Tonight's 90 percent waxing gibbous

I wanted to take advantage of the clear sky, even though the moon is dominating and drowning out everything else around it tonight. Here is one artsy/clever moon shot through a pine tree, and a stack of 100 frames trying to bring out as much detail as possible in a realistic way. I think I'm reaching the upper limit of the resolution I can get on an 8 MP camera.

100 frames stacked, each at 300mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/1000 sec

There's a faint stacking halo to the right of the moon, as if one frame got mis-aligned and spewed off to the side. So I guess it wouldn't be correct to say that this is the MOST detailed I could be at 8 megapixels, but for right now it is.

300mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1 sec

Just to say I tried, here's a re-stack of the 90% moon with only 58 of the 100 frames. Like magic, no alignment halo! I wish I knew how to fix this without just dumping frames, but in any case, here is a much tighter result (original color):

58 frames stacked, each at 300mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/1000 sec

Composite Moon Phases

I finally completed my set of moon phase photos! Obviously these are just the named categorical phases, because the shadow on the moon is constantly changing by tiny percentages all the time.

It was a fun project to work on! Each image is a stack of at least 20 frames to clean up the noise. I took the photos between February 25, 2013 and April 14, 2013. I left the colors a little different because I used different camera settings for each one and took the images at slightly different times of night (and early, early morning).

Variety of settings, all at 300mm, f/5.6 with Canon Rebel XT stacked in Registax

I'm really pleased with the result! It's my own little moon collection. Previously, I realized I only had waxing phases in my collection. I must say, the waning phases are quite cool and different. I guess the waning phases aren't as popular because you have to stay up later and later to get them, or get up right before sunrise to get a good waning crescent.

Lyrid Meteor Recap: 2 Sightings but Nothing in the Can

Last night I woke up at 2:30am to take the dog out. I planned ahead for the Lyrid Meteor Shower by setting my tripod and camera out before going to bed, and making sure my batteries were charged up. 

I read that the Lyrid shower isn't typically as dramatic as other meteor showers, however I figured it was worth a peek since I was up and it was clear. 

When I took my dog out, I did a quick scan of the darkest part of the sky and immediately saw a meteor streak from East to West (facing South). The 83% moon was still peeking over the top of the apartment building and producing a lot of sky glow. After picking up Katie's poops I went back in side, optimistic that the meteor shower would be as prolific as the Geminids this past winter. 

Rebel XT: 18mm, 20 sec, ISO 1600, f/4.5

Rebel XT: 18mm, 20 sec, ISO 1600, f/4.5

PowerShot A3100 IS: 6.2mm, 15 sec, ISO 1600, f/2.7

Rebel XT: 18mm, 20 sec, ISO 1600, f/4.5

While my cameras were running, I spotted one more meteor in the general area where I thought it would make it into frame - alas, either it was just out of frame or it was too brief to show up on the sensor. Visually, I was able to observe 2 pretty good Lyrid meteors, but I was left with nothing on "film" a.k.a. nothing in the can. 

While I was out, I did become more familiar with the late spring sky, which will soon become the early summer sky. I spotted Hercules, and of course the Summer Triangle. I also took a picture of Arcturus, Spica, and Saturn in a triangle next to the glow of the moon just behind the apartments. 

Crescent moon with Jupiter tonight, April 14, 2013

It was cloudy all day here in Bowling Green, Ohio. At dusk, I saw the clouds break a bit, but a thin layer of haze remained into the night. Photographed from my apartment complex courtyard at 10:00pm ET, the crescent moon created a ghostly smile through the clouds. In this single exposure, Jupiter is a small point to the lower right.

Single exposure at ISO 100, 210mm, 1/2 sec, f/5.0

I also made a stack of the crescent moon to round out my stacked lunar phases collection. Before, I only had a single exposure of this phase of the moon. Now I should have enough for a composite picture of the main phases: crescent, quarter, gibbous, full, gibbous, quarter, crescent, new.

I also have to say, I'm super impressed with the Registax software! I took these 38 subs through a haze of thin clouds, and after stacking you would think the sky was completely clear tonight!! Impressive!

38 subs at ISO 100, 1/100 sec, 300mm, f/5.6

Comet PanSTARRS buzzes the Andromeda Galaxy

Last month I posted my plan to photograph C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS) as it approached the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I was successful, but never got around to blogging about it, so here goes! On April 2, 2013 I went to Slippery Elm Trail at dusk to wait until the comet and galaxy were visible low in the NW sky.

I had all but given up on Andromeda for the season, because the view to the west from my apartment is blocked below 40º or so. This far into Spring, Andromeda is well behind the building by sunset, and so low in the sky by the time it gets dark that taking detailed deep sky images with my camera probably wouldn't yield anything beyond a fuzzy blob. However, paired with a comet, a fuzzy blob would be a welcome target!

180 subs, 30 dark, 30 bias; subs at 1.6 sec, ISO 1600, f/5.0, 190mm

I used bright stars in Cassiopeia and Andromeda to star hop to the approximate location. Once I knew I was in the area, I used the same technique from the last time I spotted Andromeda or PanSTARRS - and that is to take 10 second exposures and see what blobs appear. Then, once you have the images framed well, take exposures more appropriate for stacking (in my case, 1.6 sec at 190mm).

One of my "finder frames" to help me zero in on my targets, 10 sec, ISO 1600, 190mm

Here is a wide field shot to show just how low M31 ended up at the end of my night. With all the atmospheric distortion and light pollution, it's a wonder I was able to see the darn thing!

Background image is a single exposure at ISO 1600, 13 sec, 18mm