Night Curious Attempt at Astrophotograhy

Curious Attempt at Astrophotograhy · **1 Like**

Second attempt at Astro photos, the aperture was 1.2 and the next half step before f2, could someone please let me know what the value of the half stop is?

The Cloud or nedula, i have no idea what it is called in the centre, it looks like crab defending it self. The second shot has a satelitte tracking through it, this was not planned to much, but i am reasonably happy with the results.

Lastly can you stack frames on a MAC, I checked Deepskytracker and all I could see were exe. files available to download?

Tthanks

Na Horuk · 09-30-2014, 04:23 PM

Nice results! I can't answer your questions, but would be curious to hear answers

gmans · 09-30-2014, 04:43 PM

Originally posted by Na Horuk

Nice results! I can't answer your questions, but would be curious to hear answers

Was thinking of cropping but the stars look a bit off cropped, CA at work I think and the 10 seconds was right on the border of star trail. So left them as is. Thanks for your comment.

hjw · 09-30-2014, 06:08 PM

Great shots. From the fact that you used a 50mm lens I would say it is the large magellanic cloud. What time did you take this shot? I'm down at Melbourne and might have a shot too

.

mole · 09-30-2014, 07:38 PM

Very nice results - you have some great dark skies!

To answer your question, I've not tried this myself, but found this suggestion:
Reflections: Running DeepSkyStacker for Windows on the Mac

He used WINE to allow deepskystacker to run on mac. I've used WINE to get other windows programs to work on mac (eg Irfanview), so it looks like this should work as well...

gmans · 09-30-2014, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by hjw

Great shots. From the fact that you used a 50mm lens I would say it is the large magellanic cloud. What time did you take this shot? I'm down at Melbourne and might have a shot too

.

About 400am or so it was due south about 45 degrees in the sky. Good luck.

coboren3 · 09-30-2014, 08:02 PM

Need more info, where are you? Northern or southern hemisphere? Which direction did you take the shot, North, South and at what time (your location can tell a lot? Second shot looks like ISS.

gmans · 09-30-2014, 08:06 PM

Originally posted by mole

Very nice results - you have some great dark skies!

To answer your question, I've not tried this myself, but found this suggestion:
Reflections: Running DeepSkyStacker for Windows on the Mac

He used WINE to allow deepskystacker to run on mac. I've used WINE to get other windows programs to work on mac (eg Irfanview), so it looks like this should work as well...

Thanks much appreciated, the skys are reasonably dark but it is in town and some of shots showed glow, there was not much humidity down low which helped a lot. I have not got windows so will keep wine in mind, now I have to think of wine and beer.

---------- Post added 10-01-14 at 01:10 PM ----------

Originally posted by coboren3

Need more info, where are you? Northern or southern hemisphere? Which direction did you take the shot, North, South and at what time (your location can tell a lot? Second shot looks like ISS.

The info is on my avatar, hunter valley NSW Australia. Maybe thought it was the ISS have heard it runs thru our skies just not real clued up on all that.

RobG · 09-30-2014, 08:52 PM

Originally posted by gmans

The Cloud or nedula, i have no idea what it is called in the centre, it looks like crab defending it self. The second shot has a satelitte tracking through it, this was not planned to much, but i am reasonably happy with the results.

One of the Magellanic Clouds.

To be specific, the Large Magellanic Cloud. These two "clouds" are small galaxies which orbit ours. You can see both of them in this shot I took recently:

If the satellite was as bright as Jupiter or Venus, it could have been the ISS.

gmans · 09-30-2014, 09:28 PM

Originally posted by RobG

One of the Magellanic Clouds.

To be specific, the Large Magellanic Cloud. These two "clouds" are small galaxies which orbit ours. You can see both of them in this shot I took recently:

If the satellite was as bright as Jupiter or Venus, it could have been the ISS.

It was fairly bright, i got other satellites or meteors but they were not as bright as this and were heading longitudinal north south did not notice them until i downloaded to the computer, i missed seeing them, but the bright satellite was easy to see and capture. Was lucky that i was still fixed on the cloud. Well that is the only galaxy that I knowingly have seen with the naked eye.

i

RobG · 09-30-2014, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by gmans

It was fairly bright, i got other satellites or meteors but they were not as bright as this and were heading longitudinal north south did not notice them until i downloaded to the computer, i missed seeing them, but the bright satellite was easy to see and capture. Was lucky that i was still fixed on the cloud. Well that is the only galaxy that I knowingly have seen with the naked eye.

I checked the NASA "Spot the station" site and they didn't indicate a visible pass for that time, but I'm not sure if they report passes at 4am.

You can specify Newcastle as a location.

NASA - Spot The Station

If you have a dark night, see if you can spot the small magellanic cloud, which is higher in the sky (see my photo). If you want to see a nebula, there's one in the middle of the Sword of Orion which is visible with binoculars. Most nebulae are too dim to see with the naked eye.

hjw · 09-30-2014, 10:10 PM

Hi gmans,
Thanks for the info. If in future you would like to identify night objects I would recommend to download stellarium (www.stellarium.org/) - its free and pretty good

. All I have to do now is wait for a clear night.
Cheers
hjw

gmans · 09-30-2014, 11:57 PM

Originally posted by RobG

I checked the NASA "Spot the station" site and they didn't indicate a visible pass for that time, but I'm not sure if they report passes at 4am.

You can specify Newcastle as a location.

NASA - Spot The Station

If you have a dark night, see if you can spot the small magellanic cloud, which is higher in the sky (see my photo). If you want to see a nebula, there's one in the middle of the Sword of Orion which is visible with binoculars. Most nebulae are too dim to see with the naked eye.

Cheers very useful, will have to go bush for a night or two, with the swag next to the tripod.

---------- Post added 10-01-14 at 05:02 PM ----------

Originally posted by hjw

Hi gmans,
Thanks for the info. If in future you would like to identify night objects I would recommend to download stellarium (www.stellarium.org/) - its free and pretty good

. All I have to do now is wait for a clear night.
Cheers
hjw

Where are you in melbourne north or to the south? The sky towards the south would be fairly dark but then you have the sea mist. My daughter just recently moved to Melbourne, will have to ask her what the sky is like where she is at, Brunswick. Thanks for the software tip. cheers

hjw · 10-01-2014, 12:52 AM

I am up in the Dandenong Ranges. I would have better skies than Brunswick, which is much closer to the city. South is bad for me, because I have some mountain ash is this direction. Either I will have to drive a bit our wait till later in the year where conditions are more favourable. My pet target at the moment is the Sagittarius region, which is right above us in the evening (more pleasant than 4am

) and has quite a few Messier objects. I labelled the ones I can get with a 55-300mm zoom lens.

Cheers
hjw

RobG · 10-01-2014, 02:58 AM

Originally posted by hjw

I am up in the Dandenong Ranges. I would have better skies than Brunswick, which is much closer to the city. South is bad for me, because I have some mountain ash is this direction. Either I will have to drive a bit our wait till later in the year where conditions are more favourable. My pet target at the moment is the Sagittarius region, which is right above us in the evening (more pleasant than 4am

) and has quite a few Messier objects. I labelled the ones I can get with a 55-300mm zoom lens.

Thanks for this! I was able to go back to a photo I took of the sky around Scorpius and locate the objects you have marked. The tip of the tail of Scorpius is easy to find, and the area you have in your photo is just to the north.

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09-30-2014, 08:52 PM	#9
RobG Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Canberra Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,891	Originally posted by gmans The Cloud or nedula, i have no idea what it is called in the centre, it looks like crab defending it self. The second shot has a satelitte tracking through it, this was not planned to much, but i am reasonably happy with the results. One of the Magellanic Clouds. To be specific, the Large Magellanic Cloud. These two "clouds" are small galaxies which orbit ours. You can see both of them in this shot I took recently: If the satellite was as bright as Jupiter or Venus, it could have been the ISS. Last edited by RobG; 09-30-2014 at 08:58 PM.

10-01-2014, 12:52 AM	#14
hjw Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 48	I am up in the Dandenong Ranges. I would have better skies than Brunswick, which is much closer to the city. South is bad for me, because I have some mountain ash is this direction. Either I will have to drive a bit our wait till later in the year where conditions are more favourable. My pet target at the moment is the Sagittarius region, which is right above us in the evening (more pleasant than 4am ) and has quite a few Messier objects. I labelled the ones I can get with a 55-300mm zoom lens. Cheers hjw Attached Images

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09-30-2014, 04:23 PM	#2
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Nice results! I can't answer your questions, but would be curious to hear answers

09-30-2014, 04:43 PM	#3
gmans Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Hunter Valley,NSW, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,466 Original Poster	Originally posted by Na Horuk Nice results! I can't answer your questions, but would be curious to hear answers Was thinking of cropping but the stars look a bit off cropped, CA at work I think and the 10 seconds was right on the border of star trail. So left them as is. Thanks for your comment.

09-30-2014, 06:08 PM	#4
hjw Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 48	Great shots. From the fact that you used a 50mm lens I would say it is the large magellanic cloud. What time did you take this shot? I'm down at Melbourne and might have a shot too .

09-30-2014, 07:38 PM	#5
mole Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Tennessee Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,432	Very nice results - you have some great dark skies! To answer your question, I've not tried this myself, but found this suggestion: Reflections: Running DeepSkyStacker for Windows on the Mac He used WINE to allow deepskystacker to run on mac. I've used WINE to get other windows programs to work on mac (eg Irfanview), so it looks like this should work as well...

09-30-2014, 08:01 PM	#6
gmans Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Hunter Valley,NSW, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,466 Original Poster	Originally posted by hjw Great shots. From the fact that you used a 50mm lens I would say it is the large magellanic cloud. What time did you take this shot? I'm down at Melbourne and might have a shot too . About 400am or so it was due south about 45 degrees in the sky. Good luck.

09-30-2014, 08:02 PM	#7
coboren3 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 66	Need more info, where are you? Northern or southern hemisphere? Which direction did you take the shot, North, South and at what time (your location can tell a lot? Second shot looks like ISS.

09-30-2014, 08:06 PM	#8
gmans Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Hunter Valley,NSW, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,466 Original Poster	Originally posted by mole Very nice results - you have some great dark skies! To answer your question, I've not tried this myself, but found this suggestion: Reflections: Running DeepSkyStacker for Windows on the Mac He used WINE to allow deepskystacker to run on mac. I've used WINE to get other windows programs to work on mac (eg Irfanview), so it looks like this should work as well... Thanks much appreciated, the skys are reasonably dark but it is in town and some of shots showed glow, there was not much humidity down low which helped a lot. I have not got windows so will keep wine in mind, now I have to think of wine and beer. ---------- Post added 10-01-14 at 01:10 PM ---------- Originally posted by coboren3 Need more info, where are you? Northern or southern hemisphere? Which direction did you take the shot, North, South and at what time (your location can tell a lot? Second shot looks like ISS. The info is on my avatar, hunter valley NSW Australia. Maybe thought it was the ISS have heard it runs thru our skies just not real clued up on all that.

09-30-2014, 09:28 PM	#10
gmans Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Hunter Valley,NSW, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,466 Original Poster	Originally posted by RobG One of the Magellanic Clouds. To be specific, the Large Magellanic Cloud. These two "clouds" are small galaxies which orbit ours. You can see both of them in this shot I took recently: If the satellite was as bright as Jupiter or Venus, it could have been the ISS. It was fairly bright, i got other satellites or meteors but they were not as bright as this and were heading longitudinal north south did not notice them until i downloaded to the computer, i missed seeing them, but the bright satellite was easy to see and capture. Was lucky that i was still fixed on the cloud. Well that is the only galaxy that I knowingly have seen with the naked eye. i

09-30-2014, 09:51 PM	#11
RobG Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Canberra Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,891	Originally posted by gmans It was fairly bright, i got other satellites or meteors but they were not as bright as this and were heading longitudinal north south did not notice them until i downloaded to the computer, i missed seeing them, but the bright satellite was easy to see and capture. Was lucky that i was still fixed on the cloud. Well that is the only galaxy that I knowingly have seen with the naked eye. I checked the NASA "Spot the station" site and they didn't indicate a visible pass for that time, but I'm not sure if they report passes at 4am. You can specify Newcastle as a location. NASA - Spot The Station If you have a dark night, see if you can spot the small magellanic cloud, which is higher in the sky (see my photo). If you want to see a nebula, there's one in the middle of the Sword of Orion which is visible with binoculars. Most nebulae are too dim to see with the naked eye.

09-30-2014, 10:10 PM	#12
hjw Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 48	Hi gmans, Thanks for the info. If in future you would like to identify night objects I would recommend to download stellarium (www.stellarium.org/) - its free and pretty good . All I have to do now is wait for a clear night. Cheers hjw

09-30-2014, 11:57 PM	#13
gmans Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Hunter Valley,NSW, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,466 Original Poster	Originally posted by RobG I checked the NASA "Spot the station" site and they didn't indicate a visible pass for that time, but I'm not sure if they report passes at 4am. You can specify Newcastle as a location. NASA - Spot The Station If you have a dark night, see if you can spot the small magellanic cloud, which is higher in the sky (see my photo). If you want to see a nebula, there's one in the middle of the Sword of Orion which is visible with binoculars. Most nebulae are too dim to see with the naked eye. Cheers very useful, will have to go bush for a night or two, with the swag next to the tripod. ---------- Post added 10-01-14 at 05:02 PM ---------- Originally posted by hjw Hi gmans, Thanks for the info. If in future you would like to identify night objects I would recommend to download stellarium (www.stellarium.org/) - its free and pretty good . All I have to do now is wait for a clear night. Cheers hjw Where are you in melbourne north or to the south? The sky towards the south would be fairly dark but then you have the sea mist. My daughter just recently moved to Melbourne, will have to ask her what the sky is like where she is at, Brunswick. Thanks for the software tip. cheers

10-01-2014, 02:58 AM	#15
RobG Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Canberra Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,891	Originally posted by hjw I am up in the Dandenong Ranges. I would have better skies than Brunswick, which is much closer to the city. South is bad for me, because I have some mountain ash is this direction. Either I will have to drive a bit our wait till later in the year where conditions are more favourable. My pet target at the moment is the Sagittarius region, which is right above us in the evening (more pleasant than 4am ) and has quite a few Messier objects. I labelled the ones I can get with a 55-300mm zoom lens. Thanks for this! I was able to go back to a photo I took of the sky around Scorpius and locate the objects you have marked. The tip of the tail of Scorpius is easy to find, and the area you have in your photo is just to the north.