Orion the Hunter

[sidd finch]

This Sunday in the US there will be a Lunar Eclipse and a super-moon. I am hoping I can capture the events. I was practicing last night doing a night lapse and was really excited that I was able to capture the Orion constellation as it traveled through the sky. I ran the camera for about 3 hours to get the stills.



Sidd

[Chuck Engels]

That is really cool Sidd, love the Star Trek music too

What camera are you using for the time lapse? I have to get one

[Bob]

Nice!

You have a much darker sky than I do. I'm swamped by the light pollution from Los Angeles and the surrounding cities. I can only see the Moon and the very brightest stars visually and I've never seen those constellation lines.

What were your camera settings?

[sidd finch]

Thanks Chuck. It is a GoPro Hero 4 Black that does night lapses.

I'm swamped by the light pollution from Los Angeles and the surrounding cities.

I thought the light pollution would be bad here too so I was surprised that I could see the constellation so easily. I am sure a DSLR camera would do a hundred times better, but for ease of use it this camera is still pretty fun. Because we live close to the Lick Observatory, in 1980 San Jose began a program to reduce the effects of lighting, most notably replacing all streetlamps with low pressure sodium lamps. The result is that the Mount Hamilton site remains a viable location for a major working observatory.

Settings:

12mp wide
Protune = ON
Continous every 15 seconds
White Balance = 3000K
GoPro Color
ISO = 800
Sharpness = HIGH

I then used the GoPro Studio to stitch together all the still images and make an AVI. I edited in PPRO 6

Sidd

[sidd finch]

Here is a picture that you can zoom into to see the actual stars.



Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

A most excellent adventure.

[Chris B]

Nice time lapse. Do have a practice with the moon before the big event. In my experience it's surprisingly small and much brighter than the surrounding night sky - so you'll need to get clever with the metering. From what I recall the contrast when it eclipses is also quite large.

[Steve Grisetti]

What an amazingly clear shot, Sidd!

[Bob]

Thank, Sidd.

I wish my skies were as dark as yours. Here's a sample of what I'm dealing with. I took this last night as a test of a Hoya Intensifier (didymium) filter that I just bought. The didymium filter cuts out some light frequencies near the sodium line so it helps reduce light pollution due to low pressure sodium streetlights. The sky was darker than I've seen it in a while, usually the sky is brighter. This is a cropped composite of two photos. The one on the left side is unfiltered and the one on right side is with the filter. Both photos were shot at the same exposure -- 3 seconds. The filter is definitely helping. But, I'm still seeing light pollution. Longer exposures show it clearly.

This is a photo of the Orion constellation. The three stars of Orion's Belt are vertical near the center and the sword is to the right. At this exposure, you can just begin to detect the the Orion nebula (around the center star in the sword).

orion_filter_test.jpg

[sidd finch]

That filter really helped out a lot. I can see what you mean about the light pollution Bob. What camera did you use to capture the image?

I was pretty surprised at how clear the night sky has been the past few days. Normally we have a lot of cloud cover which is why I do not remember seeing the Orion Constellation before. I was also not really expecting the camera to capture a very good image either.

I tried to position the camera behind the house so that it would block most of the direct light from our street light.

Sidd

[Bob]

This particular shot was taken with my Nikon D7200 DSLR.

I'm hoping to be able to get to an area with dark skies so I can take some Milky Way shots, but that's not going to be soon.

[sidd finch]

so you'll need to get clever with the metering. From what I recall the contrast when it eclipses is also quite large.

Any suggestions. I am trying to use the GoPro to capture a time lape.

Does the ISO might need to be changed during the eclipse?? If so I am guessing that I should leave the wifi on so that I can change it through my smartphone. I have a big battery connected so power drain should not be too much of an issue.

Sidd

[Ron Hunter]

That was really cool Sidd. I liked how the constellation just melted into the sunrise.

Was it difficult in post to add the lines between the stars? I don't know how to do that.

The more I learn the more I'm convinced that you can't beat a GoPro for value for money.

I apologize for hijacking this thread, but it is related...I recently visited the GoPro website and was welcomed by a video shot on their new, lower cost action cam. That footage is so amazing I thought it was shot in 4k. Absolutely crystal clear and with stunning detail. I doubt my GH4 can do that. Can someone explain to me how GoPro can get 1080 footage on their website to look like that??? I know they are "GoPro" with tons of $$$, but come on, 1080 is 1080 is 1080, yes?

[sidd finch]

Thanks Ron.

Was it difficult in post to add the lines between the stars? I don't know how to do that.

I just extracted a still image and added a blank layer to the picture in Photoshop. I drew lines on the layer then imported the blank layer to PPRO. Then just key framed the layer. The video got lighter because the sun was coming up.

The more I learn the more I'm convinced that you can't beat a GoPro for value for money.

For me it has become my go to camera. I think the quality is great, the size is perfect, and the things it can do beat out any of my other cameras. It is most certainly not a GH4 but learning to live within the parameters of what it can do is pretty exciting. I think because it is so easy to use I am recording a lot more video than if I was using a regular camera.

Sidd

[_Paz_]

Neat video, Sidd! Good luck with the eclipse! It's going to be cloudy here.

Bob,

I think your filter makes a dramatic difference... and um, I've never seen the constellation lines either... could you plot those lines and enter them into the system on the Mother Ship so you can Show and Tell if you ever return to your own galaxy?