Hello

[carastro]

Quote

I have had a bad experience using Social Media, getting some very unwelcome comments when I had a Facebook account (since deleted), 

I try to avoid it as much as possible, but it does have some uses.  You won't get anything like that on here, and if any-one did get out of line we have Moderators to kick them back into line.

Carole 

[Karen Bexley]

4 minutes ago, carastro said:

I try to avoid it as much as possible, but it does have some uses.  You won't get anything like that on here, and if any-one did get out of line we have Moderators to kick them back into line.

Carole 

Thank you Carole.  I'm okay exchanging flirtatious comments when it's intended in a nice friendly way, but it's when it gets taken to the extreme and becomes obscene that I draw the line.

It's good to know the the Forum is well moderated to prevent unwanted and inappropriate comments.  We're all here to have fun and learn about a hobby we love in an environment where we can feel safe in.

 

[carastro]

I see you have a planetarium, I learnt a lot from mine when I first started, especially how the night sky varies throughout the seasons and how everything moves across the sky, so if you can find yours it will be very useful.

Carole 

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Karen, welcome. 

[DaveL59]

2 hours ago, Karen Bexley said:

Thanks James.  I do actually have a planisphere, but finding where I put it is another matter 🤔  I must get searching.

I would also like to take some decent photos of the Moon.  I can see quite a lot of detail when viewing through my bins, but when I've tried to photograph it I just seem to get an overexposed white mass, with some features but not brilliant.  Is there a section on this Forum you can point me to where photographing the Moon has been discussed to get some better ideas?

My camera is pretty decent - Panasonic Lumix FZ1000.  I can get fantastic photos of landscapes and wildlife, but pointing it towards the skies has not been very successful for me 😳  I suppose the phrase 'must try harder' comes to mind 🤭

Hi Karen

yes getting pics of the moon can be an effort given its like trying to get a pic of a lightbulb in pitch dark and yet be able to see the makers markings on the glass. You'll need to try and set the camera to manual mode and give lower exposure times a shot and see if that improves what you capture. If you have a tripod then once you have a setting that works, try capturing some video which you can then run through stacking software (deep sky stacker, Stakkert etc) which will pull the frames and overlay them to extract more surface detail. Something I've been meaning to try but yet to get around to. Otherwise a ND filter may help a bit.

There is an imaging section here and in the non-astro lounge a photography section, you're welcome to contribute your non-astro pics there too  

Welcome aboard and have fun, frustration will be part of the game in finding things, figuring out the equipment, getting a pic and so forth but I think starting as you are is sensible. Wait till you're sure the bug has bitten and what it is you enjoy looking at the most, whether imaging is what you want to be doing etc before jumping into the pocket-emptying void of chasing aperture/eyepieces etc that seems to go hand-in-hand with buying astro gear  

[Karen Bexley]

13 minutes ago, carastro said:

I see you have a planetarium, I learnt a lot from mine when I first started, especially how the night sky varies throughout the seasons and how everything moves across the sky, so if you can find yours it will be very useful.

Carole 

I call my house the 'Bermuda Triangle' as I can never find things that I think I've put in a safe place.  I did have fun with it and found it to be very useful when I was first given it, so I'm keen to find it again.

[Wyvernp]

Morning and welcome. Lots of very knowledgeable people here. 

[Karen Bexley]

15 minutes ago, Dave Lloyd said:

Hi Karen, welcome. 

Thank you Dave.

[Karen Bexley]

5 minutes ago, Wyvernp said:

Morning and welcome. Lots of very knowledgeable people here. 

Thank you.

[Karen Bexley]

13 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

Hi Karen

yes getting pics of the moon can be an effort given its like trying to get a pic of a lightbulb in pitch dark and yet be able to see the makers markings on the glass. You'll need to try and set the camera to manual mode and give lower exposure times a shot and see if that improves what you capture. If you have a tripod then once you have a setting that works, try capturing some video which you can then run through stacking software (deep sky stacker, Stakkert etc) which will pull the frames and overlay them to extract more surface detail. Something I've been meaning to try but yet to get around to. Otherwise a ND filter may help a bit.

There is an imaging section here and in the non-astro lounge a photography section, you're welcome to contribute your non-astro pics there too  

Welcome aboard and have fun, frustration will be part of the game in finding things, figuring out the equipment, getting a pic and so forth but I think starting as you are is sensible. Wait till you're sure the bug has bitten and what it is you enjoy looking at the most, whether imaging is what you want to be doing etc before jumping into the pocket-emptying void of chasing aperture/eyepieces etc that seems to go hand-in-hand with buying astro gear  

The help and advice I've had here so far has been amazing -  information overload that needs to be processed a bit at a time to make sense of it all 🤯  

[rwilkey]

Hi Karen, a warm welcome from me too, enjoy the journey.  Clear skies!

[Karen Bexley]

2 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Karen, a warm welcome from me too, enjoy the journey.  Clear skies!

Thank you Robin.

[Neil H]

3 hours ago, Karen Bexley said:

Thanks Neil.  I think starting small appears to be the way to go, in terms of using the equipment I already own and trying to identify the objects closest in the sky.  I'm not expecting to view deep space objects (just yet anyway) but I suppose that is a possibility in the future 😀 

DSO will be really good were you are nice dark skies , when your ready for a telescope try and find a shop so you  can see how big the telescope is in the real world , there is nothing worse buying a telescope and find it's hard to set up because of its size and hard to store away when your done 

When you know what you want do a shop around FLO are really good on prices they also have price match with super fast postage and top customer support

Edited April 27, 2020 by Neil H

[JamesF]

3 hours ago, Karen Bexley said:

I would also like to take some decent photos of the Moon.  I can see quite a lot of detail when viewing through my bins, but when I've tried to photograph it I just seem to get an overexposed white mass, with some features but not brilliant.  Is there a section on this Forum you can point me to where photographing the Moon has been discussed to get some better ideas?

My camera is pretty decent - Panasonic Lumix FZ1000.  I can get fantastic photos of landscapes and wildlife, but pointing it towards the skies has not been very successful for me 😳  I suppose the phrase 'must try harder' comes to mind 

Does the camera have manual controls (probably exposure time and ISO setting are the most important for this), or is it all automatic?

James

[Karen Bexley]

7 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Does the camera have manual controls (probably exposure time and ISO setting are the most important for this), or is it all automatic?

James

The camera does have manual controls James, but to be perfectly honest I do most of my photography in Auto mode, which suits the needs for my general photography.

I am guessing that what you are going to say next is that I need to use manual settings to get the best results 😊  I haven't really delved into the full settings of the camera, as most of the time the extensive menus available confuse me a little (a lot actually) 🙂  I think I'm going to have to spend a bit of time (and experimentation) on trying to get to grips with the manual aspects of my camera.  At least I've got the time now.

[Karen Bexley]

Thanks again Neil for that info.

[Karen Bexley]

I've just found my Planisphere - yay! 😌

Actually, I've found a Philip's 10 inch disc and a Philip's 5 inch disc, plus a Philip's Star Finder book.  They were all in a packet lurking at the back of one of my cupboards.

Originally published as Stars at a Glance in 1918, it was completely revised in 1959 and 1970.   It was Retitled Star Finder in 1991 (just before I was born 🤫) but I suppose it is still a relevant reference book.

[ronl]

Hello Karen, and welcome to the community, hope you enjoy your time with us,

see you around the forums.

Clear Sky's.

[Karen Bexley]

Do I need to create a page of my own somewhere here whilst discussing my developing Astronomy experience, so as to keep the Welcome section clear?

[Karen Bexley]

Thank you Ron.

[carastro]

Quote

Do I need to create a page of my own somewhere here whilst discussing my developing Astronomy experience, so as to keep the Welcome section clear?

If it's a new topic that would be a good idea, as you say it will keep that separate from the Welcomes.

Every-one is very helpful on here as we have all been through the same experience at one time or another and Astronomers as a whole tend to be extremely helpful people anyway.   No question is too daft, you would be surprised at some of the stupid mistakes even experienced people do from time to time and we all laugh at each other because we have been there and done that. 

There are even some threads on this site called stupid mistakes and we even had a competition for the funniest. 

Carole 

Edited April 27, 2020 by carastro

[JamesF]

28 minutes ago, Karen Bexley said:

I am guessing that what you are going to say next is that I need to use manual settings to get the best results 😊  I haven't really delved into the full settings of the camera, as most of the time the extensive menus available confuse me a little (a lot actually) 🙂  I think I'm going to have to spend a bit of time (and experimentation) on trying to get to grips with the manual aspects of my camera.  At least I've got the time now.

I'm afraid that's exactly what I was going to say, Karen :D

What you probably need to do is to take a whole series of identical shots and then do some post-processing on them.  I posted a "how to" on that years ago in the lunar imaging section.  But to start off with, working out how to take a single frame of, say, 1/100th of a second exposure at ISO100 would probably be a good place to start.

James

[Karen Bexley]

Thanks Carole.

[rwilkey]

7 minutes ago, Karen Bexley said:

Do I need to create a page of my own somewhere here whilst discussing my developing Astronomy experience, so as to keep the Welcome section clear?

Hi Karen, no, there is no facility to do that, but we will be happy to hear about your experiences whenever.  You might want to use the Beginners section such as 'Getting Started With Observing' or 'Getting Started With Imaging' etc which will cater for your needs.

[Karen Bexley]

3 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Karen, no, there is no facility to do that, but we will be happy to hear about your experiences whenever.  You might want to use the Beginners section such as 'Getting Started With Observing' or 'Getting Started With Imaging' etc which will cater for your needs.

Thanks Robin.  That sounds like a good idea.