Imaging of astronomical objects or large regions of the sky.
Questions tagged [astrophotography]
42 questions
31
votes
5 answers
How do we know what the Milky Way looks like?
There is no way (with the current technology) that we could send a probe outside the Milky Way in a reasonable amount of time. So, how do we know what the Milky Way looks like, and what factors do scientists consider to generate an image of it?
Tdonut
- 2,335
24
votes
5 answers
What do the colors in false color images represent?
Every kid who first looks into a telescope is shocked to see that everything's black and white. The pretty colors, like those in this picture of the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy (M64), are missing:
The person running the telescope will explain to them…
Patches
23
votes
4 answers
How did they take photos of Jupiter?
How did they take photos of Jupiter - I mean Jupiter is illuminated and that's a lot of light to produce. Am I missing something, and there was some sort of dark photo technology used, or was there simply enough light from Sun to begin with? Or is…
user56328
- 241
22
votes
5 answers
Can the "Milky Way" galaxy be seen by the naked eye in a clear sky?
Is this photo "real"? Are the stars not super-imposed in the image?
Ian
21
votes
2 answers
Land proportions in NASA blue marble photographs
What is the explanation for the apparent size difference of North America in these two photos from NASA?
Image source
Image source
Simplex
- 363
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18
votes
8 answers
How can we take pictures of something billion of light years away?
I have had this question in my mind for a long time, I thought you guys might enlighten me easily.
I am confused about some space photographs and claims like "this galaxy is 13 billions light years away from us.": how we can take the photograph of…
Tolga Evcimen
- 349
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14
votes
5 answers
Where can I find public domain astronomical pictures?
Where can I find public domain astronomical pictures of nebulae, stars, etc. that can be freely used?
Phira
- 2,102
8
votes
1 answer
What Causes the Noise Floor of Modern CCDs?
CCDs are getting pretty good these days, but all systems are subject to noise. A typical value for a CCD seems to be 20 electrons RMS per pixel. This article from qsimaging.com says
CCD Read Noise is a fundamental trait of CCDs, from the one in…
Chris Mueller
- 7,233
8
votes
2 answers
Why do astronomers never put a scale on their photographs?
Why do astronomers never put a scale on their photographs? I have been looking at images of the Bird nebula, a collision of three galaxies, but in none of the dozen or so that I have found, nor in the accompanying text, is there any scale to show…
Harry Weston
- 740
8
votes
1 answer
Could the black hole photo be a gravastar?
Mazur-Mottola gravastars would in many ways appear identical to black holes.
Does the new radio-photograph of M87* taken by the Event Horizon Telescope eliminate M87* as a gravastar candidate, and discredit the gravastar model?
Or would a…
cowlinator
- 855
7
votes
1 answer
When taking a sequence of exposures for stacking/coaddition, what dither patterns are most commonly desired? Why?
When taking a sequence of exposures for stacking/coaddition, what dither patterns are most commonly desired? When visiting a telescope, what default dither patterns would a visiting astronomer like to see in the observing software (assuming custom…
EHN
- 2,021
6
votes
1 answer
What sort of equipment would I need to take a photo like this?
I'm interested in doing some astrophotography and I'm looking into the equipment needed to get a photo like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cscunha1984/6619321531/in/faves-heyvian/
I'm not looking for brands or anything, just the recommendations…
Vian Esterhuizen
- 175
5
votes
3 answers
How to get started in Astronomy (UK based)
I have always been interested in space and astronomy (in my youth - I wanted to be an astronaut).
However for various reasons, I never quite got started. I now want to get started - small but steadily. I live in a city, ergo: light pollution is a…
voidstar
5
votes
2 answers
Exoplanet surface detail: Limitations on size of space telescope array
How big could an array of space telescopes acting as an interferometer be ?
How big would it have to be to resolve exoplanet surface detail the size of Iceland at a distance of 100 light years ?
Msw
- 151
4
votes
1 answer
Would Jupiter seen from near the planet itself, looks like it does in pictures?
Jupiter picture processed by one of citizen scientists
The picture above is artificially processed by one of the citizen scientists working for NASA. It was composed from monochromatic pictures taken by the space probe Juno, flying in the Jupiter…
kakaz
- 2,133