Last Friday the moon was at first quarter. I tried to get a better image with my new camera. It was better, but not yet what I want.
Moon at 1st quarter – 3/27/’15
The resulting image was improved with thanks to PhotoShop Elements 8. I have since discovered something (read part of the manual) that should work better. I’ll have to try that soon. I’d just like to have a clear night that’s not so icy cold.
You’ve probably noticed that the moon rises and sets later from one day (or night) to the next. I know it’s about 50 minutes by the clock, but what does that translate to in space? I had the chance to get an idea with two pictures.
The first I took on Saturday night. There was Venus and the moon hanging in the western sky.
Saturday after sunset — Will Venus catch the moon?
I was hoping for a cloudless Sunday evening. I wanted to compare the positions of Venus and the moon. How much closer would they be?
Sunday as Venus and the moon go hand-in-hand
In the second shot, the moon was so brilliant that it “bloomed.” It was only the second evening since the new moon, and only a tiny crescent was illuminated. Against a very dark sky it was too much contrast.
Here’s a fully zoomed-in shot of Sunday night’s moon. I only resized this shot and made no other changes.
The camera does not handle the very high contrast all that well. Perhaps there’s a mode to help with that? I still have much to learn. (In many ways.)
It was nearly two weeks ago on a clear night that I went out with camera and tripod to capture some celestial images. I’ve enjoyed watching the waxing crescent moon as it was in the vicinity of Jupiter and Mars as the sun set. I also enjoy taking pictures of the sky. Jupiter and Venus are very bright and thus easily captured on the CCD of our point-and-shoot digital camera. The moon is even brighter.
With equipment in hand, I headed for the back door pausing to check camera settings inside where there was good light. As I checked the scene setting, I saw there was a “starry sky” setting. Why had this gone unnoticed? And, oh look, you can set for 15, 30 or 60-second exposure. With the tripod, I could use that. I chose 15 seconds–the moon would be in the shot and it is very bright.
Did it work? Here’s your answer:
This is the image I wanted to capture.
I was amazed at how many stars I could see after I had processed the images a little bit with PhotoShop Elements. Thus encouraged, I turned to my left and looking Southwest I saw Orion (the hunter). I repositioned the tripod and camera to get this shot.
Orion is one of the better known constellations of the night sky.
The viewfinder on the Panasonic camera was not designed for taking shots like this. I used the apple branches, which were illuminated by the sodium vapor yard light, to point the camera. A little bit of processing and more stars became visible. The three stars of the belt and the three of the sword are very clearly visible–even before processing. I was pleased to see that the nebula in the center of the sword shows well.
Thus encouraged, I turned to a darker area of the sky as I tried to capture an image of the big dipper (Ursa Major). The first couple of attempts didn’t work too well, and I had a hard time pointing the camera in the right direction. Nevertheless, I did manage to get a piece of the dipper.
The Big Dipper is perhaps the best known constellation of the northern sky.
It was my best effort, but it doesn’t include the pointer stars that indicate the direction of the pole star (Polaris). I did get the handle and the two stars that form the handle end of the dipper. Can you see the double star in the second position (from the end) of the handle? As with the other images, I didn’t know what was there until after a bit of processing. I’m waiting for the next clear night with suitable conditions so I can go out and try some more shots. It should be a night with the moon not visible. Last night was the full moon, which rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. Perhaps another few days?