I made this animated GIF from a series of astro-photos I took using my Meade 12" LX90 GPS telescope and a Meade DSI-III astro-imager, then reduced the image size and pumped them through an animated-.gif maker (free version, hence the silly "Trial Version!!" banner).
Because my telescope's drive appears to think it's on the Earth's Southern Hemisphere, so the drive isn't tracking correctly. Ironically, even though this makes taking astrophotos a pain in the buttocks, the movement inspired me to make this into a single GIF. Feels like a flight over the Moon!
EDIT: Optics details: This image was taken at prime focus (no eyepiece) through an f/6.3 focal reducer, resulting in a focal length of 76.8" or 1951mm. Without the reducer, this telescope is an f/10, giving it a focal length of 120", which would increase magnification even more (at f/6.3, the Moon more than fills the field of view at prime focus).
Images are less than 1 second each; not sure exactly how long (I'll pay closer attention next time - was distracted by the combined image looking so blurry), nor of the interval between them. Say, 1/10 second each with an interval of a few seconds?
Next time I'll also use a polarizing filter to help reduce the over-bright areas, and adjusting the clock drive will allow me to combine images for greater sharpness. Here's a still from the animated GIF (under the cut):
Enjoy!
Best,
Chris
Because my telescope's drive appears to think it's on the Earth's Southern Hemisphere, so the drive isn't tracking correctly. Ironically, even though this makes taking astrophotos a pain in the buttocks, the movement inspired me to make this into a single GIF. Feels like a flight over the Moon!
EDIT: Optics details: This image was taken at prime focus (no eyepiece) through an f/6.3 focal reducer, resulting in a focal length of 76.8" or 1951mm. Without the reducer, this telescope is an f/10, giving it a focal length of 120", which would increase magnification even more (at f/6.3, the Moon more than fills the field of view at prime focus).
Images are less than 1 second each; not sure exactly how long (I'll pay closer attention next time - was distracted by the combined image looking so blurry), nor of the interval between them. Say, 1/10 second each with an interval of a few seconds?
Next time I'll also use a polarizing filter to help reduce the over-bright areas, and adjusting the clock drive will allow me to combine images for greater sharpness. Here's a still from the animated GIF (under the cut):
Enjoy!
Best,
Chris
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Chris
When I was reviewing the images, flicking through them in my image viewer, I was mesmerized, too, feeling the Moon come to life as if I were gliding silently across the surface in a spacecraft. Thus I hit on the idea of combining them into a single, animated image to share the mesmerizer with y'all.
seems like you could teach me a thing or two about my own medium.
:)
Nah, it's all instruments for me; all I did was point and shoot.
Make some more!
Which reminds me: When I was a little boy camping in Northern Minnesota, we used to see these giant tornadoes of mosquitoes. Apparently they swarm to mate. It's quite possibly the most disturbing thing one could encounter in the wild.