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Low-Pass Filter posted:My camera (EOS M) isn't supported! Yeah, apparently the Canon mirrorless cameras are not supported (or partially supported?) by the dodgy official Canon SDK. So none of the astrophotography software (like BackyardEOS) can directly control the camera. I was thinking of getting an EOS M at one point and this is precisely why I didn't.
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Feb 9, 2016 20:43
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hannibal posted:Yeah, apparently the Canon mirrorless cameras are not supported (or partially supported?) by the dodgy official Canon SDK. So none of the astrophotography software (like BackyardEOS) can directly control the camera. I was thinking of getting an EOS M at one point and this is precisely why I didn't. It's a shame really. Apparently the EOS line is a weird offshoot of the Powershot firmware, so the EOS SDK doesn't work with it. It's a great "everyday" camera, and has the same sensor as some of it's big brothers, but I guess Canon has to differentiate their product line somehow, even if it's gimping their own cameras. Got myself a solar filter today and a T-Ring for my camera, excited to try it out later!
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Feb 10, 2016 17:45
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I've just now managed to overtighten the vice that hold my celestron 114eq to the tripod so far that its snapped off. Had to grab my scop pretty quick so it didnt go tumbling. I guess the cold this evening must be partly responsible but should that be possible at all? It just kept turning. I was wearing gloves but I'm sure I should have felt more resistance regardless. I'll have to see if it's still under warranty. Real shame, tonight was the clearest in months, and I was just about to line up on Andromeda for the first time after checking out Jupiter + the Orion nebula. Quick question r.e. collimation: how often do you have to do it to keep the image sharp? I did it a few days ago with one of those line-up-the-crosshairs collimators but when I took it out tonight, Jupiter actually seemed less clear than last time I scoped it out 
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Feb 11, 2016 01:32
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So far my experience with looking at objects in space has been limited to my camera. I know I enjoy this, so now I'm wondering what I should buy to get started with seeing more than just the moon and wide-angle pictures of the stars. Right now I just have a Canon 7dmkii and some wide and long lenses up to 600mm, but I'm wondering what would be a good telescope to buy. I live in the city, so it would have to fit in my hatchback to take on trips to state parks. Automatic tracking would be nice especially if I use my camera with it. Based on posts in the previous pages I've read it seems like it might not be a good idea to get a telescope designed for photography right off the bat, but if I were to do that what would pair well with the camera? Is there a better option if I don't make it compatible with my camera? Here's what I've gotten with my camera + lenses: Old t3i:   7dmkii:  
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Feb 11, 2016 07:31
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Oh, hang on. To collimate a newtonian with a cheshire, do I still need to dot the mirror in the center? I've just been lining stuff up as I see it through the cheshire! (as in, the secondary mirror mount, its reflection and the primary)
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Feb 11, 2016 18:33
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Surprise Giraffe posted:I've just now managed to overtighten the vice that hold my celestron 114eq to the tripod so far that its snapped off. Had to grab my scop pretty quick so it didnt go tumbling. I guess the cold this evening must be partly responsible but should that be possible at all? It just kept turning. I was wearing gloves but I'm sure I should have felt more resistance regardless. I'll have to see if it's still under warranty. Real shame, tonight was the clearest in months, and I was just about to line up on Andromeda for the first time after checking out Jupiter + the Orion nebula. That's a little nuts that it broke like that. I've heard good things about Celestron customer service, so I'd contact them. Wish I could give advice on collimation, but I'm too new! Drunk Badger posted:So far my experience with looking at objects in space has been limited to my camera. I know I enjoy this, so now I'm wondering what I should buy to get started with seeing more than just the moon and wide-angle pictures of the stars. Right now I just have a Canon 7dmkii and some wide and long lenses up to 600mm, but I'm wondering what would be a good telescope to buy. I live in the city, so it would have to fit in my hatchback to take on trips to state parks. Automatic tracking would be nice especially if I use my camera with it. Based on posts in the previous pages I've read it seems like it might not be a good idea to get a telescope designed for photography right off the bat, but if I were to do that what would pair well with the camera? Is there a better option if I don't make it compatible with my camera? These look very pretty! I would try some of the same widefield shots, but try stacking multiple exposures. That milky way shot would particularly benefit from it. Unfortunately, this one of those hobbies with a very steep expense curve. That said, to answer your question, what you want is something mounted on a German Equatorial Mount (GEM). The cheaper ones will be fully manual by default, but typically have an optional motor that you can mount to the Right Ascension axis. This is what you need to do longer exposures at full zoom. That's the kind setup that I have, and I can get about one minute exposures with a 200mm camera lens before I start getting star trails. This not long enough to make really impressive photos, but it's enough to keep me excited and not bite off more than I can chew, and I got it all used for $400. This is the setup I have with the optional motor: http://www.amazon.com/Orion-9827-AstroView-Equatorial-Reflector/dp/B0000XMSR0 I would recommend what seems to be the general advice and get a $50 pair of 10x50 binoculars for visual observing and learning your way around the sky. Finding some of these deep space objects can be hard if you don't know where to look, or have a sense of scale.
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Feb 12, 2016 02:05
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I picked up a Galileoscope last week. Are there any binoculars that people really like, or is what I have close enough?
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Feb 13, 2016 04:48
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Drunk Badger posted:I picked up a Galileoscope last week. Are there any binoculars that people really like, or is what I have close enough? What I have read is to get ones that are not too heavy and you can comfortably hold up. I have a set of 10x50s that are nice that I regularly use to peek at Jupiter and I can easily pick out its moons. If you already have a camera tripod, you can buy an attachment to mount them very easily.
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Feb 13, 2016 05:58
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I've never been able to hold binoculars at all thanks to extremely shaky hands, so I'd recommend a tripod for them if you can. I have a super nice pair I got as a gift that have basically never been used for this reason.
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Feb 13, 2016 18:37
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If you ever get a chance try some image-stabilized binoculars, amazing. I have unsteady hands and they worked incredibly well for me. I think it was a Canon pair I used.
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Feb 13, 2016 21:29
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God bless Orion's nebulae in winter! Even with a full moon in the sky and looking from my apartment courtyard in the middle of urban San Jose CA, I can still clearly make out the whispy features in a borrowed XT8.
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Feb 21, 2016 05:43
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Pluto fans should make reservations to hit NEAF this year as one of the guests will be none other than Alan Stern himself, Principal Investigator for the New Horizons mission! Hopefully he'll be presenting some stuff that might include new images and data from the probe! It's held the weekend of April 9th at Rockland Community College in I'm not associated with NEAF, just a happy show-goer. Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 18:34
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I've always wanted to go to NEAF, budget and school just hasn't permitted it. Maybe I should look more into going this year.
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Feb 21, 2016 19:04
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Tried my first few images taken through the telescope and not piggybacked. Focusing is still a challenge with the lovely rack and pinion focuser, but if I take my time I can get it dialed pretty OK. Started with the easiest of targets: the moon Waiting for a clear night to try some something dimmer and see what kind of tracking accuracy I can get at the longer FL. cheese posted:God bless Orion's nebulae in winter! Even with a full moon in the sky and looking from my apartment courtyard in the middle of urban San Jose CA, I can still clearly make out the whispy features in a borrowed XT8. It really is quite amazing, and viewing it through binoculars was the single thing that piqued my interest and led me to digging deeper.
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Feb 25, 2016 00:28
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Does your camera have a live mode? I find it helpful to use live mode and zoom in all the way while focusing.
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Feb 25, 2016 02:14
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Haven't been around here in awhile (not that I was around that much before) but figured I'd post a couple photos I've taken in the last month or so. I have a really lovely mount and spend most of my nights fighting that but I've had good results (I think). Horsehead and Flame (February 27, 2016)  by sdmacdonald, on Flickr Rosette Nebula (January 30, 2016)  by sdmacdonald, on Flickr These two images have different styles. I'm still trying to find my technique with PixInsight. I think I like the Horsehead better with the more ethereal look than the sharper Rosette look. Learning PixInsight is like climbing a vertical cliff with a rickety ladder where every rung is filled with poisonous spiders.
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Mar 1, 2016 05:14
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Wow, that horsehead picture is really incredible.
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Mar 1, 2016 08:30
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They're both spectacular! Great work
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Mar 1, 2016 08:33
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Obsolete posted:Haven't been around here in awhile (not that I was around that much before) but figured I'd post a couple photos I've taken in the last month or so. Those are seriously great! Can you enable downloading on them? The Horsehead pic, at least, is a perfect wallpaper.
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Mar 1, 2016 19:03
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Luceo posted:Those are seriously great! Can you enable downloading on them? The Horsehead pic, at least, is a perfect wallpaper. Thanks! Edit: Found the setting. You should be able to download it now. Let me know if it still gives you problems and I can email it to you or something.
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Mar 2, 2016 00:43
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Obsolete posted:Thanks! Perfect, thank you. Hello new wallpaper!
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Mar 2, 2016 01:43
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Check out Soyuz undocking live right now: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
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Mar 2, 2016 02:02
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Obsolete posted:Haven't been around here in awhile (not that I was around that much before) but figured I'd post a couple photos I've taken in the last month or so. These are actually really great. Flickr says you took these with a modified Canon 6D. How much difference to those photos do you think the full spectrum modification made? I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to modify a DSLR but I've performed surgery on many webcams in the name of science and sometimes I've found that the IR part of the spectrum had a slightly different focal point to visible light but maybe that's only a problem with the cheap optics I've been using  Did you use the 80mm refractor and the mount in the Rosette photo too or just the camera?Sorry for all the questions, I'm just sitting on a bunch of money that I may or may not spend on astro gear in the future.
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Mar 2, 2016 02:07
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Vladimir Poutine posted:These are actually really great. I bought the camera used from KEH and immediately sent it off to be modified. I don't own any Canon lenses (been a Nikon guy my whole photographic life) so I couldn't have tested it beforehand even if I wanted to. I sent mine to Hap Griffin (http://www.imaginginfinity.com/dslrmods.html). With that said, compared to the unmodified D7000 I was using - the difference is enormous. It was a very good upgrade to my D7000 and I'd recommend it. Not sure I'd go for the Canon 6D with the 7D MII so close in price, but if you get a good deal, go for it. Hap charged me like $320 for the mod with the replacement filter. The filter helps with focus. I DO have some reflection issues with the camera. I am not sure if it's due to the mod or if I'm being careless and some light is leaking in somewhere. It only shows up on light frames and not on the darks/flats so I'm leaning towards me just being lazy. Both photos (and most of my others that aren't as good) are with the Orion 80ED. I love that little scope. Pretty cheap and great optics. The mount, the iOptron ZEQ25, I want to throw into a lake and then somehow set the lake on fire. I hate that thing. I could write probably 5,000 words on all the problems I've had with that piece of poo poo. I do not recommend it at all. I got a deal on it and thought the lightness of my setup would make it work, but it's really a huge pain in the rear end. I also use the Orion 50mm guide scope and the Starshoot AutoGuider, along with a field flattener and light pollution filter (both Orion brand - I don't own stock in Orion or anything, I just somehow ended up buying everything but the mount and camera from them). Those work really well. I have some cone error I still need to sort out (thanks, ZEQ25!) but I also recommend those as they are fairly light and cheap. Honestly, the best investment I've made in the hobby has nothing to do with taking pictures at all. I live in Oklahoma and have to drive an hour and a half to our club's dark site. I bought a windscreen off John Love from Cloudy Nights and that thing has changed my life. If, like me, you live in the middle of a bright-rear end city and have to drive far out to observe/image, having a portable shelter/wind screen is such a game changer. I am super glad that everyone likes the photos. I can't stop myself from continuing to work on the Horsehead. Not sure I'll ever stop messing with it.  Edit: A really good photographer in our club gave me some Horse pointers (new band name!). He says that mine was too yellow. He also talked about how I blew out the little nebula near the Flame. I played with the color balance a bit and added more blue like he suggested. The noise is still an issue and it is all my fault. At some point last night, I decided I liked having SOME grain to it so I actually ADDED the noise. I kinda like it but at this point I think the image looks more like a painting than a photo. Which one is better - blue or yellow?  integration-13 by Steven MacDonald, on Flickr Obsolete fucked around with this message at 05:51 on Mar 2, 2016 |
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Mar 2, 2016 04:24
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Slowly getting better. Second attempt to process this data, gonna try again based on some suggestions received over at /r/astrophotography. I feel like the raw data has so much more detail, but I'm just trouncing all over it with my hamfisted pixinsight processing. M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy
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Mar 9, 2016 17:21
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Heads up for Jupiter watchers, there's a double transit of Europa and Io coming up Monday evening (US timezones). Jupiter was at opposition yesterday and is quite bright in the sky. On Monday, Europa and Io start and end at nearly the same time. I'm going to attempt to record a timelapse video (with a new ASI120MC that I should get tomorrow). First one I've done although I've done exposures of Jupiter before. This is a pretty neat site for checking out transit times: http://www.shallowsky.com/jupiter/ For the 14th, Europa starts at 2137, ends at 0005 and the shadow ends at 0039. For Io it's 2221, 0022 and 0040 (all times Eastern Daylight Time).
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Mar 9, 2016 22:55
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hannibal posted:Heads up for Jupiter watchers, there's a double transit of Europa and Io coming up Monday evening (US timezones). Jupiter was at opposition yesterday and is quite bright in the sky. On Monday, Europa and Io start and end at nearly the same time. I'm going to attempt to record a timelapse video (with a new ASI120MC that I should get tomorrow). First one I've done although I've done exposures of Jupiter before. Thanks for the heads up! This is awesome and can't wait to check it out. Anyone have any tips for making clouds go away just in case?? polyfractal posted:Slowly getting better. Second attempt to process this data, gonna try again based on some suggestions received over at /r/astrophotography. I feel like the raw data has so much more detail, but I'm just trouncing all over it with my hamfisted pixinsight processing. This is beautiful!
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Mar 12, 2016 21:20
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Low-Pass Filter posted:Thanks for the heads up! This is awesome and can't wait to check it out. Anyone have any tips for making clouds go away just in case?? Don't buy new gear. I bought a new camera (ASI120MC-S) and of course, it's going to rain tomorrow and Monday here.
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Mar 13, 2016 06:26
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So my skies looks pretty clear for the double transit tomorrow, but the humidity is like 95% and I don't have time to buy a dew heater. Any stopgap solutions? Do those boot and glove liner things kick out enough heat or should i get a cheap 12v hair dryer and just hit it every time the eyepiece dews up?
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Mar 13, 2016 17:46
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Seems like it's impossible to collimate my lovely budget celestron Bird-Jones with a Cheshire eyepiece. Had everything lined up reflection-wise, took the thing out last night and Jupiter was just a blurry blob at higher magnifications. Think I should just sell the thing and save for a new one from a better brand.
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Mar 13, 2016 20:35
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That's not a collimation issue. It's that it's a lovely Bird-jones scope. I've never seen one with optics I would call "decent."
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Mar 13, 2016 22:38
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Even though it looks like I'm going to miss the double transit, I got a nice shot of Jupiter on Friday night with my new ASI120MC-S.
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Mar 14, 2016 00:54
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hannibal posted:Even though it looks like I'm going to miss the double transit, I got a nice shot of Jupiter on Friday night with my new ASI120MC-S.  It's beautiful! This thread makes me want to spend money. You did that with an 8"?
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Mar 14, 2016 15:58
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hannibal posted:Even though it looks like I'm going to miss the double transit, I got a nice shot of Jupiter on Friday night with my new ASI120MC-S. My only suggestion would to be use slightly shorter exposures. It looks like there's a little bit of overexposure in the equatorial and south tropical zones. Otherwise it's a gorgeous image.
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Mar 14, 2016 16:06
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Just got back from observing, and drat that double transit was awesome! Lots of low clouds where I was, so there was a lot of waiting around, but frankly it kind of added to the anticipation. Cleardarksky said my seeing was "poor" but both shadows were clearly visible on the tropical band of Jupiter. Frankly, I didn't really expect my 6" Orion reflector to be able to resolve the shadows, but it worked pretty great! I can only imagine what a bigger reflector could do. I apparently don't know how to get decent photos of planets, so don't have anything of note to show. Very cool stuff, thanks for pointing it out Hannibal.
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Mar 15, 2016 04:58
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Hickson compact group 44 in Leo. I tried doing binned (2x2) RGB on this one which worked really well. My scope has slipped out of collimation somewhere though so I'm going to have to do that again now. Hickson Compact Group 44 - Colour by Tim Powell, on Flickr
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Mar 16, 2016 16:28
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Jekub posted:Hickson compact group 44 in Leo. I tried doing binned (2x2) RGB on this one which worked really well. My scope has slipped out of collimation somewhere though so I'm going to have to do that again now. I just moved and my scope is still in transit and your pictures are making the wait unbearable.
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Mar 17, 2016 01:01
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Binary Badger posted:Pluto fans should make reservations to hit NEAF this year as one of the guests will be none other than Alan Stern himself, Principal Investigator for the New Horizons mission! Hopefully he'll be presenting some stuff that might include new images and data from the probe! I absolutely love NEAF, and it's a drat shame I moved 1600 miles away and can't attend anymore. Stern was supposed to speak last year but got ill, so we had Jim Green give a similar presentation on the expected planetary sciences from the mission. Everyone who goes is super chill and everyone should go in my stead 
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Mar 17, 2016 03:21
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Went out to my grandmothers house in the country to give my new scope its first real darker sky night. Explore Scientific AR 102 refractor on a twilight I mount. I brought the scope, the mount, the eyepieces, the barlow, the Pocket Sky Atlas, the red flash light...but forgot my borrowed observers chair. Surely a lawn chair will be fine right? WRONG. It was miserable. Everything was perfectly placed to either be too high to sit in the chair, or too low to comfortably stand. There is also just something not fun about looking in a scope while standing - I just can't get that relaxed, "take it all in" feeling when I'm hunched over on my feet. The scope worked great, but some lessons were learned. 1) don't forget your adjustable chair 2) you need some kind of small table or something. My pockets rapidly filled up with a bunch of different caps and covers, and it was hard to get them back on in the dark 3) its kinda spooky in a dark back lot at night out in the country, all alone - bring a friend cheese fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Mar 19, 2016 |
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Mar 19, 2016 04:06
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Jekub posted:Hickson compact group 44 in Leo. I tried doing binned (2x2) RGB on this one which worked really well. My scope has slipped out of collimation somewhere though so I'm going to have to do that again now. Oh my goodness, that is gorgeous. Good work! That "S" shaped galaxy is in particular very cool. A few weeks ago I decided to go through a fine-tuning of my setup, and set aside a few hours to tweak the collimation and do a proper drift alignment. It helped image quality considerably, but tracking is still rather poor. I don't really know the history of my mount (purchased second hand), and I know the altitude bolts need replacing anyway, so I decided to just tear the whole mount down and perform a "hypertune". Over the next few weeks I'll strip it down, re-grease everything, replace the bearings and install a belt mod to replace the default spur gears. Fingers crossed I put it back together correctly!
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Mar 26, 2016 00:56
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