Great images, esp M51.

Hey Paul, I asked and was told the friend of my friend is using a Celestron c11 with a canon 50D. I've heard he controls it with a laptop, but I don't know anything about the software he uses, or how he has the camera connected. I saw his shot of the Whirlpool galaxy, and it looked very similar to yours, but I saw it on my friend's Blackberry screen, so it was pretty tiny and tough to see much detail. I was also told that the person taking the photos will do several exposures and layer them, if that tells you anything about the process.

Thanks for the info Ken. Sounds like his scope is similar in size and design but he uses a DSLR instead of a dedicated CCD camera. Stacking images is pretty much standard in astro-imaging. My version of M51 above is actually a stack of 30 x 2 minute exposures for Luminance and 15 x 2 minutes each for Red, Green and Blue channels (the camera is monochrome and I shoot through filters to get each data set). For shooting the ISS you really want a webcam or similar because you want to take a lot of exposures in a short space of time. The camera I use for the ISS is a Imaging Source DMK21AU04.AS . It is also monochrome (which is more sensitive) but the key feature is that it can capture an uncompressed AVI video at 60 fps. If he has been into astro-imaging for any length of time then I am sure he already knows that though.

I am so going to report you to the Flat Earth/Moonshot Fakery people.

You really slipped up with that ISS photo, as it's clearly just some plastic bits taken against a black piece of fabric. No stars behind it is the give-away.

Similarly, your admission that the "photographs" have been digitally manipulated puts this firmly in the "enough said" column of veracity.

Seriously, outstanding shots!

you all might flame me but im going to say this straight.

its pictures like that, that simply open my mind and heart, I mean seriously I dont want to swear but just look at that.

What I mean to say is and I mean this with FULL respect to people in the armed forces but we all should be working together and heading out towards places like that, you knnow BUILDING THINGS, and using what each of us has..


It takes looking at pictures like that.., for me it really creates some space in my soul and for ever such a short time I get it, you know were all different and instead of f*** dropping bombs on flesh we all could be doing a darn sight better.

I mean lets talk honestly here, we ** suck man, or should I say how much time has been wasted by those people above us in charge, Im not totally convinced things could not be a far lot better in this world im not making a political statement here either which way Im just saying humanity, we should be commincatiing better and gaining a heck of a lot of ground out there for future generations, for the human experience, not for pride but for promise of wounderment.



I dont know if you all get what Im trying to say but its serious for me and makes me very emotional.


I just wanted to say that, Paul thats a really great picutre man you keep that going for us please sir! :-)


bud

LOL, Buddha, every Soldier, Sailor, and Marine wants nothing more than to live in a world where we all live together in peace, respecting each other and the fundamental rights inherent for all men.

Paul, have you ever shot airplanes with your gear as they fly over? Or would they pass outta the frame too quickly to get a pic?

Those are some great photos, Paul. I'm going to have to drag my 10 inch Dob out on a clear night real soon. It's been too long since I spent a night probing the deep sky.

Nearly all objects in space have an 'oooh' value, but nothing like Markarian's Chain. I saw it through a 22 inch reflector at a star party a few years ago. Have you tried this one yet?

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061011.html

Thanks for the info, Paul. I get the impression that this other fellow has only been using equipment at this level for 6 months or so, so I passed your information along just in case.

Always enjoy your threads, very nice indeed