OK, in this thread I think I will now post some of my astronomical photographs. As well as about the apparatuses that I'll be building in the future to take this hobby even further! So I plan on taking you all with me on this fascinating cosmic journey of discovery! Other members are also welcome to post their own pictures of such nature in this thread! Anyway, on the 21st of October 2015, I captured the Venus Jupiter and Mars conjunction - So here it is! Venus and Jupiter had come close before also, on June 30th 2015, so I had captured that image too, (see below)!
Very interesting S-H.I lack the equipment / knowledge to take such photos but I will definitely be following any updates you post.
Actually, in today's world - One doesn't require all that much to take such pictures. Keep in mind that first telescopes made in Galileo Galilei's time (with which so many discoveries were made), probably didn't even have a 10x magnification power. Yet today even a child's toy binocular with plastic lenses is over 15x. And real binoculars have 20, 25, to even 30x power. So without even spending any large amounts money, one can easily enjoy this hobby very cheaply! Even the average video cameras of today have got at 60x optical zoom power. So this is what I actually used to take all these photographs. I honestly don't have any special equipment - And as for the knowledge to be aware of where exactly each star or planet is in the night sky? Well, that too we now don't have to worry about, partly thanks to the internet, but mainly thanks to all the new smartphones. As they all have motion sensors, GPS, as well as a magnetic compass - So all that is required is a free app (yes free app) from the Google Play Store, and wherever you'll now point your phone in the sky, you'll see exactly which star or planet is over there (even in daytime)! I use the Solar System Scope application on my Android Smartphone (to locate the starts and planets in the night sky). And sometimes I also use the Heavens-Above application too (if I want to know exactly when will the International Space Station will be passing over next)... However these are the 2 which I use, there are of course 100s of others to choose from, some just like these are totally for free, while others you have to pay for, (it really depends on which one will suit your needs). So no need to but any costly telescopes, and then just as expensive accessories too (to video and photograph your findings) - As a simple videos camera of today with a basic tripod is enough to do it all easily. And also no need to become an astronomy buff either (in order to know exactly which planet is where) - As a simple Android Smartphone has now got that covered too! Seriously, just give it a try yourselves, and I promise you that you'll be amazed at the results! Anyway this link below is of the Google Play Store, (Apple iPhones by the way have their own play store elsewhere, but since I have an Android Spartphone, I will only give links of things that I have tried myself)... https://play.google.com Solar System Scope app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.eu.inove.sss2&hl=en http://www.solarsystemscope.com/ Heavens-Above app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heavens_above.viewer&hl=en So this picture which you'll now see below, is of the planet Mars! And this one is of the Ursa Minor (also known as the Little Dipper). The thing to note in this picture is that I am not even at the 60x maximum zoom of the camera, I'm more like at 30 or 35x. If I zoomed in too much, I wouldn't have been able to get all these starts in one picture frame... OK, now see my camera and phone, with which I took all these pictures. I rally don't do anything special, I just use the phone to locate the planet or star, after which I simply point the camera in that direction to take a picture - There is no magic involved here!!!
Wow, how simple. Great shots. Problem is though that the only thing Apple I own is my desktop computer. Maybe someday I will get a I-phone.
And here's another picture that I took about an hour ago, just before the first light of day - This one is not a star or a planet, but it's the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting the Earth!!! I wasn't actually sure if I'd be able to catch it with my camera or not - As first of all it is very tiny, and secondly it is moving very fast... But out of about 7 or 8 pictures that I took as it passed over, I think this one is the best. As the shape of it's 2 solar panels can be recognized (just barely). At first it looks like a bright line that is slanting towards the right. However if you look closely and tilt your head in the other direction (towards the left), you'll quickly realize that it's actually 2 parallel almost horizontal lines (the 2 solar panels) of the Hubble Space Telescope!!! Anyway from the shape alone it is clear that it's not a natural object, but is man-made...
And this boys and girls is of the last supermoon of the 2015, I took these pictures day before yesterday - Once again, I used nothing but an ordinary camera (with a 60X zoom), and a simple large screen Android Smartphone for location and time calculations.
And a few days ago, I even caught the International Space Station (ISS) - This really is the biggest and brightest man made object orbiting the Earth, which is why the camera couldn't correctly capture it's image (as it was reflecting off way too much sunlight)...
