STF Astrophotography Challenge

[Shay Stephens]

Welcome to the first ever STF Astrophotography Challenge!
(not an actual guarantee of being the first hehehe)

Let's give our cameras a real workout and see what is possible with the equipment we have. The challenge is to image as best you can M31 The great Andromeda galaxy. If you have a telescope and can connect your camera to take pictures (or even if you don't), then grab the best you can and post the results here. Now be warned, if you post a photo, but fail to reveal your equipment and settings, you will be hounded until the hounds get tired, to reveal the details. So to make it easy, I provide this info and template:

Where in the sky is the Andromeda Galaxy?



scroll to the right to see the location of the Andromeda galaxy (M31)
It's coordinates are:
RA=00 42.7
DEC=+41 16
Magnitude 4.36
If you have a goto scope, then just tell it to find M31
You can also use the sky map at Sky & Telescope:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/

The information we want to see template
Telescope used:
eyepiece used:
camera adapter used:
camera used:
aperture of exposure:
Shutter Speed:
zoom of camera:
ISO:
Post processing done:

(the post processing can be bullet points and not a blow by blow of what you did (e.g. stacked 5 images of the same exposure, adjusted levels, boosted saturation +10, cropped, unsharp masked 100, .5, 0) or whatever it is you did. If you did nothing then mention that too!)

So be a hero and show us what you got, or can get. You may surprise yourself at the capabilities of your own setup as well.

--
Shay

My Sony F707 Gallery: http://www.shaystephens.com/portfolio.asp

 

[Joe Jones]

Cool! And what a great way to get examples of what the 707 can do on deepsky objects with multiple scopes! But how long will this contest run for? I think M31 rises close to midnight right now on the east coast, and is not overhead, where most would photograph it, until morning twilight. Joe

Welcome to the first ever STF Astrophotography Challenge!
(not an actual guarantee of being the first hehehe)

Let's give our cameras a real workout and see what is possible with
the equipment we have. The challenge is to image as best you can
M31 The great Andromeda galaxy. If you have a telescope and can
connect your camera to take pictures (or even if you don't), then
grab the best you can and post the results here. Now be warned, if
you post a photo, but fail to reveal your equipment and settings,
you will be hounded until the hounds get tired, to reveal the
details. So to make it easy, I provide this info and template:

Where in the sky is the Andromeda Galaxy?



scroll to the right to see the location of the Andromeda galaxy (M31)
It's coordinates are:
RA=00 42.7
DEC=+41 16
Magnitude 4.36
If you have a goto scope, then just tell it to find M31
You can also use the sky map at Sky & Telescope:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/

The information we want to see template
Telescope used:
eyepiece used:
camera adapter used:
camera used:
aperture of exposure:
Shutter Speed:
zoom of camera:
ISO:
Post processing done:
(the post processing can be bullet points and not a blow by blow of
what you did (e.g. stacked 5 images of the same exposure, adjusted
levels, boosted saturation +10, cropped, unsharp masked 100, .5, 0)
or whatever it is you did. If you did nothing then mention that
too!)

So be a hero and show us what you got, or can get. You may
surprise yourself at the capabilities of your own setup as well.

--
Shay

My Sony F707 Gallery: http://www.shaystephens.com/portfolio.asp

 

[Skippy]

Ummmmmmm Shay honey, if I look straight up in the sky from where I live in Australia......ummmmmm which part of that there map would I be looking directly at ..........just joking hehehehe.....well the moon I can find the rest is Hebrew to me...so I'll just give this challenge a miss
Hope to see some nice shots from other STF users.
Skippy (Australia) who can't read maps, even on a good day

Welcome to the first ever STF Astrophotography Challenge!
(not an actual guarantee of being the first hehehe)

Let's give our cameras a real workout and see what is possible with
the equipment we have. The challenge is to image as best you can
M31 The great Andromeda galaxy. If you have a telescope and can
connect your camera to take pictures (or even if you don't), then
grab the best you can and post the results here. Now be warned, if
you post a photo, but fail to reveal your equipment and settings,
you will be hounded until the hounds get tired, to reveal the
details. So to make it easy, I provide this info and template:

Where in the sky is the Andromeda Galaxy?
scroll to the right to see the location of the Andromeda galaxy (M31)
It's coordinates are:
RA=00 42.7
DEC=+41 16
Magnitude 4.36
If you have a goto scope, then just tell it to find M31
You can also use the sky map at Sky & Telescope:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/

The information we want to see template
Telescope used:
eyepiece used:
camera adapter used:
camera used:
aperture of exposure:
Shutter Speed:
zoom of camera:
ISO:
Post processing done:
(the post processing can be bullet points and not a blow by blow of
what you did (e.g. stacked 5 images of the same exposure, adjusted
levels, boosted saturation +10, cropped, unsharp masked 100, .5, 0)
or whatever it is you did. If you did nothing then mention that
too!)
So be a hero and show us what you got, or can get. You may
surprise yourself at the capabilities of your own setup as well.
--
Shay
My Sony F707 Gallery: http://www.shaystephens.com/portfolio.asp

--
Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege. (Unknown)

 

[Ulysses]

Yes, great idea! But perhaps a month or so early.

M31 rises something after 8pm for those on the East Coast. But it really doesn't start to become visible or photographic until sometime after 10pm. Transit time (highest point in the sky) is about 5:30am.

Next month at about this time (8/22/02), it rises at around 6pm, with transit time at 3:30pm. This places it nicely in the evening sky for photographing anywhere from 10pm onward. The only issue at this time (8/22/02, a month from now) is that the Moon will be nearly full (about 65º away from M31).

A better time to run this experiment on M31 in particular might be on 9/1/02. The Moon will be a waning crescent, which doesn't rise until M31 is already well up in the sky. M31 will rise at about 5:30pm, with its highest point in the sky at around 3:00am.

Since seeing this post, I've been trying to scout around for perhaps an easier object to image over the next week's period. But let's face it. There is no more dramatic or appropriate a deep sky object to attempt than M31. It's also one of the easiest to find in the sky, making it a good "beginner's first" deep sky object. I'd love to see what the F707 and our scopes here in the STF can do with it.

You guys have any thoughts or other suggestions on this? And if my calculations are off, please let me know.

Are there any notable star clusters that are up at a decent hour right now? I'll see if I can investigate.

Cool! And what a great way to get examples of what the 707 can do
on deepsky objects with multiple scopes! But how long will this
contest run for? I think M31 rises close to midnight right now on
the east coast, and is not overhead, where most would photograph
it, until morning twilight. Joe

--

Ulysses

 

[Tom F707 (nl)]

Let's give our cameras a real workout and see what is possible with
the equipment we have. The challenge is to image as best you can
M31 The great Andromeda galaxy.

Using a classified (yet to be released screw-on optical piece for interstellar photography) sony zoom element I achieved the following result.

I'm not allowed to give much information about this revolutionary new optical element of course, but it has roughly 343,000,040,700,089x maximum optical zoom ability and weighs only 7 kilos.

Keep in mind that I was holding the camera by hand because the tripod was shaking too much for this shot.

Please scroll down.

Telescope used: classified
eyepiece used: classified
camera adapter used: classified
camera used: F707
aperture of exposure: 4.0
Shutter Speed: 1/200
zoom of camera: 343,000,040,700,089x
ISO: 100
Post processing done: none



Aw c'mon, you were asking for it ;-)

 

[Ulysses]

Aw c'mon, you were asking for it ;-)

--

Ulysses

 

[Dwight1973]

Sounds interesting, good idea. Now I gotta go get some more practice

Welcome to the first ever STF Astrophotography Challenge!
(not an actual guarantee of being the first hehehe)

Let's give our cameras a real workout and see what is possible with
the equipment we have. The challenge is to image as best you can
M31 The great Andromeda galaxy. If you have a telescope and can
connect your camera to take pictures (or even if you don't), then
grab the best you can and post the results here. Now be warned, if
you post a photo, but fail to reveal your equipment and settings,
you will be hounded until the hounds get tired, to reveal the
details. So to make it easy, I provide this info and template:

Where in the sky is the Andromeda Galaxy?
http://shay.ws/graphics/andromeda.gif
scroll to the right to see the location of the Andromeda galaxy (M31)
It's coordinates are:
RA=00 42.7
DEC=+41 16
Magnitude 4.36
If you have a goto scope, then just tell it to find M31
You can also use the sky map at Sky & Telescope:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/

The information we want to see template
Telescope used:
eyepiece used:
camera adapter used:
camera used:
aperture of exposure:
Shutter Speed:
zoom of camera:
ISO:
Post processing done:
(the post processing can be bullet points and not a blow by blow of
what you did (e.g. stacked 5 images of the same exposure, adjusted
levels, boosted saturation +10, cropped, unsharp masked 100, .5, 0)
or whatever it is you did. If you did nothing then mention that
too!)

So be a hero and show us what you got, or can get. You may
surprise yourself at the capabilities of your own setup as well.

--
Shay

My Sony F707 Gallery: http://www.shaystephens.com/portfolio.asp

 

[Joe Jones]

Ulysses, are you sure about this info? I thought an object usually transits about 6 hours after it rises. Joe

Cool! And what a great way to get examples of what the 707 can do
on deepsky objects with multiple scopes! But how long will this
contest run for? I think M31 rises close to midnight right now on
the east coast, and is not overhead, where most would photograph
it, until morning twilight. Joe

--

Ulysses

 

[Ulysses]

I'm glad someone is asking. Let me double-check. It can be easy to screw this up.

BRB...

M31 rises something after 8pm for those on the East Coast. But it
really doesn't start to become visible or photographic until
sometime after 10pm. Transit time (highest point in the sky) is
about 5:30am.

--

Ulysses

 

[Yehuda Katz]

Ummmmmmm Shay honey, if I look straight up in the sky from where I
live in Australia......ummmmmm which part of that there map would I
be looking directly at ..........just joking hehehehe.....well
the moon I can find the rest is Hebrew to me...

Skippy,

With Hebrew I can have some help for you.

Yehuda

 

[Ulysses]

Yeah, I'd love to hear Skippy speak Hebrew with an Australian accent! )

Ummmmmmm Shay honey, if I look straight up in the sky from where I
live in Australia......ummmmmm which part of that there map would I
be looking directly at ..........just joking hehehehe.....well
the moon I can find the rest is Hebrew to me...

Skippy,

With Hebrew I can have some help for you.

Yehuda

--

Ulysses

 

[Ulysses]

OK, I have some data here. I ran it a couple of times and watched it to see what happens. The timings from two different simulation sources are seen below.



No glitches. Keep in mind that the times in the upper window are given in local time (regular AM/PM mode) and the lower window is displaying local time on a 24 hour clock. It sure is weird juggling around everyone's favorite method of looking at the clock.

Does this help?

Cool! And what a great way to get examples of what the 707 can do
on deepsky objects with multiple scopes! But how long will this
contest run for? I think M31 rises close to midnight right now on
the east coast, and is not overhead, where most would photograph
it, until morning twilight. Joe

--

Ulysses

--

Ulysses

 

[Dwight1973]

What programs are these that you are using? I have one that came with the scope, but could always use more

No glitches. Keep in mind that the times in the upper window are
given in local time (regular AM/PM mode) and the lower window is
displaying local time on a 24 hour clock. It sure is weird juggling
around everyone's favorite method of looking at the clock.

Does this help?

Cool! And what a great way to get examples of what the 707 can do
on deepsky objects with multiple scopes! But how long will this
contest run for? I think M31 rises close to midnight right now on
the east coast, and is not overhead, where most would photograph
it, until morning twilight. Joe

--

Ulysses

--

Ulysses

 

[Ulysses]

Redshift

Starry Night Pro

More fun than a barrel of monkeys.
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/toys/ty1003.php

What programs are these that you are using? I have one that came
with the scope, but could always use more

 

[Dwight1973]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to check them out.
I actually had that game

Starry Night Pro

More fun than a barrel of monkeys.
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/toys/ty1003.php

What programs are these that you are using? I have one that came
with the scope, but could always use more

 

[Ulysses]

I can recommend either program. They each have different strengths and entirely different feels to using them. It is surprising when you see how accurate they are, yet annoying when they are off (we're only talking about celestial mechanics here and the laws of the universe... how can they get it wrong??) Still, all in all, a lot of fun.

Starry Night Pro

More fun than a barrel of monkeys.
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/toys/ty1003.php

What programs are these that you are using? I have one that came
with the scope, but could always use more

--

Ulysses

 

[Gary M73072]

I was thinking along these lines but could not decide between Bugs Bunny or Marvin the Martian.

GaryM

 

[Dwight1973]

I have the Starry Night bundled edition, it came with the telescope. It works well as far as telling you where things are. I am always open to looking at and trying out new software, though.

Starry Night Pro

More fun than a barrel of monkeys.
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/toys/ty1003.php

What programs are these that you are using? I have one that came
with the scope, but could always use more

--

Ulysses

 

[David Barker91965]

Ulysses, are you sure about this info? I thought an object usually
transits about 6 hours after it rises. Joe

Think of yourself looking up at the North celestial pole, the whole sky apparently rotating above you, and the stars all making circular traces. Then imagine M31 rising - you follow its track, but you can't see it the whole way round (I'm assuming you stand there for 24 hours - also assume no daylight) because it eventually dips back below the horizon, but only for a short time. Think in terms of a circle with the lower edge sliced off by the earth's horizon, and you have the reason for its transit not being 6 hours after it rises.

--
David Barker

 

[Joe Jones]

Thanks David, that is helpful. So an object on the celestial equator would maybe take closer to 6 hours to transit, but objects further north (like M31) would take longer from the time they rise to transit. Right? Joe

Ulysses, are you sure about this info? I thought an object usually
transits about 6 hours after it rises. Joe

Think of yourself looking up at the North celestial pole, the whole
sky apparently rotating above you, and the stars all making
circular traces. Then imagine M31 rising - you follow its track,
but you can't see it the whole way round (I'm assuming you stand
there for 24 hours - also assume no daylight) because it eventually
dips back below the horizon, but only for a short time. Think in
terms of a circle with the lower edge sliced off by the earth's
horizon, and you have the reason for its transit not being 6 hours
after it rises.

--
David Barker