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Lucas wrote:Thanks for taking the time to do that. I went and checked, and you nailed it on all of them!

No prob. Once I identified Pleiades and Andromeda, a star map helped for the rest.

Lucas wrote:I don't know if the instructions below will work, but I am going to give them a shot. Since I live where it is incredibly dark and there is no light pollution, I might be able to pull something off.

Looks to be about right, based on my experience. But my biggest issue when taking star/galaxy shots at 300mm is camera shake, rather than star-motion blur. Especially since there's usually some wind blowing. Having only a cheap tripod doesn't help.

Camera shake, and actually finding and getting the stupid objects in the frame!

Aww crap. I forgot about wind. I have two very nice tripods (except for the fact that they are apparently made out of material harvested from a neutron star and are difficult to carry anywhere), but while light isn't a problem, we do have lots of wind up here in the high desert. Hmmm. That might really be a problem. Of course I can PROBABLY get my truck parked so that I have a windbreak.

Gonna have to give this a shot.

Lucas wrote:Aww crap. I forgot about wind.

If you're shooting at short focal lengths, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't really have a problem until I put a telephoto lens on there. More moment arm for the wind to grab + more zoom + bad tripod = shaky endeavor all around.

Lucas wrote:I'm going to practice non-trail stacked images here soon.

How do you stack the images? I tried image stacking on one of my shots of the Andromeda Galaxy that I posted awhile ago, but it took a lot of fooling around in Photoshop to figure out how to make the layers do what I wanted.

vikkyvik wrote:

Lucas wrote:I'm going to practice non-trail stacked images here soon.

How do you stack the images? I tried image stacking on one of my shots of the Andromeda Galaxy that I posted awhile ago, but it took a lot of fooling around in Photoshop to figure out how to make the layers do what I wanted.

There's all different kinds of astrophotography image stacking software available that may help you achieve what you're trying to do:

http://rogergroom.com/astronomy-resources/astronomy-deep-sky-stacking-software/

JeffSFO wrote:There's all different kinds of astrophotography image stacking software available that may help you achieve what you're trying to do:

That I know; I was seeing if there was a particular method to do it in Photoshop. Aligning the various shots is easy enough, I'm just after a method to blend the layers to achieve the goal.

I'm not too keen on downloading and/or buying more image processing software. Though I'll do it if need be.

Well, I decided to join in Lucas' game of "Name That Deep Sky Object":



I count between 6 and 8 objects visible. Venus was also a big help, as it's currently right in the midst of the Milky Way, so made aiming quite a bit easier.

Also found a handy-dandy tutorial for image-stacking in Photoshop, which I used for that photo (hence the stars being in focus while the ground is motion-blurred). Works quite well!

EDIT: Stupid me forgot to post the link to that PS image-stacking tutorial:

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/c ... 32D3a.html

Also FYI, I aligned the layers by hand, because PS could get confused by the ground at the bottom.

Very cool, but I am confused. Is that NGC6530 and the lagoon neb kind of above the center? If so, then I'm thinking you can also see maybe M22?

Totally not sure, though. I'm using Stellarium and am quite new to it.

Lucas wrote:Is that NGC6530 and the lagoon neb kind of above the center?

Yes.

Lucas wrote:If so, then I'm thinking you can also see maybe M22?

Also yes. Small fuzzy spot near the top, about 1/3 of the way in from the left.

Other than those, M7 and M6 are both near center, to the right of the cloud; and I believe M28 is also visible, as a very faint spot about halfway between NGC6530 and M22. M21 is also just above and to the right of the nebula.

Lucas wrote:Totally not sure, though. I'm using Stellarium and am quite new to it.

That's what I use too. Always take a look before I go shoot star shots to try and get my bearings on where to aim. And then use it to identify stuff in shots I take.

Before about a year ago, I had absolutely no idea you could actually capture so many deep-sky objects in such a light-polluted area.

Here's a closer-up (and much noisier) shot of NGC6530, Lagoon nebula, M21, and also a very faint Trifid nebula, sort of in-between NGC6530 and the M21 (looks like a faint circular halo around a star). You can also barely see NGC6544 near the left edge, to the left of Lagoon.



My lord, shooting these kinds of shots is both the most frustrating and most rewarding photography I've attempted.

Damn Lucas, you really got me back into astrophotography. Good timing, since winter is best for that here anyway.

This is from last night. It's one image-stacked photo, then HDR'd with another non-stacked photo in order to have some definition to the Moon and Venus. It's also cropped in a lot from a wide-angle shot...

Anyway, the Moon, Venus, and M22 formed an almost-perfect triangle. Too bad about the clouds, but they weren't too thick, luckily:



EDIT: And another shot from last night - the Moon and Venus plunging toward a fiery demise. Or just setting:

Interesting shots, Vik.

vikkyvik wrote:Before about a year ago, I had absolutely no idea you could actually capture so many deep-sky objects in such a light-polluted area.

That's something I think most people don't realize. Under the right conditions using proper settings and exposures in conjunction with post production, you can get some good results in urban areas. Here are just a handful of the hundreds of sky shots I've taken in San Francisco:

Well this is pretty cool, and look at me identifying some of the stuff correctly and all. :D I feel like a stud!

I am still waiting for a good time to go out to the desert and shoot. There have been ill-positioned clouds these past days here and there making it not worthwhile, and it was finally clear as a whistle but then there was the moon.

So is the consensus that taking one shot in RAW and then postprocessing it is as good as stacking? Or is it best to stack away?

Lucas wrote:So is the consensus that taking one shot in RAW and then postprocessing it is as good as stacking? Or is it best to stack away?

I would say that depends. If you need to use a high ISO (to achieve a short enough shutter speed or whatever), or need to add a lot of contrast, then I'd definitely say stack.

On the other hand, for star trails, generally no need, as I can take them at low enough shutter speeds. The Moon & Venus setting shot was a bunch of 4-minute exposures at ISO100. Just used Photoshop's layer functions as I usually do - no need for the image stacking feature.

More "astro" photos:

Globular Cluster M22:



Venus, M22, and M28 (to the right and a bit up from Venus):



You can actually see some faint Milky way in this shot, heading up at about 1 o'clock from Venus. Various clusters and nebulae in there somewhere:

Those shots are amazing, Vik, especially the first two. What lens and focal length were you using for the first one? I certainly don't have a nice lens, so I can't do that, but if one day I do...

I just can't believe how clear that it. Fantastic. I need to show my family these!

Lucas wrote:Those shots are amazing, Vik, especially the first two.

Much appreciated, Lucas. Had a pretty clear night last night.

Lucas wrote:What lens and focal length were you using for the first one?

Canon 300 F4L IS. So, 300mm on a crop body. And the photo is cropped in a bit too, so it's about 401mm equivalent focal length. 642mm on a full-frame.

Have you used MagicLantern? I'm considering putting it into my camera, but I'm also kind of nervous about it. Still, I've talked t some guys taking star pics and they say it's flipping fantastic.

I also got Startrails for free. Now if I can get out in the next few days and take a crack at it...

Also, maybe you'll manage to get a crack at ISON.

Lucas wrote:Have you used MagicLantern? I'm considering putting it into my camera, but I'm also kind of nervous about it. Still, I've talked t some guys taking star pics and they say it's flipping fantastic.

I haven't used it. I vaguely recall reading something about using MagicLantern on the 50D, but I thought it was to add video to the camera. What do folks do with it for star photos?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50d#Good_A ... tern_Video

Lucas wrote:I also got Startrails for free. Now if I can get out in the next few days and take a crack at it..

Is that this software:

http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html

I usually just use Photoshop for stacking star trail images. It can be a bit of a pain if you're talking hundreds of frames, but if I'm taking a long star trail series, I'll usually just increase the exposure of each image to reduce my workload. Not as good a result, but oh well.

Lucas wrote:Also, maybe you'll manage to get a crack at ISON.

That's the (hopeful) plan. Got some good shots of PanSTARRS, so if it's at least that bright, should be good to go.

My last shot from Monday night, with all the deep-sky objects labeled (right click and view image to view it at 1600 pixels). Yes, this took me awhile to do:



Also, a cropped-in version of one of my M22 shots, just to see how much detail was in there. Equivalent focal length is about 997mm (1595mm full-frame):

I am just blown away by the detail you've captured. Wow. I have a feeling that, years from now, these photos are going to haunt my bank account, Vik. But at least I'll have the equipment to get some cool shots like this! Still stunned by all the detail in the large version. Until, what, a week ago (?), I never even knew that a DSLR could capture this from the surface. Amazing.

Lucas wrote:Until, what, a week ago (?), I never even knew that a DSLR could capture this from the surface. Amazing.

Well hey, we all had to learn it at some point! I didn't know that until about a year ago.

Now I'm waiting for you to post more shots. You could probably get some amazing ones with the clear skies you have up in wherever.

vikkyvik wrote:
Well hey, we all had to learn it at some point! I didn't know that until about a year ago.

Now I'm waiting for you to post more shots. You could probably get some amazing ones with the clear skies you have up in wherever.

The weather has not been cooperative. For a while we've had high cirrus making everything just a gross, diffused mess, and now we have overcast stratus. Thanks, Wyoming!

I do have Sand Dunes and stuff nearby, though, so I could get an interesting backdrop.

Regarding comet ISON:

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/outburst ... 2D11591258

Not sure I'll be able to get myself up before sunrise....we'll see.

Well I did manage to get up at 4:30 AM, two days in a row actually. Saturday morning was too cloudy; Sunday wasn't too much better, but I think I managed to get the comet in a frame, albeit very faintly (just above the star Spica):



Couple other random shots:

The night sky in the vicinity of Cygnus:



Full moon: