Astrophotography anyone?

[Zythryn]

Is anyone into astrophotography?

I am diving into it myself, and was wondering if I could pick up any pointers from forum members with experience with it.

[Turtle]

I do some from time to time. So much in the way of pointers "just depends" I guess, on anything from timing, to subject, light pollution, camera type, yada yada. What kind of camera/equipment (telescope?) are you going to use and what do you want to shoot?

 

Currently I'm doing overnight recordings with a Sony Handycam using their Super NightShot infrared mode in order to record meteors. I put the camera on a tripod in front of an open window, manual focus to infinity (bugs flying up in front of the lens at night have a way of triggering autofocus and sometimes it stays that way after. :hihi: :) ), wide view setting, zoomed out & leave it on record. Over the last few years I have captured 4 or 5 meteors this way. I have a couple up in our Video section. :hihi: Alas, nothing this week but not for a lack of trying. :hyper:

[Moontanman]

Zythryn I look forward to seeing your photos, keep us up to date!

[Zythryn]

Very cool Turtle, I may have to try that too.

Right now I am using a Celestron Nexstar 5SE telescope and a Nikon D200.

I plan on getting a Cannon and have heard that webcams actually work great for many applications.

I am waiting to get a T-ring and adapter so I can hook up the camera directly to the scope and am getting more familiar in the meantime with the tracking system of the scope.

I am planning to start with some lunar shots and some solar shots (one I get my solar filter).

I would love, eventually, to get some deep sky shots. Those will require much longer exposure times, very very good tracking and most likely a different camera.

And thanks Moontanman, I will be happy to do so:)

[Turtle]

Very cool Turtle, I may have to try that too.

Right now I am using a Celestron Nexstar 5SE telescope and a Nikon D200.

I plan on getting a Cannon and have heard that webcams actually work great for many applications.

I am waiting to get a T-ring and adapter so I can hook up the camera directly to the scope and am getting more familiar in the meantime with the tracking system of the scope.

I am planning to start with some lunar shots and some solar shots (one I get my solar filter).

I would love, eventually, to get some deep sky shots. Those will require much longer exposure times, very very good tracking and most likely a different camera.

:)

 

Sweet! Maybe it will be you that can give me pointers on getting a camera to work on a telescope. :) My roomy has a Meade 5" reflector with a computer drive and I had nothing but grief trying to take photos through it. :xx: Never did get any. :doh: It came with an adapter ring, but I had to whittle it down with a knife just to get it to fit the camera. :eek: Then, once on the telescope, the weight of the camera threw off the whole balance and the drive would literally groan under the added load. :doh: Then, I could never get the camera to focus the image. :doh: :doh:

 

I see your camera has a time exposure mode; that's cool! Something we took for granted with film SLR's; is it common on the digitals?

 

Guess that's all I got. Keep those eyes to the skies!! :)

[Zythryn]

This is all from reading as I am new at this and have NO experience actually doing it.

My understanding with Digital is that you need a T-ring and T-adapter. Typically each camera maker has their own pair of the ring and adapter.

If you can add some weight to keep the center of gravity over the tripod/mount of the telescope that should help. Many telescopes are set up so you can make/buy counterweights.

What I have read indicates that when the camera body (no lenses) is attached directly to the telescope.

Digitial astrophotography has come a long way in the last few years. Film still has some advantages in some methods, but the noise issue has largely disappeared.

Most Digital SLRs have up to a 30 second shutter time. Some people will simply use multiple 30 second shots and then stack them with imaging software. Most cameras with cable or IR remotes also have a bulb setting which will keep the shutter open as long as you keep the button down.

 

Another method of astrophotography is to set the telescope up normally. Then set up the camera normally on a second tripod, pointed exactly at the eyepeice of the telescope. The camera should be set up (as I recall) the same distance away from the telescope as the focal length (edit- focal lenngth of the camera lens). The camera's focus should be set to infinity ('And Beyondddddd')... (sorry, couldn't help it).

If you are steady enough, you may be able to just hold and point the camera. I have a familial tremor so doing so is beyond my capabilities. (edit- this method is termed 'afocal')

Hope this helps some. I found a book on CD which has tons of information in it at A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras if you are interested.

[Zythryn]

Well, got my T-Adapter and Ring yesterday and hooked up my camera to the telescope and got a few shots.

The focus is a bit off and the images appear a bit 'squished'. I am hoping that is the resolution of my monitor.

The afocal method where I hold up the camera with lenses to the telescopes eyepeice will work much better for more detailed shots. So next I will be looking for an adapter that will help me with that.

[Turtle]

Well, got my T-Adapter and Ring yesterday and hooked up my camera to the telescope and got a few shots.

 

 

 

The focus is a bit off and the images appear a bit 'squished'. I am hoping that is the resolution of my monitor.

 

The afocal method where I hold up the camera with lenses to the telescopes eyepeice will work much better for more detailed shots. So next I will be looking for an adapter that will help me with that.

 

Nice! Already way better than my best camera zoom. No removeable lens on my camera and for stills, the best I get is the 20x optical zoom, so to get closer I have to record video (up to 2000x :D) and grab stills from individual frames. I have a different camera now than the one I tried putting on the scope, but rather than try carving something to fit it to the scope, if my roomy gets it out this Summer I'm going to try that afocal method of yours .

[Zythryn]

I am very intruiged by using web cams for astrophotography. They have a lot going for them.

You may want to try something like this Universal DigiCam Adapter - Lowest Price & Highest Quality Astro Filters to help steady the camera.

 

It looks like there are more options for afocal astrophotography that I first thought. It is a huge advantage that it allows you to use the eyepeices and/or lenses of the camera. While prime focus works great for the moon, and likely well for the sun, I will need much more magnification for other planets or deep space objects.

[Zythryn]

Well, after many days of clouds, we had a partial break in the clouds for a little bit.

I also have some new software which will allow me to work more directly with RAW camera images.

The first one is the RAW (NEF) image converted to JPG with no other editing other than size and crop.

 

 

This is the greyscale version:

 

[Turtle]

Well, after many days of clouds, we had a partial break in the clouds for a little bit.

 

I also have some new software which will allow me to work more directly with RAW camera images.

 

The first one is the RAW (NEF) image converted to JPG with no other editing other than size and crop.

 

Nice! So the Moon really is green cheese!! :D The grayscale is a little sharper, like the rays of Tycho look better defined. Why is that RAW image green anyway?? :confused:

[Turtle]

still no meteors, though we had a spell of cloudy weather and little chance to catch one should it come by. nevertheless, i noticed Jupiter transiting just around dawn on my recordings the last few nights, so i got up this morning @4:30am and zoomed in by hand. no tripod here as i have the camera propped on a bean-bag in the window; the tripod won't get the camera forward enough. :rant: :hyper:

 

 

i uploded the raw video without going through the video software, and now looking at that upload i see that i can no longer see Jupiters moon(s) as when viewing the original. so here's that upload and i'll go try and brighten the thing so the moon(s) are clear.

 

 

i found this java script utility for the Jovian moons and i think i caught Ganymede & Europa.

 

SkyandTelescope.com - Planets - Jupiter's Moons Javascript Utility

 

 

here's the raw video. manual focus to infinity, standard mode, auto exposure. :)

 

>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QcZMKxL-aA]YouTube - 20090624043214

[modest]

and now looking at that upload i see that i can no longer see Jupiters moon(s) as when viewing the original.

 

I see one when playing it full-screen. It's at about 100 degrees from Jupiter at a distance of about 1.5 times Jupiter's diameter.

 

Very cool. I'm on the edge of my seat for what you guys come up with next :shrug:

 

~modest

[Turtle]

I see one when playing it full-screen. It's at about 100 degrees from Jupiter at a distance of about 1.5 times Jupiter's diameter.

 

Very cool. I'm on the edge of my seat for what you guys come up with next :rant:

 

~modest

 

roger full-screen. i tried brightening the video, as well as some still frames from it, but the results looked worse than the original. :rant: :) last night was cloudy, but the Jupiter show will be going on for a while so more chances coming. when i made the vid, i switched out of the infrared mode thinking i might get some hint of the planet's distinct coloring. obviously i sacrificed my exposure. :doh:

 

this concludes another random report. :)

[Turtle]

since last posting i have made half-a-dozen more attempts to get shots of Jupiter & her moons, all to no avail. no matter if it looks ok on the camera, when i transfer it to the computer it's a virtually blank image. :( who ya gonna call? :lol:

 

but, i'm dropping in because i think it is delightfull that another amateur photographing Jupiter was the first to record and identify a new impact on the planet. :hihi:

 

Impact mark on Jupiter, 19th July 2009

 

more story & images here: >>SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

JUPITER'S IMPACT CLOUD EXPANDS: Jupiter's impact cloud is expanding. On July 19th, when it was discovered by amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley, the dark mark near Jupiter's south pole was barely visible in backyard telescopes. Five days later Wesley photographed the impact cloud again and found that it had approximately tripled in size.

[Turtle]

the perseids are ramping up and i got the camera running out the south window again last night to do my meteor trapping thing. not the best south sky for me what with the moon & jupiter brightening things, but nothing ventured nothing gained. :) anyway, i had the camera feeding to the tv to watch live and noticed a 22º moon halo form up on-screen. going to the window, i saw nada. :eek: :doh: not too surprising i guess as i have the sony camera in its "SuperNightShot" infrared mode.

 

unfortunately, yet again, when i transfered the video to the computer everything went dark and no halo visible. :rant: so back to the grab-a-still-from-the-vid and brighten it. that is the only retouching to the shot below. besides the 22º halo, there is a very faint 46º halo but i couldn't get it to stand out well in the image. just a wisp of it visible on right side of frame. ;) who ya gonna call? ;)

 

ps that's jupiter inside the halo left of luna.

 

[UncleAl]

The Perseids are incoming at almost 25 miles/sec! They are projected to go absolutely ape between 0800 and 0900 hrs UT (0100 and 0200 hrs PT).

 

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2009/04aug09/Per009_zhr_strip.jpg