First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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I know there are a few Astronomy folks around here, so I thought I'd share some of my first image attempts of the moon. As most of you know I have a Celestron CPC1100 scope that I purchased about a year ago. You may also not be aware, but Webcam AstroPhotography is the cheapest and easiest way to get started. Down the road, you can purchase more expensive CCD based cameras for deep space stuff. Anyway, I found a cheap Logitech Quickcam on craigslist, modified it by removing the lens, super glued a 35mm film case to it which fits right into the focuser, and bingo, my 11" scope just became one big a$$ lens. I won't get into a lot of details on the capturing/processing, but basically you capture an AVI file, adjust the exposure, frames per second, gain, etc., then use another program to break up the AVI into seperate images, remove the garbage, then stack what you have left into the final image. For my first attempt, I limited my captures to about 40seconds, which is like a 500mb AVI file. To really get better results I need to increase that time, especially for planets which you use 3-4 minutes. Anyway, here are my first pics ever of portions of the moon.
M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350 AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,569
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Dec 2006
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Very cool Randy!
Backyard Astronomy sure has come a long way since I did it seriously. Most I use anymore are binoculars since they are easy to carry when out camping. Phoenix has become so bright and often so polluted viewing is usually very poor.
What are the coolest things you have seen?
3M80 2M22 6QS8 2M2 1EP500 Sony BDP-S590 Panny-7000 Onkyo-3007 Carada-134 Xbox Buttkicker AS-EQ1
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Aug 2007
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connoisseur
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connoisseur
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See Mojo's signature
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Feb 2005
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axiomite
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axiomite
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I saw this through my telescope while looking at the moon once.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786 |
That is very cool Randy. Sounds like you had fun turning the scope into a camera.
Fred
------- Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Sep 2004
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shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
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I saw this through my telescope while looking at the moon once. What jerks. They go off galavanting and leave Rosie home alone to clean up after them?
::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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shareholder in the making
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Thanks guys, Hey Grunt, so are I'd say the coolest things I've seen visually using an eyepiece are The Great Hercules Star Cluster, Orion Nebula, various Galaxies like Andromeda, Whirlpool, etc.. The planets are also great, I can normally see at least 4-5 moons around Jupitor and Saturn, and also the great red spot on Jupitor and the rings of Saturn are awesome with this larger scope. Probably what is the neatest feature is the GPS ability of the scope, and the hundreds of thousands of items in its database. Once I do the skyalign, I can take a tour of the sky, planets, clusters, galaxies, etc. at the push of a button, and the scope tracks them automatically.
M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350 AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,488 Likes: 9
connoisseur
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Wow! That is a great setup. That's the best use of a GPS ever!
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2007
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That is a cool use of GPS!
Fred
------- Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Jul 2004
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connoisseur
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connoisseur
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Nice work Randy. quote=RickF]I saw this through my telescope while looking at the moon once. [/quote] You hitting the shrooms again Rick?
Last edited by mdrew; 07/03/09 05:27 PM.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,840 Likes: 13
shareholder in the making
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OP
shareholder in the making
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M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350 AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: May 2002
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shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
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Randy, very impressive for that relatively simple camera that you set up.
-----------------------------------
Enjoy the music, not the equipment.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Nov 2006
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connoisseur
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connoisseur
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I don't know if it will be visible when it occurs, but I saw mention of this on the NASA channel this morning... Lunar impact Scott
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,840 Likes: 13
shareholder in the making
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I suppose if I was looking at the exact location I could see something. The smaller craters in my pics are around 10 miles in diameter, with the larger ones close to 100miles in diameter.
M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350 AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Nov 2006
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connoisseur
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connoisseur
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The folks at LCROSS indicated that the debris plume would extend 12Km up! I guess if you look real careful like, you might something.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928
axiomite
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axiomite
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Nice pics, Randy...I missed them the other week(vacation). It's difficult to see much here because of all the reflections from Toronto/Mississauga but 2-3 hrs North(Axiom country) and it's unbelievable the numbers of stars you can see up in the Muskokas, literally millions.....
Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928 |
BTW, on the right side of the first pic, it looks like 3-4 impacts in sequence much like the ones that hit Jupiter years ago.
Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,458
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
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What? Were you there?
::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2008
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I cannot tell you guys, you'll only ridicule me....
Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,458
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,458 |
::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928 |
I was abducted by an alien race where all of them looked like Kylie Minogue.....
Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,458
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
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Luuuuuuckeeeee!
::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928 |
The problem is I just can't get them outta my head.
Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,859
connoisseur
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connoisseur
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Was your alien experience anything like this?
Alrighty, then ... picture this if you will.
10 to 2 AM, X, Yogi DMT, and a box of Krispy Kremes, In my "need to know" pose, just outside of Area 51 Contemplating the whole "chosen people" thingy When a flaming stealth banana split the sky Like one would hope but never really expect To see in a place like this. Cutting right angle donuts on a dime And stopping right at my Birkenstocks, And me yelping...
Holy f*cking sh*t!
Then the X-Files being, Looking like some kind of blue-green Jackie Chan With Isabella Rossellini lips, and breath that reeked of Vanilla Chig Champa Did a slow-mo Matrix descent Outta the butt end of the banana vessel And hovered above my bug-eyes, my gaping jaw, And my sweaty L. Ron Hubbard upper lip, And all I could think was: "I hope Uncle Martin here doesn't notice That I pissed my f*ckin' pants."
So light in his way, Like an apparition, [that] He had me crying out, "F*ck me It's gotta be The Deadhead Chemistry The blotter got [right] on top of me Got me seein' E-motherf*ckin'-T!"
And after calming me down With some orange slices And some fetal spooning, E.T. revealed to me his singular purpose. He said, "You are the Chosen One, The One who will deliver the message. A message of hope for those who choose to hear it And a warning for those who do not." Me. The Chosen One? They chose me!!! And I didn't even graduate from f*ckin' high school.
You'd better... You'd better... You'd better... You'd better listen.
Then he looked right through me With somniferous almond eyes Don't even know what that means Must remember to write it down This is so real Like the time Dave floated away See, my heart is pounding 'Cause this sh*t never happens to me
I can't breathe right now!
It was so real, Like I woke up in Wonderland. All sorta terrifying I don't wanna be all alone While I tell this story. And can anyone tell me why Y'all sound like Peanuts parents? Will I ever be coming down? This is so real Finally, it's my lucky day See, my heart is racing 'Cause this sh*t never happens to me
I can't breathe right now!
You believe me, don't you? Please believe what I've just said! See the Dead ain't touring And this wasn't all in my head. See, they took me by the hand And invited me right in. Then they showed me something I don't even know where to begin.
Strapped down [to] my bed Feet cold [and] eyes red I'm out of my head Am I alive? Am I dead? Can't remember what they said God damn, sh*t the bed.
Hey ...
Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position. Such a heavy burden now to be the One Born to bear and bring to all the details of our ending, To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen Sh*t the bed again ... Typical.
Strapped down [to] my bed Feet cold and eyes red I'm out of my head Am I alive? Am I dead? Sunkist and Sudafed * Gyroscopes and infrared Won't help, I'm brain dead Can't remember what they said God damn, sh*t the bed
I can't remember what they said to me Can't remember what they said to make me out to be a hero Can't remember what they said Bob help me! Can't remember what they said
[We] don't know, [and we] won't know (x12)
God damn, sh*t the bed!
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 556
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Dec 2002
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alright, satin or Egyptian cotton?
Last edited by JaimeG; 07/24/09 06:25 PM.
The sailor does not pray for wind, he learns to sail. --Lindborg
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Re: First shots of the moon.
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
connoisseur
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connoisseur
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Very nice! Glad to hear your Celestron GPS Goto scope works well for you. I've wondered if those GPS-assisted goto systems are worth it. I had horribly frustrating experiences trying to use Meade's Autostar system (non GPS) on two different scopes. I've sort of been turned off to the idea of ever owning another goto scope. Nice to know Celestron's system works. One minor benefit of living in the Midwest, decently dark sky sites aren't impossible to find.
M80v2 | VP150v2 | QS8v2 SVS Pci+ 20-39 Emotiva UMC-1 & LPA-1 M22ti + T-Amp, in the Office
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