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Astrophotographers: The Moon, Venus and Jupiter will form a smiley face in the sky next month

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UPDATE: there will be no smiley in the sky tonight. What we thought of as a smiley, will be a rare conjunction (close pairing) of Venus and Mercury.

As Forbes points out, on May 22, 2020  you will see the bright planet Venus about 10º above the horizon. Look just beneath it and you’ll see the tiny red dot of the planet Mercury. They will be just 0.5º apart

It’s almost like a great cosmic “It’ll be ok”, but next month, on May 16th, to be precise, a crescent moon will sit in the sky beneath Jupiter and Venus to form a smiley face amongst the stars. The scientific term for such an event is an occultation and in this case, it happens when the moon is positioned between Earth and Venus.

The timing of such an event might seem like a sign from above, but they’re not as uncommon as you might think. It was visible in 2008 from Asia and 2012 from Australia to North America. But they are easy to miss, only being visible for a short period after sunset.

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Automated star tracking astrophotography with Sky-Watcher

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There are generally two types of astrophotography. There’s the kind that’s more like landscape photography, where the skies form a part of the overall scene with the ground, and then there’s the kind where the skies are the main subject and focus of the images. Sky-Watcher makes devices to help with the latter.

Specifically, we’re talking about the Sky-Watcher trackers, which rotate your camera counter to the earth’s rotation to shoot long exposures of the stars and distant planets. We caught up with Sky-Watcher at PhotoPlus 2019 to find out more about them and how they work.

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How To Photograph The Stars – A guide to astrophotography

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Before we get started it’s essential to understand that astrophotography takes time and practise in order to achieve good results, so don’t get frustrated if you don’t nail it on the first go. When it comes to photographing the night sky there isn’t an exact setting which is going to achieve the same results across the board. This is due to the amount atmospheric light which is available in your area. So in order to help get you started, we decided to write ‘how to photograph the stars’.

Our aim is to shed some light on the type of equipment you will need and give you a general starting point for where your settings ‘should’ be so that you can head out into the night and have some fun with it.

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The world’s largest digital camera is definitely not designed for shooting selfies

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It’s not often that one has to wipe down, cover up and head into a clean room to check out a camera. For the guys at Gizmodo, though, when visiting the SLAC National Accelerator Lab at Stanford University, it’s a requirement. And it’s easy to understand why. This 3.2 gigapixel camera is destined to sit inside a telescope in the Andean foothills of Chile to survey the skies.

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America declares its first International Dark Sky Reserve for astrophotographers and stargazers

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Finding somewhere truly dark for astrophotography becomes more and more difficult with each passing day. Light pollution always seems to be increasing. Towns and cities are ever expanding, getting larger and brighter. And many astrophotographers guard the secrets of their favourite spots to shoot. For those just getting into it, finding somewhere dark can be quite the challenge.

Now, though, America has a designated 1,400 square mile (3,600 square km) area of Central Idaho set aside for stargazing and astrophotography. Designated as America’s first International Dark Sky Reserve, the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve joins only 11 other such locations around the world.

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Shoot for the stars – The beginner’s guide to astrophotography

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I’m not really a big astrophotographer, the skies are just too bright around here most of the time. I’ve dabbled with it here and there, but never anything serious. Recently, though, I’ve found myself in possession of the Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens (review coming soon). With a lens this wide (field of view) and this wide (aperture), it was made for astrophotography. So I’ve been experimenting again.

So, this video from YouTuber Josh Katz has come along at just the right time for me. He too, says he’s no expert in photographing the night sky, but he knows enough to explain the basics and get you started. Also like myself, Josh lives in an area where there’s a constant struggle to find a sky dark enough to actually be worth shooting. But he offers a few tips for that, too.

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Star Eater – Why I No Longer Recommend Sony Cameras for Astrophotography: An Open Letter to Sony

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Sony makes excellent cameras. In the last few years, they launched a completely new full frame camera system that has pushed the bounds of digital photography. I switched entirely to Sony gear after first seeing the tremendous low-light capability of their a7S and have enjoyed many outings shooting astrophotography on many different Sony camera bodies since. I have previously recommended Sony gear to countless numbers of fellow photographers looking for the best landscape astrophotography cameras. That is no longer the case. If you want to shoot landscape astrophotography, don’t buy a Sony. If you already have a Sony camera, don’t update the firmware.

Here’s why I no longer recommend Sony cameras and how the latest firmware update made Sony’s a7RII and a7SII terrible for astrophotography.

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This is what the canon rubber thingy on your strap is for

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If you own a Canon and use their strap. Have you ever wondered what that little rubber thingy on the end of the strap is? I did, and I don’t even use a Canon. Turns out this little rubber thingy is a cap. And not just a cap, it is used to block the view finder so there are zero light leaks and flares. It’s usefull for when you are doing extra long exposures, light shooting stars at night. Huge thanks to Bassam Sabbagh for sharing this tip with us.

Now if you wanna go out and shoot stars, this is how to start.

 

World’s Biggest Digital Camera Secures Funding; Checks In At 3200 Megapixels And Weighs Over 3 Tons

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Scheduled to be completed in 2022, the prized digital camera that will be part of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) has recently garnered “Critical Decision 2” approval from the Department of Energy (DOE). Together with funding the telescope received in 2014 from the National Science Foundation, the DOE’s approval sealed the deal, as officials from LSST have confirmed the world’s most powerful camera will be completed on schedule.

Even if we do have to wait 7 years to see a photo from it, the camera is poised to be a revolutionary new pathway to space exploration. It will weigh in at just over 3 tons and will be similar in size to a small car–making it the world’s largest digital camera.[Read More…]

Take Your Night Sky Photography To The Next Level With This Helpful Tutorial

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If you have been wanting to try your hand at night sky photography, or just want to improve on the star photos you’ve already taken, you’re in luck. Canon Australia has teamed up with Phil Hart, winner of an Astrofest David Malin Award and creator of some truly brilliant astrophotography shots, to put together a video tutorial that will help you out with everything from selecting the right tripod to exposure settings.

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