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| 3/14/13 8:30pm 300mm, f5.6, 1sec, ISO1000 |
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| Moon and comet PanSTARRS 3/14/13 8:38pm 29mm, f5.6, 10sec, ISO640 |
Friday, March 22, 2013
PanSTARRS
The promising "year of comets" kicked off early this month with comet PanSTARRS finally visible in the northern hemisphere. It has been either completely overcast or just cloudy at the western horizon every evening until the sky beautifully cleared on 14th. I had a wicked cold brewing but I forced myself get out to go stand in a field in the freezing cold waiting for a glimpse since I knew it could be the last good view (and boy, was I was right!). The Sun set at 7:26pm and after scanning and scanning with the binocs I nearly gave up when I finally spotted it much later than I expected, around 8:25pm (good thing I'm so stubborn!). It was only barely naked eye visible for a very brief time around 8:30pm but you kinda really needed to already know exactly where to look. Of course, a few seconds at ISO1000 made it really pop. Here's the two worthy images.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Polaris Vortex
Winter observing...not for pansies.
Last night was the most gorgeous sky we've seen in a long time. A high, bright, and long ISS pass started the evening on the right foot but eventually it was just too cold to keep frost off the optics...and our fingers. Good thing we had good company, good food, and good beer so it wasn't a total bust.
While we stayed warm inside, I set up the camera for consecutive 1 min exposures at 18mm, f4, ISO1000 and left it out in the cold for 75 min. I'm perpetually unprepared and forgot a frost shield so I wasn't comfortable with my gear out there much longer than that. I used Startrails to create the final image as well as the "comet" images used in the progessive trail video.
I think my next investment will have to be a super wide angle lens so I can get more sky and foreground without feeling like I have to be in portrait orientation.
Make sure you view the vidoes in full screen and HD or they look awful.
This was the scenery I drove through on my way home this morning.
...and I made my first GIF!
Last night was the most gorgeous sky we've seen in a long time. A high, bright, and long ISS pass started the evening on the right foot but eventually it was just too cold to keep frost off the optics...and our fingers. Good thing we had good company, good food, and good beer so it wasn't a total bust.
While we stayed warm inside, I set up the camera for consecutive 1 min exposures at 18mm, f4, ISO1000 and left it out in the cold for 75 min. I'm perpetually unprepared and forgot a frost shield so I wasn't comfortable with my gear out there much longer than that. I used Startrails to create the final image as well as the "comet" images used in the progessive trail video.
I think my next investment will have to be a super wide angle lens so I can get more sky and foreground without feeling like I have to be in portrait orientation.
Make sure you view the vidoes in full screen and HD or they look awful.
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| Sunset on the trees |
This was the scenery I drove through on my way home this morning.
...and I made my first GIF!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Conjunction Junction
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| Moon - f6.3 1/320sec ISO640 Jupiter - f6.3 1 sec ISO 640 |
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Beaver Moon
Well, it's been a while, folks. I've been observing and learning all the while but the photography has suffered. Struggles with focusing and failing hardware have made it a challenge. My little D90 is nearing (or already surpassed) it's average lifespan. Blah blah, excuses excuses.
Tonight (11/28/12) is a rare treat as Jupiter is snuggling up close to the full "Beaver" Moon. Jupiter is nearing opposition on 12/3 where it will be at it's closest position to the Earth for almost a decade. The Great Red Spot will be swinging into view during that time as well. So it's a great time to grab any telephoto lens, binoculars, or scope and check it out.
I stepped out to check the sky this evening and with luck the clouds were breaking up. They stayed partly cloudy for about 15 min. Just enough time to snap of these shots before my lens fogged up completley. Always prep your gear for temperature. In winter, I recommend placing your camera bag somewhere equal (or near) to the outside temperature, like a shed, sunporch, or garage for a few hours before heading out. If not your glass is going to fog up...no bueno. When returning home, it's just as important (if not more so) to slowly bring your gear back up to room temp and placing it in a sealed bag to reduce condensation while doing so.
Enjoy my impromptu robe-wearing driveway astrophotography:
Tonight (11/28/12) is a rare treat as Jupiter is snuggling up close to the full "Beaver" Moon. Jupiter is nearing opposition on 12/3 where it will be at it's closest position to the Earth for almost a decade. The Great Red Spot will be swinging into view during that time as well. So it's a great time to grab any telephoto lens, binoculars, or scope and check it out.
I stepped out to check the sky this evening and with luck the clouds were breaking up. They stayed partly cloudy for about 15 min. Just enough time to snap of these shots before my lens fogged up completley. Always prep your gear for temperature. In winter, I recommend placing your camera bag somewhere equal (or near) to the outside temperature, like a shed, sunporch, or garage for a few hours before heading out. If not your glass is going to fog up...no bueno. When returning home, it's just as important (if not more so) to slowly bring your gear back up to room temp and placing it in a sealed bag to reduce condensation while doing so.
Enjoy my impromptu robe-wearing driveway astrophotography:
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| f9, 1sec, ISO400 |
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| f8, 3sec, ISO320 |
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| f8, 1sec, ISO320 |
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Dark skies of eastern New Mexico
On 7/22/12, the family and I drove from Pennsylvania to Arizona to visit my father and family. It was a long stretch from St. Louis to Albuquerque but a couple hours before we hit the hotel we drove under some amazingly dark skies. With much whining and gnashing of teeth from the back seat I pulled off at a random exit on I40 (marked Las Vegas) and into a field. Stepping out of the car, there was a collective WOW from the wife and kids as they looked up and saw the brightest Milky Way they have ever seen arching from horizon to horizon as I dug my tripod out from under coolers and suitcases.
Unfortunately, it was very warm that night causing an INSANE amount of nasty green noise in this 30 second exposure at ISO3200. Needless to say MAJOR noise reduction work was needed in post processing to salvage this shot. A car was nice enough to light the foreground for me and there was a thunderstorm in the distant horizon. I could have spent hours out there but we were pressed for time, I'm just glad the boss let me stop at all.
In my normal observing location in northwest Pennsylvania, the "Teapot" of Sagittarius is fairly low on the horizon and the curve of Scorpius' tail dips below. In the southern states both constellations are much higher meaning the bright center of our own galaxy is riding high in the southern sky giving a more spectacular view.
Unfortunately, it was very warm that night causing an INSANE amount of nasty green noise in this 30 second exposure at ISO3200. Needless to say MAJOR noise reduction work was needed in post processing to salvage this shot. A car was nice enough to light the foreground for me and there was a thunderstorm in the distant horizon. I could have spent hours out there but we were pressed for time, I'm just glad the boss let me stop at all.
In my normal observing location in northwest Pennsylvania, the "Teapot" of Sagittarius is fairly low on the horizon and the curve of Scorpius' tail dips below. In the southern states both constellations are much higher meaning the bright center of our own galaxy is riding high in the southern sky giving a more spectacular view.
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| 30s f4.5 @ ISO3200 |
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| rough constellation guides |
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| pre noise reduction |
Friday, July 13, 2012
Touring Sagittarius
Tuesday, June 10 was an exceptionally clear night. Unfortunately, we had only 1.5 hours of true darkness before the last quarter moon crashed the party at around 12:30am. We did a bit of visual observing since Randy adjusted the Meade RCX400's focus from "oooh, that's cool" to "Holy Crap!" sharp.
Then we strapped my D90 with the business end of the William Optics Gran Turismo 81mm f9 telescope attached to the top of the RCX and got to work. These images could have used quite a few more frames to stack but with the moonrise in 1 hour, time was of the essence. I'd like to try again closer to the new moon.
Touring around the busy galactic center. First we hit the Omega or Swan Nebula (M17) which, as you can see, is a nifty shaped star forming H II region located in the densely populated constellation Sagittarius. I flipped this image 180 degrees to better show the "swan" shape
The nearby Lagoon Nebula (M8), also found in Sagittarius is a gorgeous emission nebula churning out stars like a champ.
Just above Sagittarius in the constellation Serpens lies the Eagle Nebula. The Pillars of Creation create that tiny silhouette of an eagle soaring upward clutching a fish. An interesting fact (I just learned) is that the pillars have likely been destroyed by a supernova that could have been seen from Earth 1000-2000 years ago. The light is just now reaching us from approx 6000 light years (35,271,752,239,101,650 miles!!!) away.
The mind-boggling size and distance of cosmic objects means that most of the things we see are drastically changed or completely gone at the same moment we are viewing them.
This is the epic Sagittarius Star Cloud, a massive star field of many different kinds of stars giving it the many different colors. This cloud is home to some of the oldest stars known.
Then we strapped my D90 with the business end of the William Optics Gran Turismo 81mm f9 telescope attached to the top of the RCX and got to work. These images could have used quite a few more frames to stack but with the moonrise in 1 hour, time was of the essence. I'd like to try again closer to the new moon.
Touring around the busy galactic center. First we hit the Omega or Swan Nebula (M17) which, as you can see, is a nifty shaped star forming H II region located in the densely populated constellation Sagittarius. I flipped this image 180 degrees to better show the "swan" shape
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| 8, 1min frames stacked with DeepSkyStacker |
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| 6, 1min frames stacked with DeepSkyStacker |
Just above Sagittarius in the constellation Serpens lies the Eagle Nebula. The Pillars of Creation create that tiny silhouette of an eagle soaring upward clutching a fish. An interesting fact (I just learned) is that the pillars have likely been destroyed by a supernova that could have been seen from Earth 1000-2000 years ago. The light is just now reaching us from approx 6000 light years (35,271,752,239,101,650 miles!!!) away.
The mind-boggling size and distance of cosmic objects means that most of the things we see are drastically changed or completely gone at the same moment we are viewing them.
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| 4, 1min frames stacked with DeepSkyStacker |
This is the epic Sagittarius Star Cloud, a massive star field of many different kinds of stars giving it the many different colors. This cloud is home to some of the oldest stars known.
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| 1 min single exp |
Monday, July 2, 2012
Milky WOW
Friday, June 29:
With a 10 day old moon setting at 2AM, I decided to head to the observatory, if only to visit with friends and relax a bit. The sky was mostly overcast, even showing us a 22 deg Moon ring at one point. As the Moon made it's final plummet around 1:30am the clouds parted and revealed a beautiful sky that was sooo worth staying up for. We waited patiently for the clear sky to darken after Moonset and opened the roof. We hopped around Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Lyra, and (of course) Sagittarius. Notable views of Wild Duck (M11), Dumbell Nebula (M27), Ring Nebula (M57), Double Cluster, and the the gorgeous Andromeda Galaxy. Unfortunately, it was too late and bright to do any astrophotography with the scope.
The stars started to dance in the eyepieces after about an hour of viewing as we were pushing 3:30am so we called it a night. Before I packed up the gear I took a 180 degree Panorama of the milkyway from horizon to horizon.
Here's a single frame I took of the Milky Way flowing through the Summer Triangle, which is made up of the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair. There's lots of great stuff in there but look hard in this frame to find Brocchi's cluster, aka: the "Coathanger Cluster.
With a 10 day old moon setting at 2AM, I decided to head to the observatory, if only to visit with friends and relax a bit. The sky was mostly overcast, even showing us a 22 deg Moon ring at one point. As the Moon made it's final plummet around 1:30am the clouds parted and revealed a beautiful sky that was sooo worth staying up for. We waited patiently for the clear sky to darken after Moonset and opened the roof. We hopped around Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Lyra, and (of course) Sagittarius. Notable views of Wild Duck (M11), Dumbell Nebula (M27), Ring Nebula (M57), Double Cluster, and the the gorgeous Andromeda Galaxy. Unfortunately, it was too late and bright to do any astrophotography with the scope.
The stars started to dance in the eyepieces after about an hour of viewing as we were pushing 3:30am so we called it a night. Before I packed up the gear I took a 180 degree Panorama of the milkyway from horizon to horizon.
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| 10 frames @ 18mm 30sec f3.5 ISO1600 |
Here's a single frame I took of the Milky Way flowing through the Summer Triangle, which is made up of the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair. There's lots of great stuff in there but look hard in this frame to find Brocchi's cluster, aka: the "Coathanger Cluster.
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| 18mm 30sec f3.5 ISO2000 |
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