RegiStax 6 vs. 5 comparison - Jupiter Celestron 4SE

Here is an example of the difference between Registax v5 and v6 for Jupiter (Jupiter with Ganymede Moon and Ganymede Shadow Transit, September 18, 2010 - Celestron 4SE)

Registax v6 - Wavelet - Gaussian Initial Layer 3 Used Linked Wavelets with denoise 1 and 2 layers, RGB shift

Registax 6, Celestron 4SE, Jupiter

Registax 5, Celestron 4SE, Jupiter

Some clouds are more visible in Registax v6, the shadow and Ganymede moon looks better. So my opinion Registax 6 gives better result with Used Linked Wavelets.

Jupiter Moons and Red Spot - Astrophotography - Celestron 4SE

How does Jupiter hold up his trousers?

With an asteroid belt.

--Astronomy Jokes

Jupiter and Moons

Jupiter Moons and Red Spot Astrophotography Celestron 4SE - Brooklyn NYC

Jupiter 2010 Opposition - Celestron 4SE NexImage Registax

Jupiter opposition
September 20, 2010 and September 21, 2010
Video files were taken with Celestron NexStar 4se telescope, 2x Barlow lens and NexImage camera (total time 4 minutes for one video, 10frames per second, 2400 frames, 1/10 shutter speed, output 640x480). AVI frames stacked in RegiStax v5. Finally, images were processed in PhotoShop.

Jupiter Celestron 4SE NexImage Brooklyn Backyard astronomy

Celestron 4 SE Jupiter Astrophoto Brooklyn

Comparison original one frame and Registax final Image, Celestron 4 SE, Brooklyn

Long Island Astrophotography - Custer Astronomical Observatory

These photos were done during my trip to Custer Astronomical Observatory. This observatory is oldest Long Island's public astronomical observatory. It was founded in 1927. Photos were done by Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens, ISO-6400, 20-30 seconds.

Long Island Astrophotography - Custer Astronomical Observatory - Dome and Radio Telescope

Custer Observatory Radio Telescope and Jupiter - Long Island Astrophotography

Custer Observatory Dome and Big Dipper - Long Island Astrophotography

Susan Mini Observatory inside Custer Observatory - Night Landscape

Silent Sky - Custer Observatory Long Island

Puerto Rico Astrophotography

You might be an amateur astronomer if

you center your vacation time around the New Moon.

--Amateur Astronomer Jokes

These are photos from my trip to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Astrophotography - Big Dipper constellation, Canon 60Da

 This is the panorama of 4 images. Location - Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort, Puerto Rico. Canon EOS 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, ISO -3200, F6.3.

This photo can be used for a question "What is the latitude of the observer?" Palm trees in the image  give the clue to this question.

It is interesting how well known constellations (like Big Dipper) look from different places of the world – Puerto Rico, Yellowstone, Grand Teton.

Puerto Rico Night Sky Palm Tree and Jupiter

Canon EOS 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, 20 sec, ISO-3200, F4.5

Palm Trees and Orion and Canis Major constellations Puerto Rico Astrophotography

 Canon EOS 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, 20 sec, ISO-3200, F4.5

Yacht Astrophotography Culebra Island  Puerto Rico

 Long exposure and waves gave such interesting yacht effect
Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, 30 sec, ISO-3200, F4

Near Equator Big and Little Dippers Puerto Rico Nightscape Astrophotography

Canon 60Da, Wide Angle EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, 10 sec, ISO-6400, F2.8

Northern Pole  Star - Polaris - Laser Pointer Puerto Rico Golf Course Astrophotography

 Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, 14 sec, ISO-3200, F6.3

Culebra Puerto Rico Night Sky

  Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, 30 sec, ISO-3200, F4

Orion, Canis Major and Milky Way - iOptron SkyTracker  Astrophotography Puerto Rico

Canon 60Da, Wide Angle EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, f/4.0, ISO 3200, Duration 120sec iOptron SkyTracker, Culebra Puerto Rico

Constellations: Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Monoceros. Part of Constellations: Lepus, Eridanus, Taurus, Gemini.

For such duration Barnard’s Loop in Orion is pretty much visible. 

Milky Way Casting Shadows - Chile Astrophotography - San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations Star Tour

We know the Sun and Moon cast shadows. But if Milky Way is bright enough to throw shadows? This is panorama from San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations Star Tour. On the photo you can see shadows of trees cast by the Milky Way!

Based on Bortle scale of night sky's brightness this is one of the darkness sky on Earth - Scale 1 - Excellent dark-sky site - The Scorpius and Sagittarius region of the Milky Way casts obvious diffuse shadows on the ground. Not so often can see something like this!

Milky Way Casting Shadows - Chile Astrophotography  - San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations Star Tour

Green and red airglow is noticeable close to the horizon. The brightest "star" in the center is actually Jupiter. 

Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 25.0 sec;  f/2.8;  ISO 6400 - Panorama of 20 photos

This image, slightly different version, has been chosen as Today's Image of the Day 17/11/2019. 

Dark Sky Travels Magazine

Dark Sky Travels Magazine Image of the Day

Backyard Astronomy - Astrophotography Celestron NexStar 4se

Backyard Astronomy - Astrophotography Celestron
NexStar 4se telescope
Canon EOS 40D and T-Adapter-C90 and Barlow T-Adapter 1 1/4 inches and T-ring for Canon EOS
Celestron 4se telescope with T-Adapter-C90 (93635-A) and Canon EOS 40D
Celestron 4se telescope with Barlow t-Adapter 1 1/4 inches (93640) and Canon EOS 40D
Celestron 4se with Barlow t-Adapter 1 1/4 inches (93640), Erect Image Diagonal (94116) and Canon EOS 40D
Photos of the Moon and the Sun
Celestron NexStar 4se telescope NexImage CCD
Jupiter photos
Piggy-Back Camera Mount for Celestron NexStar 4 telescope (Item# BRKTPIG4)
The Green Comet 103P/Hartley 2 (2010)

 

Moon Celestron 4SE Canon 40D Astronomy Brooklyn Astrophotography

Acadia National Park, Maine USA - Astrophotography

Acadia National Park is one of the darkest place on the East Coast. It is amazing how good sky is here - amazing airglow and shadow from Milky Way. I not even expected something like this on the East Coast of US.

Acadia Astrophotography - Panorama of 4 Images Milky Way over Sand Beach

Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 25.0 sec;  f/2.8;  ISO 6400 - Four photos, Panorama

Acadia Astrophptography  Milky Way Night Landscape

Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 30.0 sec;  f/2.8;  ISO 12800 - One photo

Black and White Acadia Astrophotography

Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 30.0 sec;  f/2.8;  ISO 12800 - One photo

Night Landscape Canon Astrophotography Panorama Milky Way Acadia National Park Maine USA

Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 25.0 sec;  f/2.8;  ISO 6400 - 6 photos

Chasing the Milky Way - Acadia National Park

Rainbow Milky Way - Maine Astrophotography, Acadia National Park

Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 25.0 sec;  f/2.8;  ISO 6400 - Panorama of 20 photos


I derived with my family and friends from New York to Acadia National Park about 10 hours. There was new moon and weather forecast for this night was good.  It was chance to get good dark sky.

While Mount Desert Island is not heavily populated and is remote, but some light pollution exists. So, some places in Acadia National Park are just with good dark sky. But some places are having amazing sky! Sand Beach, while just a 290-yard-long beach inlet between granite mountains, has a spectacular view of the night sky. On the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, this place has “Class 1” (out of 9) is absolutely, naturally dark — the darkest skies on earth! Such darkness sky in the Sand Beach can be attributed to two factors: location and park lighting. Newport cove protects the beach from most of the sky glow from major population centers on the island. The beach faces out to the dark open ocean. The surrounding topography blocks the line of sight from Bar Harbor preventing residual sky glow. Park lighting were design to minimized light pollution.

The Sand Beach was good choice.  The Galactic center region of the Milky Way casts obvious diffuse shadows on the ground. Airglow is readily apparent. The presence of Jupiter in the sky seems to degrade dark adaptation. Its big contrast between New York sky and Acadia National Park.

Astrophotography Equipment DSLR Webcam Collage

This is astrophotography collage with images of  solar corona,  saturn, jupiter, mars, solar and lunar eclipses, northern lights, milky way and photos of telescopes with photo camera and webcamera, binoculars.

Astrophotography Equipment DSLR Webcam Collage - NYC Astrophotography

Zodiacal Light Bolivia Astrophotography

Zodiacal light - Bolivia Astrophotography - 2 hours after sunset (elevation: 4020 m / 13190 feet). Jupiter is on the top of the image. Photo was done near Hotel Jardines De Mallku Cueva, Bolivia. New Moon. Canon EOS 60Da, 25 sec., Canon Lens EF16-35mm, f/2.8, ISO 6400, panorama of 3 images. Digital cameras are more capable in collecting light, but even visually the Zodiacal light was clearly visible to the naked eye.

Zodiacal Light Bolivia Astrophotography

Zodiacal light is a faint, diffuse, and roughly triangular glow that is visible in the good dark night sky far from any light pollution and appears to extend from the Sun's direction and along the zodiac. The zodiacal light appears as a column, brighter at the horizon, tilted at the angle of the ecliptic. The light scattered from extremely small dust particles. The source of the dust probably originated from the tails of active comets.

There is color variation of the photo

Zodiacal Light Astrophotography

Black and White version of the Zodiacal Light - most close to what I saw.

Zodiacal Light Astrophotography Black and White

 

Milky Way Panorama Astrophotography

There are couple of Milky Way panoramas which I did previously. There are Milky Way Rainbow from West and East of North America, Panorama in South America Chile and Milky Way Bow in Equator Galapagos. The photos of panoramas done during of couple of years. All places have best dark sky on Earth, photos were done during new moon. I used about the same technology – about 20-30 photos for one panorama. It took about 30 – 40 minutes (one photo was about 30 second, Canon 60Da with Canon Lens EF16-35mm, F/2.8). For post processing I used Photoshop to stitch all photos to one panorama. Challenge were that it was new places, when I never bean before, and very limited time.

Milky Way Panorama - Utah USA, Arches National Park Astrophotography

This is panorama of 40 images which were done during my trip to Arches National Park. I really like this trip, and I believe that   Arches National Park is one of the best place for landscape astrophotography. It is paradise for astrophotography – really dark sky (during new moon) and fantastic landscaping.

Milky Way Panorama - Maine USA, Acadia National Park Astrophotography

While Mount Desert Island is not heavily populated and is remote, but some light pollution exists. So, some places in Acadia National Park are just with good dark sky. But some places are having amazing sky! Sand Beach, while just a 290-yard-long beach inlet between granite mountains, has a spectacular view of the night sky. On the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, this place has “Class 1” (out of 9) is absolutely, naturally dark — the darkest skies on Earth!

Milky Way Panorama - Galapagos Astrophotography

This sea is my sea, this land is my land, this sky is my sky, this Milky Way is my Milky way.

Not so much were changes on Galapagos Islands during last 3 millions years!

The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), also known as the sea iguana, saltwater iguana, or Galapagos marine iguana, is a species of iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile.

Panorama - Milky Way Shadow - Chile Astrophotography

Milky Way casting shadows – for all my live don’t see many times. Need very dark sky, no moon, no light pollution. Also, when doing the photo of Milky Way panorama, I usually add extra light to see landscape. This was exception. Very dark sky – Chile Atacama Desert has one of the best skies for observation. On the astronomical tour had one request – no light. Location is desert oasis with trees. Scorpius and Sagittarius and Jupiter are close to zenith. As result on the photo you can see diffuse shadows from trees casing by Milky Way. Really, there is the place where the Milky Way casts a shadow!

First Canon Ra Milky Way Rainbow - Catskill  NY

This is my first photo of Milky Way Rainbow with Canon EOS Ra. I am continue testing Canon Ra astrophotography camera. Canon Ra has High ISO performance with reasonable low noise levels (Topaz DeNoise AI allow minimize noise level). So even 5 sec photos with ISO 20,000 gives very nice result for night landscaping. Because of 5 sec shots – photo time is pretty fast. Special filter gives good contrast for Milky Way. Photoshop allows combine all 20 photos to one Milky Way rainbow panorama.

Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Bolivia - Black and White Astrophotography

The photo captures a view of the night sky over the Bolivia. 2 hours after sunset (elevation: 4020 m / 13190 feet). Canon EOS 60Da, 25 sec., Canon Lens EF16-35mm, f/2.8, ISO 6400, panorama of 20 images. 

Because our eyes are less sensitive to color in low light conditions, a black and white photo more closely approximates what our eyes can see at night (compared to a color photo).

The black and white photography highlights the stark contrast between the dark night sky and the glowing band of the Milky Way. The Milky Way, a dense band of stars and interstellar dust, stretches across the sky in a white arc. 

If you look closely, you can also see a faint, diffuse glow stretching up from the horizon. This is the Zodiacal Light, a ghostly band of light caused by sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust particles in our solar system. 

Taken together, the Milky Way and Zodiacal Light create a breathtaking scene that reminds us of the immense scale and beauty of the universe we inhabit. It is a testament to the power of nature and the wonders that can be discovered by simply looking up at the night sky.

The photo of the Milky Way and Zodiacal Light is an example of the beauty that can be found in the natural world. It is a reminder that there is always more to discover and explore, both here on Earth and beyond.

Peru Astrophotography

Finally, my dream happens and I was able to see south sky – Southern Cross, Alpha Centauri, Large Magellanic Cloud etc. These photos were done during my trip to Peru, Central Andes, near Inca sacred valley and Cusco city - Chinchero village. I had limited time for astrophotography during shopping time of our women. Altitude is about 3,762 m or 12,339 ft. At such altitude the sky absolutely amazing! You really feel that stars are much closer.  

Canon EOS 60Da,  EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, ISO-4000, f/2.8, 30 seconds. on this photo you can see Alpha Centauri which is the closest star to the Sun, just 4.37 light-years. Thinking about next vacation :)

Peru Astrophotography - Milky Way and Alpha Centauri

  

Canon EOS 60Da,  EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, ISO-4000, f/2.8, 30 seconds. Peru is on South hemisphere and on the photo you can find the south pole (3 1/2 times the distance between Gacrux and Acrux).

Southern Cross (Crux constellation), Milky Way and and Alpha Centauri - Peru Astrophotography

Canon EOS 60Da,  EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, ISO-4000, f/2.8, 6 seconds.

Orion under Central Andes Mountains - Chinchero city - Peru Astrophotography

Canon EOS 60Da,  EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, ISO-4000, f/2.8, 30 seconds.

Jupiter - Peru Astrophotography

Large Magellanic Cloud Southern Cross - Peru Annotated Astrophotography

There is one more photo which I did in Cusco Planetarium

Peru Cusco Planetarium - Night Sky View

Top 10 amateur astrophotography targets

There is my list of top 10 objects for beginners in astrophotography

1.    Milky Way
2.    Northern Lights and airglow and bioluminescence
3.    Star trails and/or photography of meteor shower
4.    Zodiacal Light
5.    Moon
6.    Sun
7.    Saturn
8.    Jupiter
9.    Solar Eclipse
10.   Lunar Eclipse

Milky Way View From Earth - Yellowstone

Night Scape Astrophotography Award Astronomyforum.net 3rd Quarter 2014

StarTalk radio chose my photo - Grand Teton Milky Way

Universe Today posted my image Yellowstone Astrophotography

Yellowstone Astrophotography photo was couple of days in Google News

NYC Solar eclipse photo was chosen by Yahoo news as Best-of Flickr week photo