The Design Community Hub

c/astronomy-photos

4

pipergonzalez•1d ago

The Andromeda photo I took in July finally clicked after I read a forum post about stacking

I was out near Flagstaff with my old DSLR and a 200mm lens, just messing around. The raw shots looked like noise with a faint smudge, but someone on here explained how to use DeepSkyStacker with 30 light frames. I tried it with 40 frames from that trip and the detail that popped out was insane. Has anyone else had a single forum tip completely change their editing game?

28

vera_roberts•2d ago

I found a trick to shoot the moon without a telescope using just my phone and a pair of binoculars

I tried holding my phone up to some old binoculars I found at a thrift store in Denver, and it actually gave me a decent shot of the craters. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has jerry-rigged a setup like this for astro photos?

13

wendysmith•2d ago

Had one perfect night of astrophotography last Tuesday that changed my mind about lunar shots

Everyone keeps saying the Milky Way is where it's at, but I got a crystal clear, high-contrast moon close-up with my old 8-inch Dobsonian and a smartphone adapter. Has anyone else had a random night that made them appreciate something simple like the moon over the deep sky stuff?

5

king.dakota•5d ago

Heads up if you're planning a trip to Cherry Springs State Park this summer

I was there last weekend for the dark sky viewing area. The rangers mentioned they're doing major construction on the main road leading in starting June 1st. The detour adds like 45 minutes and the lot fills up by 8pm now. Just a heads up so you don't show up and waste a night of clear skies.

27

robert_bennett29•5d ago

That guy who told me to stack 3 short exposures instead of one long one

Some random on Reddit kept saying I'd get way cleaner DSO images if I did 3 minute subs instead of 10 minute ones. I thought he was full of it because longer exposure means more detail right? Well I tried it last weekend on the Orion Nebula with my Canon and it actually worked. Less star trails and way less noise. Still feels wrong to my gut but the proof is in the screen. Anyone else have a piece of advice they ignored for months before finally trying it?

7

avery366•6d ago

Thought the moon landing photos were overhyped until I saw the Apollo 17 panorama

I always figured those moon pictures were just cool because of what they were, not how they looked. But last week at a space museum in Huntsville, I saw a full print of the Apollo 17 panoramic shot and it hit me different. The detail in the dirt and the way the sun hit the rover blew me away, like I could feel the dust. Has anyone else seen a print that changed how you think about a famous photo?

21

paigewood•6d ago

Shoutout to the guy who pointed out my star tracker was drifting because I had it on a loose tripod for 6 months

I spent a whole night at a dark site in eastern Oregon wondering why my Orion Nebula shots looked like comets before a random astrophotographer walked over and tapped my tripod leg and said 'your rig is wobbling like a wet noodle dude'.

18

morgan.cameron•7d ago

Took a trip to Mauna Kea last month and noticed something wild about the observatory photos

I was up at the visitor center at 9,000 feet and realized if you don't turn off your car headlights, the long exposure shots of the domes get ruined by light bloom - has anyone else dealt with that on dark sky sites?

23

jackson.wesley•10d ago

Hot take: I think overprocessed astrophotography ruins the real beauty of deep sky objects

I was out at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania about 2 months ago with my Celestron 8SE. Set up to grab some shots of the Orion Nebula. But about 20 minutes in, a deer ran right into my tripod leg. Knocked the whole thing over, mount twisted, camera hit the gravel. I mean, total disaster right? Bent the dovetail plate, scratched my Canon T7 sensor cover. I just sat there for a minute staring at the stars. Then I decided screw it, I'll just look through the eyepiece the rest of the night without camera gear. And honestly? That raw unfiltered view of M42 was way more satisfying than any 4 hour stacked exposure I've ever edited. Has anyone else had gear fail but ended up liking the night more without it?

15

susanm22•11d ago

Switched from a phone camera to a used DSLR last month and it's night and day for moon shots

I was all about using my Pixel phone for astro photos because it's convenient and fits in my pocket. But after trying to capture a clear shot of the crescent moon 3 nights ago, I got nothing but a bright white blob. Borrowed a friend's old Canon T3i with a 70-300mm lens and the detail in the craters blew me away. Now I'm hunting on Craigslist for my own setup. Anyone else make the jump from phone to real camera and wish they did it sooner?

5

fiona_nelson51•13d ago

Saturn through my 8 inch dob at 4am really stuck with me

Last winter I was out in my backyard around 4am trying to catch Saturn before sunrise. My fingers were numb and I almost packed it in twice. Then this older guy from down the street walked over with his coffee mug and said "you know, I saw that ring gap through a 6 inch scope back in 73 and never forgot it." He just stood there quiet while I got the focus dialed in. When I finally got a sharp view of the rings, he nodded and walked back home. Has anyone else had a random stranger say something that made a cold night worth it?

19

tara345•14d ago

Trusted my buddy's star stacking advice for 2 years, finally proved him wrong

My friend Dave kept saying I had to use 30-second exposures minimum for Andromeda, no exceptions. Last month I finally tried 15-second shots on a tracker (he said they'd be useless) and got way sharper detail because the stars didn't trail at all. I stacked 120 frames instead of 60 and the result was actually cleaner than his method. Has anyone else found better results breaking "standard" rules like that?

10

reese551•14d ago

I finally hit 1,000 hours of star tracking and it felt weird

Checked my mount's log last night and it said 1,004 hours total. That's a LOT of clear nights spent standing in a cold field tweaking focus. Has anyone else hit a random milestone like that and just stopped to think about all the bug bites you got?

10

river_wright•17d ago

Rant: That one Tuesday last October when the aurora predictions were dead wrong

I stayed up until 3 AM on a Tuesday last October because every forecast said the aurora would be visible as far south as my town in Oregon. Got my camera all set up in a field with zero light pollution, and all I saw was a faint green smudge that barely showed up on a 30 second exposure. Has anyone else had a night where the apps and forecasts totally let you down?

27

simon_black•18d ago

Spent $120 on a motorized star tracker, biggest regret of my astrophotography hobby

Picked up a used iOptron SkyGuider Pro off Craigslist last spring thinking it would get me clean 5 minute exposures. First night out, it struggled to hold my DSLR and 200mm lens steady. Ended up with blurry star trails on half my shots. I should have just saved for a proper German equatorial mount from the start. Has anyone else had better luck with those little portable trackers?

14

sam_harris68•19d ago

Pointed my telescope at a random patch of sky near Orion thinking it was empty and got a full frame of faint nebula I never knew existed

Spent 3 hours stacking 30-second exposures of what I thought was just dark space between stars and ended up with a detailed shot of the Lambda Orionis molecular ring that blew my mind, anyone else find cool stuff just by aiming at what looks like nothing?

7

faith_smith•20d ago

Rant: Counting up my moon shots from this month hit 87 and it bugged me

I didn't realize I took that many photos of the same object until I sorted my folder last night. Anyone else get weirded out by how many frames they burn through trying to nail one good stack?

30

zara_allen•20d ago

M87* black hole photo was cool but the hype felt off

I read that article claiming the Event Horizon Telescope image was the most important photo ever taken. Respectfully, I don't buy it. That shot took 2 years of processing data from 8 observatories just to show a fuzzy orange donut. Meanwhile, Hubble's deep field images from 1995 revealed thousands of galaxies in a tiny patch of sky. That changed how we see the universe way more. I mean, the black hole photo was a technical achievement sure. But calling it the greatest photo ever seems like marketing over reality. Anyone else think we oversold what we actually got from that project?

15

lucas159•21d ago

Unpopular opinion: Those $600+ star trackers are overrated for beginners

I spent $250 on a used iOptron SkyTracker Pro a few months ago to get into deep sky astrophotography. Everyone in the forums told me I needed to spend way more on a proper mount. But honestly, it's working fine for my DSLR and kit lens. I was able to get decent 90-second exposures of the Orion Nebula last week without drifting. Sure, it's not perfect for heavy gear, but for someone just starting out, it saved me from dropping a grand before I even knew what I was doing. Has anyone else gone budget on a tracker and gotten good results?

19

blaker75•22d ago

Warning: buying a cheap star tracker off Amazon cost me a whole night of shooting

Picked up a $120 star tracker from some random brand and it couldn't hold my camera steady for more than 30 seconds before drifting. Had to toss all 200 frames I took of the Orion Nebula because every single one had star trails. Anyone else get burned by bargain gear?

10

terry_hayes18•23d ago

The guy at the star party who called my photo 'overprocessed'

Ngl I was at a local astronomy club meetup in Tucson last month showing off my shot of the Orion Nebula. This older dude walks up, stares at my laptop for like 10 seconds, then says 'Looks like you cooked the pixels, son.' Honestly it stung because I spent 3 hours stacking and stretching that data in PixInsight. He pulled up his own version on his phone and it was way more subtle with the dust lanes barely visible. I wanted to argue but he had 30 years of experience and a 12 inch dob in his truck. Still bugs me that he dismissed my work without asking about my process. Has anyone else run into gatekeepers like that at club events? What do you do when someone trashes your processing style?

-1

evand65•23d ago

Pro tip: stacking DSLR shots through a free stacking program finally got me clear nebula photos

I spent like 6 months trying to get a decent photo of the Orion Nebula (you know, the one everyone posts). My single shots always came out grainy and blurry no matter how much I messed with my tripod settings. Last week I tried using DeepSkyStacker, which is totally free, to stack maybe 30 of my worst frames together. The final image actually showed the nebula's color and shape instead of just a fuzzy blob. It's not professional grade or anything, but it's way better than what I was getting before. Has anyone else had a big jump in quality just from stacking instead of buying new gear?

21

logansullivan•25d ago

Those $30 phone clip-on telescope lenses are garbage

Bought one off Amazon for an eclipse last year. Blurry edges, weird blue tint, and the clip scratched my phone case. $30 down the drain. Anyone found a clip-on that actually works?

4

tessawebb•27d ago

Took me 6 months to figure out why my star photos had tiny trails

I kept blaming my cheap tripod but it was actually the shutter shock from my mirrorless camera at slow speeds. Have any of you dealt with a shutter delay setting fixing your blurry shots?

9

blair_dixon•27d ago

Pro tip: Always check your tripod leg locks before a shoot

I was out at Joshua Tree last month trying to get a clear shot of the Milky Way. Set up my camera, dialed in the settings for a 20 second exposure, and hit the shutter. Right as the exposure started, one of the tripod legs slowly slid down and the whole thing tilted. The image came out as a blurry mess of streaked stars. Now I double check every lock before I even mount the camera. Anyone else have a good setup ruined by something dumb like this?