MRPS The Night Sky Presentation 20210510 - Stan Mansas
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MRPS Tech Night
The Night Sky
Presented by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
‘Inspiration'
• Peter Starr, Dubbo Observatory
– "http://www.dubboobservatory.com/”
• Richard Tatti – Nightscape Images
– "https://www.nightscapeimages.com.au/”
• Nico Carver (geeky but excellent)
– "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb1ceFM-DkQ”
• Trevor Jones (Astrophotographer, Canada)
– "https://astrobackyard.com/astrophotographer"
Peter Starr
Richard Tatti
Background Image: Stellarium
Carina Nebula, 6000 to 10,000 light years
Introduction
Background Image: Stellarium
Introduction
Carina Nebula, 6000 to 10,000 light years
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
Introduction
Carina Nebula, 6000 to 10,000 light years
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
Image by: Stan Mansas
Keyhole Nebula,, 9,000 light years
Introduction
Carina Nebula, 6000 to 10,000 light years
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
McNaught Comet Gisborne 2007
35 to 150 million kms from the Earth at its closest approach
Canon 300d, 6.3mp
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
Before:
Focal: 19mm, f2.8
Exp: 15s
ISO: 800
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
Before:
Focal: 19mm, f2.8
Exp: 15s
ISO: 800
After:
Orion Constellation
The Horsehead and Flame Nebuale
Image by: Stan Mansas
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae
1,500 light years Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
Before:
Focal: 19mm, f2.8
Exp: 15s
ISO: 800
After:
Orion Constellation
Orion & Running Man Nebulae
Image by: Stan Mansas
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
The Orion and Running Man Nebulae
,344 ± 20 light-years
1,344 ± 20 light-years
Background Image: Stellarium
Before:
Focal: 19mm
f2.8
exp: 15s
ISO 800
After:
The Pleiades or Seven Sisters
Image by: Stan Mansas
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
The Pleiades or Seven Sisters
444 light years
RAW File
Focal: 200mm, f2.8
Exp: 25s
ISO 800
Background Image: Stellarium
Yorketown South Australia Sept 2019
Foreground
Background
Single image
Focal: 11mm (18mm)
Aperture. f2.8
Exp: 3 sec
ISO 1600
Image by: Stan Mansas
15 images
Focal: 11mm (18mm)
Aperture. f2.8
Exp: 28 sec
ISO various: 1600, 2500 & 3200
Image by: Stan Mansas
Canon 50d, Tokina 11-20mm f2.8
Background Image: Stellarium
Yorketown South Australia Sept 2019
Canon 50d, Tokina 11-20mm f2.8
Final: 15 stacked and 1 blended image
Background Image: Stellarium
Milky Way
Photographing the Galactic Centre
The Milky Way Core or Galactic Centre
Background Image: Stellarium
CONTENTS
1. Gain an understanding of the celestial sphere
2. Gain an understanding of Star Trailing
3. Gain an understanding of how to minimise star trails
4. Gain an understanding of the Light Pollution
5. Gain an understanding of how to plan a shoot
6. Gain an understanding of the equipment required
7. Gain an Understanding of Settings, Framing and Focus
8. Practical session
Background Image: Stellarium
The Celestial Map
Did you know that the night sky has an observable limit of 93 billion light years?
Andrew Z. Colvin - Own work
Background Image: Stellarium
Image by: Unknown
Diameter of our Galaxy is 100,000 light years
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The Celestial Sphere?
How we view the night sky……..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_sphere
The Celestial Sphere. (Image Courtesy of the Lunar and Planetary Institute)
Animation by: Rob Knop
Background Image: Stellarium
Star Trailing
Minimising star trails
1. The 500 Rule, simple
2. The NPF Rule, more complex
Image and Video: Photopills
Background Image: Stellarium
Camera Settings to minimise Star Trails:
500/400 Rule
CAMERA SETTINGS
The rule of 500 can be used to calculate the exposure time for
your images.
Simply take 500, divided by the focal length of your lens, to get
the number of seconds to expose the shot.
Example: If you’re using a 20mm focal length, take 500, divided
by 20 = 25 seconds per exposure
Full frame: 500/20mm = 25s
Cropped: 500/(crop factor 1.6 X focal) eg. = 15.6s
This method will give you long enough exposure to get good
quality images at night without minimal star trails
Background Image: Stellarium
Light Pollution & Visibility
During daylight hours our sun washes out the sky masking the stars making them
invisible
At night, although not as bright as the sun the Moon and Light Pollution also limits
our ability to view the stars
Astronomers define light pollution as “artificial light that shines where it is neither
wanted, nor needed”. Making it difficult to in obsere astronomical objects from
polluted locations
Equally as important, obstructions such as cloud cover, smoke and heat haze, all
impact visibility and hinder capturing star images
So what can be done to maximise our viewing capability?
Background Image: Stellarium
Moon Phases
Images by: https://www.universetoday.com/99591/moon-phases-and-dates/
Image by: https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/2021-moon-phases-calendar-dates-and-times
Background Image: Stellarium
Moon and Milky Way Calendar
Planning Apps and software:
● Photopills (paid App)
● Stellarium (Free and paid App and PC)
Image by: https://capturetheatlas.com/milky-way-calendars/
Background Image: Stellarium
Light Pollution
https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#7/-36.383/146.312
Background Image: Stellarium
The Bortle Scale
Class 1: Excellent dark-sky site
Class 2: Typical truly dark site
Class 3: Rural sky
Class 4: Rural/suburban transition
Fairly obvious light-pollution domes apparent over population
centers
Background Image: Stellarium
The Bortle Scale
Class 5: Suburban sky
The Milky Way is very weak or invisible near the horizon and
looks rather washed out overhead
Light sources are evident in most if not all directions
Clouds are quite noticeably brighter than the sky itself
Class 6: Bright suburban sky
The Milky Way is apparent only toward the zenith
The sky within 35° of the horizon glows grayish white
Clouds anywhere in the sky appear fairly bright
Class 7: Suburban/urban transition
The entire sky background has a vague, grayish white hue
Strong light sources are evident in all directions
The Milky Way is totally invisible or nearly so
Clouds are brilliantly lit
Class 8 & 9 : City sky/Inner-city sky
The sky glows whitish gray or orange
The entire sky is brightly lit, even at the zenith
Stars making up familiar constellation figures are invisible
Background Image: Stellarium
The Bortle Scale
How Bortle class affects astrophotography
In terms of backyard astrophotography, the sky quality will
have a huge impact on your images. Deep-sky imaging
under a bright city sky means that you’ll have to put a lot
more exposure time into your projects than someone in a
rural location
You’ll need to work harder to improve the signal-to-noise
ratio of your final image because the signal (light emitted
from the object) is buried underneath a layer of light
pollution
To help capture images with improved contrast and less
background skyglow, light pollution filters that isolate
specific wavelengths of light can be used
Background Image: Stellarium
The Macedon Ranges Bortle Scale: Class 4 or better
Light Pollution App
Cloud cover App
Apps are readily available
https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#7/-36.383/146.312
Background Image: Stellarium
When is Milky Way Season?
Southern Hemisphere:
Milky Way season runs from February (very early) to October
January: the Milky Way core is only briefly visible on the eastern horizon just before sunrise.
February and March: out of bed in the early hours to catch those first shots of the season
June and July: the core rises earlier in the evening and presents optimum viewing opportunities
and to capture your photos before bedtime
August and September: the core appears as a large arc in the western sky in the evening,
presenting amazing opportunities for panoramic shots
November: the core is in the western sky after sunset, just above the horizon and is barely visible
and we say goodbye for a few months
Note: Milky Way Photos are best taken when there is no moon or only a quarter moon in the sky.
Background Image: Stellarium
Ok…… so where do you start?
Create a recipe, your own Night Sky Recipe…….
Step1: The Vision
– This is your vision/ideas of how you would you like to present your image?
Step 2: The Utensils
– What gear/equip you have/need to bring your idea to life?
Step 3: The ingredients
– The elements to bring your idea to life. ie. Timing, location (foreground,
mid ground etc), lighting, props and any other components required to bring
your vision to life?
Background Image: Stellarium
Ok…… so where do you start?
Step 4: The Method
- The How and What of capturing your image. E.g. single shot, multi
shots, focal length, fstop, ISO, exposure, framing, focus etc
Step 5: The Plating up
- Post processing, artistic flare, single shot, multi shot, blend,
composite etc. output to showcase your image
•
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 1: The Vision
Vision has to do with seeing, and as photographers we
constantly practice the art of seeing
• Having vision means you know why you’re taking pictures
• What you want to accomplish
• You’re not controlled by what other photographers/trends
• What you’re pursuing and why
Vision starts with inspiration, imagination and being able to visualise your work
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 2: The Utensils
• Camera: DSLR or Mirrorless camera with manual settings
• Lens: A wide angle lens
– Gathering light is critical! A lens with a fast aperture f2.8
or lower and focal length of 14 to 35 is best.
• A sturdy Tripod
• Spare batteries
• External shutter release/Intervelometer
• Head torch with red light
• Clothing to conditions
• Chair
Other Handy Items
• Lens/hand warmers
• Compass
• Stellarium … App for IOS or Android
(Free)
• Photo Pills for IOS & Android
• GPS … (Very handy to find
locations in the dark)
Background Image: Stellarium
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 3: The Ingredients
• Subject, Dark Sky, Moon Phase, ambient light
• What subject location/scene do I want to create
• When is my target going to be visible?
• Subject/Props, foreground, mid, distant
• What type of illumination is available, what will I need?
Image credit: Stan Mansas
Image credit: Stan Mansas
Considerations: Single shot, Multi shot Panorama/Mosaic, Blended images, Composite images etc
Image credit: Eric Hines
Image credit: Unknown
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 3: The Ingredients
Single shot: Single shot exposure
Stacked: In short, stacking consists of taking different photographs with the same settings, composition,
and focal length, with the ultimate goal of processing them to achieve a particular effect
In Milky Way post-processing, image stacking is generally used to make the stars look brighter while
reducing the noise in the photo. The steps to creating a stack are:
1. Take a series of Milky Way photographs using the same settings
2. Stack the images using software such as “Sequator” for PC (free) Starry Landscape Stacker for Mac
(paid), and once the Stack is made, import the shot into post processing software for editing
Blended: A series of foreground, mid and background images taken from exactly the same spot
blended together
Composite: Foreground, mid and background images taken in different locations and combined together
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 3: The Ingredients
What subject location/scene do I want to create?
• What foreground, mid, distant object do I want in my image?
• Timing: When will my target be visible within the scene?
• What type of illumination is available? Moon, Urban glow, added ie. light painting etc.
Now we have an idea, subject, place and time. Prepare your set up and start shooting the stars
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
How and what: single shot, multi shots, focal length, fstop, ISO, exposure, framing, focus etc.
Typical Cameras Settings:
• Program Mode - Set to Manual.
• Shoot in RAW
• Autofocus - Turn off, Manual focus.
• White Balance - Manually set white balance
between 3450k – 5000k (3000 cooler 5000
warmer)
• Drive - Set to One Shot.
• ISO - generally will between 1600 to 6400
• Metering - see image
• Exposure Compensation - Set to Zero, no
exposure compensation.
• Shutter Speed - Up to 30 seconds can usually be
dialed in directly. For longer than 30 seconds, set
to Bulb.
• Shutter release: If you don't have a remote
release, you can use the camera's self-timer, 10
sec is best..
• Mirror Lock-Up - recommended
• Stabilisation: Because you'll be using a tripod
turn off all stabilisation
• Turn Image Review OFF
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
Typical Cameras Settings, continued:
• Histogram ON
• Set Optical Resolution to the highest (native) setting.Turn OFF in-camera
long-exposure noise reduction (LENR) if you will shoot separate dark frames.
• Turn On in-camera long-exposure noise reduction (LENR) if you are just
shooting one or two frames.
• Turn off in-camera sharpening if you are shooting JPEGs at a high ISO.
• Set contrast and color saturation to normal if shooting JPEGs.
• Set color space to sRGB. Set to Adobe RGB if you are extremely
knowledgeable about color spaces.
• Turn off flash.
• Put memory card in camera.
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
On location?
Setup your gear, it’s a good idea is to lay down a towel under your tripod it will catch anything you drop
Using apps adjust your setup: Frame your foreground and mid/distant objects so they’re where you want them in
relation to where the subject will be/traverse
Find and Focus: Shooting at night it is very difficult to find targets and get accurate focus. Generally we need to
understand the sky and to find infinity focus to shoot the milky way
How to find the Milky Way:
Having a basic understanding of astronomy certainly helps us with nightscape Photography.
As mentioned earlier, usually some portion of the milky way is visible all year round, we have to understand that the best
images are those that focus on what is known as the Milky Way Core. In the Southern Hemispheres we find the core,
which is the thickest and brightest part of the milky way in the constellations of Scorpio and Sagittarius.
As mentioned there’s amazing software available for desktop and mobiles which for any given day, month and year it will
tell us where everything is located in the day or night sky. Stellarium (free) and Photopills (Paid) are great.
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
Southern Cross
Find: To find the Milky Way Core
find the southern cross draw a line
between Rigil (the first of the
pointers) and Antares the star which
has a yellowish hue, the core is just
below Antares
Antares
Rigil
Galactic centre (Milky Way Core)
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
Focus: Once you find your subject, focusing is probably one of the single most difficult things to
do at night and it takes quite some time to master, and there are 3 methods to try.
Antares
Tonights method: Turn on live view and focus manually on a bright star or the moon. Using zoom
buttons on rear of camera zoom in X10. Rack the focus ring back and forth. When the star
becomes the smallest/a sharp point it’s in focus.
Note: A still camera is critical. Any shake what so ever will affect your image. Ensure that you are
out of the wind, no camera straps and use a remote trigger
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
Focus: Other Methods:
2: Focus the camera on a distant mountain or landscape whilst it’s still daylight and make sure the lens doesn’t move before
you shoot at night. This method does not work with Focus by Wire lenses. (Usually mirrorless lenses)
3: Shine a light or torch on a fence post at an appropriate distance once it’s dark outside (this distance varies depending on
focal length of lens … see Depth of Field Calculator later) and repeat steps explained previously using live view screen.
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 4: Method
Frame & Take a Test Shot - Check Image & Exposure
Take a test exposure.
Go to image preview
Check for focus, star trailing and exposure
Bring up the Histogram
– Check against the reference chart
– Don’t clip blacks or highlights
– For MW best is neutral or slightly right
– Adjust ISO up or down
Tweak shutter if required, but watch for star trailing
Image by: https://www.lonelyspeck.com/milky-way-exposure-calculator/
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 5: Plating Up - Processing your Image
Foreground
Background
Single image
Focal: 11mm (18mm)
Aperture. f2.8
Exp: 3 sec
ISO 1600
Image by: Stan Mansas
15 images
Focal: 11mm (18mm)
Aperture. f2.8
Exp: 28 sec
ISO various: 1600, 2500 & 3200
Image by: Stan Mansas
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 5: Plating Up - Processing your Image
From this
To this
This is a whole new topic and not for today. There are plenty of resources on online Richard Tatti has some free online
tutorials @ https://www.nightscapeimages.com.au/workshops---online.html
Background Image: Stellarium
Step 5: Plating Up - Processing your Image
Yorketown South Australia Sept 2019
Canon 50d, Tokina 11-20mm f2.8
Final: 15 stacked and 1 blended image
This is a whole new topic and not for today. There are plenty of resources on online Richard Tatti has some free online
tutorials @ https://www.nightscapeimages.com.au/workshops---online.html
Background Image: Stellarium
Tonights Practical: #1
Rising Milky Way Core at 2030 10/5/2021
E SE S
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Tonights Practical: #1
E SE S
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Tonights Practical: #2
Focusing in the Dark
Out of Focus
In Focus
Out of Focus
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Night Sky Pocket Guides
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Clear Skies
Thanks for listening
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