Amateur Moon photos.

I recently purchased a telescope (used). It only has one eyepiece so I can't get to spectacular views yet but I'm going to get some new eyepieces this week and hopefully I can get some good views of the Moon, planets and stars.

I used my cellphone to snap my first picture of the Moon last night, and while its nothing special I nonetheless thought it was pretty cool.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d40b49942b8d.jpg[/atsimg]

I hope to buy a decent camera, and an adapter and take some better photos of space objects. I've wanted a telescope for years and finally decided to get one instead of procrastinating.

While I doing research on the internet I ran across this website with tons of user submitted amatuer photos of the Moon, Sun, stars, and planets back to 1997.

I thought I would share a few here, and wonder if any amateur astrophotography people here had any images they'd like to throw up.



GUEST LUNAR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

GUEST SOLAR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

GUEST PLANETARY ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

Here is my video taken during the perigee of 2008,
keep up the good work

www.youtube.com...



[edit on 5-7-2010 by stuballs77]

reply to post by stuballs77


That wasn't bad. Don't let the negative comments get to you.

For some days now i have noticed the moon obrit a bit odd and strange, not to mention strange behavior, does or did anyone eles notice this?

reply to post by Agent_USA_Supporter


Not sure what you mean. I've only been watching intently for the last 2-3 days but I haven't noticed anything odd or peculiar.

Nice photo Try to work out the brightness so you can see more detail. But dont worry, its not bad. I got myself a telescope too ( not the greatest ) but perfect for the moon. I got some pictures as well, but for reason I cannot access the photo page. It says I don't have permission :S Or after I put in my account info after I'm logged in and click login, the page refreshes and says I need to log in. What the heck


[edit on 5-7-2010 by YouCanCallMeKM]

reply to post by YouCanCallMeKM


Thanks, it was from my cellphone's camera so the quality isn't all that great.

If you mean here on ATS, I believe you need to create a seperate account at the media portion of ATS.

reply to post by ThaLoccster


I dont think so, because how did I get my Avatar then? I didn't make another account lol

Originally posted by Agent_USA_Supporter
For some days now i have noticed the moon obrit a bit odd and strange, not to mention strange behavior, does or did anyone eles notice this?

Nope. I look at it pretty much every clear night, and have for many many years. Last night I walked by the right window and looked up and there it was, right where I expected.

Here's a couple of neat websites:

Earth and Moon Viewer

Solar System Simulator

(Note: on the second one, I almost always have to check the "extra brightness" box to get a clear image.

Enjoy!

reply to post by Saint Exupery


Thanks for those links. I'm always up for new and interesting things related to space, and "exploring" it on your own is about as new and interesting as it gets.

I'm still pretty new to it all, so finding planet locations and such is still a pain but I'm getting the hang of it.

I've fixed my digital camera, so if these few clouds clear out hopefully I'll get a decent Moon image tonight.

reply to post by ThaLoccster


I suggest you look up a program called "Starry Night" Best program out there. Its not free, but there are ways around that lol

One of the best free programs though would be Stellarium, I suggest you give it a try if you have not already. And if you are looking for some fun, Try "Universe Sandbox" Not free but you do get a 1 hour window of trying the full product.



[edit on 5-7-2010 by YouCanCallMeKM]

Originally posted by YouCanCallMeKM
reply to post by ThaLoccster

 

One of the best free programs though would be Stellarium, I suggest you give it a try if you have not already.

I second the recommendation. You can download it at www.stellarium.org...

reply to post by ThaLoccster


Considering your marriage of two fairly incompatible components, I think you did a great job. Greater than Galileo even!
Nice craters at the terminator.

I agree, it's a good first try. Your image is nice & stable, and I don't see any darkening from the edge of the eyepiece field of view. Nice centering!

In the future, avoid using an automatic exposure on whatever your camera you use. Since it is averaging the brightness of the scene, it tries to find the middle ground between the blackness of space and a sunlit landscape. That is why the only part of you picture that is anywhere near the right exposure is right along the dividing line between night & day (known as the terminator), and the rest of the sunlit portion is overexposed.

Most digital cameras - including cell phone cameras - have a feature that will let you make the image lighter or darker. Set it for darker and try again.

I hope this helps.
Enjoy!

Thanks for the input and links.

No luck last night, my digital camera just isn't up to the task.

I did get some good views of the Moon and Venus though, I'll hopefully get a better camera soon.

Till then I guess I'll just stick to viewing.

reply to post by ThaLoccster


Even tho the mobile phone image is a bit overexposed - you can still very clearly see the details of the craters. nice pic!

I love astronomy. Haven't worked up the courage to go out and get myself a nice telescope.

Good on you and hope you keep it up!

Here's my latest video of the moon:

The camera I use is a fairly cheap security camera which happens to have a lot of features perfect for astrophotography. I use a c-mount to t-thread adapter and then a t-thread to 1.25" adapter to mount it directly into the telescope. Assuming your scope can use the 1.25" standard eyepieces, a similar setup could work for you too.

www.123securityproducts.com...

(AC419, 19th entry down on the page by my count):
www.astro-engineering.com...

If your scope uses the smaller japanese standard eyepieces (.965") you can use the first adapter on the last link to take the 1.25" adapter down to .965" If that's the case though I can't guarantee the telescope will be able to reach focus back to the camera, especially if it's a refractor.

[edit on 6-7-2010 by ngchunter]

reply to post by ngchunter


Great vid, outside of the music anyways

The cameras I have aren't really adaptable to mount on the camera outside of some "homemade ingenuity". I do plan on getting a nice DSLR camera for astrophotography in the not too distant future.

What type of telescope do you have?

Mine is a Celestron C90 with a standard 32mm eyepiece. I'm ordering a 8-24mm zoom eyepiece for better viewing. All are 1.25".

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
Great vid, outside of the music anyways

Bah, well, to each their own and to the others there's the mute button

What type of telescope do you have?

8" Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain.

Mine is a Celestron C90 with a standard 32mm eyepiece. I'm ordering a 8-24mm zoom eyepiece for better viewing. All are 1.25".

That should serve you nicely. A dSLR would work well for lunar photography, but unless you mount it with tracking motors it'll be difficult to get much else.

[edit on 6-7-2010 by ngchunter]

reply to post by ngchunter


I'm mainly wanting to do lunar photography, atleast right now.

If my equipment is up to the task I'd like to branch out into photos of stars, galaxies, nebulas, and other planets. But, baby steps I guess.

I think I saw some tripods with motors in them for tracking, I can't be sure now.

I do now many telescopes offer that, and I hope to be able to get a better telescope down the road like the Celestron Advanced Series C6-NGT Reflector Telescope