Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[bruha]

Hi, it is beautiful... What is your gear? I did not catch Uranus by my telescope at all!

 

[chemisttree]

Uranus will look almost like a dim star in the telescope to most of us. Easy to miss. You will see the color, though. If you look a little more carefully, you will notice it is a disc.

 

[collinsmark]

Hi, it is beautiful... What is your gear?

I used the same gear for the Uranus image as I did for the Mars images:

Telescope: Meade 10" LX200-ACF mounted on an equatorial wedge.
Camera: ZWO ASI290MM
Tele Vue 4x Powermate (pretty much the same thing as a 4x Barlow lens)
ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel with Astronomik Deep Sky RGB filters

Acquisition and Processing were slightly different for Uranus.

The camera gain was set near the maximum. Also, the camera gain was the same for all the RGB filters such that I could use dark frames in FireCapture (without having to recalibrate darks in-between filters). Exposure was set to raise the right side of the histogram above 50%, which was about 80 ms.

Ten minutes videos per RGB filter, making 30 minutes total integration time.

Only a single AP was used Autostakkert! (still 50% frames kept though).

I did not catch Uranus by my telescope at all!

Uranus is kinda difficult to catch. It's barely visible to the naked eye, but is actually visible, if you have dark skies. If you're in area with light pollution, forget about spotting it with your naked eye.

I live in some extreme light pollution. So I relied on my telescope's GoTo capabilities.

Like @chemisttree mentions, Uranus is pretty small from our perspective, even in a telescope (compared to other planets like Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). It's not difficult to overlook.

 

[bruha]

Hi and thank you for answer. In saturday was "blue moon" here (Prague) etc. second full moon within month
moom was short time good visible but I could not recognize much different from standard full..

 

[davenn]

but I could not recognize much different from standard full.

of course not it was a "standard" full moon. It wasn't a supermoon
Why did you think it would be different ?

 

[bruha]

Hello, I send you link concernig this...
https://Earth'sky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

 

[bruha]

Hello,I send Mars from yesterday, with yellow filter 5, little Gimp processed..

Hi

 

[DennisN]

@bruha & @chemisttree and others who are using mobile phones as cameras:

I just learned that there are bluetooth remote controls (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y8MTW76/?tag=pfamazon01-20) that can control the camera on mobile phones. And e.g. OpenCamera for Android supports remote controls. I will try to get a suitable remote control, so I don't have to use the delay function anymore to remove vibrations.

@bruha & @chemisttree & others who use mobile phones as cameras:

I never ever thought I would post about selfie sticks and certainly not on PF, but I guess there is a first time for everything...

I was reading on a photography site about various photography accessories, and I came across a recommended selfie stick/tripod with a detachable bluetooth remote control that controls the shutter on mobile phones. So I thought why try to find a dedicated remote when you can get more for roughly the same price?

This was the page I read:
The best camera accessories in 2020: essential photography gadgets and add-ons

...and they recommended SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod, which is available on Amazon. I am personally going to buy an Huawei AF15 Tripod Selfiestick, which is a similar product with good rating. Here is one review.

 

[Keith_McClary]

SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod

The review says

huge ... 65mAh rechargeable lithium battery

but the (wrongly?) linked Amazon page shows a replaceable CR1632.

One commenter says using the tripod and extending the stick is precarious (as the legs seem fixed length and angle).

You can write us a review.

 

[DennisN]

Plumes on Enceladus (moon of Saturn), captured by Cassini:
(from this gallery)

Boomerang Nebula captured by Hubble (from the same gallery) :

 

[bruha]

Hello, I noticed some sunspot after long time (lower and lower right on images)

 

[DennisN]

...and they recommended SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod, which is available on Amazon. I am personally going to buy an Huawei AF15 Tripod Selfiestick, which is a similar product with good rating.

You can write us a review.

I changed my mind and just bought a bluetooth remote control; I chose this one, which had good reviews and was recommended: CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (about $7). I bought it on German Amazon, so I won't have to pay shipping/import fees. Instead of buying one of those dreaded selfiesticks , I instead bought a https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087JQW8TM/?tag=pfamazon01-20 for my camera when doing normal (i.e. non-astro) photography.

Edit:

I also learned you can use "AirMouse" remote controls (I have this one, Mele F10 which I use with my Android tv box) to control mobile phones, including the shutter function. When I connect the small usb remote receiver to my phone, I can use the Mele F10 to take photos. I learned that pressing "Audio Volume + (up)" on remote controls activates the shutter function on Android phones.

Edit 2:

@chemisttree :

According to the specifications, CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (ca $7) works with both iOS and Android. And there are other ways to control the shutter on iOS phones, according to this page, the "volume up" button on headsets can be used to take photos:

5 Weird Ways To Release The iPhone Camera Shutter (iPhone photography school)

 

[chemisttree]

Hello, I noticed some sunspot after long time (lower and lower right on images)

Great shots, Bru! Are you using the Barlow? See any red fringing?

 

[chemisttree]

I changed my mind and just bought a bluetooth remote control; I chose this one, which had good reviews and was recommended: CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (about $7). I bought it on German Amazon, so I won't have to pay shipping/import fees. Instead of buying one of those dreaded selfiesticks , I instead bought a https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087JQW8TM/?tag=pfamazon01-20 for my camera when doing normal (i.e. non-astro) photography.

Edit:

I also learned you can use "AirMouse" remote controls (I have this one, Mele F10 which I use with my Android tv box) to control mobile phones, including the shutter function. When I connect the small usb remote receiver to my phone, I can use the Mele F10 to take photos. I learned that pressing "Audio Volume + (up)" on remote controls activates the shutter function on Android phones.

Edit 2:

@chemisttree :

According to the specifications, CamKix Bluetooth Remote Control (ca $7) works with both iOS and Android. And there are other ways to control the shutter on iOS phones, according to this page, the "volume up" button on headsets can be used to take photos:

5 Weird Ways To Release The iPhone Camera Shutter (iPhone photography school)

Great info, Dennis. That button on my headsets always redials The last number called. Nice to use it for something else.

 

[chemisttree]

What I’ve always known as the “Straight Wall” between Birt and Thebit.

http://astrosurf.com/viladrich/astro/moon/closeup/Mur-9sept2020-4h33minUT-C14-B1920-green-f600.jpg

 

[bruha]

Hi Chemistree, its not with Barlow, just with mobile cam and. Hyperion 8 mm ,and sun green filter.
But as seen wrong artefact beacouse my solar foil was already pierced and repaired,..

Lot of succes..

 

[trees and plants]

When i look at the stars at night they are so bright , they have colour but their brightness made me want to study them also that they exist although they are distant from us. We have near Earth the sun as a star. God is infinite so are his powers, he created all these things , the Earth too. Thank you God. But we humans are so small compared to the universe or other things. The right for a human is to be humble because of being so small, but he has the freedom to choose between right and wrong.

 

[Stavros Kiri]

When i look at the stars at night they are so bright , they have colour but their brightness made me want to study them also that they exist although they are distant from us. We have near Earth the sun as a star. God is infinite so are his powers, he created all these things , the Earth too. Thank you God. But we humans are so small compared to the universe or other things. The right for a human is to be humble because of being so small, but he has the freedom to choose between right and wrong.

... also has the right to study and learn about that beautiful (yet full of mysteries and oppositions) Universe! ...

 

[trees and plants]

... also has the right to study and learn about that beautiful (yet full of mysteries and oppositions) Universe! ...

He does have this right. We live in an era where many people have many chances to study physics, astrophysics, math or other sciences like chemistry,biology, engineering and others. Some years ago many people because of the conditions did not have the chances for studying sciences like many people have today.

 

[DennisN]

Meanwhile on Mars, Curiosity took a selfie:

(a larger photo is here, and an article with some more photos is here)

 

[DennisN]

Here's an image of Uranus. Uranus is at opposition on 2020, October 31st.

I am very impressed that you got Uranus, congratulations!
According to Stellarium, the apparent diameter is 0°00'03.74''.

 

[Stavros Kiri]

Meanwhile on Mars, Curiosity took a selfie:

It was curious ...

 

[Andy Resnick]

Here's an image of Uranus. Uranus is at opposition on 2020, October 31st.

Nice!

Here's a combination shot of Uranus during October and November 2016 that I put together:

I'm able to detect 2 of the moons (not sure which ones)- these are images (200%) taken on different dates, one of them trying to detect motion of the moons by imaging at about 8pm and again at midnight:

 

[Andy Resnick]

The Pleiades are in a good viewing location (for me) this time of year- this stack is about 5 hours @ 400/2.8:

 

[DennisN]

The Pleiades are in a good viewing location (for me) this time of year- this stack is about 5 hours @ 400/2.8:

Gorgeous!

 

[bruha]

Hi I send my attempt of sun with green filter 58-(part of image- supposing facuales).. .

 

[Andy Resnick]

Neptune and its largest moon Triton, also imaged during Oct/Nov 2016 (100% scale):

And finally, Pluto, daily images taken July 27- July 31 2017, 300% scale . Still a planet :)

Pluto's images were taken at 400mm and no tracking mount- no sightline was available for polar alignment. Visible trailing even with only 0.8s exposure duration.

 

[DennisN]

Info:

Just after sunset on the evening of Dec. 21, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer together in Earth's night sky than they have been since the Middle Ages, offering people the world over a celestial treat to ring in the winter solstice.

Article: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-december-jupiter-saturn-planet-middle.html

Thanks to @fresh_42 who started a thread about it here.

 

[bruha]

Hello,
Mars (still sharp focusing problem-not sure why is squared..) , Sun (processing defect on the left) and Moon ..

 

[bruha]

o ..