Space Distraction

[Bacpacker]

I saw it tonight as well. I thought it looked better, just not quite as close as last night.

 

[Weedygarden]

I saw it tonight as well. I thought it looked better, just not quite as close as last night.

My cousin in Michigan didn't see it last night because of clouds, but could see it tonight. We had clouds tonight, so no go.

 

[Bacpacker]

Tonight was probably my last shot until Saturday. Gonna cloud up tomorrow for next few days

 

[Patchouli]

partly cloudy here today and tonight too. I haven't seen any shooting stars in a while.
https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/scroll down on the article to current dates for next showers.

 

[kd4ulw]

What setup did you use to take that?

I used this 650mm lens on my dslr. Wish I could have had time to set up the telescope for more clarity.

 

[Bacpacker]

Nice lens. I've got a 500mm, I'll have to try that out and see what it looks like.

 

[kd4ulw]

NASA took video from their Perseverance rover landing on Mars, a little over 3 minutes.

 

[SheepDog]

I watched it live... yep I even have a ticket that shows my name is on mars again. There wasn't enough room for me to go and the lack of air and a place to sit on the trip kind of bummed me out. I even got my wife a ticket, but she's afraid of rockets - too noisy but we are there together in name.

 

[kd4ulw]

Tried my fisheye lens on the International Space Station. Just steadied the camera on a trash can. Plane passed by on the extreme right.

 

[kd4ulw]

The helicopter drone deployed and is now sitting on Mars and could take flight next week.

 

[kd4ulw]

Got the camera out this morning just before sunrise and got a quick photo of the full moon as it was setting behind a tree with a couple of planets.

 

[dademoss]

Got the camera out this morning just before sunrise and got a quick photo of the full moon as it was setting behind a tree with a couple of planets.

View attachment 69930

Great picture!

 

[Patchouli]

hey yall. I was looking at the dark sky finder website. Looks like the dark sky areas have gotten smaller than the last time I looked. Some of you probably live in dark sky areas.
Aiming for getting out there next time of a new moon (Aug. 8) so I can see the Milky Way. Be about a 2 hour drive I think. Also, if I get joined up with my local astronomical club they have a couple of areas for members to go where the club telescopes are set up. Because of the past year's nonsense they haven't been doing much as a group.

 

[kd4ulw]

 

[Patchouli]

@kd4ulw I was trying to figure out which planet I was seeing in the this evening as dusk came on. Pretty sure it was setting, Venus? I was in an unfamiliar area and have no idea which direction I was looking.

 

[kd4ulw]

@kd4ulw I was trying to figure out which planet I was seeing in the this evening as dusk came on. Pretty sure it was setting, Venus? I was in an unfamiliar area and have no idea which direction I was looking.

Yes, actually Venus and Mars were in the evening sky at dusk. Venus would have been a lot brighter.

 

[Patchouli]

Thanks! @kd4ulw and looks like Saturn and Jupiter are appearing too?
If I've already asked you about your camera, then never mind, but what kind of camera are you using to take those astronomy shots?
It was pleasant out this evening at 85°, nice breeze and no sun.

 

[kd4ulw]

@Patchouli it’s a Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR. A nice camera but on the lower end of its class. Looking at getting a Nikon if they ever get off of back order.

 

[Patchouli]

Thanks!
Okay, next week Saturn is in opposition, Aug. 1-2.
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/saturn-at-opposition-closest-brightest-best/Be sure to check out the whole page on earthsky website.
Even tonight should be good viewing of planets with the moon.

 

[kd4ulw]

Wrestled the telescope out last night and tried my eyepiece camera for the first time.

 

[Neb]

The camera connects via an ethernet cable?

We have an old school refractive scope still in the box from a garage sale. Never broke it out because we almost always have cloud cover. But... The girls will visit tomorrow and the sky may be clear and the girls just watched a sky show at the planetarium 3 weeks ago.

What model scope is that?

I searched Orion scopes but did find that looks the same without the camera.

Thank you

Ben

 

[kd4ulw]

What model scope is that?

It’s an Orion Atlas 10 EQ Reflector. The camera was purchased separately and comes with a USB cable that both powers the camera and connects it to the laptop. It’s mounted on an Orion Atlas EQ-G tracking equatorial mount.

If your weather cooperates try setting up your telescope and look at the moon low in the west at sunset.

 

[bkt]

Really nice pictures, kd4ulw! The top one looks like what you'd see directly through a scope. The bottom two of Jupiter and Saturn look like you maybe stacked some images to bring out the color a bit. If that's the case, what software do you use to stack images?

 

[kd4ulw]

@bkt You are correct! I’ve never stacked images before so I was disappointed at first with the regular pics I was getting. I used SharpCap to capture and RegiStax to process the images. Hopefully the more I use it the better things will get!

The only way I could get Jupiter‘s moons to show was to increase the gain of the camera and yes that’s more like the view you see through the telescope.

 

[kd4ulw]

 

[kd4ulw]

Figuring out how to do this a little at a time. By the time I imaged Saturn there were high thin clouds moving overhead, but still got the pics to come out. Of course, by the time I was taking the telescope down the sky was clearing again.

 

[bkt]

Those are really excellent, kd4ulw! Well done!

 

[Bacpacker]

Very well done indeed

 

[kd4ulw]

Jupiter with its moons Ganymede and Io, with the shadow of Io cast on the planet from last night.

 

[kd4ulw]

Sunset tonight