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[starbux]

I recently got a Coronado PST and felt compelled to shoot images with it. But I also wanted to take pictures of the moon and planets. All were taken with a Canon PowerShot A510 (not my camera). These are my more recent (and better attempts).

Sun:


from yesterday (June 15)


3x barlow from yesterday


from today (June 16)


close up from today

Moon:


Hyginus and Ariadaeus rilles in Mare Vaporum 8" dob


Aristarchus and Rumker. Orion 80ED on AZ3 mount.


Aristarchus and Rumker. 8" dob


Mare Humorum with Schickard/Wargentin and Schiller to the left. ED 80.


Schickard, Wargentin and Schiller. 8" dob.


Reiner and Reiner Gamma


Saturn low in the sky. Poor seeing. 80ED


Jupiter in the 80ED


Jupiter in the 8" dob.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Malcolm,

What great shots you have accomplished there...

The solar shots present good Faculae, granulation and prominences. The barlow shot captured a good turbulent prominence and quite impressive.

Excellent lunar shots, and the focusing at times is hard on a digital camera, came out well here. The Moon is one of my favorite objects to photograph, as each night presents a different subject. I like the feature identification you provide.

Saturn, alas...is quickly sinking into the muck. It is always a great object to woo the public, but good capture there regardless.

Now here is a great side by side example of two different scopes on the same subject...Jupiter.

You have made both images of the Jovian beast about the same apparent size, but look at the brightness difference of the two. The dob kicks it up with the additional aperture and makes it brighter object. Normally I prefer the refractor to view planets and the Moon, but here, I think the dob wins out.

I am interested in the exposure times and the eyepieces you used. It also would be cool to see a pic of your scopes and the astronomer who owns them..

Thanks for sharing these very cool images with us all, and hope to enjoy more of your photography very soon...

[starbux]

Thank you for the feedback. These are certainly an order of magnetude better than my first attempt to use a digicam last year.

I DO have a question for those who may know (and maybe you might know of any of your local collegues who would have the answer). Being that this is not my camera (it is borrowed) and is only 3.2 megapixels resolution, there are a couple of point-and-shoot digicams out there that I am interested in getting for myself. Now I know most would recommend getting a Digital Rebel (Canon SLR), but right now my setup would not support the weight of a full SLR even if I could afford it. I don't have a laptop so I'm not ready for a webcam or dedicated CCD.

So given that I want to get a lightweight point-and-shoot, there are a couple of models that have caught my interest and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them regarding afocal photography: Canon PowerShot A700 and Fuji FinePix E900. Both have pros and cons, both can go to ISO 800, and have at least a 2-second self-timer (a must to alleviate shake after pressing the sutter). The Canon is 6 megapixels and has an optical zoom of 6x. There is the added bonus of familiarity with the controls. There is significant noise at 400 and 800 iso. The Fuji is 9 megapixels(!), has lower noise at high ISOs and can output RAW files. The optical zoom only goes to 4x and there is higher than average chromatic aberration at wide angle settings (perhaps not a problem since I would be using the zoom at the eyepiece). I will likely wait until August to make the final decision (after the Stellafane convention -- I will be attending this year as well)

Here I am at last year's Stellafane swap tables. Not all the stuff for sale there was made by ATMs, inspite of what you see in the picture.

[katodog]

I absolutely swear by my Fuji S5000. 10x optical zoom, 6 megapixel, 4th generation CCD. Does CCD RAW, has video mode, and so many settings it will make you see stars (pun intended). I never have to re-balance the scopes when I put it on, and it performs better than I would hope. At the time I got it, it was the best out for the $400 price tag. I could not pass it up. Plus, there is a Digi-T ring that I got from Scopetronix that fits like a glove.

Now, I may not know too much about what I am doing, but I do know two things: One is, if I didn't have this camera, I would never attempt any astro photography. I'm not willing to spend time on a film camera. I don't have the patience or the brains for it. And Two, my pictures come out pretty darn good if I say so myself.

I don't know your scope setup, but I would check out the Fuji family of DSLR's. Mine definitely was well worth it, and I didn't have to choke on paying $2500 for a Canon. The S5200 is the latest they have and it is less than $400.

By the way, Awesome Pictures!!!

[starbux]

katodog said:

I absolutely swear by my Fuji S5000. 10x optical zoom, 6 megapixel,

By the way, Awesome Pictures!!!

Sounds like it could be good. But when I looked it up it is stated as being 3 megapixels not 6. Are you sure you are referring to the correct model?

[katodog]

Absolutely one hundred percent positive. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. In the brochures, it will say that is only 3, but if you read close enough you will see that it is 3 megapixel actual, 6 megapixel recording. The brochures are always decieving, but when you actually look at the camera, and cycle through the settings, you will see it is 6 megapixel. I'm not too sure about what the difference is between actual and recording, but the pictures I've taken with the 3mp setting and the 6mp setting have been perfect. I've never noticed any difference in picture quality, just the difference in the size of the picture.

Besides, 3mp is more than enough.

Happy hunting!!