It is interesting to explore the possibilities of some common devices such as digicams and binoculars. I have been reprocessing some old stuff from March. I took 474 single exposures of M42 in Orion through the binoculars with my Exilim digicam. Using a stacking software, all these subframes may become aligned and added accurately, resulting into a 4 minutes long exposure single shot with a perfect star-tracking. I reckon I didn’t use any kind of equatorial mount or motorized tracking. Just an steady tripod. Orion belt passed accros the field of view of the binoculars 3 times. In every gap, I corrected manually the FOV to get M42 inside it as longest as possible.
Archive for Vixen 12×80
M42 with point & shoot digicam
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Astronomy, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, digicam, M42, no tracking, Orion, point & shoot, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/08/26 by computerphysicslab4.6 days lunation Moon
Posted in Astrophotography with tags 9Mpx, afocal, Astronomy, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-FS10, Mare Nectaris, Mare Tranquillitatis, Moon, Registax, shift-and-add, terminator, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/04/29 by computerphysicslabTonight the Moon is crescent, and high in altitude. It is a good opportunity to record our natural satellite. Terminator is almost reaching Mare Serenitatis. Mare Nectaris (actually a gulf of Mare Tranquillitatis) is now fully illuminated and its Western border walls are clearly visible.
Tonight’s Moon
Posted in Astrophotography with tags 9Mpx, afocal, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-FS10, Moon, Registax, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/04/28 by computerphysicslabHere we have a 3.5 days lunation Moon. Mare Crisium is completely illuminated and some fine details may be seen, like small Swift crater (5 kms diameter). The image was a sum (Registax 5) of 10 subframes at 9Mpx using the Casio Exilim EX-FS10 and Vixen 12×80 binocular.
Waxing Gibbous Moon
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Gibbous, Moon, Nebulosity 2, no tracking, Paint Shop Pro, phase, Registax, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/04/08 by computerphysicslabYesterday’s Moon in phase waxing gibbous as seen through the Vixen 12×80 binocular, here it is. Registax 5 stacked 55 individual frames of 8 Mpx each. Nebulosity 2 was used to compensate the sideral movement and perform the de-rotation. Sharpening with Paint Shop Pro.
Silberschlag casts two shadows
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Astronomy, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Mare Tranquillitatis, Moon, shift-and-add, terminator, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/04/03 by computerphysicslabSilberschlag is a small Moon crater near Mare Tranquillitatis. What is my surprise when I observe that this crater shadow is proper of two peaks instead of a crater rim. Watch the picture and think about it. Is that normal?
55 frames stacked in Registax
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Moon, Registax, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/04/02 by computerphysicslabAfter stacking 55 frames of yesterday’s Crescent Moon, forcing a bit the saturation, and sharpening using the finest wavelet available, I am proud to introduce this Moon picture:
Foggy Crescent Moon
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Crescent, Moon, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/31 by computerphysicslabYesterday’s moon was a bit foggy in my location. Nevertheless I got an image that I am very proud of, because it is the first time I obtain a nearly perfect focus thanks to the binocular focus tip. When doing afocal exposures, you may get a sharp focus using another binocular over the lens. This way you guarantee an infinite precise focus for the camera.
This image was taken as usual, through Vixen 12×80 binoculars and with the Casio Exilim EX-Z80 pocket digital camera. I used only green channel data, because it was the sharpest.
Chertan in Leo Major
Posted in Astrophotography with tags Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Chertan, galaxies, Leo Major, M65, M66, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/23 by computerphysicslabChertan is an important star as a reference to locate several galaxies in the area, for example M65 and M66. Tonight I have stacked 550 shots into one image. The night has been clear, but I am located in a light polluted urban area. It has been necessary to substract the pollution from the background twice. The map shows stars up to 10th magnitude and the photo shows up to 12th magnitude.
Meteor in Canis Minor
Posted in Astrophotography with tags 3200 Phaethon, Binocular, Canis Minor, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Geminids, Meteor, Procyon, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/22 by computerphysicslabSerendipitously, I got captured this meteor while exposing Procyon in a shift-and-add series. The field of view measures around 3 degrees. The meteor track becomes cut, but it seems to be not much longer. This meteor could achieved magnitud 1 or 0, similar in bright to Procyon. Taking into account its directionality it may belong to Geminids meteor shower caused by the asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
M42 last night
Posted in Astrophotography with tags Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Great Nebula of Orion, M42, Manaluna Observatory, Messier Marathon, no tracking, Orion, shift-and-add, Trapezium, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/21 by computerphysicslabLast night I could enjoy a really clear night sky at Manaluna Observatory. Meanwhile some of my partners were working hard to complete the Messier Marathon, I took 3 series of no-tracking shots through Vixen 12×80 binocular to M42 in Orion.
The truth is that what I could see through binoculars was much more brilliant and detailed than the next image by far. I think my Casio Exilim digital pocket camera is a bit insensible to dim light …
Trapezium is visible as a spot. The 20″ separation among its components is too close for my binoculars to resolve it. Remember that 20″ is the apparent diameter of Saturn.
Saturn and rings
Posted in Astrophotography with tags Binocular, edge-on, planet, Registax, rings, Saturn, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/18 by computerphysicslabSaturn is well placed these nights to be easily observed. The rings are edge-on, so they are difficult to capture with photography. Nevertheless I have got a series of shots and have stacked them all with Registax 5. Take into account I have used the Vixen 12×80 binocular to get this image. Imagine seeing Saturn rings edge-on with a magnification of only 12 …
Humboldt crater
Posted in Astrophotography with tags Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, crater, edge-on, Full Moon, Humboldt, libration, limb, Moon, terminator, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/12 by computerphysicslabHumboldt crater as seen with the Vixen 12×80 binoculars. This is a big crater but very near to the Moon limb. One day after full moon, Humboldt delivers high contrast images due to its shadow. The day this shot was made, the Moon libration wasn’t the better one to view Humboldt in its extension, but edge-on. The inner central peaks are visible.
Praesepe Open Cluster
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Beehive cluster, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, M44, Open Cluster, Praesepe, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/12 by computerphysicslabPraesepe, also known as M44 or the Beehive cluster is one of the brightest open clusters in northern sky. Visible with unaided eye, even in urban areas. I have applied some filters to enhance the picture, including an artificial diffraction mask to get spikes. Using the shift-and-add technique for 1 minute I got this result.
Almost Full Moon
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Full Moon, Moon, Registax, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/10 by computerphysicslabHere we see a 13 days lunation Moon, almost full. Registax 5 did the work of stacking and wavelets. Focus was not perfect but wavelets fixed it. I multiplied the red channel to the green channel in order to enhance the image contrast.
M42 through binoculars
Posted in Astrophotography with tags Binocular, Great Nebula of Orion, M42, no tracking, shift-and-add, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/09 by computerphysicslabM42 is the brightest nebula in the sky. It becomes visible even under light polluted urban skies. I took some exposures of M42, the Great Nebula of Orion, using my Vixen 12×80 binoculars and stacked them up. No tracking, even manual. Just shift-and-add method. This is the result; up to magnitude 12 stars are visible and the core of the nebula is also evident:
Aristillus close-up
Posted in Astrophotography with tags Archimedes, Aristillus, Binocular, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, Cassini, craters, Mare Imbrium, Mons Piton, Montes Alpes, Montes Caucasus, Moon, Plato, Rükl, Vallis Alpes, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/03/04 by computerphysicslabAristillus, Cassini, Mons Piton, Montes Alpes and Vallis Alpes are visible in this close-up shot through the Vixen 12×80 binoculars. The area may be compared to that exposed in Rükl plate #12.
Archimedes and Plato are the biggest craters shown in this area, called Mare Imbrium. The biggest mountains below are Montes Caucasus. Some of its peaks (heights of 6 km) project big shadows.
Digital camera & Binoculars
Posted in Astrophotography with tags afocal, Astrophotography, Binocular, British Standard Whitworth, BSW, Casio Exilim EX-Z80, screw, Vixen 12x80 on 2009/02/27 by computerphysicslabHere is my way to attach the pocket digital camera Casio Exilim EX-Z80 to my binoculars Vixen 12×80. It is necessary to cut a piece of aluminum respecting the format of the binoculars, calculating the correct distance between the hole that grabs the camera and the hole to fix with the tripod and the binoculars. Remember to always use British Standard Whitworth (BSW) screw threads, 1/4 inch, and to drill the holes for this width.
This way it is easy to do afocal astrophotography, and get sharp focus, because the camera remains pointed correctly through one eyepiece of the binoculars.