Odd object in astronomical photo - Need advice!

Originally posted by Qumulys
More questions indeed!

That second image you linked with the "same" settings as he says, makes me wonder more.

The exif data is saying 5 secs exposure, which sounds more likely than the 1 second he claimed. I'm amazed at the amount of noise...??? Normal when my camera is up at 1600 it looks like that. *confused*

Yes, I was wondering the same.

Originally posted by Qumulys
Then, most tellingly for me, is the direction of the star trails.... seemingly lining up identically to the main direction of light on the 'artefact'.

I'm left to conclude it might be a polaris shot, with a small bump during exposure.

I also thought of this and asked him just now about it.

Originally posted by Qumulys
Interesting none the less! Thanks for getting some more info out of him, of course, the original photo would help immensely to sort it out better.

You're welcome!

reply to post by heineken


The problem with that is that although they look similar we cant say they are the same thing , given that the ISS was in the area at 2:36AM but they guy who took the picture says it was at 1.15 AM , the exif data would appear to back this up , even if you don't account for daylight saving .

Originally posted by heineken
cant really understand y this thread is still going on...to me its quiet clear its the ISS as proven by the OP in his post

edit on 7-4-2012 by heineken because: (no reason given)

It can't be the ISS as it was done with a 1s exposure and should appears like a short streak.

reply to post by elevenaugust


Darn it! my solution was at the bottom of the last page! Do you know how to animate the two frames together in a single gif? It will be easier for people to see what I mean.

And the more I look at it, the more I see the structure of the "thing" is made by a vibrating mechanism, note the way its body/structure is made in layers.

reply to post by Qumulys

So you're saying that the object was a star? I'm confused here, how the hell a star can have this odd aspect??
Nice work BTW

reply to post by elevenaugust


Cheers.

I'd say perhaps a small jolt, something like a cricket jumping on the scope, or a slight bump in the mount motor or a tiny tap etc.

Try to visualise it like this, mount a laser on a stick. Hold the stick on a table hanging off and bounce it a bit and look at the pattern the light 'paints' on the wall. This is what's happening, but with the star and his equipment vibrating.

Originally posted by Qumulys
reply to post by elevenaugust

 

Darn it! my solution was at the bottom of the last page! Do you know how to animate the two frames together in a single gif? It will be easier for people to see what I mean.

Will do it now.

Here you go:



The problem is that I had to cheat a little as I can't resized a 6000x3376 to a 640x336 and kept the same ratio, so I cropped the second one a little from 360 to 336...
But the idea is there as it's 'almost' at the exact same place.

Originally posted by zorgon

Originally posted by elevenaugust

ISS from Earth..

Oh yeah they look identical cased closed...

edit on 6-4-2012 by zorgon because: (no reason given)

Should have your eye check
Not even close
Must be hard to have to put everything down

reply to post by elevenaugust


Awesome! Cheers for doing that.

There is a little movement, but that's normal. Even though he had dropped the brightness/contrast to make it look cleaner, there is still evidence of the other less bright stars, which also follow the same pattern, in perfect alignment with how they rotate.

Anyway's, for something that looked awesome at first, now I'm rather grumpy at this guy for having us on! He actually helped in this case with-holding the original, because the frame before became the slam dunk to his mischief!

It just looks like a photo of a jet to me. Nothing special at all. Like an F-22 or something.

Originally posted by GuidedKill

Originally posted by Human_Alien

Originally posted by GuidedKill
Swamp gas.....or bug.

We are sooooooooooooooooooo passed that.
It's the era of Chinese lanterns!

If this was the ISS then why are we (this French guy) able to see it at 2AM ?
Does it or can it pick up light from the Sun at that altitude? If so, then all satellites should be visible at night, no?

Your right Human_alien......I stand corrected....Its a Chinese lantern!!! Maybe even a Chinese Lantern surrounded by swamp gas and bugs.

And rock formations. Don't forget the rock formations.

Looking at the photo I think it is possible that the way the light is hitting it might cause an illusion in how we see the shape due to shadows. I do not know about the ISS but could it not be a smaller satelite of even a piece of debris? I am not sure if someone has already figured it out in the thread.

reply to post by elevenaugust


Awesome work you guys. That totally settles it.

The only question remaining is why he even bothered to deceive us like this. He must've known there was nothing but a bright star in his scope.

Ok, for those still not convinced, I learned how to make it in an animated gif, this time to show that what I and others thought were lens reflections in the original photo, are in fact further direct evidence that they are ALL just stars undergoing the SAME vibration.

I've shown the first photo, then his other photo, then 1st again, but circled some more prominent stars. They ALL correspond in the exact same positions.
Just stars I'm afraid, nothing else, no jets, no ISS, no UFO, it's just stars.


(sorry about the compression... so hard to keep it clear, yet still be up loadable to ATS, but you should get the idea now)
Elevenagust, tell the guy he is a numpty care of me

Just gotta chime in - VERY nice work, Qumulys!!

Although I have to say that I'm a little bit surprised this possibility wasn't spotted earlier in the thread - given the observation of the multiply repeating patterns. Lens flares don't do that - it makes no optical sense. But if you have one bright source (Polaris) and lots of other less bright stars, and the camera is jiggled around during the exposure, then of course ALL of them are going to have the same pattern. Hence lots of repeated squiggles.

The blurred/doubling effect suggests either slight defocusing (maybe focusing is what shook the camera..?) poor optics, or even slight fogging of a lens - I've had a few star trail pics ruined er enhanced by the lens gradually fogging up and the trails slowly becoming blurs..

Carry on the good work, Q - there seems to be very few good image analysts left at this site..


PS - In case anyone remembers me, please note that I just popped by and noticed this thread - I am not returning to regular posting..
PPS - I find it hard to believe that the owner of this image isn't well aware of what happened, given the change in exposure that conveniently reduced the visibility of the other stars...

Yes, very good work Qumulys!

Incredible how our senses can be fooled; like I already said: don't believe everything you see!

PS: @Chrlz: nice to see you around

Originally posted by gortex
On the face of it its an interesting picture , not so sure its the ISS though .
I'm more interested in this

He said he don't want to show the original photo for Copyright reasons

Mmmm I'd like to see the data for the picture , what Copyright reasons ... haven't you posted a copy here ?
In my experience hoaxers hold back on original copies , not saying its a hoax but it does have a red flag attached to it until he posts the unedited original

As as an avid hobbyist photography, I understand the possibly copyright reasons he is concerned about. Many sites (ATS included I believe) have an implied right to use any material posted to their site in perpetuity, world wide, without payment. This includes photographs. If there is any, and I mean any potential for this photo to be worth anything, and many like me err on the side of caution, will not post something unless I am prepared to no longer hold the sole copyrights to what I am posting. Without the EXIF data, it can be hard to determine much, but on the other hand, date and time data can be inaccurate as well, just because the clock has been set incorrectly in the camera, I know, I have done it myself. Another thing that can be recorded, if the ability exists, is GPS data.

Maybe the OP should consider posting the EXIF data in a post, or maybe make a screen captured video of him accessing the EXIF data from the image, the site might get the rights to the video, but the not the original image.

reply to post by RyanFromCan


This actually isnt the OP's (elevenaugust's) photo, it just came up from another guy on another website he visits. He did make that clear. He managed to at least get the EXIF data from the photographer for us though (which is on the previous page).


Thanks EA and CHRLZ btw It's certainly a fun way to spend an evening!

Originally posted by Trillium

Originally posted by zorgon

Originally posted by elevenaugust

ISS from Earth..

Oh yeah they look identical cased closed...

edit on 6-4-2012 by zorgon because: (no reason given)

Should have your eye check

Not even close

Must be hard to have to put everything down

pretty sure he was being sarcastic

Looks like a f-16...either that or xenu has better plane/space ships and is coming to freeze us and kill us again nooooooo