[Showcase] show of your space pictures!!

[vetrox]

I've been trying for Mars but it's a bear to find through the camera without GOTO.

After reading this thread I have been inspired to dig out my telescope and get a shot of mars tonight as its at opposition (well it was a few days ago i think). Fortunatley where I live in the UK seems to be the only part in the whole country that has lear skies.

[Jasel]

After reading this thread I have been inspired to dig out my telescope and get a shot of mars tonight as its at opposition (well it was a few days ago i think). Fortunatley where I live in the UK seems to be the only part in the whole country that has lear skies.

Opposition was last night, but Mars will be at its closest to Earth on Tuesday. I can't wait to see what you get!

[XIRA]

does anybody know what these lines are?? i've captured 2 so far and i'm pretty sure that they aren't planes or meteorites, because at the end of their trail they got a weird curve. i've already checked my lens on scratches but there doesn't seem to be any. the lines didn't appear between the 2 shots either, so i don't think it has something to do with my camera.

any ideas?

[vger]

Couldn't a meteor break apart, altering its drag in the process, right before it burns up?

[vetrox]

I wanted to say meteorite but they look identical. A hair hasnt somehow made its way onto the mirror?. Are these quite short duration photos?

At the top of that first pic is a nice cluster ( im not experienced enough to know which cluster) I bet it would look great through a telescope

[Jasel]

does anybody know what these lines are?? i've captured 2 so far and i'm pretty sure that they aren't planes or meteorites, because at the end of their trail they got a weird curve. i've already checked my lens on scratches but there doesn't seem to be any. the lines didn't appear between the 2 shots either, so i don't think it has something to do with my camera.

any ideas?

http://i.imgur.com/SYENuer.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/7ezH9U5.png?1?8138

I've seen this before. So you probably had a 20-25 second exposure going here, so that rules our meteorites or anything traveling in from space as these objects are going waaaay to slow. They would have taken up a lot more of your shot at these focal lengths.

Most of the time these end up being Chinese Lanterns so that's what I would put my money on here.

[vetrox]

Opposition was last night, but Mars will be at its closest to Earth on Tuesday. I can't wait to see what you get!

Well theres no way I'm getting any images of mars with my current equipment I must say though, mars is my new favourite view in the night sky. Normally I cant take my eyes off jupiter but mars is so....vibrant! Jupiter is very washed out and doesnt have much colour then you slew the scope round to mars and its so red.

Typical South east uk viewing. Been hot and sunny all day, sun goes down, fog sets in -.- I'm working in some imaging of Jupiter I did but as Its been 2 years since I have used this stuff it took me longer than expected to get set up and I still had issues with the camera plus it started getting cold on the roof of a 20 story building when your still wearing work gear (Pants and a shirt ).

I highly recommend looking at Mars. It's only gonna look smaller the longer you wait, and if you have a scope like mine then your gonna struggle to make out any details if you wait to long

[vger]

Well theres no way I'm getting any images of mars with my current equipment I must say though, mars is my new favourite view in the night sky. Normally I cant take my eyes off jupiter but mars is so....vibrant! Jupiter is very washed out and doesnt have much colour then you slew the scope round to mars and its so red.

I'll still take a crack at Mars. Even if all I can do is get a photo of a tiny disc, instead of a pin-dot.

[vetrox]

I'll still take a crack at Mars. Even if all I can do is get a photo of a tiny disc, instead of a pin-dot.

With my current scope, my webcam barely picks up Jupiter. The 2.5x barlowe I have plus the cam really is the limit of my scope and it just doesn't pick up Mars Time for an upgrade

[How2FoldSoup]

Hey guys I've got a question and this might be the place since it's camera related.

I'm working on a project for uni where we are using the rasberry pi webcam to take pictures through an 8" dobsonian.

So far the pictures of the Moon(almost typed mun for habit) have come out fantastic, but any other objects are overexposed. We can't even get any pictures of any stars that aren't Sirius. Jupiter is just a bright ball along with Sirius. If we point it at where stars(any stars really) and take a picture we just get a black sky. Does anyone have any idea what could be happening or any advice? We've tried different exposure times but that isn't really happening and I don't want to rely on image processing because the point is to put in the camera, look at something, and have it show up on the monitor for everyone to see...and take some relatively nice pictures.

For our setup we've taken off the lens of the camera and are using it as a prime focus camera. We are using the focus mechanism on the dobsonian to focus.

Recent pictures of a test through a 8" telescope

Javascript is disabled. View full album

As you can clearly see on jupiter it's just a white dot with no definition. We also had some dust on our camera which you can see in the pictures but don't worry about that..The second image in the gallery is Sirius.

Edited April 10, 2014 by How2FoldSoup

[vger]

Hey guys I've got a question and this might be the place since it's camera related.

I'm working on a project for uni where we are using the rasberry pi webcam to take pictures through an 8" dobsonian. *snip*

Unless there's something REALLY unique about this, webcams do NOT have exposure settings. Certainly nothing sensitive enough to make astro-photography very practical. Most webcams increase/decrease brightness after the image has been captured, and pass it off as 'exposure.' Really what is happening is no different than if you were to increase the brightness of an image in photoshop. This won't help if the camera isn't able to capture enough light to recognize the star in the first place.

[Jasel]

Any webcam that is supported by Logitech Webcam Software version 1.1 and higher, has the ability to adjust Exposure.

[vetrox]

d I don't want to rely on image processing because the point is to put in the camera, look at something, and have it show up on the monitor for everyone to see...and take some relatively nice pictures.

For our setup we've taken off the lens of the camera and are using it as a prime focus camera. We are using the focus mechanism on the dobsonian to focus.

As you can clearly see on jupiter it's just a white dot with no definition. We also had some dust on our camera which you can see in the pictures but don't worry about that..The second image in the gallery is Sirius.

A webcam is the common way to take images of the planets but the method involves taking a movie and stacking each frame together to bring out the detail, you dont want to be taking single shot stills. You may be able to get a half decent live view with a webcam for all to see. Try using some different software that allows you to adjust the gain/exposure settings. Something like Orion AmCAp might work (dont know about the legitimacy of this link, i have mine on a disc). As its a dob mount you will need someone to keep track of the object so everyone else can see it on the monitor. TBH I'm surprised your webcam can pick up stars and jupiters moons (although your scope is probably twice the size and length of mine) but if you turn the gain/exposure down they will fade out and you will get some more details on the bands on jupiter.

Raw Footage from the image at the bottom of tmy post

Unless there's something REALLY unique about this, webcams do NOT have exposure settings. Certainly nothing sensitive enough to make astro-photography very practical. Most webcams increase/decrease brightness after the image has been captured, and pass it off as 'exposure.' Really what is happening is no different than if you were to increase the brightness of an image in photoshop. This won't help if the camera isn't able to capture enough light to recognize the star in the first place.

Like I sort of said previously some cams/software combinations do have an exposure setting of sorts The orion AMcap software I have comes with a myriad of settings to play with but webcams are only good for planetary viewing due to the brightness of the planets. Theres no way a webcam will pick up the faint light from deep sky objects let alone have the resolution to make out details.

Heres my latest attempt (after 2 years) of jupiter. Its somehow in black and white but the size of the disc really is down to my lack of magnification. Downside of my scope its great for deep sky viewing but doesnt do as well with planets or photography. I have to work with what I got

Notice the difference between this pic and the raw stuff I managed to capture. plus with 640x480 worth of pixels and a very low exposure (to bring out details) means theres no moons in the picture.

Edited April 11, 2014 by vetrox

[TheDataMiner]

This picture isn't through a telescope, but it is of space. This is a frame from my 2011 near-space ballon launch. I launched it in California. To the left are the snow-covered Serria Navadas. To the right you can just see the Pacific ocean.

Edited April 11, 2014 by TheDataMiner

[How2FoldSoup]

The plan is to use image processing and to install stepper motors and have the pi track objects for us. The problem is if we cannot get any stars to show up we're going to have a hell of a time trying to get it to track other stars. I've thought about using image stacking and it looks like that's the only thing we can do to get half decent pictures out of it along with gain/exposure values.

The only star we've been able to pick up on it was Sirius :/ Look's like I'll have to figure out auto stacking.

Anyways, thanks for the help

[kookoo_gr]

does anybody know what these lines are?? i've captured 2 so far and i'm pretty sure that they aren't planes or meteorites, because at the end of their trail they got a weird curve. i've already checked my lens on scratches but there doesn't seem to be any. the lines didn't appear between the 2 shots either, so i don't think it has something to do with my camera.

any ideas?

http://i.imgur.com/SYENuer.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/7ezH9U5.png?1?8138

they are satellite trails. the trail is not continuous throughout the shot since it is the sunlight being reflected from the solar panels down to earth. As the angle of the panels changes towards the earth by the movement of the satellite the trail can be longer or shorter. Satellite trails can be a real pain for deep space astrophotography. google iridium flares

[Jasel]

they are satellite trails. the trail is not continuous throughout the shot since it is the sunlight being reflected from the solar panels down to earth. As the angle of the panels changes towards the earth by the movement of the satellite the trail can be longer or shorter. Satellite trails can be a real pain for deep space astrophotography. google iridium flares

Satellites move across the sky in straight lines, and even with flaring, no movement would be seen. Here is an image i took of an iridium flare (along with some terrible lens flaring and another satellite moving in the opposite direction of the flaring one):

Edited April 11, 2014 by Jasel

[kookoo_gr]

at the photos there are star trails visible, caused by the lack of an equatorial mount or a motorized mount, that's why the satellite trails make an angle and seem to change direction

[vger]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578446/Photo%20Jun%2025%2C%205%2028%2016%20PM.png

This picture isn't through a telescope, but it is of space. This is a frame from my 2011 near-space ballon launch. I launched it in California. To the left are the snow-covered Serria Navadas. To the right you can just see the Pacific ocean.

Ah, one of the horrid disadvantages of living on the East Coast of the U.S.

If I ever tried this, I'd have to take a boat into the Atlantic to retrieve the payload.

[Lexif]

at the photos there are star trails visible, caused by the lack of an equatorial mount or a motorized mount, that's why the satellite trails make an angle and seem to change direction

I think they would show a smooth curve in that case. Maybe the camera was nudged a bit. It's near the end or start of the sat trajectory shown, so it was only moved for a small time, maybe small enough that it didn't lead to double images of the stars. I guess it was when the shutter was pressed or released, maybe?

Edit:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578446/Photo%20Jun%2025%2C%205%2028%2016%20PM.png

This picture isn't through a telescope, but it is of space. This is a frame from my 2011 near-space ballon launch. I launched it in California. To the left are the snow-covered Serria Navadas. To the right you can just see the Pacific ocean.

This is really amazing, what height was that picture taken at?

[vger]

I think they would show a smooth curve in that case. Maybe the camera was nudged a bit. It's near the end or start of the sat trajectory shown, so it was only moved for a small time, maybe small enough that it didn't lead to double images of the stars. I guess it was when the shutter was pressed or released, maybe?

The odds of catching a meteor at the precise moment the shutter moved though, and not once but twice?

[Lexif]

The odds of catching a meteor at the precise moment the shutter moved though, and not once but twice?

I think it might be satellites that fade into the shadow of the earth (or emerge from it). That means the lenght of the visible trail might not be related to the exposure time. Say you expose for 15 seconds, and a satellite visible at the start fades away after 4 seconds, producing the visible trail. So the king after 1/5th of the trail in the second picture could come from nudging the camera less than a second after the start of the exposure.

For example, here is a composite of four images I took of the ISS and the ATV closing in on it. (And a plane as well...) You can see the distance the ISS moves from the gaps between the frames. To the left, it enters the earth's shadow and disappears after about two thirds of the exposure time. The ATV enters the shadow in a different spot because it's 200 km lower at that point.

[kookoo_gr]

I think they would show a smooth curve in that case. Maybe the camera was nudged a bit. It's near the end or start of the sat trajectory shown, so it was only moved for a small time, maybe small enough that it didn't lead to double images of the stars. I guess it was when the shutter was pressed or released, maybe?

Yes it is quite possible that the camera was nudged either by hand, shutter, wind or not being securely placed at the tripod. Even the slightest movement will increase at the exposure

[XIRA]

Yes it is quite possible that the camera was nudged either by hand, shutter, wind or not being securely placed at the tripod. Even the slightest movement will increase at the exposure

that would be it, i didn't have a timer set so i think it moved a little bit when i removed my hand from the camera.

[Lexif]

I caught my first snapshot of minor planets yesterday. (1) Ceres and (4) Vesta are visible pretty close to Mars now.

50mm, f/2.2, ISO 800, 21x4 seconds, click to enlarge.

Not exactly a very exciting image, but still kind of cool, I think. (Sadly, I kind of overexposed Mars, so its signature color doesn't come out.) Vesta is currently just bright enough to be seen with the naked eye under a very dark sky.

Ceres was found in 1801, but was lost and could only be rediscovered eleven months later because the math and physics genious Carl Friedrich Gauß develeoped the well known least-squares approximation method and applied it to the data. Gauß was given the honour of naming (4) Vesta by its discoverer because of that. Gauß was a citizen of the city of Göttingen, where this shot was taken, too. Kind of a cool connection, It think.

Another cool thing is that you have to imagine the Dawn probe travelling from Vesta to Ceres at the moment, somewhere in between the two minor planets.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Lexif
Added link to full-size image.