That's no space station...

[tv1217]

...it's a moon.

I like the idea of photographing space objects, but since I don't currently have the cash for a telescope, T-mount, and one of those nifty motorized majiggers for following the rotation of the earth, I have to stick to photomagrapherin' good ol' Luna.


I'm waiting for someone to show me up now.

 

[Pitchfork]

Nice photo, can you post your specs? And was this shot on "supermoon" night?

 

[tv1217]

Canon 60D wearing an EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 is usm lens. Focal Length: 300.0mm Exposure Time: 1/320 Aperture: 5.6 ISO: 800(I had it on automatic, oops)

 

[Pitchfork]

Thanks! Have you noticed that aperture time being beneficial for lunar photos?

 

[tv1217]

When I'm taking moon pics, I just play around with the aperture and shutter speed.

 

[threefiftyfour]

I have one that may be better, but I will have to find it...

 

[tv1217]

Here's a supermoon night pic

Detail isn't as sharp as it was hazy that night.

 

[tv1217]

I just saw on Canon's website that they have a new variant of the 60D called the 60Da specifically made for astrophotography.

 

[Pitchfork]

Wow, that 60Da is pretty pricey. $1k more than a standard 60D? That's some IR sensor! It's interesting to look at the specs they posted on their sample photos:

Canon?EOS60 Da?Sample Images

8 minutes worth of exposure!!! ... they had to have it on a star tracking mount... add a couple more grand for a good telephoto, as well as the telescope tracker and you've got some serious investing to do. Still, I'd geek out all over it if I saw one in person.

 

[Ericpwp]

...it's a moon.

^^^I see what you did there.

 

[tv1217]

8 minute exposures are nothing, I've seen space pics that were exposed for hours.

 

[canav844]

Look up DeepSkyStacker, you can put together some awesome images stacking a series of photos to make the long exposures, then put it into GIMP or CS6 to bring out the color. Wide angle and star trails can also be fun but that's a different side of things.

 

[.45 Dave]

Cool death star!