Post your random pics!

[CurtisOliver]

Ha, probably. Just like the laser dots, he will never catch them.

 

[RedCowboy]

Erbil, Iraq

That's in Iraq, wow, the Saudi wealth is really impressive, cities built from oil.

 

[paul1598419]

Gabe, nice shot of the galaxy. I understand all it takes to get this in a light polluted area. I can't rep you again so soon after doing so, but I'll get to you again.

 

[Gabe]

Thanks so much every one of you! I just was taking with a 'professional Milky Way photographer' one might say, over the predicament I am in with my northern latitude. I'm far enough north so that the Milky Way barely pokes above the horizon even during the summer months where it makes its best appearance. And on top of that, we don't reach astronomical twilight levels of darkness from mid may until the start of August, ruining a large percentage of the Milky Way season in the first place. He found out that this year, given the moon phases and sunset/sunrise times, there are only a few minutes for a couple days during the entirety of the year where the Milky Way core is above the horizon during true night, and that's only with extremely flat ground. So spare an accidentally extremely well timed trip to more southern Canada, that might be my only good Milky Way photo of the year!

 

[diachi]

Nice picture Gabe! Wish I could get shots like that, I need a better camera and to be further south. At least we get good Auroras!

Would be nice to be able to listen/work to some of the ham radio satellites or the space station, but the passes are either very short, low on the horizon or non-existent this far north.

 

[Gabe]

Thanks Adam! Speaking of Aurora, we just had a great show last week that thankfully I was out taking pictures and video of.

 

[diachi]

Thanks Adam! Speaking of Aurora, we just had a great show last week that thankfully I was out taking pictures and video of.

Woah, those are some great shots! Well done!

We don't really see them this time of year, it's too light at night. That has it's own bonuses though.

 

[RB astro]

Oh, the Auroras are stunning Gabe !
Well captured.
Something I'd love to see at least once in my life.
I live too far north to see them though. :cryyy:

RB

 

[Gabe]

Thanks Adam and Andrew! No worries Andrew, I'm quite jealous of Australia's night skies during the winter months, I'd love to see the Magellanic Clouds and the core of the Milky Way directly overhead! We should trade sometime I'd also want to visit wayy up north around where you are Adam, those bright extra-bright summer nights would be cool to experience too

 

[RB astro]

No worries Andrew, I'm quite jealous of Australia's night skies during the winter months, I'd love to see the Magellanic Clouds and the core of the Milky Way directly overhead! We should trade sometime

We're definitely blessed to have the Milky Way directly overhead in winter.
Also the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are awesome.
To be able to see two whole other galaxies (apart from our own) just with the naked eye and next to each other is just stunning.
Similar to the Andromeda Galaxy for you guys up north but bigger and brighter.

I just remembered I had taken a couple of shots of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds so here they are.
These were taken years ago though so I must try and get some better ones.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is on the right and of course the beautiful Milky Way core running vertically from top to bottom on the left:
Both visible naked eye.

And in this one below (which I've posted before) you can see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds in the top left with the ISS running through the middle of the frame.

 

[Gabe]

Wow such great photos Andrew! I especially like that first one. What camera/lens/settings was that if you remember?
I just saw the ISS for the first time when I was watching those Aurora, I had no idea what it was at first because it was so much brighter than any other satellite!

 

[paul1598419]

Those are both very nice galactic photos, Andrew. I especially like the space station cutting a line through the last photo. + rep.

 

[RB astro]

Wow such great photos Andrew! I especially like that first one. What camera/lens/settings was that if you remember?
I just saw the ISS for the first time when I was watching those Aurora, I had no idea what it was at first because it was so much brighter than any other satellite!

Thanks Gabe, this was 11 stacked frames x 2min exposure each, at ISO 800 using the 20Da, shot at 32mm, f/2.8 on an EM200 mount.
Yes the ISS (being so large) is amazingly bright when it hits maxima. :yh:

Edit: also just wanted to add a handy tip - when doing these type of shots, it's best to put your White Balance on "Daylight/Sunny" unless you shoot Raw.

Those are both very nice galactic photos, Andrew. I especially like the space station cutting a line through the last photo. + rep.

Thank you so much Paul, glad you liked them.

:beer:

 

[Gabe]

The more I look that that photo of yours of the LMC and the Milky Way the more I like it. I want to get a star tracking mount, they'd be really useful and I want to take a good photo of Andromeda. So you aren't able to view Andromeda from the Southern Hemisphere? That would make sense, it's pretty close to Cassiopeia I think which is in the northern vicinity of the sky.

 

[RB astro]

The more I look that that photo of yours of the LMC and the Milky Way the more I like it. I want to get a star tracking mount, they'd be really useful and I want to take a good photo of Andromeda. So you aren't able to view Andromeda from the Southern Hemisphere? That would make sense, it's pretty close to Cassiopeia I think which is in the northern vicinity of the sky.

Thanks Gabe, you should look into purchasing a tracking mount, it will make a huge difference to imaging the stars as you can take longer exposures.

The lower southern locations of Australia don't see Andromeda at all but from where I am it just barely rises above the horizon.
I get to see it very low in the north but it's low in the muck and dust of the atmosphere and light pollution.
Hence imaging it is a real challenge but even so it still looks stunning.
I still remember when I first saw it (before I bought my telescopes) and how beautiful it looked even though I could just barely make it out.

A few years later in 2008 I managed to image Andromeda and I must say I am very proud of this image considering how difficult it is to image from my location.
This was a 40 minute exposure and Andromeda was just 9° above the horizon.
Canon 20Da, TOA 130, f/5.5, ISO 400, (4) x 10 min light, (6) dark, (15) flat, (10) Bias frames.

Hope you like this one too.

RB
:beer:

 

[Gabe]

Wow that's crazy good Andrew, thanks for sharing! I'm amazed at the faint details you could get from it being just a fist's width above the horizon, that's a lot of atmosphere to contend with. I've accidentally snagged Andromeda in a couple photos before but I want to get a really great shot like this sometime.
EDIT: here's a little treat for you and those who don't get to see the Aurora. Of course video doesn't do it justice, and YouTube compression has screwed with the clip a bit, but it captures something photographs can't, and thats movement. It's surprising how fast it is when it flares up! When it's directly overhead and jumping and swirling around you get a sense for how huge it is, and for a second you're surprised how something so big can move so quickly until you realize nothing is physically moving that fast.