[Senna4ever]

Persied Meteor Shower, 2010. All shots taken at McDonald Park, Abbotsford, BC:

Click on image to see 1200 pixel size image.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/DSC07911.jpg

You'll see a plane (the red line) and at least 3 satellites in this image.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0106.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0115.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0119.jpg

Meteor streak in the lower left, and the Andromeda Galaxy is visible as a white smudge on the right side about two thirds down.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0154.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0179.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0185.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0191.jpg

Paul, the president of the Fraser Valley Astronomy Society pointing to Jupiter with his green laser. With that big telescope of his, I was able to see the big band of clouds on Jupiter, and at least five of its moons....it was epic.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0194.jpg

Paul pointing out various deep sky objects to n00bs like me:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0195.jpg

11 minute exposure with my camera piggy backed on Paul's telescope equipped with a motorized tracker:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Senna4ever/Photos%20II/IMG_0199.jpg

Oh, if you're wondering about the red light, it's because red light does not ruin your night vision. Using flashlights with white light, or any blue component will cause you to lose your night vision and then you'll have to wait a few minutes for it to come back. You'll also piss off everyone around you.

[Boostslut]

That's sweet! Thanks for posting! What gear were you using for these? Those telescopes that people use are awesome! Must of been a cool experiance! Lucky you!

[dinamix]

siiikkkk..thanks for this..i have some new wallpaper!!

[J____]

wow thats sick! lots of ppl there and crazy gear! haha. thnx

[dark0821]

11 min exposure... shit xD

[keitaro]

great photos!

there is supposed to be another big meteor shower in December, thinking I should go check that out. Hopefully it would be clear skies..

[Soundy]

Well, I didn't get out to shoot the meteors this year, but I have assorted star trails and such from other outings...

Near Lytton:
ISO: 250
Exposure: 337.0 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 10mm
Latitude: 50.325970° N
Longitude: 121.552330° W
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8W57ombPl6k/StTxKGHENiI/AAAAAAAAIMg/KTwMHqKvTWo/s800/IMG_5210.JPG
Ummm.... hmmm... well.... that's the only one I can find that's online right now. Got lots more on an external drive... will hafta dig that out.

[Senna4ever]

That's sweet! Thanks for posting! What gear were you using for these? Those telescopes that people use are awesome! Must of been a cool experiance! Lucky you!
I was using a 5DMKII with a 15mm fisheye and the 24mm f1.4 for the most part.


there is supposed to be another big meteor shower in December, thinking I should go check that out. Hopefully it would be clear skies..
Yeah, but it's gonna be a lot colder! The Geminids Meteor Shower will be on December 13 & 14, and on the night of December 21, there will be a total lunar eclipse. On October 20, Comet Hartley 2 will be 11 million miles from Earth, so it will be visible to the naked eye if you're away from the city glow.

[TOS'd]

Any hi-res available to us?

[Senna4ever]

Any hi-res available to us?

Not for free.

[J____]

^^^ LOL

[Senna4ever]

:p

[TOS'd]

Not for free.
I'm more interested in buying a large print for my room.

[Inaii]

Wow, those are awesome Senna!

[keitaro]

Yeah, but it's gonna be a lot colder! The Geminids Meteor Shower will be on December 13 & 14, and on the night of December 21, there will be a total lunar eclipse. On October 20, Comet Hartley 2 will be 11 million miles from Earth, so it will be visible to the naked eye if you're away from the city glow.

For sure, but the air will be more crisp, and clear. The chances of a clear sky decreases, so who knows how it would turn out. A little cold doesn't hurt :p Especially now that I got some CF legs :D

[keitaro]

Oh, and for all the people that want to shoot the next meteor shower, Popular Photography made an article for it. It's published in their newsletter

http://www.popphoto.com/features/how/2010/08/how-photographing-perseid-meteor-shower?cmpid=enews081210

[Alatar]

Meteor
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4895660535_bc54cb1f6b_b.jpg
Another Meteor.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4896253700_1b1bc730de_b.jpg
Satellite.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4896257814_9cb6880031_b.jpg

See the differences? Good. :p

These (and others I took) were taken at 6300ft, at Wedgemount Lake, 12km + 7km hiking up 5000+ feet to get to the lake. All taken last night. I forgot to take my remote shutter release with me, unfortunately, so couldn't do longer bulb exposures. :(

[Inaii]

Senna, in your last picture, is that Jupiter up at the top? I'm curious how you got the stars to trail in a circle like that as well :)

[TOS'd]

^ the earth is rotating during the long exposure which makes the stars make those circle lines.

[LiquidTurbo]

Senna, in your last picture, is that Jupiter up at the top? I'm curious how you got the stars to trail in a circle like that as well :)

:rofl: Weren't paying in Science 10 :p

[Inaii]

Dude science 10 was like.... 10 years ago :p and no, I rarely paid attention.

[Senna4ever]

Senna, in your last picture, is that Jupiter up at the top? I'm curious how you got the stars to trail in a circle like that as well :)
I think it's Jupiter, but I can't be sure. The telescope was pointed at and was tracking Jupiter, so it very well may be. I just put my camera on the telescope and pointed it perpendicular to where the telescope was pointing.

[HyperREV]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3661144804_02bbc55ea5_o.jpg

5d, iso 3200, 16mm zenitar fisheye, 30 seconds.

[Inaii]

That's a really neat picture Hyper!

Thanks Senna :) The guys I was with were pointing out various objects in the sky (one of them was using a star map program from his phone) but I missed half of them because I ended up getting dizzy turning in circles trying to see all the meteors lol.

[keitaro]

Any suggestions guys on shooting stars? The other night, a group of friends and I were in the middle of the sea to sky highway at a viewpoint. I tried taking some shots of the stars, but ended up getting a lot noise even at ISO 400. It the type of noise that I would associate with an image that is underexposed.

Would you recommend me bumping the ISO to 800? I was attempting for just a shot of the stars, without trails.

[Senna4ever]

I was shooting 30 seconds, f2 or f2.8 @ 800 ISO. Exposures longer than 30 seconds will show trails.

[Senna4ever]

If anyone wants to join me, I'm going up on one of the weekends. It will depend on weather and the forest fire situation though. I've managed to borrow a GPS star tracker to mount the Canon 500mm f4! W00t!

http://www.merrittastronomical.com/index.html

[LiquidTurbo]

It's time to upgrade my camera. I took these using bulb, and even then, the camera would only let me open the shutter for 90sec tops. As a result, super tough to get the camera still.



http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RlBlRdp4hCE/TFZn5T7irWI/AAAAAAAAFCE/B1cmBG9WwbQ/s720/DSC_1186.JPG


Big Dipper
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RlBlRdp4hCE/TFZpMNebksI/AAAAAAAAFCo/fCOxZIAGsnE/s512/DSC_3555.JPG



What's the best camera for taking star photos? Something FF like the 5Dm2?

[Soundy]

Aperture wide open, and you can go several seconds without noticeable star trails... even up to a minute, you should only see a very slight stretching of them.

[Senna4ever]

It's time to upgrade my camera. I took these using bulb, and even then, the camera would only let me open the shutter for 90sec tops. As a result, super tough to get the camera still.
What's the best camera for taking star photos? Something FF like the 5Dm2?
If you want still stars and you're using a high resolution camera, you wouldn't want to go past 30 seconds, as trails are noticeable at 100%. Of course this will all depend on how big the final images will be - my shots look fine on the web, but at 100% you can see trails.

The best DLSR for astrophotography is any DSLR with the low-pass filter removed. For stock DSLR's, Canon used to make cameras specifically for astrophotography like the 20Da, 30Da, but they have been discontinued. Currently, Canon DSLR's seem to be the cameras to use, as Nikons process the RAW files on the sensor (Sony sensors, remember) resulting in unwanted noise.

[Alatar]

My images were so dark because of the lack of any ambient city light, etc. and the fact that they were all taken at approx midnight at 6300ft elevation. They were 30 second exposures at f2.8 ISO800.

Full size, you can see the trails, smaller/on the web, the trails are less noticeable/not noticeable.

One thing that I did notice, it being so dark, was that I had a hot-pixel which I've since remapped.