Just to clarify that last line, the telescope moves on it's own as the earth rotates. He just turns the dome so the telescope doesn't track the object through the dome wall.

latterman

Very cool.

This may sound a bit cheesy, but it impresses me sometimes what humans can do with minimal tools/supplies (though 15K is a fair bit of moolah, I have to admit, but you know what I mean).

Probably why I like all them "survive in the wild" shows on the Discovery Channel.

Lightman

Simply amazing. Magic is the word. Those would make some awesome wallpapers. :)

dicknervous

How long are these exposure times?

WEGGLES90

Most scientific grade cameras cool to a range of -29C to -50C using a pelt.-based cooling system. You should see the in vivo images of probes & cells glowing in mice & rats with these systems.

liveallnight

@Lightman: Bear Grylls would probably rig up some kind of fresnel-lensed telescope using frog eyes and palm branches

lpranal

Very, very nice photographs. Well done, gents.

JDisnidiet

@WEGGLES90: I prefer not to use that old "let me google that for you" insult, so here's a wiki!

[en.wikipedia.org]

(And now I'm going to look up how to hot link in html!)

max crabb

@Lightman: definitely a minimal setup - you'd expect to see these kinds of images from NASA or the ESA, not some guy in his backyard doing it for fun with tools available to any consumer. But I get the spirit of your comment :)

thejackamo

I bet this will be one of Obama's questionnaire to NASA: Is the Hubble worth the price?

tobedetermined

Why again do we pay NASA?

Klappstuhl

@lpranal: And Les Stroud would hunt down and kill Bear in his native environment... a hotel.

max crabb

Post-processing in Photoshop eh?
Highly Suspicious

j/k That's freaking awesome.

admoseremic

@max crabb:

It just says several minutes to a few hours. Not very specific. :[

WEGGLES90

did he just use a visual light camera or did he also use infrared camera or x-ray camera to capture all these images?? it would be cool if he can capture all those different spectrum and show the world what a limited budget can do..... then every college or university's astronomy dept can actually show it to their students

odobo

so does this mean I should put my d40 in the fridge to take better night shots?

Matt B

OLD TECHNOLOGY IS OLD. This guy is just doing what every Astronomy CCD has done for the last whatever 20 years.

You know the original logitech quick cam? Its CCD was also used in those old B/W digital telescope cameras you could buy and it was cooled to -20c to eliminate noise.

SirDrinksalot

@WEGGLES90: Well, just like humans no two photographs (circumstances) are the same!

max crabb

Mr. Diaz,
You know I can always tell when you post a story without even looking at the name at the top. You always post intelligent, well written thought provoking posts. I just wanted to say thanks for maintaining high standards. I appreciate your posts!

antitrust311

beautiful pix

sarwatmj

@antitrust311: Good to hear from you, Jesus' mother. Have you actually read his posts? They are full of errors, bad English and garbled logic. He cannot tell $3.5 from $3.5 million. This post, for example, has a sentence fragment in it. Some of the worst writing on the interwebs is posted under his byline.

Most say it doesn't matter how badly he garbles English. They may be correct. But it is wrong to state that he writes well or that he has standards of any sort.

JDisnidiet

@Klappstuhl:

So we can pictures of wood on Mars. Something they won't tell us about. SFW.

[thecrit.com]

Bodie1550

must... have... as... wallpaper... dude seriously make a merchant site and give the whole lot for 5 bucks with a paypal option and you will be RICH!

1. wallpaper...
2. ?????
3. profit!

sakko

@dominar: What, Jesus made a typo? Stop the freakin' presses! antitrust311 thinks he is infallible.

JDisnidiet

@max crabb: doing textbook HTML won't help you here, you have to do the normal html tags but not close them and move to a new line (i.e. no >). I only bother using HTML when I want to post a pic, doing it for links on this site is a PITA.

bpapa9013

Truly beautiful. I so want one.

Kaiser

Did I miss something? You reference his partner Noel Carboni and then mention a Neil later on? Different person or typo?

dominar

@max crabb: Took the words right out of my mouth. I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows that...

Bear Grylls = Asshat.

bpapa9013

@max crabb; @lpranal:

No, Les stroud would be figuring out a way to develop a pinhole camera to take pictures of the sun, while Bear would be squeezing water from Les' feces into his mouth to demonstrate what you can do if you're really parched.

bilups

@Lightman:

You know, I'm with there. And boy oh boy, do I enjoy those shows.

CustomFirmware

@enchantedgoose: can you read?

Do you think that Hubble's photographs are not post-processed.

Read. Learn. Comment.

Jesus Diaz

ok so basically the pictures are just photoshopped? okay back to hubble...

enchantedgoose

@max crabb: dude... mancrush much? Those who can, do. those who can't, criticize.

If you actually watch the show it's pretty easy to tell for yourself what's real and what's staged. As for getting help, staying in hotels... it's reality TV, anyone who believes that it goes down exactly like the producers would have you believe is the real asshat.

But if you get off on being an armchair survivalist, debating about who can beat up who, that's your bag.

lpranal

@Bodie1550:
Oh, if I only had a nickle for every time I had wood on Mars.

Slartibartfast

@latterman:
Thanks, I was having trouble with that. Wouldn't you get jumpy, smeary pictures that other way?

Slartibartfast

These are absolutely wonderful images; there no doubt about that. It should be noted however, that each and every one of these photographs is of a -relatively- large, -relatively- bright, deep space object. They have been favorites for astrophotographers for years.

The quality of these beautiful images, taken with an modest 11" telescope, should in no way infer some kind of superiority over the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope or any other large Earth-based telescope for that matter.

For more fantastic amateur and professional astrophotography, see the following links.

[www.astropix.com]

[www.rc-astro.com]

[starmatt.com]

[www.galaxyphoto.com]

MichaelS

Dugg...

TJ

@JDisnidiet:
very few wasted moves: antitrust311 lines 'em up; JDisnidiet knocks 'em down.

Slartibartfast

My cat wears that galaxy on the top right on his collar. Seriously, though, all images from nasa missions are photoshopped/manipulated in some way or another. Composites of many photos with enhanced colorization, etc. Tough to tell what you would REALLY see out your window if you were flying around up there. Maybe a toolbox from the latest shuttle mission?

Sora57

@Slartibartfast: I also think wood on Mars is very nice.

Waka in Japan

@JDisnidiet: Seriously what are you in third grade. You gonna tattle tell on some one while your at it?

antitrust311

@JDisnidiet: I said Mr. Diaz, because there is this little thing called respect. Maybe you've heard of it? Secondly he isn't a citizen of the United States and previously lived in Spain, so I am going to make a guess here and say that his first language probably isn't English! Have you ever attempted to write a paper or anything in a foreign language? I'm betting not! I just returned from working in Japan for almost 5 years and let me say I am so thankful to not write in Japanese anymore. I also have had colleagues and fellow students who didn't speak English well and they did the best they could. So I think he does a great job compared to the other bloggers whose native language is English. I enjoy posts like this that shows people think outside the box. If you don't like what he writes then don't read it and then bag on the people who do.

antitrust311

@max crabb: Fuck yeah.

+ Watch video

devilonsteroids

@lpranal: I just noted my preference in a one sentence joke. You called me an asshat, and an armchair survivalist...

max crabb

I want one. :/

aaj111

@antitrust311: Try that response again, this time using English.

JDisnidiet

@Jesus Diaz: Learn English, then write.@antitrust311: Aw, isn't that precious. Lil' Antitrust struggled in another country. That's just so cute. Therefore, Jesus gets to write in pseudo-English, and he tries so hard. He obviously never heard of hiring a proof reader or using a spell check program. Nope, he's an immigrant and publishes his drivel on the internet. Therefore anything goes, and we should praise him. I think not - he is illiterate in at least one langauage, and if he wrote in Spanish, then we could check his work in that language.

I truly don't care what you do at work, as I don't have to read it in English or Japanese. And since you are a betting person, what can I say, but you lose.

Glad to hear Jesus is from Spain - I was concerned that Mexico shared a border with Blighty.

And, I shall continue to read and comment on Jesus' writing - at least for now, this is a free country.

JDisnidiet

Being an amateur astronomer I can say these shots are not hard to produce given the right equipment and time. These are totally awesome shots. Very well done, but not really news worthy in astronomy geek circles.

shaithis

@Sora57:

These images are pretty much what you would see if you were capable of seeing these objects with the naked eye. The H9C is a "one shot color" camera. Basically a standard bayer filter CCD like what you'd find in a prosumer digital camera.

In fact, if you took a 15 minute exposure of Pleiades (the one with all the blue stars) using a Canon XTi with a 600mm lens you'd get similar results, tho extremely noisy and less detailed. It takes many more exposures and processing to bring out the wisps and the detail of the above photo.

In most cases, Photoshop is just used to adjust luminance, saturation or color balance when it needs to be corrected. Sometimes it's used to tighten stars or add those pretty star bursts (not on these photos tho). Sometimes it's used to do a layered image when you have a really bright object next to a dim one and you can't get the dim one without blowing out the bright one. Most photographers try to stay true to the original.

UD.

UberDuper

RE: The new title

While spectacular, these images do not rival images captured by Hubble.

UberDuper

@Matt B:

No. The title is terrible and misleading.

UberDuper

@WEGGLES90:
Most likely between 30 seconds and 2 minutes per exposure. Just many many exposures. All the images are stacked and processed with various post-processing applications.

UberDuper

The Hyperstar, made by Starizona, replaces the secondary mirror in nexstar equipped celestron telescopes. At f2, the exposures probably range between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. But they likely take 50 to 100 images (or much much more) and combine them in the post-processing to bring out detail and reduce noise. It's a great setup for wide field imaging since it greatly reduces the focal length of the telescope. The Hyperstar and H9C aren't attached in that picture of the dome.

Would be nice to hear more details about the post-processing. Photoshop alone doesn't do all the work.

UD.

UberDuper

These guys are backyard astrophotograpy rock stars. But we pay NASA (what little we really do pay them) for stuff like the Deep Field images, and details of the Eagle Nebula dubbed The Pillars of Creation. Relatively speaking, these guys are taking pictures of the big close stuff. Which doesn't diminish the fact that they're doing extraordinary work. And whoever was suspicious of photoshop post processing, what they're doing is mostly stacking multiple, very long exposures and noise reduction. It takes a long time to collect that much light.

GemmaLich

Post processing in Photoshop means that they take hundreds to thousands of photos and then stack them to increase the detail and the amount of light gathered.

It does NOT mean that the photos are 'manipulated'.

TimOBrien

I think NASA's now saying after reading this... DAMN WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT? Simply stellar images. Those are some of the nicest images I've ever seen. Uber Kudos to those chaps to keep up the good work!

CuthbertEurytus

@JDisnidiet: You sir, are an ill-mannered douche bag.

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

@UberDuper: Thanks for the good info. I'm not suggesting anyone is creating material that is not there-- I do believe that that the photogs try to accurately present what is out there. It's just that with long exposures and color enhancing and layering photos to show dim objects otherwise hidden by bright objects, the naked eye would not see what these cameras and their processing are capable of displaying. And that's fine with me.

Sora57

@JDisnidiet: The internet is a free country? Assuming that was just a poor analogy and you do not in fact believe that the internet is completely contained within America, allow me to point out that the freedom you enjoy is at the whim of the almighty banhammer. I would describe it more as a benevolent dictatorship than a "free country".

Gann

@max crabb: woa woa woa, not an asshat, just an armchair survivalist. By definition of what you said, calling someone out on stuff you don't do yourself. But then again, I don't jump out of planes or swim in the amazon either.

I totally would, given the chance, but modern life and all its comforts and obligations bla bla blah. Just send me to new zealand, for the love of god!

lpranal

@Gann: I was referring to the country in which I live. You know the one, where Al Gore invented the internet, before eating a planet, er, fighting global warming.

So bring on the banhammer, as you call it, if you think that would do any good. Even if I didn't point out the terrible writing that goes on here, I could still read it and know that it was bad. And keep defending Jesus - it endears you to the wise, literate and powerful, and we all know how they do so like toadies.

JDisnidiet

@JDisnidiet: I suppose it wouldn't matter to you if I pointed out that nothing I said actually defended Jesus.

Gann

The shots are beautiful and what this guy achieved is amazing. But you can't really compare the beauty of these shots to what NASA captures with Hubble. The images taken by Hubble are just the tip of a science juggernaut. The data that's generated by "big science" reveals insights into the universe beyond beautiful wallpapers. For example, Hubble can capture images from the nascent universe shortly after the Big Bang. Not sure how far back in time you can go from your backyard.

frigg

@devilonsteroids: Nice!

photophile

@antitrust311: comedy gold..

Pixlmonkey

@MrBlastotron: [www.dailymail.co.uk]

That's not to say that the other allegations aren't a bit questionable. But I suppose the show is "how to survive if you're stuck in the wild" and not "I totally survived in the wild doing this stuff." More suggestions or alternatives rather than what would / could actually happen.

MrBlastotron

@max crabb: Not to add fuel to any of this absurd fire (particularly in a post about something as amazing as these pictures) but if any of you actually looked into why 'Bear' and crew were taken to hotels you'd realize it was generally because one of the crew or the host had gotten sick on the show, resulting in a quick trip to a hospital to make sure he needed no medical attention and the aforementioned stay at the hotel (motel.) You'll also notice that at the beginning of each episode there is a disclaimer that wasn't there before. Additionally, if you look at Bear's other achievements, it's a safe assumption that he's done quite enough to prove that he's got the cajones to do marvelous things (including a couple spots in the Guiness Book of Records if I'm not mistaken.) To be fair, I'm not for or against him v. Les Stroud... but thought I'd mention what happened since no one seems to do any real fact searching before slandering people.

MrBlastotron

@antitrust311:
At first I thought you were sarcastic but apparently not...
So, what's with the gushing?? over this story? really?
He is Jesus, but he is not THAT Jesus, jeesh...

001

I think if I was him I'd save up some more cash so I could make the dome rotate as well, that's got to be a pain in the ass, but then again he is already way more patient than I am (I'd never have the patience to build it my self in the first place).

WCD_Thor