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A Picture Of The Mun

CaptainApollo

By CaptainApollo
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temporalExile

temporalExile

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My best pic of the moon. Taken a few months ago. No scope, just a tripod and my Canon T3 with the stock lens.
No scope, just a tripod and my Canon T3
Noscope

Weird humor aside, I don't have any good shots of the moon, but I do have a guide to enjoying your view of it more.

Step 1: Locate moon (Preferably not completely full/Dark)

Step 2: Stare at moon

Step 3: Try to see the shadow-y side of the moon

Step 4: Realize that you are looking at a completely different world

Step 5: Imagine the sun somewhere beneath Earth's horizon, illuminating that distant sphere.

Step 6: Mock everyone who even dares to speak of a "Crescent"

Most of you guys probably already know something like this though... Maybe I should do one for looking at stars...

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LordFerret

LordFerret

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On a very clear night, binoculars handy, I enjoy showing friends (and their kids) their first galaxy. We start by locating the constellation Cassiopeia, and using its stars Tsih (HIP 4427), Caph (HIP 746), and Shedir (HIP 3179) as an 'arrow' pointer over to the constellation Andromeda ... there using its stars 51 And (HIP 7607), Alpheratz (HIP 677), and (finding the middle star between those two for the reference) v And (HIP 3881) to see the galaxy M31, the Andromeda galaxy; A first, barely perceptible as a seeming fuzzy star to the naked eye, then clearly definable as a galaxy using the binoculars. Try it. When you think you see it, don't look directly at it, because you'll lose sight of it due to the blind spot at the back of your eyes (the optic nerve head in your retinas)... look at it indirectly, you'll see it! It's just off the tip of v And, on the side of Alpheratz. :)

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Camacha

Camacha

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When you think you see it, don't look directly at it, because you'll lose sight of it due to the blind spot at the back of your eyes (the optic nerve head in your retinas)... look at it indirectly, you'll see it! It's just off the tip of v And, on the side of Alpheratz. :)

M31 is too big to disappear completely in your blind spot. Not looking directly at it is effective because you have colour sensitive cones in the centre of your retina, which provide great detail but need a lot of light to activate. On the outside are much higher concentrations of rods, which are very sensitive to light, but do not see colour. There are great for fast movements (think of an object heading your way) and low light conditions. By looking at M31 from the corner of your eye, you are wilfully using a more light sensitive part of your eye.

You lose sight when you look directly at it not because of a blind spot, but almost the opposite: there are too many colour cones stacked into one little spot :)

imagevnd.jpg

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LordFerret

LordFerret

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Sorry, I beg to differ. There are no receptors (rods nor cones) in the optic nerve head.

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/The_Blind_Spot

I'm not saying so much to look from 'the corner of your eye', but just not directly at it (concentrated effort) ... instead to look at v And (concentrate on it) and you'll more likely see M31.

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Camacha

Camacha

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Sorry, I beg to differ. There are no receptors (rods nor cones) in the optic nerve head.

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/The_Blind_Spot

I am not denying the blind spot exists, I am just saying you are mixing up phenomena. The blind spot is not in the centre of the eye, but to one specific side (depending on the eye). This means you will not easily run into it when looking directly at something. If that were true, it would mean the Moon could also easily fit into the blind spot, as M31 is much, much larger in the sky. However, the Moon never seems to disappear like that.

In reality, Andromeda is typically quite vague, especially in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. This means you need to make optimal use of your eye's hardware to see it, meaning avoiding that area stacked with cones in the centre of your vision. You only have one (or two, technically) tiny area that detects lots of colour and high detail and it is exactly that area you want to avoid.

I'm not saying so much to look from 'the corner of your eye', but just not directly at it (concentrated effort) ... instead to look at v And (concentrate on it) and you'll more likely see M31.

Concentration is not going to make photons appear, at best you imagine some extra bits ;)

Edited by Camacha
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CaptainApollo

CaptainApollo

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Thank you very much Dman, you will see more! :) But not tonight, I'm afraid, there is a thick layer of clouds.. Tomorrow I hope for the best, as it will be a full moon.

Very interesting talk and tips guys, I learned a lot from this, actually!

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LordFerret

LordFerret

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Yes, cold, gray, and rainy here too.

How about a setting sun? (Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine)

SV5QqNR.jpg

Or a few clouds? (Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine)

efA173E.jpg

Maybe a few ducks? (Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine)

tZjeed4.jpg

Oh, wait, this was about moon pictures. How about a Harvest Moon rising? (Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine)

yt0bLPB.jpg

Enjoy.

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Fel

Fel

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My best pic of the moon. Taken a few months ago. No scope, just a tripod and my Canon T3 with the stock lens.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vVUdhi3LL_E/VWtBYXBzbHI/AAAAAAAAApQ/ES6-2iMm2ZA/s800/IMG_2190.JPG

You could... you know... just do what CaptainApollo is doing. Digital Zoom a.k.a. cropping. At 40x crop (using the raw) you'd have 0.315Mpx which is comparable to the current 0.4272Mpx in that photo

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tater

tater

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LordFerret and Tater, those are great pictures, very well done! All I have to take pictures of right now is gray skies D:

A benefit of living in New Mexico is that the sunset image above is actually really boring :) we prefer some clouds.

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LordFerret

LordFerret

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Sunsets are indeed quite beautiful, but sometimes a sunrise exceeds the sunset (out at sea for example). I don't have the picture handy to post, but another shot I took while up in Maine was a sunrise which had the sky green ... but it only lasted a few moments. I considered it a rare moment, as I'd never seen such a thing before.

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Fel

Fel

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Sunsets are indeed quite beautiful, but sometimes a sunrise exceeds the sunset (out at sea for example). I don't have the picture handy to post, but another shot I took while up in Maine was a sunrise which had the sky green ... but it only lasted a few moments. I considered it a rare moment, as I'd never seen such a thing before.

You have a photo of an Aurora Borealis?

Aww, you northerners get all the fun :(

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