Starting off in Astrophotography...

Nerro

Strange...kinda defeats the purpose of having manual settings? I recon you didn't click something in the menu as my girlfriend has a Sony bridge one as well and you can do what you want in manual mode?

spookwoman

can change settings but once over the 1 sec exposure setting then its wont allow you to change the iso I dont know just how much of a change chks do and dont want to feck up the firmware

ZeRoY

spookwoman wrote: »

can change settings but once over the 1 sec exposure setting then its wont allow you to change the iso I dont know just how much of a change chks do and dont want to feck up the firmware

If you take Magic Lantern on my 1100D It sits on the SD Card as opposed to "flash" the DSLR... so to remove it I can just format the SD card or use another. CHDK might be similar - there are a lot of info on this around but I you do need to be cautious of course.

ZeRoY

Nerro wrote: »

Strange...kinda defeats the purpose of having manual settings? I recon you didn't click something in the menu as my girlfriend has a Sony bridge one as well and you can do what you want in manual mode?

Yeah reading the manual of this Bridge Camera some other modes allow any ISO but at the max shutter speed of 1sec ...

Iancar29

Clear spells forecasted for the east tonight folks , considering the full harvest moon , would it still be possible to try hunt down a M31 for a few shots or is it too close to it at the moment to try?

Nerro

Iancar29 wrote: »

Clear spells forecasted for the east tonight folks , considering the full harvest moon , would it still be possible to try hunt down a M31 for a few shots or is it too close to it at the moment to try?

The moon never helps when trying to capture those faint fuzzies....and on the full moon....really don't think you are going to get much out of the session...

Iancar29

Moon shots its shall be so ! , Cheers!

Kersh

Iancar29 wrote: »

Moon shots its shall be so ! , Cheers!

I was debating setting up too, but just had a good look at 1am, and thought I would give it a miss.

I can normally make out 7 of the stars in M45 with naked eye, but could only pick out 2 maybe 3 last night.


And I have a full spectrum modded and cooled Canon to try out

Tzetze

Kersh wrote: »

And I have a full spectrum modded and cooled Canon to try out

Very nice! How is it cooled Stephen? Cold finger/Peltier? Let us know what sort of temps the subs are recording..

Kersh

Its a 300D I got from UK - the thread on the build is here-

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/194105-modding-and-basic-cooling-a-canon-300d/

But Im not too keen on the thin bit of copper used, and less keen on the holes, so I bought a sheet of 22SWG copper(arrived today )and Im going to open it up and replace it, with a single custom cut piece.

It was the full spectrum mod i was more interested in to be honest! Plus it came at a nice price.


If it works out im going to mod a brand new 1100D.


There is a huge thread on the cooling of the DSLRs here-

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/163752-dslr-cooling-to-near-ambient-with-fan-cooler/



Absolutely tons of info, and seems to make a big difference.

ZeRoY

Kersh wrote: »

If it works out im going to mod a brand new 1100D.

I have that DSLR, would be really interested to see the results. See on this site how the 1100d can be cooled even without opening it:

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/T3review/T3review.html

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod450d16c.html

Nerro

Kersh wrote: »

If it works out im going to mod a brand new 1100D.

I really don't think it's going to make that much of a difference...still interested in your results as i am in two minds to mod my 500D.and I still haven't had a chance to try out my mount after hyper turning thanks to Tzetze...

Kersh

See on this site how the 1100d can be cooled even without opening it:

Yes,I had seen that alright.

I really don't think it's going to make that much of a difference...

We have a low cost option of finding out with the 300D

Iancar29

Was just gazing at M31 from my back , more so practising for when i get to a dark location * SHAKES FIST AT Tzetze's shot ! * and caught a satellite going right through , all in just a 2.5 s exposure ha !

ZeRoY

Talk about right place right time!

Iancar29

Heading up to the sugar loaf car park this evening if anyone Is interested , should be there from 9 pm

Nerro

Iancar29 wrote: »

Heading up to the sugar loaf car park this evening if anyone Is interested , should be there from 9 pm

How did u get on? Was dying to go but work didn't permitted. Was quite breezy yesterday?

Iancar29

Got on ok yeah , the wind was quite strong up there and made it VERY chilly quite quickly . Couldnt really get great alignment for multiple exposures but still happy with a few single subs i got.
I also didnt have 2 main things , my normal D7000 and shutter release cable , the father has them away with him grrrrr .

So heres my result .




D200
F4 500mm Prime
ISO 1600
80 seconds

CG-5 mount

Some noticeable trailing yes but first go with the mount in a decent location.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/landscapeaddict/10188041484/sizes/l/


ONwards and upwards from here on in

spookwoman

Tonight might be a good opportunity. Iss is passing in front of the moon visible on a line from dublin to bantry bay. map on astronomy ireland site. Naas is on the line.

Pablod

Great shot again Ian, yes it was bloody cold alright.
I tested a few shots in raw up there last night that looked great - but my problem is I haven't a clue about post-processing them.
Ahh well all practising - there will be plenty of clear nights coming up over the winter anyway.

ZeRoY

just finished taking some subs of M34 to practice my guiding, first look at data doesn't look too bad (300s exposures) lost 2 subs with clouds rolling in, good time to call it a night with work tomorrow anyway!

Edit - Result not as good as expected, processing off and no Flats means I had to crop but overall happy with guiding/alignement considering all this was done under 3h...

M34 Cluster

spookwoman

Is this orion nebula no telecope involved and was pointed in the general area of where it was

Orion Nebula? by Spookwoman, on Flickr

ZeRoY

spookwoman wrote: »

Is this orion nebula no telecope involved and was pointed in the general area of where it was

I need to wait a little more weeks to get good position of Orion from where I am, its a great target!

ThatDrGuy

That's it alright. The 4 stars in the centre are the trapezium.

spookwoman

Thanks got it confirmed as well this one taken with a little less zoom. Canon sx50hs iso 6400k 1 sec exposure


Orion Nebula by Spookwoman, on Flickr

Iancar29

First patch of clear skies last in nearly 2 weeks!

Had a go again at Jupter but with my 2x adapter on our 500mm lens this time.



10 images stacked with 1 slightly higher ISO to get the moons and stars in.

Not too bad

ZeRoY

Lucky you with the clear skies! Got myself a new scope and what do you know, Clouds all around (Louth)

Iancar29

ZeRoY wrote: »

Lucky you with the clear skies! Got myself a new scope and what do you know, Clouds all around (Louth)

Im hopefull with high pressure building again from saturday that there will be some more clear nights on offer.

What scope have you acquired?


Oh and question , what would of been the benefits of me using my tracking mount for shots of jupiter last night as i really only had time to go out with the main tripod.

ZeRoY

Iancar29 wrote: »

Im hopefull with high pressure building again from saturday that there will be some more clear nights on offer.

What scope have you acquired?


Oh and question , what would of been the benefits of me using my tracking mount for shots of jupiter last night as i really only had time to go out with the main tripod.

Skywatcher 200PDS from Ktec and yes, tracking jupiter would let you take many exposure that you could then stacked (thats how most shots of Jupiter are done , with stacking)

Nerro

ZeRoY wrote: »

Skywatcher 200PDS from Ktec and yes, tracking jupiter would let you take many exposure that you could then stacked (thats how most shots of Jupiter are done , with stacking)

Best way to image Jupiter is by taking video of it thru web cam or dedicated imager and then stack the frames.you will get vibrations by using a DSLR from shutter. Cheap way is to get a Philips SPC webcam and Barlow it, and it can be used successfully for guiding as well.tho they are like gold dust these days...
Not saying you can't do it with DSLR.