Astrophotography | Astronomy.com

How are long-exposure astrophotos made?

Astronomy Staff — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Many astrophotos feature exposures of 12 hours or more. Since nighttime darkness is only about this long, this implies multiple exposures on different nights. How does one set things up to get the exact same location, and avoid parallax error due to Earth’s rotation and orbit? Jose G. RieraSt. Augustine, Florida You are correct, manyContinue reading "How are long-exposure astrophotos made? "

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Finding your first astroimaging rig

shill — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Getting started in astrophotography can be daunting. With so many different telescopes, cameras, and mounts and all their variations, where do you start? The first piece of equipment you should choose is a mount, the mechanical base that the telescope attaches to. For astrophotography, the mount must be motorized, and ideally computer-controllable. This might soundContinue reading "Finding your first astroimaging rig"

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Beginner’s guide: How to photograph comets

Damian A. Peach — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:17:53 +0000

These fleeting beacons from the outer solar system make for fantastic shots.

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Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS stuns in photos at perihelion

Mark Zastrow — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 20:10:54 +0000

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS has not disappointed — and we have the pictures now to prove it. The comet, formally known as C/2023 A3, was first discovered in January 2023 by Purple Mountain Observatory in China’s Jiangsu Province. (The name Tsuchinshan comes from an older transliteration of Zijinshan, the Chinese word for Purple Mountain.) Since then, itContinue reading "Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS stuns in photos at perihelion"

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Annular eclipse shot wins astronomy image of the year

Astronomy Staff — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:30:00 +0000

The overall winner of Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 is Ryan Imperio for his photograph, Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, that captures the progression of Baily’s beads during the 2023 annular eclipse. The image will be on display alongside the winners of the other categoriesContinue reading "Annular eclipse shot wins astronomy image of the year"

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How to process JWST images like a pro

shill — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

In this remarkable age, space is becoming ever more accessible to the general public, and citizen scientists are enriching the field of professional astronomy with their contributions. NASA’s latest flagship spaceborne observatory, the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is no exception: Following the tradition set by the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA releases dataContinue reading "How to process JWST images like a pro"

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How to choose the right focal length for your astrophotos

shill — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

On the first night out with my brand-new Celestron NexStar 8SE back in July 2015, I knew little about the relative sizes of astronomical objects. I was bowled over by my first view of Saturn — an impressive sight through an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) — and I was eager to see more. I knewContinue reading "How to choose the right focal length for your astrophotos"

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JWST sees light invisible to the eye. These scientists decide how to color it

Randall Hyman — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 10:00:00 +0000

When it comes to appearances, the universe is a tricky place. Visible light occupies merely a sliver of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. To study the cosmos in its entirety, scientists must peer beyond visible light using specialized instruments, including radio telescopes and X-ray telescopes. And the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) senses infrared (IR) radiation,Continue reading "JWST sees light invisible to the eye. These scientists decide how to color it"

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What are the most beautiful images in astronomy?

Astronomy Staff — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 19:04:51 +0000

Welcome to the Astronomy.com roundtable, where our editors help explain (and sometimes debate) hot topics. This week, however, we’re asking a question that’s more a matter of opinion. Astronomy.com: Here’s a wide-open question for the group: What are your picks for the four most beautiful images in astronomy? Michael E. Bakich, Associate Editor: My fourContinue reading "What are the most beautiful images in astronomy?"

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How to take your own wide-field sky images

shill — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

I love taking wide-field images of the night sky. Revealing the hidden depths of a large swath of the heavens in a long-exposure photograph shows me that space isn’t actually empty — it’s filled with unfathomably large amounts of gas and dust. And with today’s cameras and specialized filters, amateurs can produce stunning views ofContinue reading "How to take your own wide-field sky images"

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