Oh you wee things, how I love thee. (Another astronomy thred)

[Cazzie]

I have seen all eight of the major planets seeing as how I live on one. It has been suspect I am from one of the others. :icon_lol:

I have captured images of all but Mercury, Venus, and Neptune. The two former one, because they are never in the viewing range of my tree surrounded back yard (fine with me because it blocks out ambient light) and i would need at least a 200-ft. extension cord to power the clock drive (I need one of those new battery-operated jobs), the latter because it is such a small object, I don't know if I could capture it on an image with my C-8. It is a tough object to pick out as it is and onlty noticeable because of its unique turquoise color among a background of white same-magnitude stars. It is too small for my C-8 and even a 6-mm ocular to define as a resolute orb.

But all the others are. Here are shots of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, all shot with a 9-mm ocular except Uranus, which was shot with a 6-mm ocular. All were shot at opposition, that is when they were 180 degrees from the sun and at their brightest from earth. You can compare the sizes of the images and also see the difference in viewing Mars with a C-8 and seeing it through a 32-in Observatory telescope from the image shown in the Moon thread. All are cropped to remove background stars and make the planets move up close and in person.

Mars, opposition 2006, C-8, CoolPix 995, 9-mm ocular, 2-seconds on clock drive. maximum f-stop of 4.5. manual focus

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/Stargazing/mars_825_3.jpg

Jupiter, opposition 2007, C-8, CoolPix 995, 9-mm ocular, 4.5 f-stop, 4-seconds, manual focus

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/Stargazing/jupiter_2.jpg

Saturn, opposition 2006, CoolPix 995, 9-mm ocular, 4.5 f-stop, 4-seconds, manual focus

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/Stargazing/saturn_1.jpg

Uranus, opposition 2007, CoolPix 995, 6-mm ocular, six shots taken at 4.5 f-stop and 10 seconds, manual focus. Three of the best shots were stitched in Photoshop and cropped to produce a brighter image. the color is unique to all the Heavens.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/Stargazing/uranus_825.jpg

And now how could I leave the women out without looking at some jewels. The two bright stars in this image (blue and gold) are the double star Albireo (al-BEER-ee-oh) at the tail of Cygnus the Swan (aka as the Northern Cross). Stars will never show a resolute orb, as they emit light rather than reflect it, ergo, they are brilliant shimmering jewels. Albireo is one of the few double stars close enough together and bright enough to be observed at a high magnification, thereby showing a greater separation in the two stars. The two stars of Albireo are 35-seconds of arc apart as seen from Earth, that is, if you picture a vast circle with 360 degrees, the separation of these two stars would only be 35-seconds of that circle.

Albireo, Winter 2007, C-8, CoolPix 995, 15-mm ocular, 4.5 f-stop, 4-seconds, manual focus (note, when focusing on stars, one has to focus until the star twinkles and is sharp).

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cazmodel/Stargazing/alberio.jpg

Caz

[Chacha]

Interesting Cazzie,

My daughter (Hannah) was just looking at the planets one evening at her school and seen those planets... The school don't have a camera that is as good as yours that can capture those stars...

Thanks for sharing... :applause:

I took a picture of the kids looking at the telescope though...

[Cazzie]

That is a fine Meade telescope they have, looks like an eight or ten inch scope, with computer drive at that, nice. :applause:

There is a trick to getting proper eye distance from an observation lens. tell your daughter, that if she hold the eyepiece lens, she shakes the telescope more, the telescope should never be touched except to do a fine focus. the trick is to blink your eys when going to look through an eyepiece. When you feel your eyelashes hit the eyepiece, you are at proper eye distance. High chairs are much better than stepping stools, it is much easier to relax one's body and eye sitting on a high chair than using a step ladder or stepping stool. Just advise from one who has done this for many years.

I sit my telescope up once a month (weather permitting) for Danville (VA) Parks & Recreation, also for my sons's school, local Girl, Boy and Cub Scout troops. I have sit up for other local churches Bible Schools, but Summer is a terrible time for observing.

Caz

[Chacha]

That is a fine Meade telescope they have, looks like an eight or ten inch scope, with computer drive at that, nice. :applause:

There is a trick to getting proper eye distance from an observation lens. tell your daughter, that if she hold the eyepiece lens, she shakes the telescope more, the telescope should never be touched except to do a fine focus. the trick is to blink your eys when going to look through an eyepiece. When you feel your eyelashes hit the eyepiece, you are at proper eye distance. High chairs are much better than stepping stools, it is much easier to relax one's body and eye sitting on a high chair than using a step ladder or stepping stool. Just advise from one who has done this for many years.

I sit my telescope up once a month (weather permitting) for Danville (VA) Parks & Recreation, also for my sons's school, local Girl, Boy and Cub Scout troops. I have sit up for other local churches Bible Schools, but Summer is a terrible time for observing.

Caz

Cool advise Caz...

I will let everyone know, (even the teachers and principal)...

Thanks, Caz

[Cratermaker]

Here is the Orion Nebula. Not bad, considering it was on a G5, in my backyard, in the city. The artifact in the lower left was a porch light I think. I tried eyepiece projection for planets, but my poor G5 can't take the torque with all the weight on one end.
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww225/Cratermaker_photos/IMG_0753c.jpg

[Chacha]

Cratermaker....

that is a cool shot! :applause:

[Cazzie]

Nice shot of M42 Cratermaker, M42 is a stellar incubator, stars are beening born inside that huge mass of gases. Through the Three College Observatory, it and M43 jump out at you uin 3-D and present more colors that gray tones, it is a massive sight to see.

Caz

[Snuffy]

Excellent shots guys ... Man how I long to be back out in the woods away from all this city pollution ...

One Day Maybe.