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

The Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024 during totality, seen from Westport, New York

Solar corona images of Total Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024 over Westport, New York

This composite image captures the ethereal beauty of the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, through a series of meticulously planned exposures. The photos were taken using a Canon Ra camera, renowned for its astro-imaging capabilities, paired with an EF200mm f/2.8L II USM lens and a 2x III extender, enhancing the camera’s ability to capture the fine details of the solar corona. To accommodate the wide dynamic range of the corona's light, nine different shutter speeds were utilized: 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, and 1/4 seconds, all at ISO 200.

Mounted on an iOptron SkyTracker, the setup ensured that each exposure was free from the blur that could be caused by the Earth’s rotation, providing a clear and steady view of the eclipse as it progressed. The use of a SET'n'C (Solar Eclipse Timer and Controller) allowed for precise control over the timing and execution of each exposure, crucial for capturing the fleeting moments of the eclipse with accuracy.

The final composite showcases the solar corona in unprecedented detail, from the bright light surrounding the sun to the outermost wisps of plasma stretching into space. The range of exposures reveals the corona’s complexity and the subtle nuances of its structure, creating a stunning visual representation of this awe-inspiring celestial event. This image stands as a vivid reminder of the eclipse’s grandeur, preserving the moment with clarity and detail that convey the majesty of the cosmos.

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

Removing Light pollution Astrophotography Urban Astronomy

The moon and the stars no longer come to the farm. The farmer has exchanged his birthright in them for the wattage of his all-night sun. His children will never know the blessed dark of night.

 — Leslie Peltier in his autobiography

Comparison of original image and final one after removing of the light pollution – night photo of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California.

Light pollution Astrophotography Urban Astronomy

Photoshop instruction:

Step1: Select the Layers panel and then  duplicate the layer
Step 2: Filter -> Noise -> Median… (about 50 px)
Step 3: Filter-> Blue -> Gaussian Blue… (about 30px)
Step 4: Select original layer
Step 5: Image -> Apply image (Blending: Subtract; Offset: 40)
Step 6: Delete the duplicate layer

See for example video in my other post Comet 103P/Hartley 2 from New York City

Note, that Astronomy Tools has more sophisticated methods to remove light pollution, or you can do some variations of such methods (it depends from size of you original image). You also can apply it only for part of original image.

The other way to remove light pollution is using multiple images, see for example my other post M42 Orion Nebula using iOptron SkyTracker in NYC

Coronado SolarMax II 60 NexImage5

Sun 2013-10-26
Coronado SolarMax II 60,
NexImage 5 ccd,
Nexstar 4SE mount,
Two Barlows 2x each (Total x4),
Registax, Photoshop
Two Colors

NexImage 5, Coronado SolarMax II 60, Nexstar 4SE

Mauna Kea Observatories, Big Island Hawaii

The purpose of life is the investigation of 

the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens.

— Anaxagoras, Philosopher

Mauna Kea is one of the best places in the planet for an astronomical observation. The elevation is about 4,200 meters (13,800 ft). The atmosphere above the mountain is extremely dry and cloud-free, the proportion of clear nights is among the highest in the world with minimum optical turbulence.

Subaru Telescope Hawaii Mauna Kea Observatories

From left to right the Smithsonian Submillimeter Array, the Subaru Telescope, the twin Keck I and II telescopes, and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility - Hawaii Mauna Kea Observatories

Note, that the Submillimeter Array is important component of the Event Horizon Telescope, which made photo of the Black Hole Shadow at the center of Messier 87 Galaxy.

W. M. Keck Observatory - Hawaii Mauna Kea Observatories

Big Island Hawaii Mauna Kea Observatories - W. M. Keck Observatory

Very Long Baseline Array Radio Telescope on Hawaii - Mauna Kea Observatories

NASA Infrared Telescope Facility Hawaii Observatory

Above the Clouds - Hawaii Mauna Kea Big Island

Skydriving  Hawaii Mauna Kea

Sunset Hawai Mauna Kea

Stargazing and Astrophotography near  MaunaKea Visitor Information Station

Night Sky MaunaKea Visitor Information Station

MaunaKea Visitor Information Station is located at the 9,300-foot (2,800 m) elevation, south of the summit.

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

 

Green Sky Utah Airglow Astrophotography Canon 60Da

The sky is green, the night is dark - as simple as possible. This photo was done at Bryce Canyon, Utah. Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 30.0 sec; f/3.5; ISO 6400

Green Sky Utah Airglow Astrophotography Canon 60Da

The natural moonless night sky is dark but not black; it is not even blue (no scattering light from sun and moon). Earth atmosphere  emits green, red, orange, yellow light- Airglow!

About 60% of the natural brightness of the night sky at zenith is made up of Airglow. Maximum brightest usually appears at about 10-15 degrees above the horizon, because of the greater the depth of atmosphere at this angle. Airglow is not always uniform. Gravity waves may create considerable variation of Airglow brightness.

You can see Airglow only in real dark sky, but naked eye could not recognize colors. Photos with long exposure able get the colors of Airglow.

The usually dominant color of airglow is green originated from molecular oxygen at 90 to 100 km high. Orange and reddish hue caused by atomic oxygen in 150-300 km above the ground, Yellow light comes from sodium atoms in a layer at about 90 km.

Canon 60Da Star Trail Astrophotography

Star Trails - Canon 60Da, Canon Lens EF 16 35mm f2.8L II U, Fixed Tripod, Dew Heater, 37 images - Exposure time 2 min , ISO 400, Aperture F4.0. Post-processing: StarStax and Photoshop, Star Spikes filter

Canon 60Da Star Trail Astrophotography - Upstate New York

For last image I used the Star Spikes filter.

StarSpikes Pro for Startrails

StarStax - Startrails

 From image easy to see that stars have counterclockwise direction of rotation. Our watch hands do not follow the star rotation direction; its follow the rotation direction of shadow of Sun. The shadow has the opposite direction to sky rotation. Even simple astro photo has a lot staff behind the scenes. This is why I like astrophotography.

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

NexImage 5 Coronado SolarMax II 60

Sun 2013-10-26
Coronado SolarMax II 60,
NexImage 5 ccd,
Nexstar 4SE mount,
Barlow 2x,
Registax, Photoshop - false color

Coronado SolarMax II 60 NexImage 5

Telescope Coronado SolarMax II 60, Celestron NexStar 4SE Computerized Mount and NexImage5

Unintentional Camera Movement Astrophotography

Most of astrophotography is long exposure photos (except photos of sun and some other exception). During long exposure time a lot of can happen. Tripod may move, focus of camera may change, etc. Sometimes you even not remember what happen and only see some strange result on photo. I started astrophotography in middle school with such weird photos. Photos had UFO, which I did not saw by naked eye. Probably it was reflection of car light but maybe not.

There is very close popular photo technic - Intentional Camera Movement. But I am talking about Unintentional Camera Movement. This is one of the photos from adventures in Bolivia. Photo was done in Salar de Uyuni. Interesting effect – looks like camera reached warp speed. No Idea how it happened, probably changed zoom.

Unintentional Camera Movement Astrophotography - Warp Speed

And this is one more example

Unintentional Camera Movement Astrophotography - Meteor Shower

New York City Solar Eclipse - June 10, 2021 - Astrophotography

Solar eclipse - New York City  Staten Island  - June 10, 2021. Approximately 70% of the sun is eclipsed by the moon. Photos were done about 5:30 am in the morning on sunrise. This is view from Staten Island boardwalk to Brooklyn near Verrazzano Bridge.

Canon Ra, Canon  EF 200mm f/2.8 L II USM Telephoto Lens

Solar Eclipse NYC - June 10, 2021 - Astrophotography

Partial Solar Eclipse Staten Island, New York, USA 06-10-2021

People, Birds and Solar Eclipse - NYC view from Staten Island to Brooklyn - June 10, 2021

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