Mars in April 2016 Nikon P900 at max optical zoom

These snaps of Mars taken in April 2016 show that even Mars can be captured by Nikon P900. At maximum optical zoom of 83 X, here are the results. I processed the Mars snaps in Restax 6 and Picasa (both freeware). I could actually see the Martian clouds and polar ice cap with a bonus- Olympus Mons and nearby large mountains. All the Nikon snaps were done using either non tracking tripod or handheld.

Nikon P900 snaps of the full moon

At max optical zoom of 83X this was what I got from Nikon P900 this month (full moon) edited in picasa for brightness and contrast.

Some cool birding snaps- Nikon P900

A black drongo:

 

A humming bird perched nearby:

A pair of doves:

 

Mars-10 year old mintron video stacked in Feb 2016

I stacked an old Mintron video, processed in PIPP--> Castrator--> Autostakkert--> Picasa. The result is really good. Autostakkert is a by far better among the free  stacking softwares, easier to use than Registax 6.
That white cap on far right of Mars is the polar ice cap. Original grey scale image with artifical color added Picasa.

Jupiter and Jovian moons- Nikon P900 digicam without telescope

These snaps of Jupiter taken with Nikon P900 without the use of telescope:
Manual mode ISO 100, shutter 1/40 second, Here I stacked a video --> PIPP--> castrator--> Autostakkert-->picasa Then copy pasted a snap of the Jovian surface onto Jovian moon image

 

  

Here is an image of Jupiter Nikon P900, F 6.5, ISO 100, shutter 1/20 second. I copied a magnified version of the original image in Irfan view

 

Another image taken 27th feb 2016 same settings. This one a still snapshot. Minimum processing in Picasa

Moon in prime focus with Canon 700D and 8" Dobsonian

Some snaps with a 8" Skywatcher Dob + Canon 700D DSLR using focuser base of the 1.25" focuser directly hooked to Canon 700D in prime focus. These 2 snaps are from videos of the full moon --> PIPP--> Autostakkert--> picasa

DSLR astrophotography without tracking or telescope

This is a good link. Shows the basics of taking pictures of the not so faint deep space objects in the night sky including galaxies and brighter nebulae.
http://www.learnastronomyhq.com/articles/easy-deep-sky-astrophotogra.html

3D astronomy video- amazing rendition

Supermoon on 6th may 2012

Few more supermoon photos taken with my Konuscope refractor on 6th May 2012:

This night the moon was brighter and closer than the earlier supermoon, appraching some 365000 Kms close to earth and reportedly 14 percent brighter and a little bigger than usual.

My new giant moon snap

I captured this snap of the full moon way back in 2010. Hope this giant sized astrophoto makes it to the blog.

Full moon on supermoon night

 

This photograph of the full moon was made using a simple handycam. I did not use a telescope, but processed the video using registax 5 (an image stacking software- freeware). Also, since registax has trouble with mpg files, I first converted the mpg video file of the moon (see video below) to avi format and trimmed out the useful part of the video using virtualdub (another freeware). Not bad at all for a snap of the moon without a telescope. 

The video below (and phot above) were taken on 19th March 2011- the night of the full moon on (the supermoon date). This is the day the moon reaches closest to the earth in its elliptical orbit around the earth.

 

A short video of the full moon today

I decided to check the ability of the video camera to catch a full moon today. I and my son had a go at it. This video clip is one of the few I managed to grab on a cool December night on the terrace. Despite best efforts there is a mild chromatic aberration.

 
Another video clip of the full moon.

Full moon on Jan 30th 2010 from Cochin

I perked up this snap of the moon with photoshop.





























The full moon was spectacular on Jan 30th 2010. See these giant/ large snaps of the moon on this day at 8 PM, taken via 4.5 inch reflector telescope from my home here in Cochin, India.










































I and my kids (and some friends) had a good time enjoying the view through the scope.
The full moon on Jan 30th 2010 was a little larger in size and much brighter. I could see many small craters, all over the lunar surface.

Some giant and super giant snaps of the moon:

Behold, lovely GIANT (large sized) snaps (astrophotos, photos), of the full moon at its best.
Click to view full size.
These 4 moon snaps are courtesy of Mr. Jan Timmermans an experienced astronomer from The Netherlands. You can view more of his snaps of the beauty of the night sky at:

Jan Timmermans N 51.363 E 5.4622 (Valkenswaard - The Netherlands) http://www.thefirmament.nl

For more great photographs of the moon: visit:
http://www.thefirmament.nl/moon_giants.html or
http://www.thefirmament.nl/moon_details_hires.html

Large image of Jupiter:

Click to view a giant (large) astrophotograph (snap) of Jupiter. This snap of Jupiter was taken by the Hubble space telescope. That oval reddish spot is the GRS or the Great Red Spot.

A nice snap of mars

This is a snap from the Hubble Space telescope. Those hill like structures are giant volcanoes on Mars.

A video recording of the sun's surface:

This is a really "cool" video of a "hot" object- the surface of the sun (our sun). Taken with a H-alpha filter fitted on to a telescope, you can see a red hot plume, the solar flare reaching outwards from the solar surface. Enjoy....

This is an actual video recording of a Pulsar:

This video recording shows a Pulsar. A pulsar is a neutron star that spins very rapidly, emitting streams of electromagnetic radiation, at regular intervals from a few milliseconds to 8 seconds. The pulsar can only be seen when the bursts of radiation reach us on earth during these regular intervals. Watch this video recording of a Pulsar...

Some nice astronomical videos:

I found this nice web site with lovely astronomy videos. This needs to be published. Just click on the heading, lean back and enjoy...

Here is a nice astronomical video that was taken using a telescope scanning the surface of the moon... The site is: http://www.stickam.com/viewMedia.do?mId=179334081


Enjoy...
Joe.

New impact of comet on Jupiter

A friend sent me this nice link, describing a new impact on Jupiter, by a large object, possibly a comet. The snaps taken by amateur astronomer Wesley, from Australia, show a large black spot the size of the earth on Jupiter's South polar region. See this link for more:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/amateur-astronomer-finds-new-earth-size-impact-mark-on-jupiter/?ref=global-home
This astrophotograph by Wesley shows the black spot (arrows) in the upper right of Jupiter.
NASA and JPL scientists are still not sure about what it was that caused this massive earth sized scar on this giant planet, but are of the opinion that it might have been a large comet, that evaded their detection.
With all the attention of the world focused on the solar eclipse today (22nd July 2009), few, in the amateur astronomy world are aware of this interesting development.
Joe.