Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[1oldman2]

<<< On my "wishlist" as well. At the present, here is the best my "equipment" can do.

I should add that my gear consists of a "Cheesy" cell phone camera on 4 times zoom, the "mount" is my hand braced against a pick-up.
Of course after posting this I came across, http://www.astronomysource.com/2011/12/29/astrophotography-without-a-telescope/ Who would have figured?

 

[1oldman2]

I mentioned in another thread not long ago a book from the early 80's called "From Quark to Quasar", basically a non technical but visually very cool study of scale in our universe. Lately whilst perusing the internet I came upon this link http://www.numbersleuth.org/universe/ which brought to mind the old Q to Q book.
It's a very good lesson on perspective.

 

[1oldman2]

Carina Nebula by Hubble http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/ is a great site

 

[1oldman2]

View attachment 102031 <<< On my "wishlist" as well. At the present, here is the best my "equipment" can do.
View attachment 102032
I should add that my gear consists of a "Cheesy" cell phone camera on 4 times zoom, the "mount" is my hand braced against a pick-up.
Of course after posting this I came across, http://www.astronomysource.com/2011/12/29/astrophotography-without-a-telescope/ Who would have figured?

http://www.space.com/33191-take-astronomy-pictures-with-mobile-devices.html =

 

[1oldman2]

Don't forget to go into settings on the player and turn up the resolution to the appropriate setting as each of these begins.

Hubble zoom on milky way center

Veil Supernova 4K

Monkey head nebula Pillars

And finally I've found a digital clock I like.
http://www.space.com/33210-cosmic-watch-app-astronomical-clock.html

Cool images here also... http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/data/rosetta/osiris_escort.html

 

[Andy Resnick]

This time of year Cygnus is favorably positioned (for me). It's one of my favorite regions to photograph because of the star density- at 23 minutes of exposure time, stars fill in 3% of the sky. Here's 2 frames, one located at γ-Cygni and the other at the North American Nebula:

Each of these fields of view covers about 5 degrees (400/2.8 lens). A few 100% crops:

NGC 6910 (Rocking Horse cluster)

M29

And a flicker of the crescent nebula

The dense dust clouds form interesting 'holes' in the otherwise dense starfield:

Another interesting aspect of these images is that the size distribution of the stars, which is proportional to the magnitude distribution, obeys Poisson statistics- which it should, because thermal photons also obey Poisson statistics.

 

[DennisN]

It's one of my favorite regions to photograph because of the star density- at 23 minutes of exposure time, stars fill in 3% of the sky.

Awesome to look at those photos! . So many stars, so many places, so many things we can see/imagine being there (well, having been there ). But we can only look, not visit and not touch... I'm getting poetic over here .

 

[davenn]

Of course after posting this I came across, http://www.astronomysource.com/2011/12/29/astrophotography-without-a-telescope/ Who would have figured?

do you have any other camera that has the capability of multiple seconds of exposure time ?

 

[1oldman2]

do you have any other camera that has the capability of multiple seconds of exposure time ?

Not currently, I do plan an "upgrade" soon and that is one of the main features I'm looking into, I'm currently educating myself to maximize the "bang per buck" on a limited budget.

 

[1oldman2]

These images speak for themselves.
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2016/0624-wise-views-in-infrared.html

 

[davenn]

Not currently, I do plan an "upgrade" soon and that is one of the main features I'm looking into, I'm currently educating myself to maximize the "bang per buck" on a limited budget.

hi ya

this one is about the cheapest I could find that has manual focus
manual focus is critical for doing star photography

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod12066.htmlet me know if that is within your budget or you can extend a bit further so I can make some better suggestions
obviously ... have a look in your local camera shop and get the US$ price for that model Dave

 

[1oldman2]

hi ya

this one is about the cheapest I could find that has manual focus
manual focus is critical for doing star photography

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod12066.htmlet me know if that is within your budget or you can extend a bit further so I can make some better suggestions
obviously ... have a look in your local camera shop and get the US$ price for that model Dave

Hi Dave, That would be an ideal camera, thanks for the suggestion. I have been playing around with my brothers NIKON COOLPIX L840 and considering that however the Canon seems to be a much better deal, (I have found that where optics and electronics is concerned "better deal" does not mean cheaper) The price range of the Canon is about right and as you can see, aside from the sale price the US equivalent is about the same price as in Oz dollars, http://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-p...lack/2761156.p?id=1219556849220&skuId=2761156
Now all I have to do is package this deal and sell it to my wife as something she really needs also, This shouldn't be all that difficult as she's been bugging me about getting a new camera for a while. We live on a very conservative budget while she is recovering from a stroke but should be able to put that amount together within the next month so hopefully the sale price will still be available in early August, with a little luck by October-November a first good telescope should be in the works also, The mountain peaks here average between 2000 and 3000 meters and when the air is cold they make some awesome viewing of the night sky.
Cheers, 1oldman.

 

[OmCheeto]

Hi Dave, That would be an ideal camera, thanks for the suggestion. I have been playing around with my brothers NIKON COOLPIX L840 and considering that however the Canon seems to be a much better deal, (I have found that where optics and electronics is concerned "better deal" does not mean cheaper) The price range of the Canon is about right and as you can see, aside from the sale price the US equivalent is about the same price as in Oz dollars, http://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-p...lack/2761156.p?id=1219556849220&skuId=2761156
Now all I have to do is package this deal and sell it to my wife as something she really needs also, This shouldn't be all that difficult as she's been bugging me about getting a new camera for a while. We live on a very conservative budget while she is recovering from a stroke but should be able to put that amount together within the next month so hopefully the sale price will still be available in early August, with a little luck by October-November a first good telescope should be in the works also, The mountain peaks here average between 2000 and 3000 meters and when the air is cold they make some awesome viewing of the night sky.
Cheers, 1oldman.

Whatever you do, listen to that one line; "manual focus is critical for doing star photography"

I want to stab myself...

 

[davenn]

I have been playing around with my brothers NIKON COOLPIX L840 and considering that however the Canon seems to be a much better deal,

not only is the canon a better deal
that Nikon Coolpix DOESNT have manual focus and only has a longest exposure of 4 seconds

The Canon does have manual focus and it's longest exposure time is 15 seconds, which is great for star pix

ohhh exposure time is inversely proportional to focal length ... the longer the focal length the shorter the exposure time before star trails occurDave

PS... all these posts should really be in another thread of their own

 

[Andy Resnick]

manual focus is critical for doing star photography

Truer words have rarely been spoken.

 

[1oldman2]

Coming attractions .

 

[1oldman2]

Whatever you do, listen to that one line; "manual focus is critical for doing star photography"

Point well taken, these tips will end up saving me significant money as well as substantial heartbreak, I really do owe you guys more than a simple thanks

I want to stab myself...

Don't do it! I'm pretty sure the experience is overrated.

 

[1oldman2]

Truer words have rarely been spoken.

 

[1oldman2]

PS... all these posts should really be in another thread of their own

This is a great suggestion, there is always a shortage of good advice in the world.

 

[DennisN]

Not quite in space, but going to space... I simply had to share the photo here when I saw it a while ago...

What's that rising from the clouds? The space shuttle. Sometimes, if you looked out the window of an airplane at just the right place and time, you could have seen something very unusual -- a space shuttle launching to orbit.

Source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150524.html

 

[1oldman2]

Here's one for Dave, NASA's pic of the day, south of Oz.
And another "killer" ISS view.

 

[1oldman2]

Anyone wanting a lesson in orbital mechanics come over to http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv for a few, good show and good people

 

[1oldman2]

Anyone wanting a lesson in orbital mechanics come over to http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv for a few, good show and good people

A few highlights of the test.

In keeping with the forum rules on "text speak" I've just got to say "Oh My God" this sites images are great! https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/with/16912110270/

 

[1oldman2]

Cygnus returning from...

 

[sjzrifdsa]

excellent!

 

[1oldman2]

Western US

Eastern US

 

[Clever Penguin]

I chose to show some pictures of the ISS from Earth:

And a time lapse:

 

[1oldman2]

A couple of APOD beauties here.

 

[DennisN]

Night time lights over Europe.

 

[DennisN]

Earth seen from space Time-lapse footage - ISS FullHD 1080p Night/day