Wesley's Tool-Box

Two weeks ago, I bought a Baader Moon & Skyglow filter that supposedly cuts light pollution and enhances contrast of the planets. This was attached to my Canon SX50 HS camera using a 58mm-28mm step-down ring. You can see how this looks like on the left. The filter is relatively inexpensive as far as telescope filters go, but it's still quite a bit of money, so I got a 1.25" one (fits like 28.5mm) instead of getting a 2" one (fits like 48mm) which cost almost twice as much. The 0.5mm difference between the step-down ring and the filter meant that it would not screw on completely, but it works okay.

At dawn today, I tested out its performance by taking the photos of the Jovian system. While it did noticeably cut the background light pollution, the contrast of Jupiter received a modest boost, as compared to my previous non-filtered shots. One thing to note is that, by CalSky's calculations, the Great Red Spot was supposed to be facing the Earth, so I would be able to see it on the lower right area of Jupiter's surface. But apparently, SX50 HS isn't quite powerful enough to bring that detail out clearly at the current distance. A couple of folks suggest that it might be the darker area at the right edge of the lower band - further sessions are needed to verify this. Jupiter should look bigger every day until when it's about 30% bigger on January next year, so that's my best hope for now.

Jupiter: 1200mm (w/ 2x DTC*) - ISO 80 - 1/80s - 22 photos stacked
Moons: 1200mm (w/ 2x DTC) - ISO 1250 - 1/10s - 117 photos stacked
*DTC = Digital Teleconverter. Stacked using RegiStax 6.1.0.8.

Time: 2013-09-04 04:30 KST
Location: Suwon, Korea

Tonight's clear skies gave me a great opportunity to photograph the International Space Station outright. I didn't know what settings to use, however, so I made a guess. It was okay when it was streaking across the western sky with magnitude of around -2. As it went south, it became brighter, and the shots came out a bit too bright.

At least I got a handful of useful glimpses out of it early while using the tripod to stabilize the camera and trying hard to track it with hand. In the end, the trademark solar arrays and the central area where the astronauts are staying were visible - you can see it as something similar to H.

Settings: Canon SX50 HS - 1200mm - ISO 250 - 1/400s
Processing: 5 photos stacked with RegiStax 6.1.0.8
Time: 2013-08-26 20:03 KST

There are two types of blue moon and neither refers to the moon's visible colour. The first one is the full moon that appears for a second time in the same month. The last one of this kind appeared on August 31, 2012, with the next one scheduled for July 31, 2015.

The second one is the third full moon of a season where the season contains four full moons instead of the usual three. The moon I saw today in the early morning is one of such kind. The next one is to show up on May 21, 2016. You can clicked the cropped image above to see the full-resolution version in its 2700x2700 pixel glory.

Settings: Canon SX50 HS - 1200mm (w/ 2x Digital TC) - ISO 80 - 1/400s
Time: 2013-08-21 01:00AM KST

Jupiter is on the top of the list of the stuff I wanted to photograph with Canon SX50 HS because it's relatively big and bright. However, light pollution makes it hard when it's not separated far from the Sun. Luckily, spending vacation in the southeastern coast let me have the opportunity.

I made two series of photographs, first taking fast shots of Jupiter. Then taking longer exposure shots to capture the Galilean moons. Each of the series were stacked using RegiStax 6.1.0.8, and then ultimately put together to form the picture you see above.

Jupiter: 1200mm - ISO 250 - 1/125s, 25 photos stacked
Moons: 1200mm - ISO 3200 - 1/10s, 5 photos stacked
Time: 2013-08-17 04:00 KST
Location: Ulsan, Korea

The photos below are samples of the cropped originals of Jupiter and Galilean moon shots.

Proving that the prediction data from CalSky is pretty accurate, I was able to capture the International Space Station (ISS) making a pass in front of the Sun using my Canon SX50 HS with my hand-made sun filter yesterday afternoon. My dad was watching the phenomenon with binoculars next to me, but the transit only took a little more than a second, so neither of us were sure of observing it until the proof was found in the captures. A total of three photos contained the silhouette of ISS in the backdrop of the Sun.



Clicking the above shows the Sun (30 frames from the observation stacked with RegiStax 6.1.0.8 ) and ISS captures composed into one in its original resolution.

Clicking the bottom shows the original frames of the capture.
Settings: Canon SX50 HS - 1200mm - ISO 250 - 1/1600s
Time: 2013-08-16 16:50:38 KST
Location: Near Bomunho Lake, Gyeongju, Korea