How to Photograph the Moon and Planets with Your Digital Camera (eBook)

Although Tony Buick in his career worked in medical, veterinary, and agricultural science, specializing in analytical chemistry, he turned to his lifelong interest in astronomy following an early retirement and has encouraged the younger generation to observe and understand the sky while teaching science, computing, and geography. His fascination with the Moon was given a further boost through his friendship with Sir Patrick Moore, which led to the publication of the first edition of How to Photograph the Moon and Planets with your Digital Camera. Buick has a wide range of interests, from the ‘infinitesimal’ under a microscope to the ‘infinite’ through a telescope and has published articles on tardigrades, the robust microscopic animals that can even survive for a while in space, in addition to articles on the Moon. His latest book for Springer, The Rainbow Sky, published in 2009, is a product of Buick’s interest in spectroscopy and color in general throughout the universe. Philip Pugh is a technical instructor in telecommunications. He was born in England and became interested in astronomy at age six, using his first telescope at the age of 9. However, by the age of 14, he had reached the limit of what could be done with a modest instrument. Philip majored in mathematics and worked as a computer programmer. Competitive chess and bridge had replaced astronomy as a hobby, and it was through fishing that he first became a published writer, in 1980, with a spoof about fishing for minnows. As his expertise in work improved, he started writing for computing magazines, culminating in a twelve-part series for a magazine. He married in 1989 and had a daughter in 1990. It was a view of Venus and trip to an observatory in New Zealand that rekindled his interest in astronomy, and in 1995, he was given a pair of binoculars for his 40th birthday. He was soon learning his way around the easier deep sky objects and following the moons of Jupiter. A small telescope followed in 1997 and a portable one in 1999. It seemed only natural that he would write about astronomy, and the articles soon began to flow. It was the Coronado Personal Solar Telescope that his wife and daughter presented him for his 50th birthday that led to his first book, Observing the Sun with Coronado Telescopes. Philip has experimented extensively with compact digital cameras. He has also researched the Messier objects. Philip no longer competes in chess or bridge and has not been fishing for a few years, but he now has the opportunity to view the sky from many different places. His interest in astrophotography spawned an interest in general photography, and he has collected many “tourist” shots from around the world.

How to Photographthe Moon and Planets with Your Digital Camera 3
Notes on the Second Edition 7
Foreword to First Edition 9
Preface to the First Edition 11
About the Authors 13
Acknowledgements to the First Edition 15
Contents 17
Chapter ONE: Introduction 21
Getting Started 21
What Is Possible? 23
Chapter TWO: Choosing Your Equipment 31
Useful Camera Functions 35
Selection of Image Quality 36
Shutter Delay or Self-Timer 37
Flash 37
Monitor or Rear Viewing Screen 37
Spot-Metering 38
Manual Exposure Compensation 38
Zoom 38
Panorama 38
Batteries 39
Picture Storage and Retrieval 39
Choosing a Telescope 39
Warning.! 48
The Magic Ingredient 49
Chapter Three: Setting Up 58
Attaching the Camera 58
Focus 64
Direct 65
Bracketing 65
Screen Focus 65
Other Factors 66
General 66
Computer 66
Color 67
Targets 71
The Moon 71
The Sun 72
The Planets 74
Other Objects 74
Chapter four: Photographing the Phases of the Moon 76
The Moon’s Appearance in Our Sky 76
The Phases of the Moon 79
New Moon 79
Waxing Crescent 79
First Quarter 81
Waxing Gibbous 82
Full Moon 83
Lunar Eclipse 83
Waning Gibbous 84
Last Quarter 86
Waning Crescent 87
Chapter Five: Identifying Regions of the Moon 92
Mare Serenitatis Region 92
Mare Frigoris Region 95
Mare Tranquillitatis Region 97
Northeast Region 103
Mare Imbrium Region 104
Plato Region 105
Oceanus Procellarum 108
Northwest Region 110
Mare Nubium Region 111
Southern Moon: Tycho Region 114
Mare Humorum and South Oceanus Procellarum 114
Southwest Region 117
Southeast Central Region 119
Central Southern Region 120
Maria Fecunditatis and Nectaris 122
Southeast Region 123
Chapter six: Techniques for Photographing the Moon 125
Chapter seven: Photographing Lunar Events 195
Lunar Eclipse 195
Earthshine 198
Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLPs) 199
A Chance Sighting? 203
And Finally for the Moon… 206
Chapter Eight: Processing Lunar Images 207
Examples of Processing 208
Example One: Crescent Moon, May 28, 2009, Full Disc 209
Example Two: Close Up of First Quarter, April 2, 2009 215
Example Three: Daylight Robbery on April 12, 2008 218
Composing Mosaics 220
Conclusion 222
Chapter nine: Solar System Moons 223
Jupiter’s Moons 224
Saturn’s Moons 228
Chapter ten: Photographing the Planets 232
Equipment 234
Jupiter 235
Processing a Movie 237
Combining Single Images 239
Saturn 241
Processing a Movie 244
Combining Single Images 244
Venus 247
Mercury 248
Mars 251
Chapter eleven: The Sun 255
Sunspots 257
Eclipses of the Sun 261
Narrowband Solar Photography 264
The Coronado PST 265
Solar Photography 266
Starting Simple 267
Choosing a Camera 268
Sony Cybershot P72 268
Samsung Digimax D103 268
Kodak Easyshare Z1275 269
Mounting Options 269
Post Processing 269
Image Processing Software 270
The Overall Process 270
Example Session 271
Sony Cybershot 271
Samsung Digimax 274
Kodak Easyshare 278
Close-Ups 281
Disc Features 285
Filaments 289
PST CaK 292
Chapter TWELVE: Transits 295
Mercury 296
Venus 299
Chapter THIRTEEN: And What Else? 307
Stars 307
Constellations 311
Seeing Double 313
Nebulae 315
Comets 317
Chapter FOURTEEN: A Few Final Words 319
Remember These Tips 319
Next Steps 320
Appendix 322
Binoculars 322
Helpful References 325
For Further Progress 326
Glossary 327
Index 349