The Stargazing Thread!

[Endersmens]

This is a thread to discuss various aspects of stargazing. Feel free to ask questions, post pictures of your telescope/pictures taken through the telescope, talk about your telescope/binoculars, anything to do with stargazing.

I'll start it off. As of now, I have a cheap 700x60mm Refractor telescope, on a terrible and wobbly tripod mount, with a single 6mm eyepiece lens. Its enough to view the Moon (aside from its glaring brightness) and the other night I was able to see Jupiter and 4 of its Moons. And amazingly enough, after the vibration finally stopped, I was even able to clearly see both dark bands near the equator! This has made me want a better quality telescope for sure!

and here is a picture I took through the telescope of some craters on the Moon. I literally held the camera as close to the eyepiece as I could. I think it turned out well.

Other great pictures from forum users!

kookoo_gr has an amazing setup, and has so many high quality pictures, I'm just going to give a link to his post.

This might seem like it goes in the science labs, but since stargazing is a hobby I feel it belongs here.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Endersmens

[tater]

I took this rather a long time ago. On a slightly moldy piece of plate film (we found an old plate camera, and some film in the fridge, so we took the CCD off the telescope and tried our hand at old-school astrophotography and development. Manually guided the scope.

[Endersmens]

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/tatersw/9041bae5-bc3c-4fe0-beca-d2e5ffa14bac.jpg

I took this rather a long time ago. On a slightly moldy piece of plate film (we found an old plate camera, and some film in the fridge, so we took the CCD off the telescope and tried our hand at old-school astrophotography and development. Manually guided the scope.

Wow! That is amazing! May I ask what is in the picture?

Also, what is that black speck in the bottom right, next to the tear drop shape? It almost looks like gilly!

[r4pt0r]

So, uh, how do you astrophotography? you just held the camera up to the eyepiece? no special $$$$ connector lens needed?

[Endersmens]

So, uh, how do you astrophotography? you just held the camera up to the eyepiece? no special $$$$ connector lens needed?

That's what I did in my picture of the Moon, with its obvious drawback of not being very high quality.

[Pixel of Life]

So, uh, how do you astrophotography? you just held the camera up to the eyepiece? no special $$$$ connector lens needed?

I guess that's one way to do it. Or you can jury-rig a mount for a phone phone/webcam/compact camera. For a heavy DSLR/when you want maximum quality, you're definitely gonna want to buy proper mounting hardware.

[tater]

The blob at the right was where the film was crappy, it's nothing in space

It's the Great Nebula in Orion (I refuse to call it the Orion Nebula ).

[Superfluous J]

obvious drawback of not being very high quality.

But the obvious bonus that if you have a camera and a telescope (or even binoculars) you can take an astrophotograph right now.

Unless it's light out where you live.

I took a few nice pics of the Moon with my phone camera through a telescope that was about as powerful as the Galileoscope. It was easy and very rewarding, if not all that great quality.

[Loligoat]

Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus taken with my phone through my telescope. I know they aren't much compared to some other pictures I've seen, but I'm pretty proud of these pictures anyways.

[mythbusters844]

http://i.imgur.com/eokLIcw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/O8NUxAb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2Cyz4Sd.jpg

Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus taken with my phone through my telescope. I know they aren't much compared to some other pictures I've seen, but I'm pretty proud of these pictures anyways.

Reminds me of when I used to have a telescope. Just that ability to see the night side of the planet makes it ever more awe-inspiring.

Edited June 7, 2015 by mythbusters844
MORE DESCRIPTIVE VERNACULAR IS GOOD FOR YOUR BONES

[Endersmens]

http://i.imgur.com/eokLIcw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/O8NUxAb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2Cyz4Sd.jpg

Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus taken with my phone through my telescope. I know they aren't much compared to some other pictures I've seen, but I'm pretty proud of these pictures anyways.

Are you kidding? those are amazing!

[jmiki8]

Those pictures are pretty cool!

I take a different approach, as I don't have a telescope.

I tried to take photos of star fields with a camera. I have an old-ish Nikon D80, which doesn't have the ISO capability for the job (ISO 800+ is a no-no in terms of IQ). I'm going to replace it with a D7100 in weeks, which has a 3+ stop improvement over the D80 in terms of noise. I really hope I'll be able to shoot nice photos of the stars with it at lake Balaton, where light pollution is almost nonexistent. I'm going to use a 35mm f/1,8 lens, which is fast and wide enough to take long (~10-15s) exposures without a tracking mount.

Soon, you'll be mine...

Edited June 7, 2015 by jmiki8

[Endersmens]

I'm speechless.

I took my telescope hoping to find Saturn. The website I was using pointed me directly south (for the exact time of night) and I started looking there. I thought I had found it, but it was so dim, and I couldn't find it with my telescope.

Wanting to make sure my scope was still working, I pointed it over towards the west a bit to the brightest object I could see. At first it looked just like a star, but turning the focus knob a bit and waiting for the vibration to settle and.....Saturn comes into view. Seeing was pretty bad last night, so it was mostly blurry, but every once in a while, for a second or two, it would shine through clear as day, and I could see the rings and planet. I'm so amazed that my telescope can see it, and I'm ecstatic that I saw it.

[RogueMason]

I started off nearly two years ago with just a telescope (Celestron 130-EQ Newtonian) and a point-and-shoot camera (Nikon Coolpix L22). The telescope is very good for it's price, giving views of Jupiter's cloud bands and it's Galilean moons, as well as Saturn's rings (and, very faintly, Titan, which was awesome ). It's always nice to just gaze at stuff, and I've got a nice eyepiece and filter set that improves the experience, but I live in a heavily light-polluted area, so I'm really limited in what I can see.

The camera was... limited, to say the least, and not just because of that light pollution. That being said, I did manage to take some decent shots with it.

Moon.

Jupiter and it's Galilean's lined up very nicely one night.

M42/Orion Nebula. This is the best that the camera could manage.

Obviously, that camera was nothing special in the astrophotography department; the pictures were just enough to get the point across, really. It had no proper exposure settings, merely allowing some limited alteration of the ISO. It was with that last session imaging M42 that I decided I needed an upgrade. So I went and bought a Nikon D3200 DSLR.

Boy, am I glad I did that

It only had the kit 18-55mm lens when it came, as expected, but I took it with me to Pembrokeshire on my geology field course (university) in the hopes of getting a couple of clear nights to take advantage of, because down in Pembrokeshire, the skies are a lot darker than I'm accustomed to.

They're not perfect by any means, but for what was a first run with the camera with settings I was testing out and only a mini tripod, I think I did pretty well.

Orion, take 1. It was retreating behind that cabin when I got around to it, so I missed out on the first clear night. ISO was Hi 1 (above 6400) and exposure was... 5 seconds, as I recall. The Moon was what made this picture so bright.

Ursa Major/The Plough/The Big Dipper, whatever you want to call it

Same settings as above.

I zoomed out a bit at this point and changed the exposure settings, I believe increasing the duration to 10s. Same applies for all the following pictures.

Jupiter and Praesepe/the Beehive cluster (behind the tree branch that's 'touching' Jupiter).

Cassiopeia.

The Pleiades can be seen in the bottom left.

Orion, take 2. Much better, though much brighter. I did turn the ISO down a bit though to account for the fact that it was still dusk and the Moon was out. It did reduce the noise, though.

In future sessions, I've got a 55-200mm lens to play with now, plus I'll lower the ISO further and increase the time the shutter's open (must avoid star trails...). Alas, I don't know when that'll be, because as I mentioned, it's very light polluted here (a few miles from Liverpool, UK).

[Fel]

So, uh, how do you astrophotography? you just held the camera up to the eyepiece? no special $$$$ connector lens needed?

They're just adapters, little pieces of metal that really only hold the camera in place. No "lens" needed or wanted... which means you'd want a really good telescope

Though, you could go out and buy me this guy's setup

http://www.lafterhall.com/ccd_imaging.html

If only I had a few thousand dollars laying around

[lajoswinkler]

Helpful hint - desaturate your lunar photographs. The Moon is gray so if you desaturate it, you lose the ugly chromatic abberations.

Good job, everyone.

[jmiki8]

I always wanted to buy a Dobsonian telescope. Its primary task would be spotting planes flying at 30 000+ ft, not stargazing, though. Too bad I live in a city with high light pollution, and this beast isn't very mobile... These telescopes are very simple, yet powerful. You can get a new one with an aperture of ~f/5 for ~$400 in Hungary, which is even cheaper in the U.S., I guess. The downsides are the constant need for collimation, moisture & dust sensitivity (the primary mirror is in contact with the ambient air), size & weight, and the unusual mount which makes star tracking a pain.

So basically I would use it as a gigantic 1200mm f/5 lens for my camera.

Edited June 7, 2015 by jmiki8

[Endersmens]

wow, that picture of that airliner is insane.

[Endersmens]

Anyone else have cool pictures of heavenly objects?

[UmbralRaptor]

Well, last night I was up on a roof with some people viewing the Venus/Jupiter conjunction. I'm not seeing the appeal of holding a camera up to the eyepiece (Nexus 5, 25x100 binoculars)

Views through a nearby 16" scope were much nicer, but I wasn't able to get any sort of image with my phone, so...

At least the colors are nice with this unzoomed moon shot.

edit: I suppose I should see what I can do with a 60 mm f/15 scope and a pair of 8x30 binoculars this weekend? Uh, and if anyone's in the KC area http://askc.org/

Edited July 2, 2015 by UmbralRaptor

[kookoo_gr]

Anyone else have cool pictures of heavenly objects?

I use an RC8'' on an HEQ5 Pro mount or a skywatcher ED 80 for deep sky imaging along with a cooled CCD camera, for planetary imaging or obsering i use a skywatcher dob 8". I live at a a Rural/suburban transition area so i can easily photograpnh many DSO's once the wheather allows it. Here are some photos i have taken over the years

M42

The Horsehead Nebula

Veil nebula

Saturn

Mars

Jupiter

M106

Milky Way Panorama

NGC7635 The Bubble Nebula

M16 The Eagle Nebula

M13

Venus

Jupiter Animation

Jupiter Animation

and here are more pictures i have taken http://www.astrobin.com/users/kookoo_gr/

- - - Updated - - -

For those that want to start observing the night sky with their eyes or any other optic device a good program to use is Stellarium. It's a free planetarium program and once you enter the coordinates of the observing site you can have an idea of what to expect to see at various hours of the night.

Edited July 2, 2015 by kookoo_gr

[worir4]

I use an RC8'' on an HEQ5 Pro mount or a skywatcher ED 80 for deep sky imaging along with a cooled CCD camera, for planetary imaging or obsering i use a skywatcher dob 8". I live at a a Rural/suburban transition area so i can easily photograpnh many DSO's once the wheather allows it. Here are some photos i have taken over the years

M42

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/9b1c8083a44110bab227f261a6a66bbf.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20K..jpg

The Horsehead Nebula

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/ebaa5485c1483a4a18b67ed3e18a3bce.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20K..jpg

Veil nebula

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/dbc49be36d9d595a70d61e803266b011.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20K..jpg

Saturn

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/73bf0e757dc813f3ad768c107b180a22.620x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20K..jpg

Mars

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/d4a15dde82c13ba8712f80fd6f9f8078.620x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20K..jpg

Jupiter

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/bff28790e888a45c2dbca66561a6083a.620x0_q100_watermark.jpg

M106

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/546d4e28b925828c031ef4d7c345c11f.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20Kon/nos.jpg

Milky Way Panorama

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/6e2671dfbdd2f52b2b86b693e6142cc3.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-10_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20kookoo_gr.jpg

NGC7635 The Bubble Nebula

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/32a423d0728caa4dd6fe31b4ebb85fae.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20Kon/nos.jpg

M16 The Eagle Nebula

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/37f9abff22999396f60cc60cbd0cbedb.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-10_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20kookoo_gr.jpg

M13

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/d389a1517b340df334969b690fae4d71.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-10_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20kookoo_gr.jpg

Venus

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/043d065d699cad20c0ee7e2a707dd2c2.620x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-6_watermark_text-Copyright%20Stavropoulos%20K..jpg

Jupiter Animation

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/7ae45ce0-9933-44e1-97ab-19a2f61f4bd3.gif

Jupiter Animation

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/31726261-dce8-45fd-9e38-879a2bf499a5.gif

and here are more pictures i have taken http://www.astrobin.com/users/kookoo_gr/

- - - Updated - - -

For those that want to start observing the night sky with their eyes or any other optic device a good program to use is Stellarium. It's a free planetarium program and once you enter the coordinates of the observing site you can have an idea of what to expect to see at various hours of the night.

Dude did you take those with the hubble telescope??!!!!

[Endersmens]

Those pictures are amazing!!!

[kookoo_gr]

Thanx for the compliments guys, and no i don't use the Hubble Sapce Telescope for my photos it is the result of experience, relative dark skies along with a good photographic setup and lots of exposure times.

A new photo i took the past days.

M20 the Trifid Nebula

[UmbralRaptor]

It's starting to feel like there's no reason to attempt [astro]photography without at least a few kilobucks of gear.

Currently I'm using a Canon SD1100 IS with CHDK. Starfields are... problematic.

Lots of intermediate exposure lengths seem to have jitter, despite leaning the camera on objects, or setting it down with a 2 or 10 second exposure delay and then stepping aside. And of course, the sky glow can be nightmarish if there are thin clouds or lots of haze. Leaving the camera facing straight up when the plane of the milky way is overhead seems to be best. My biggest success would be:

That building in the way is shielding the camera from a waxing gibbous moon. I think this barely detected M13, M92, M56, and M29. If Source Extractor can deal with JPGs it might be interesting to see if it can find them? The image also split the AB-CD component of ε Lyr, but as I was at minimum zoom (f/2.8, 6.2 mm) to maximize light gathering, don't expect resolution beyond 1'/pixel. At 51s, there are noticeable (12-13 pixel, I think) star trails. Given the amount of sky glow locally (Bortle class 8-9) I'm not sure if a 5-30 minute exposure (for actual star trails) would be worthwhile.

How about something brighter?

It's certainly possible to get well exposed and in-focus images of the Moon, but with max zoom (f/4.9, 18.6 mm), the image scale appears to be ~20"/pixel. This does not lead to an interesting amount of detail, and practically speaking makes Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn unresolvable. Also, the red bit in the lower right is as best I can tell a bad pixel. Avoidable provided I don't aim directly at anything.

Okay, let's just have the Moon as a background object for a structure? Make the very wide FOV/poor angular resolution a feature instead of a bug?

The dynamic range just isn't there for both the Moon/lights and structure to be properly exposed. Now what? Only shoot during the day?