The Moon (again), and a little mystery

[James G]

Had a couple of clear nights so took a few more moon shots. It was exceptionally still for the first sequence and very little atmospheric disturbance.

I finally decided to get a (second hand) 2x doubler, specifically for my astronomy images. So now I've boosted my 500mm Sigma to 1000mm and adding in the 1.6 crop factor of the 7Dmk2 a virtual 1600mm. I'm probably at the working limit now regarding stability and vibration control using a standard heavy duty Manfrotto tripod. Further improvements to the rig would have to be some form of tracking mount, but that will have to wait for a while.

The images below are each a sequense of 10 images, stacked, aligned and then blended for sharpness.
For comparison I also processed one group as a stacked, aligned and the 'opacity' blended set. To my eye, opacity blending produced a slightly softer image.

One image, showed a mysterious anomaly. There is a triangular (delta?) oblect in the bottom right quarted of the image. Given i'ts relative size, and that the lense is focussed to infinity I'm thinking it has to be an aircraft. I'm open to any other theories..especially as halloween is looming

#1 Gibbous Moon (Composite Stacked & Blended for Sharpness)


#2 Gibbous Moon (Composite Stacked & Opacity Blended)


#3 Full Moon (Composite Stacked & Blended for Sharpness)


#4 Full Moon (Composite Stacked & Blended for Sharpness)


#5 Full Moon, Single image with Mystery Object!



C&C welcome

Canon 7DM2 with Sigma 50-500mm+2x Sigma Extender. Mounted on Manfrotto heavy duty CF Tripod. Camera settings Manual, Mirror lock with cable release, (No IS), Spot metering, ISO 100, F16, 1/125s

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[chauncey]

You've piqued my curiosity when you indicated that some are stacked...
how did you alter the focus point?

The side lighting in the first two really accentuates the craters...interesting.
All things considered, they are well done.

The "delta shaped thingy"...you should realize that it's a forward base for an alien invasion.

[James G]

William, thanks. I'm using CS6 and the capture process was to shoot about 10 images, allowing enough time between them for the camera/lens to stop vibrating after mirror lock up. (Usually about 5 secs).

The problem is then that each of the captures suffer from atmospheric distortions so different parts of the image vary slightly in sharpness.

I've been experimenting (for years it seems) to get sharper initial images and then to apply effective pp sharpening to optimise detail.
Normally, I would then load into the stack, then reorder them images so that the 'sharpest' are at the bottom of the stack and then opacity blend each of the layers from the bottom up on a % basis of 100,50,33,25 20,17,14,12,11,10. This reduces the effect of noise, and tends to 'average out' the effects of atmospheric turbulence.

So, regarding getting the best detail, the biggest factor is image size in the frame. Hence my use of the doubler.

I decided to try using the PS stacking softwre script combined with the auto image blend option as an experiment.

I used the inbuilt Photoshop script to load the images into a stack (ie layer stack) with the option to automaticallly align'. I then ran the Auto Blend layer option to create a top layer where the infocus/most sharp elements of each layer are merged for a final blend. What did surprise me was that it actually worked since, as you correctly point out, all images were technically at infinity!

I sometimes use Combine ZP to stack images of fungi, flowers etc as an alternative to PS because I can select the stacking method. I think I'll try putting a sequence though and see how they are handled

The "delta shaped thingy"...you should realize that it's a forward base for an alien invasion.

you never know... and since the Vulcan has stopped flying I can't think of a delta wing that is normally in our airspace (airshows excepting).

[Steaphany]

Nice captures.

Have a try with DeepSkyStacker & RegiStax, both are free astronomical imaging stacking tools designed to compensate for atmospheric and optic system distortions and deficiencies.

[James G]

Following Williams question about stacking images of the moon, I've just run a sequence of images through Combine ZP and generated three 'stacked' images using different stacking algorithms.

It produces three slightly different images, but does seem to have handled the fact that all images were at infinity.

#1 a single image used in the stack


#2 10 images stacked in Combine ZP using a Pyramidal Stack algorithm


#3 10 images stacked in Combine ZP using a Weighted Average Stack algorithm


#4 10 images stacked in Combine ZP using a Pyramidal Max Contrast algorithm

[James G]

Thanks Steaphany,

Have a try with DeepSkyStacker

I have Deepskystacker and have used it for stacking multiple images of 'star fields. I never thought to use it for moon shots because it was not suitable for processing large (Planetary) objects. Will give it a try

[DickyOZ]

Great results, I had never thought of stacking moon shots.

Dicky.

[IzzieK]

James! all great shots! That little black object in the last of the first batch is a witch. You've missed the broomsticks.