windy planet in the solar system (that record goes to Neptune), its winds are quite formidable, up to 560 miles per hour. Uranus produces a lot of wind.

------

Image taken from my back patio at 2020-10-30 08:16.1 UT.

 

[bruha]

Hi, it is beautiful... What is your gear? I did not catch Uranus by my telescope at all!

 

[chemisttree]

Uranus will look almost like a dim star in the telescope to most of us. Easy to miss. You will see the color, though. If you look a little more carefully, you will notice it is a disc.

 

[collinsmark]

Hi, it is beautiful... What is your gear?

I used the same gear for the Uranus image as I did for the Mars images:

Telescope: Meade 10" LX200-ACF mounted on an equatorial wedge.
Camera: ZWO ASI290MM
Tele Vue 4x Powermate (pretty much the same thing as a 4x Barlow lens)
ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel with Astronomik Deep Sky RGB filters

Acquisition and Processing were slightly different for Uranus.

The camera gain was set near the maximum. Also, the camera gain was the same for all the RGB filters such that I could use dark frames in FireCapture (without having to recalibrate darks in-between filters). Exposure was set to raise the right side of the histogram above 50%, which was about 80 ms.

Ten minutes videos per RGB filter, making 30 minutes total integration time.

Only a single AP was used Autostakkert! (still 50% frames kept though).

I did not catch Uranus by my telescope at all!

Uranus is kinda difficult to catch. It's barely visible to the naked eye, but is actually visible, if you have dark skies. If you're in area with light pollution, forget about spotting it with your naked eye.

I live in some extreme light pollution. So I relied on my telescope's GoTo capabilities.

Like @chemisttree mentions, Uranus is pretty small from our perspective, even in a telescope (compared to other planets like Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). It's not difficult to overlook.

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you for answer. In saturday was "blue moon" here (Prague) etc. second full moon within month
moom was short time good visible but I could not recognize much different from standard full..

 

[davenn]

but I could not recognize much different from standard full.

of course not it was a "standard" full moon. It wasn't a supermoon
Why did you think it would be different ?

 

[bruha]

Hello, I send you link concernig this...
https://Earth'sky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

 

[bruha]

Hello,I send Mars from yesterday, with yellow filter 5, little Gimp processed..

Hi

 

[DennisN]

@bruha & @chemisttree and others who are using mobile phones as cameras:

I just learned that there are bluetooth remote controls (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y8MTW76/?tag=pfamazon01-20) that can control the camera on mobile phones. And e.g. OpenCamera for Android supports remote controls. I will try to get a suitable remote control, so I don't have to use the delay function anymore to remove vibrations.

@bruha & @chemisttree & others who use mobile phones as cameras:

I never ever thought I would post about selfie sticks and certainly not on PF, but I guess there is a first time for everything...

I was reading on a photography site about various photography accessories, and I came across a recommended selfie stick/tripod with a detachable bluetooth remote control that controls the shutter on mobile phones. So I thought why try to find a dedicated remote when you can get more for roughly the same price?

This was the page I read:
The best camera accessories in 2020: essential photography gadgets and add-ons

...and they recommended SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod, which is available on Amazon. I am personally going to buy an Huawei AF15 Tripod Selfiestick, which is a similar product with good rating. Here is one review.

 

[Keith_McClary]

SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod

The review says

huge ... 65mAh rechargeable lithium battery

but the (wrongly?) linked Amazon page shows a replaceable CR1632.

One commenter says using the tripod and extending the stick is precarious (as the legs seem fixed length and angle).

You can write us a review.

 

[DennisN]

Plumes on Enceladus (moon of Saturn), captured by Cassini:
(from this gallery)

Boomerang Nebula captured by Hubble (from the same gallery) :

 

[bruha]

Hello, I noticed some sunspot after long time (lower and lower right on images)

 

[DennisN]

...and they recommended SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod, which is available on Amazon. I am personally going to buy an Huawei AF15 Tripod Selfiestick, which is a similar product with good rating.

You can write us a review.

I changed my mind and just bought a bluetooth remote control; I chose this one, which had good reviews and was recommended: CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (about $7). I bought it on German Amazon, so I won't have to pay shipping/import fees. Instead of buying one of those dreaded selfiesticks , I instead bought a https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087JQW8TM/?tag=pfamazon01-20 for my camera when doing normal (i.e. non-astro) photography.

Edit:

I also learned you can use "AirMouse" remote controls (I have this one, Mele F10 which I use with my Android tv box) to control mobile phones, including the shutter function. When I connect the small usb remote receiver to my phone, I can use the Mele F10 to take photos. I learned that pressing "Audio Volume + (up)" on remote controls activates the shutter function on Android phones.

Edit 2:

@chemisttree :

According to the specifications, CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (ca $7) works with both iOS and Android. And there are other ways to control the shutter on iOS phones, according to this page, the "volume up" button on headsets can be used to take photos:

5 Weird Ways To Release The iPhone Camera Shutter (iPhone photography school)

 

[chemisttree]

Hello, I noticed some sunspot after long time (lower and lower right on images)

Great shots, Bru! Are you using the Barlow? See any red fringing?

 

[chemisttree]

I changed my mind and just bought a bluetooth remote control; I chose this one, which had good reviews and was recommended: CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (about $7). I bought it on German Amazon, so I won't have to pay shipping/import fees. Instead of buying one of those dreaded selfiesticks , I instead bought a https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087JQW8TM/?tag=pfamazon01-20 for my camera when doing normal (i.e. non-astro) photography.

Edit:

I also learned you can use "AirMouse" remote controls (I have this one, Mele F10 which I use with my Android tv box) to control mobile phones, including the shutter function. When I connect the small usb remote receiver to my phone, I can use the Mele F10 to take photos. I learned that pressing "Audio Volume + (up)" on remote controls activates the shutter function on Android phones.

Edit 2:

@chemisttree :

According to the specifications, CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (ca $7) works with both iOS and Android. And there are other ways to control the shutter on iOS phones, according to this page, the "volume up" button on headsets can be used to take photos:

5 Weird Ways To Release The iPhone Camera Shutter (iPhone photography school)

Great info, Dennis. That button on my headsets always redials The last number called. Nice to use it for something else.

 

[chemisttree]

What I’ve always known as the “Straight Wall” between Birt and Thebit.

http://astrosurf.com/viladrich/astro/moon/closeup/Mur-9sept2020-4h33minUT-C14-B1920-green-f600.jpg

 

[bruha]

Hi Chemistree, its not with Barlow, just with mobile cam and. Hyperion 8 mm ,and sun green filter.
But as seen wrong artefact beacouse my solar foil was already pierced and repaired,..

Lot of succes..

 

[trees and plants]

When i look at the stars at night they are so bright , they have colour but their brightness made me want to study them also that they exist although they are distant from us. We have near Earth the sun as a star. God is infinite so are his powers, he created all these things , the Earth too. Thank you God. But we humans are so small compared to the universe or other things. The right for a human is to be humble because of being so small, but he has the freedom to choose between right and wrong.

 

[Stavros Kiri]

When i look at the stars at night they are so bright , they have colour but their brightness made me want to study them also that they exist although they are distant from us. We have near Earth the sun as a star. God is infinite so are his powers, he created all these things , the Earth too. Thank you God. But we humans are so small compared to the universe or other things. The right for a human is to be humble because of being so small, but he has the freedom to choose between right and wrong.

... also has the right to study and learn about that beautiful (yet full of mysteries and oppositions) Universe! ...

 

[trees and plants]

... also has the right to study and learn about that beautiful (yet full of mysteries and oppositions) Universe! ...

He does have this right. We live in an era where many people have many chances to study physics, astrophysics, math or other sciences like chemistry,biology, engineering and others. Some years ago many people because of the conditions did not have the chances for studying sciences like many people have today.

 

[DennisN]

Meanwhile on Mars, Curiosity took a selfie:

(a larger photo is here, and an article with some more photos is here)