Here is my first attempt at deep sky with my new (second-hand) Canon SX530HS compact camera. I shot this with a beta version of AstroKam that I hope to release soon. I only used about a third of the optical zoom range so there is plenty of scope (pun) to chase smaller targets.
Still messing with settings for it but I think it compares well with a similar shot I took with my Canon 1100D below.
Here are the first results from my upcoming SpeedCam app which turns any camera capable of shooting video into a radar speed gun. The graph below is a summary of traffic speed in my street over a 7 hour period. SpeedCam also saves a picture of each vehicle with its speed printed.
Dave Lochhaas kindly gave me permission to show his first published video using Dave’s Motion Stacker. Great to see how they trace out rollercoaster tracks in the sky.
This is a first test of my latest software. It allows you to scan multiple videos and only select scenes with action. Great for subjects like bird feeders above.
This was taken with my Coronado PST solar scope from Inverness, Scotland over 8 hours of sunshine. It repeats a couple of times at different speeds so you can watch the action.
Here is the first result from my latest app. It processes video of the sky and adds color trails to all the birds. Click on the image to view the video.
Painting by Birds over Inverness – 18th March 2019
I have been working on a new app that will automatically take astro images overnight and below are some early results. All taken with a Canon 1100D and Sigma 70-300mm lens, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in StarTools.
AstroTour interfaces with PHD2 autoguider (including dithering), All Sky Plate Solver for accurate targeting and digiCamControl for capture. digiCamControl allows a wide range of Canon and Nikon DSLRs to be controlled as well as some Sony and other cameras.
M42
M45
M31
M80
I just treated myself to a second hand Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro DG zoom lens for my Canon 1100D and this was my first shot.
Another 3D spectrogram of gulls but this time taken with my £20 Adokey voice recorder.
Click on the image or here to view the interactive 3D version. Zoom with your mouse wheel and click-drag to rotate.
This tutorial shows you how to easily make interactive 3D Spectrogams like this using Audacity. The source files are zipped up here which includes the “spectrogram.html” file you will need for your own spectrogram.
Click image for interactive 3D version
The 3D graphics are powered by the Babylon.js framework which does all the hard stuff for you.
1. Select Your Audio:- Choose the audio you want to display, optimise it and save it to “original.wav”.
2. Grab Audacity Screenshots:- Load “original.wav” and show its color spectrogram. Hide all toolbars and zoom in to fill track with audio information. Use Audacity>Help>Tools>Screenshot Tools to take a color screenshot. Change spectrogram to monochrome and take another screenshot.
