Astrophotography

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
LeeRevell said:
The "13:33" had me wondering. That is afternoon here. But if it's western time.........? We Eastcoasters are hours ahead of y'all.
Click to expand...
No, that's 13:32 UTC which is a new-fangled replacement for GMT or Greenwich Mean Time. Why they had to do that I have no idea, just to confuse people, separate us oldtimers from the newtimers, make it seem as though they got their money's worth from their college education. Anyway, 13:32 UTC is 9:32 EDT, that's when it's over. Starting time is 8:27 UTC or 4:27 EDT, but the best part, totality, starts at 10:27 UTC or 6:27 EDT... but I think the moon ends up setting before you can see the total phase from the East coast...
 
For those interested, the lunar eclipse is less than 24 hours off. I checked the aviation weather forecast in my area and it's not looking good - we may have clouds. I'm going to Hunt's Hole New Mexico to view it, and I'll stay for 2-3 days, exploring the volcanic features. Hunt's hole is a Maar crater formed by the explosive mixing of ground water and red-hot molten magma. The Google maps coordinates for Hunt's Hole is 31.923132, -106.967537.
 
At Hunt's Hole NM the sky was looking questionable, but as the eclipse approached I got everything set up and then started my computer taking a picture of the moon every 60 seconds. There were high wispy clouds scudding across the face but they were small, mostly transparent, and quickly moved on. I was within minutes of totality when the clouds moved in, preventing any further glimpses of the lunar eclipse. So that was it, I have a hundred or so frames leading up to totality but nothing of the actual event. Ah well, at least I got to bed a bit earlier...

The journey wasn't a waste though, I was still out in some beautiful, rugged scenery, this is Hunt's Hole, a maar volcanic crater. This is taken from the Eastern rim looking over the crater toward the Portillo mountains:
DSC02375b.jpg


and this is the sunset prior to the celestial non-event:
DSC02353b.jpg


and here is my mobile observatory illuminated by the full moon, completely set up and functioning. I am pleased with the way the house electrical system is working, it can power everything including lights, recharger for various batteries, the telescope mount, camera, computer, and monitor - and the solar panels will still have the battery fully charged before noon the following day (the battery is an AGM so I'm just going by voltages):
DSC02370b.jpg


here is a shot taken from the roof of my home on wheels, looking East. Again the only illumination in the frame is from the moon. You can clearly make out the constellation Orion, and the light orange glow near the horizon is from the lights of El Paso which is about 25 miles away:
DSC02359b.jpg


I'll put together an animated gif of the frames I took and post it here as soon as I can...
 
anm said:
How far do you have to go for dark skies?
Click to expand...

Just out the door :3 get some interesting stuff mounting the dslr to the scope with an infrared filter.
 
ToyotaEscaper said:
Just out the door :3 get some interesting stuff mounting the dslr to the scope with an infrared filter.
Click to expand...

Do you use a modified dslr? An unmodded one blocks 99% of the IR...

highdesertranger said:
well no eclipse but great pics. highdesertranger
Click to expand...

Thanks highdesertranger!

Optimistic Paranoid said:
Gorgeous!

I can't wait to get out there.

Regards
John
Click to expand...

I grew up in the Appalachians and areas similar in vegetation, but I'm in love with the US southwest, it really is gorgeous, so harsh and extreme, but beautiful too. The plants here have to protect themselves and whatever water they have been able to extract from the arid environment, hence the almost lethal spines on just about everything. And to see these spiny plants in flower in springtime, they can be overwhelming, one can't quite believe that something so dangerous could be so pretty...
 
Here is the resultant gif animation of the eclipse:
eclipse3.gif


I had to convert it to gray scale since my software was doing funny things with overcast frames. This animation runs once and stops, hitting reload should play it again. The .gif file is about 1.5 Mbyte...
 
anm said:
Do you use a modified dslr? An unmodded one blocks 99% of the IR...

Click to expand...


Yeah I use an old 5d mk2 with the sensor filter replaced from on that passes 720-1200nm IR light

The IR blockage also varies a lot depending on the camera some can do handheld IR shots I seen plenty get handholdable speeds with a hoya R72. Actually had to get a seperate filter to block IR on one came when I used an ND because too much kept coming in.
 
ToyotaEscaper said:
Yeah I use an old 5d mk2 with the sensor filter replaced from on that passes 720-1200nm IR light

The IR blockage also varies a lot depending on the camera some can do handheld IR shots I seen plenty get handholdable speeds with a hoya R72. Actually had to get a seperate filter to block IR on one came when I used an ND because too much kept coming in.
Click to expand...

I see, so yours only passes IR? I've seen some really cool pictures done with that. My camera is an old Canon 20Da, one of the factory modified ones for astrophotography (hence the 'a'). I've never thought of using it for IR pictures, but it might work. I'd have to get a lens for it, I only have my 430mm telescope...
 
anm said:
I see, so yours only passes IR? I've seen some really cool pictures done with that. My camera is an old Canon 20Da, one of the factory modified ones for astrophotography (hence the 'a'). I've never thought of using it for IR pictures, but it might work. I'd have to get a lens for it, I only have my 430mm telescope...
Click to expand...

Yeah after i switched to the d810 from nikon I decided to make the 5d dedicated since I shoot IR a lot. Since it covers a wider IR range I ocassionally put filters on it for certain wavelengths if I need to shoot through more fog and such. What did they canon change on the 20Da from the regular? I've heard of those but never got to try one.
 
ToyotaEscaper said:
Yeah after i switched to the d810 from nikon I decided to make the 5d dedicated since I shoot IR a lot. Since it covers a wider IR range I ocassionally put filters on it for certain wavelengths if I need to shoot through more fog and such. What did they canon change on the 20Da from the regular? I've heard of those but never got to try one.
Click to expand...
Canon opened up the IR end of the spectrum so the H-alpha emissions from nebulae could be recorded. That had the effect of extending sensitivity down to about 700nm though the exposure there is not as good as you can get with your modded 5d. I have an old Asahi M42 screw-mount 55mm lens, and I believe I even have a Canon adapter for it, now I just need an R72 filter to give it a try...
 
anm said:
Canon opened up the IR end of the spectrum so the H-alpha emissions from nebulae could be recorded. That had the effect of extending sensitivity down to about 700nm though the exposure there is not as good as you can get with your modded 5d. I have an old Asahi M42 screw-mount 55mm lens, and I believe I even have a Canon adapter for it, now I just need an R72 filter to give it a try...
Click to expand...

Hey I have an old m42 thread telephoto as well with a canon adapter. I got it at a thrift shop for 1 dollar lol. Had a professional Hoya UV filter on it and kept an f2 aperture through its 80-200mm range so it does have it uses.

Hope you can get good results with it let me know how that goes. Opteka makes a decent cheap filter on amazon and theres also Fotga that ships from hong kong. Oh also if you end up liking to do photos a lot the Canon 50mm 1.8 is decently priced new and even cheaper if you find a used one.
 
ToyotaEscaper said:
Hey I have an old m42 thread telephoto as well with a canon adapter. I got it at a thrift shop for 1 dollar lol. Had a professional Hoya UV filter on it and kept an f2 aperture through its 80-200mm range so it does have it uses.
Click to expand...
Wow, that must be a heavy lens!
ToyotaEscaper said:
Hope you can get good results with it let me know how that goes. Opteka makes a decent cheap filter on amazon and theres also Fotga that ships from hong kong. Oh also if you end up liking to do photos a lot the Canon 50mm 1.8 is decently priced new and even cheaper if you find a used one.
Click to expand...
I will try my 20Da for IR photography. The lens I have takes 52mm filters, and I have some 67mm filters, including a Hoya R72. I'll see if I can find an step-down ring for it...
 
Here is my latest astro image, the brightest star close to the center is Alnitak, the left-most star in Orion's belt, the nebula slightly above and left of it is the Flame nebula, and below Alnitak and slightly to the left is the dark Horsehead nebula.
Alnitak%20D21200x800.jpg

The focus is not as sharp as it needs to be, focus is very critical for astro images, and it's over processed, but hey, it's a learning curve...

This was shot from a picnic area just off 180, 30 miles east of El Paso, close to Alamo mountain. And for those interested this is a 1 minute exposure (actually a stack of 17 one minute exposures)...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Top