Astronomy

A group for works, and people, that relate to astronomy.

signup or login to join this group

Featured Work

Whirlpool Galaxy by zesly

M51 is my favorite galaxy, and She was especially beautiful this night. I could see her spiral structure in the 250mm diameter telescope. I couldn’t resist to make a photo. She is located in the constellation Canes Venatici, we find her starting from the easternmost star of the Big Dipper, Alkaid, and going 3.5° southeast. Between 20 and 40 millions light-years away, no one knows exactly. / About 38 000 light-years diameter. / Hundreds billions stars and planet. / How many civilizations… 24 exposures of 1mn30 selected from a series of 70. Pre-processing and addition with Iris. Noise reduction with Neat Image. Curves, levels, vignetage reduction under Photoshop. — M51 est ma galaxie préférée. Généralement on l’appelle la Galaxie du Tourbillon mais je préfère l’appelé la Galaxie des Chiens de Chasses. Elle était vraiment belle cette nuit là. Je pouvais voir ses bras spiraux de le télescope de 250mm de diamètre. J’ai pas pu résister à faire une photo. Elle se trouve la constellation des Chiens de Chasses. On la trouve en partant de l’étoile la plus à l’est de la Grande Ourse, Alkaid, puis on va à 3.5° au sud-est. Entre 20 et 40 année-lumières de distance, persone ne sais exactement. / Environ 38 000 année-lumières de diamètre. / Des centaines de milliards d’étoile et de planètes. / Et combien de civilisations… 24 poses d’une minute trente sélectionner parmi une série de 70. Pré-traitement et addition sous Iris. Réduction du bruit avec Neat Image. Courbes, Niveaux, réduction du vignetage sous Photoshop.
Fictional Space Image by Jon Earp

Here is an image i made in photoshop of a Space scene showing a sun rising over the atmosphere of a new planet, with a nebula and a sun in the left hand corner. I have always been interested in space and the universe so i decided to have a go at doing something on photoshop as i need the practice! Overall i am pretty happy with the look of the image but i would like to know what the rest of the community think as i would be greatful for some feedback =]
Catch a Star or Two :) by Marko Palm

Photo is taken yesterday night (early today), when looking Perseids. Would make some captures today too, but it is raining now :(
Lunar Eclipse by andrewt

Lunar Eclipse in late August 2007
Orion Nebula by zesly

The famous M42. A must see of the winter sky.
Moonlightning by Geoff Coleman

Taken on the same night as these two (just click on the pics): / / This second pic has a link to an animated time lapse version of the whole storm – 91 photos linked into a sequence so you get to see the whole storm in 23 seconds. Storm off Bundeena Cliffs, Royal National Park just south of Sydney Australia. / This shot has all my favourite elements in one image – the moon, stars, lightning, storm clouds, ocean and moonlit rocks. What a treat this night was – getting some fantastic storms here. This is about the sixth I’ve photographed. / Canon 1Ds MkIII – 16-35mm f/2.8 LII USM lens / Tv: 30secs / Av: f/3.2 / ISO: 200 / FL: 27mm / Here’s another couple of crops of the same image: #1 / #2 /
Auroas at 168 by peaceofthenorth

this was taken at mile marker 168 on the Alaska Highway…teve
Gibbous Moon by Duncan Waldron

This was shot with a 6-inch Cooke telescope (photovisual triplet lens) on Tech Pan film, processed to get good contrast. The challenge was then to print it, while retaining a realistic appearance, without losing too much in highlight or shadow. In this image can be seen the prominent craters Plato (dark floor, near the top), Copernicus (near edge at upper left) and Tycho (lower left). Tycho is notable for the system of bright rays radiating from it, which extend almost halfway round the moon. The southern highlands are heavily cratered, while the dark lunar ‘seas’ are predominantly in the northern part of the moon. The seas are in reality waterless, and are likely to be ancient lava flows that have filled lower-lying areas of the surface. / .............................................................................. Here is a comparison pair of images, one taken on Plus-X, the other on Tech Pan. Tech Pan is almost grainless at 20x enlargement, so the detail is superb. They were both taken on the same night, so differences are purely those between the 2 films. It’s just a pity (that’s an understatement) that Kodak discontinued this emulsion a few years ago. I do have a small stash, that I am saving for something really special. / /
Comet McNaught over Stonehenge by Anthony Caffery

For something a little unique – The ghostly ambiance of Comet McNaught over Stonehenge. “Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007 and given the designation C/2006 P1, is a non-periodic comet discovered on August 7, 2006 by British-Australian astronomer Robert H. McNaught.[1] It was the brightest comet in over 40 years, and was easily visible to the naked eye for observers in the Southern Hemisphere in January and February 2007” Information taken from the web link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught “Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) west of Amesbury and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Salisbury.” Information taken from the web link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge
Grampians Startrails by PablosVista

45 minute exposure of the South Celestial Pole

Recent Work

Andromeda a Work in Progress Part 3 by cometman

Best Viewed Large Astrophotography can be quite a challenge when trying to do a mosaic. / This one while never complete says a lot. The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.2 Million Light Years from Earth. It is one of The Milky Way’s closest Galactic neighbors. Part 1 of a 3 Part Series / Part 2 of a 3 Part Series / Part 3 of a 3 Part Series 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy / Galileo first pointed a telescope towards the Heavens 400 years ago.
Andromeda a Work in Progress Part 2 by cometman

Best Viewed Large Astrophotography can be quite a challenge when trying to do a mosaic. / This one while never complete says a lot. The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.2 Million Light Years from Earth. It is one of The Milky Way’s closest Galactic neighbors. Part 1 of a 3 Part Series / Part 2 of a 3 Part Series / Part 3 of a 3 Part Series 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy / Galileo first pointed a telescope towards the Heavens 400 years ago.
Rainbow of Comet McNaught by Mike Salway

The beautiful Comet McNaught, whose tail spread across the sky. Taken in the Hunter Valley, NSW Australia in January 2007 Taken with a Canon 350D + Sigma 17-70mm lens, 90s exposure.
Writing

light pollution problem…well after finally managing to get some longer exposures running the other night with the help of the guide camera i have come across the…

well after finally managing to get some longer exposures running the other night with the help of the guide camera i have come across the problem of light pollution creeping into the images if they are are of a low altitude , this is really annoying as there is very little i can do about it , on the refractor i have a broadband light pollution filter which works up to about 3 minutes exposure length but going over this is a big no no. / i have come to the conclusion that in the future i must have to choose targets that are higher up in the sky to try and avoid such issues , also i am thinking of dropping the iso down from 800 to 400 / perhaps then i may be able to get away with the 5 minute exposures i would like to obtain. we shall have to wait and see if this is a good solution to the problem clear skies colin
Skyfire Night - New Year's Eve by Geoff Coleman

Definitely worth seeing this large even with annoying watermark – heaps more detail. This is a shot of Sydney from 32km away along the track to the cliffs in Royal National Park on New Year’s Eve as the fireworks were being let off in the Harbour. I thought it might be interesting to get the fireworks above the city while the one’s in the city were doing their magic. The diagonal dashed line is a plane coming in to land. Man this turned out to be by far the hardest startrails shot I’ve done yet. Getting the exposure right to maximise the startrails whilst minimising the city glow that kills them was a challenge let me tell you. Even then I over-shot it and had to pull it back 1.5 stops in Camera Raw, plus the fireworks required an entirely different exposure altogether. Anyway this is the end result – 69 X 30sec exposures at ISO 800 for the startrails and 2 X 2sec exposures at ISO 1600 for the fireworks. All blended using the brilliant Schurs Startrails PS Action / Everything else: / Av: f/4 / Fl: 32mm / Canon 1Ds MkIII / I’ve also done a tight crop from this shot that shows the fireworks more closely here
Writing

Featured in Sky&Telescopes 10 Great Astrophotos of 2008!…I received a very exciting early christmas present the other week – an email from Sean Walker, one of the editors of the US “Sky&Telescop…

I received a very exciting early christmas present the other week – an email from Sean Walker, one of the editors of the US Sky&Telescope magazine and website, asking to use two of my images for his upcoming article on the Ten Great Astrophotos of 2008. The article has now been published, and contains my feature image from the Smiley Face Conjunction on the 1st December 2008, and also one of my images of Jupiter with 3 red spots from May 2008. Read more at my site: Featured in Sky&Telescope’s 10 Great Astrophotos of 2008
Andromeda a Work in Progress Part 1 by cometman

Best Viewed Large Astrophotography can be quite a challenge when trying to do a mosaic. / This one while never complete says a lot. The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.2 Million Light Years from Earth. It is one of The Milky Way’s closest Galactic neighbors. Part 1 of a 3 Part Series / Part 2 of a 3 Part Series / Part 3 of a 3 Part Series 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy / Galileo first pointed a telescope towards the Heavens 400 years ago.
M45 seven sisters by 3rdrock

M45 seven sisters , cluster with nebulosity / taken with a c80ed 10×3 minutes exposure iso800
Auroras Borealis by peaceofthenorth

this is from Sept.05 …a night to remember…..
Road to No Where by Zig Urbanski

On location near Griffith, NSW, Australia on New Years Day night. 60 shots for one hour, one hour after sunset to capture the stars including Mars and Orion (Top left of picture the red trails). One time exposure for the 4WD passing left to right. Finally multiple manual flash on left hand trees others illuminated by trucks head lights. Glad it was nice and cool at 24C :-) Total overall time taken 4 hours ((2hrs net) from start to upload ( Sunset 8.30pm to now 0.30am 2nd Jan 2009 ) . PS. Unlike the Northern Hemisphere there is no Polar Star to aim for so we have to take our cue from the Southern Cross ! Canon EOS 5D Mark II / EF 15mm/2.8 Fisheye / Speed: Bulb 30secs / Aperture: f4 / ISO: 400 / Focus: Manual / WB: Daylight / Style: Landscape / Image: Multiple JPEGs / Metz Mecablitz 58 AF-1 digital / Multiple Manual Flashes