4th September Widefields - Iridium flare, Taurus, Milky Way & Orion

[Andrew*]

Captured a few 15s wide fields last night with the Canon Powershot A540.

The first is of a mag -8 iridium flare. I set off the exposure as I saw it coming, but the exposure finished before it was brightest. By the time the camera had loaded again the satellite had dimmed These are the two images combined in Photoshop. ISO 200, f/2.6:

(click to enlarge)

The site of the mysterious star - Taurus and Aries (ISO 800)

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This is 3 combined images of the milky way. There was a fourth including perseus, but this didn't work out as it was over the zenith... Could someone have a go at processing this to try and reveal some more of the milky way?

(click to enlarge)

Orion rose just as I was leaving:

(click to enlarge)

Still to come: Milky way panorama mosaic - STAY TUNED!!

Andrew

[themos]

I like to see shots from the Canon Powershot because I have one too! Andrew, have you checked out the CHDK firmware hack at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/A540 yet? It should make your camera produce RAW files instead of JPEG, keep the shutter open for up to 64 seconds instead of 15, let you control whether you want dark frames taken automatically after each exposure or not (you'll have noticed the 15 second delay after each 15 second exposure) and there's a nice intervalometer you can tweak.

[jgs001]

Good images Andrew. I've found it's best to go for 30 seconds on flares, then time the shutter for about 10 to 15 seconds before the predicted maximum brightness. This normally gives you a nice lead in and lead out. You do need to have a watch synced with HA to make that work though. Having read Themos post, though it sounds like your cam only allows 15 seconds max without hacking.

[Beyond_Vision]

Very nice shots Andrew I especially like the Iridium Flare one.

Regards

Kevin

[themos]

I like the half-flare, it's more "dynamic"!

[Andrew*]

Good images Andrew. I've found it's best to go for 30 seconds on flares, then time the shutter for about 10 to 15 seconds before the predicted maximum brightness. This normally gives you a nice lead in and lead out. You do need to have a watch synced with HA to make that work though. Having read Themos post, though it sounds like your cam only allows 15 seconds max without hacking.

Indeed - I would have gone for 10 minuted had I the choice....

I like to see shots from the Canon Powershot because I have one too! Andrew, have you checked out the CHDK firmware hack at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/A540 yet? It should make your camera produce RAW files instead of JPEG, keep the shutter open for up to 64 seconds instead of 15, let you control whether you want dark frames taken automatically after each exposure or not (you'll have noticed the 15 second delay after each 15 second exposure) and there's a nice intervalometer you can tweak.

Excellent stuff!! Had I known about that earlier I could have made best use of it. It's too late now because from now on all this kind of stuff will be done with my new dSLR (when I get it...).

Very nice shots Andrew I especially like the Iridium Flare one.

Thanks Kevin - not up to your standard of course....

I like the half-flare, it's more "dynamic"!

hm. Personally I would have preferred the whole thing...

Andrew

[jgs001]

Excellent stuff!! Had I known about that earlier I could have made best use of it. It's too late now because from now on all this kind of stuff will be done with my new dSLR (when I get it...).

Which SLR are you getting Andrew ?

[Andrew*]

I'm getting a Sony a300. See this thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,30636.msg312135.html#msg312135

I'm really looking forward to going digital. Film's just not practical... I have yet to see how it will perform for astro-work...

Andrew

[jgs001]

V nice. I missed the last post .