Wow! pzampella, Hornblower, HarbingerDawn, those are amazing captures! Sadly, i don't own telescope, but I am building one! I know it won't make as good as a real telescope pictures, but it's better to have something than nothing! Wish me luck for the best home-made telescope! lol

I found this image of a Lunar Eclipse on my files. Was amazing to see the moon change colors like that. 

Image of my telescope. Ignore the black border. This is a telescope at least 5 years old, and probably 2-3 years ago. Now its in the barn collecting dust since it has been replaced.

Sun on paper plate.

Nice.  Many think lunar eclipses are quite boring, or if you've seen one you've seen them all, but I actually think they're really neat.  There's even a big difference from one to another depending on how deep into the shadow it goes and how clear Earth's atmosphere is.

Prime day rolled around so I bought myself a new telephoto lens, high quality glass and image stabilizer.  I suspect this will take some spectacular astro-photos but I would definitely appreciate some settings to try out from people here.



I bought this to take pictures of the eclipse, and general wildlife photos too, but there is one slight problem

My welding glass(shade 14) lens is roughly 50mm, around 48 really, and the new lens is 67mm.


What would anyone here recommend doing to mount this in front, how do I block the sides to avoid light flooding the image, and is there an adapter I can buy or do I need to apply some DIY?

[hr]

Moon finally came out, was too lazy to setup my tripod so I quickly took a few shots by hand, didn't come out too bad


Definitely an improvement over previous lens.

What would anyone here recommend doing to mount this in front, how do I block the sides to avoid light flooding the image, and is there an adapter I can buy or do I need to apply some DIY?

Make adapter yourself, using dense paper and glue. If this version 1.0 would be good, you could change material to some plastic for version 2.0.

Caught the aurora last night huh?

Very nice pictures, sad I couldn't see them in my area due to light pollution.

Yeah, and I was very nearly clouded out.  Overcast at dusk, and then it suddenly cleared just in time before twilight rose in the north. Darkness lasts such a short time here in summer.

Have you seen them before?  Maybe near next solar max you'll get some good opportunities your way.

Around 10 or so years ago I saw them when I lived on a 40 acre farm, they were very faint and I had no camera at the time to record it.  Going to a far north location to see them is on my bucket list 

Watsisname,
Did you take those pictures in Washington state, or you traveled somewhere? Can you tell me the location?

it does look like washington state to me. the landscape is very much like all watsisname images 
awesome images wats! what is your gear?

it does look like washington state to me. the landscape is very much like all watsisname images 
awesome images wats! what is your gear?

At least there is no so much light pollution!   

Watsisname, wow! Astonishing pictures! How dark was the sky? Here at 59th parallel north the Sun is at a mere -9 degrees below the horizon at 1 in the night.

By "dark" I mean how dark is the sky in regards of light pollution.

Did you take those pictures in Washington state, or you traveled somewhere? Can you tell me the location?

Not too far -- about a 90 minute drive from where I live.  Location is the end of the Mt. Baker Highway, which gets away from the city lights and up in the mountains.  Marvelous place.

awesome images wats! what is your gear?

 Thanks!  Equipment is a Canon Rebel T3 with a Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 lens.

How dark was the sky?

Bortle Class 3.  The Milky Way is quite bright and rich with detail, and on some nights you can even barely see the airglow -- though it's a lot more apparent in long exposures.

If I instead took highway 20 (the northernmost mountain pass in Washington), a ~2 hour drive will get me to a Bortle class 2 sky.  Sadly, there are no class 1's left in Washington, but there are areas in neighboring Oregon and Idaho.

http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html

The loss of our dark skies is a very sad problem. =(

The loss of our dark skies is a very sad problem. =(

yeah...i still never been in dark place yet...and i am affraid i will lose our dark sky before i go anywhere. i may go to the perseids in the desert but even there it will be bortle class 3-4. min i will find will be class 2 in the middle of nowhere, not a place you can go with your family...
just checked with your map. my town has class 7....wow...all my 17 years when i gazed up to the sky i only saw how class 7 looks like  :shock:
my town has bortle class the same as seattle  :shock:
so for my first time ever in a dark place, i want the best conditions i can find. like new moon or a moon that rise very late. any website i can track the moon circle and rise/set times? i want to go on august in a day that the sky will be with no moon at all