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Deep Sky Objects (DSOs)

M27 (Ring Nebula)
M42 (Orion Nebula)
M57 (Dumbbell Nebula)

Planets & Moons

Moon (luna)

Capturing the "Blue Moon" with a DSLR camera only

The last day of August and the summer really shows all its sunny power. No ideal conditions for classical astrophotography, I know. BUT: To practise my skills I decided to capture the „Blue Moon“ only with my DSLR (Fig. 1).

 Towards new moon and with only 37% illumination you have a quite low contrast. So thats not an easy task. But it was okay for some stacking tests I did. (31.08/2021)

Results

Due to the conditions (37% moon illuminated and daytime – low contrast) and perhaps focussing (hard to see on a sunny day – could have used a cardboard) it was not the day to make a great picture of the moon. BUT: I learned  something about image stacking. (I am currently using Lynkeos® because I am working with a Mac at the moment.)

Since I made a movie of the moon I had a lot of single images from my 5-7 min capture.

I stacked 4.950, 524 and 31 single images respectively with increasing average image quality (Fig.2 -(quality) & Fig.3).

31 single frames from the movie were sufficient to reach an even better/ higher total stacked image quality than stacking single frames with hundreds or even thousands of single frames.

Fig. 3. Nr. of single frames (for stacking) vs. average image quality.

Location: City (Hamburg, Germany), Backyard, Bortle Scale 6-7 (see educational site)

Weather: 19/66 (°C/F), 55% rel. humidity

Moon phase: 37% illuminated (toward new moon)

Instrument: Canon EOS M50, 15-45mm kit lens

Filter: None

Camera Settings: 5min video (.mp4 file)

Watch the complete YouTube video for more details (Fig. 4).

Fig. 1. Me while focussing the moon.
Fig. 1. Me while focussing the moon.
Fig. 2. Stacked and sharpened moon images - comparison. Better final result when stacked few images (31) with high average quality (right bottom) vs. many singe images (4.950/ 524) for stacking with low average image quality (left top).
Fig. 2. Stacked and sharpened moon images - comparison. Better final result when stacked few images (31) with high average quality (right bottom) vs. many singe images (4.950/ 524) for stacking with low average image quality (left top).
Fig. 4. Watch the YouTube video.
Fig. 4. Watch the YouTube video.
Fig. 2. Bortle scale - My Location: 6-7. (see educational site)
Fig. 2. Bortle scale - My Location: 6-7. (see educational site)

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M27

Text …  (Fig. 1).

 Text… (31.08/2021)

Results

Text… (Fig.2)

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31 single frames from the movie were sufficient to reach an even better/ higher total stacked image quality than stacking single frames with hundreds or even thousands of single frames.

Fig. 3. Nr. of single frames (for stacking) vs. average image quality.

Location: City (Hamburg, Germany), Backyard, Bortle Scale 7

Weather: 19/66 (°C/F), 55% rel. humidity

Moon phase: 37% illuminated (toward new moon)

Instrument: Canon EOS M50, 15-45mm kit lens

Filter: None

Camera Settings: 5min video (.mp4 file)

Watch the complete YouTube video for more details (Fig. 4).

Fig. 1. Me while focussing the moon.
Fig. 1. Me while focussing the moon.
Fig. 2. Stacked and sharpened moon images - comparison. Better final result when stacked few images (31) with high average quality (right bottom) vs. many singe images (4.950/ 524) for stacking with low average image quality (left top).
Fig. 2. Stacked and sharpened moon images - comparison. Better final result when stacked few images (31) with high average quality (right bottom) vs. many singe images (4.950/ 524) for stacking with low average image quality (left top).
Fig. 4. Watch the YouTube video.
Fig. 4. Watch the YouTube video.

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