Due to the considerable noise in my earlier post, I decided to acquire new data. I made some changes, and managed to get better magnification. I'm really quite thrilled about this!
Unlike my previous attempt, this one actaully looks better in All Sizes.
This photo was taken on February 20, 2009.
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Comments and faves
grrlscout, purpleslog, jpstanley, Viorica G, and 111 other people added this photo to their favorites.
noonespillow [deleted] (81 months ago | reply)
Tis beautiful..
grrlscout (81 months ago | reply)
It's awesome. Really amazing.
jpstanley (81 months ago | reply)
Nice dust lanes, and the stars are tack-sharp. Looks like the use of the bandage to hold the lens at 300mm was effective.
Which shots did you end up using? Before or after removing the dew-covered UV filter?
Viorica G (81 months ago | reply)
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!
FANTASTIC SHOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hugs and fave
Have an AMAZING WEEK my friend :)
dezsö [deleted] (81 months ago | reply)
found in flickr’s explore interestingness, a favourite...well done!
flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
makelessnoise (81 months ago | reply)
Thanks folks!
Jeremy - lol. Yeah, the bandage did the trick! I ended up using the best 8 (or so) images. They were all shots that didn't have the UV filter.
Anima Fotografie (81 months ago | reply)
The World Through My Eyes
Wish I could do this with my gear - great work...
www.flickr.com/groups/outofthisworld/
Join my group!
ehoyer (81 months ago | reply)
wow! beautiful shot.
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Seen in The World Through My Eyes - Post 2 / Comment Any 1 (?)
LostPizzaBoy (81 months ago | reply)
Front page of explore always has beautiful shots, but this hits a real chord with me. Well done.
Gallo Quirico (81 months ago | reply)
Beautiful M31
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Seen on the explore page. (?)
chipdatajeffb (81 months ago | reply)
You should be VERY happy with this, it's a keeper! Great job, Brian!
wagsdot911 (81 months ago | reply)
my mouth dropped on this one.. amazing! Good job!
daniel shiu (81 months ago | reply)
Wow! fantastic!
makelessnoise (81 months ago | reply)
The positive reaction is really exciting. I'm glad so many enjoyed this!
LostPizza - Did you see this on the front page of explore?!
Jeff - Thanks. It's been a tricky target for me, but I managed to work out the kinks. I'm glad you approve. Your work is an inspiration to me.
wags - Thanks for this and all your other nice comments.
Gronson (81 months ago | reply)
Fantastic!
Breno Peck (81 months ago | reply)
You made that with a 300mm lens?
How did you manage to get so close?! Is this a crop?
DayTripper (Tom) (81 months ago | reply)
That shot is awesome!!! Just beautiful!!!
makelessnoise (81 months ago | reply)
Breno - It's not much of a crop, actually (though a little - ~10% maybe). The object is just that big!
It spans an enormous 3(plus) full degrees in the sky - more than 6 full moons across. That is really saying something considering that it is 2.5 million light years away - "unimaginably gigantic" isn't even close to a sufficient description.
SteelePop.. (81 months ago | reply)
that is truely amazing
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mblaz (81 months ago | reply)
wow fantastic shot!
If you want you can post your picture in our new group
Virtual Picture Presentation
bksecretphoto (81 months ago | reply)
Great shot and working out the kinks. Quite an image concidering you took it though the atmosphere. ;-)
makelessnoise (81 months ago | reply)
Bk - Thanks! Yeah, I should try standing on my toes, next time. Actually, I was at an elevation of 6600 feet when I acquired this shot, so it could have been worse, huh?
tr1307 (81 months ago | reply)
Great shot of M31. Definitly a favourite.
Must get a clocked drive some day.
{1:1:1}
copeg (81 months ago | reply)
Great shot! With a 300mm?!? Dang. And looking at your other shot and what you went through for that one, wow. Very well done! I applaud you.
makelessnoise (81 months ago | reply)
tr1307 - Thanks! Glad you like it.
copeg - I really appreciate that. These shots are more involved than most people realize. Thanks for noticing!
davesbit (81 months ago | reply)
very cool, nice clear night, looks like your tracking was dead on!
great shot!
dewaperang vol.2 (81 months ago | reply)
cuantikk....=beautifull..;)
kostaki (80 months ago | reply)
Absolutely amazing. You did one hell of a job eliminating the noise over your previous attempt. How did you do it. This is beautiful!
You just used a 300mm lens? Possibly the the standard 75-300mm zoom from Canon?
makelessnoise (80 months ago | reply)
Thanks! I'm not sure how consicely I can relay what I did, but I'll try.
I have the 70-300mm IS lens. In the first image, I used the lens at the 70mm setting. Why? Because when you extend the lens to the 300mm position, and then point the lens up and let go, then the weight of the glass causes it to retract to the 70mm position. Somewhat inconveniently, most of the stars are "up." This resulted in some heavy cropping in post-process.
On my next outing, I bought some self-adhesive compression bandage (the kind that a doctor would apply to keep gauze in place) and wrapped it around my lens in the 300mm position. That way 30-40% of the CCD chip was catching photons from Andromeda, instead of the 5% I got before. That cuts waaaay down on the noise since I'm using more pixels to 'describe' the image
Danny Flippo (80 months ago | reply)
Nice image!
Leviathor (80 months ago | reply)
I've faved and tagged this one "QUALITY" and am hoping you will join and post it to:
www.flickr.com/groups/quality_photography/
where photographic quality such as this gets the recognition it deserves and inspires others...
QUALITY!
Please read (and heed) the comment entitled "YOUR Responsibility" on the Group's opening page.
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Seen on your photo stream. (?)
makelessnoise (80 months ago | reply)
Leviathor - I'm honored by the invite. It's been added.
madcurtis (79 months ago | reply)
cograts on this wonderful shot of andromeda, i have never had a bit of luck on this one it's just to big.
makelessnoise (79 months ago | reply)
Thanks, madcurtis. I struggled with it for a while, too.
anthonyarrigo98 (77 months ago | reply)
Sweet Shot.
Where'd you take this from?
makelessnoise (77 months ago | reply)
AA - I took this from the parking lot of a city park in Bountiful, Utah.
iamunknown_wiki (73 months ago | reply)
It is very beautiful, I'm glad you were able to take the photograph while still in a city. And thank you very much for licensing this image as CC-BY-2.0. Your photograph is now uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, a database of freely reusable media files, where it can be used by Wikipedia or other free content projects. Again, thank you!
ComputerHotline (67 months ago | reply)
Hello
This photo should be used in class, at school !
Please add your photo to Photos pour l'école / Photos for school
Read the group rules first.
You can add this photo in more groupes :
www.flickr.com/groups/25191652@N00/
www.flickr.com/groups/astronomy/
www.flickr.com/groups/astronomia/
www.flickr.com/groups/58792828@N00/
www.flickr.com/groups/98098255@N00/
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www.flickr.com/groups/longexposure/
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*Cyrus`* (66 months ago | reply)
stunning shoot !!!!!!!!!!
surfelixe (65 months ago | reply)
can i do the same with my sony alpha 100?? great photo the besttt =)
makelessnoise (65 months ago | reply)
surfelixe - The short answer is 'yes.' The real answer is 'yes, with the right equipment.' You'd need a telephoto lens (on the order of 300mm) and some way to accommodate the motion of the sky (which is magnified when you zoom in).
It's simple in concept, difficult in practice. Some of the obstacles are the following: You have to have some way to track the object you're trying to capture since it can take minutes or hours to get usable images (due to the relative faintness of stars and distant galaxies). In this case, my 20D was on an equatorial telescope mount with a built in motor which turns at the same rate as the sky. It's also surprisingly hard to focus in the dark. It's also hard to find dark place since most cities are now overrun by light pollution, obscuring the night sky and wasting billions in electricity. Also, once you've captured the images, you'll want to do some photoshop work since they'll be rather 'noisy' images, and probably quite faint. All this, and say nothing of needing clear skies on a moonless night during the time of year that the object you want to capture is high in the sky.
If you're interested in dabbling in astrophotography, start by shooting a full moon. You'll just need a telephoto lens. It's bright enough that you can autofocus on it, and you can get a great exposure with only a tripod - or hand-held if you've a steady hand.
surfelixe (65 months ago | reply)
obrigado makelessnoise! mas tenho mesmo de comprar uma lente de 300mm? eu tenho um telescopio o astromaster 70EQ que dá para ligar á makina com t adapter e t ring com Focal Length de
900mm. é possivel tirar a foto a partir daí? e existe esse tipo de motor para qualquer telescopio para virar ao mesmo tempo do céu?
já agora sou de Portugal e tu? brasil?
obrigado
ComputerHotline (65 months ago | reply)
Thanks for licensing this image as CC "by" !
Your photo is uploaded here :
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Brian_-_Andr omeda,_again...
under the terms of the Creative Commons "by" license.
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http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php?t erms=&edit=yes&com=yes&page=1 (?)
makelessnoise (65 months ago | reply)
surfelix - Nao e' preciso que compre uma lente assim. Uma coisa importante e' que Andromeda e' GRANDE. Egual a seis lunas cheias lado ao lado. Um telescopio de 900mm nao iria contem Andromeda entirinho. Com respeito ao motor pra sue telescopio, depende na fabricador dele. Boa sorte, amigo.
Sou Norte Americano. Faz mais que dez anos que morei em Brasil, e Eu estava la por dois anos, so. Por isso meu Portuguese e' um poco estranho - faz muito tempo que nao escrevo nessa lingua. ;)
surfelixe (65 months ago | reply)
mas escreves muito bem!=) parabens! obrigado
Megharah [deleted] (64 months ago | reply)
awesome shot! im green with envy :D:D:D
But.. why u hide the EXIF?? im very curious, anyway, its wonderful!
makelessnoise (64 months ago | reply)
Meghara - Thanks! I'm glad you like it. The EXIF isn't present because that image is not a single exposure. I stacked several frames in photoshop, which lost the EXIF data. If I remember correctly, it was 32 exposures of 30 seconds @ 800 ISO. The aperture would have been about f/5.6 or so. Thanks for asking!
aldarain (59 months ago | reply)
Your Skies album is fantastic , congratulations... :)
makelessnoise (59 months ago | reply)
Aldarain - Thank you! I'm very pleased you like it.
gregpphoto (57 months ago | reply)
AstroP is crazy and you do it really well.
"It's also hard to find dark place since most cities are now overrun by light pollution, obscuring the night sky and wasting billions in electricity."
Yea, someone should go all fight club on them, like at the end. It's absolutely ridiculous this country wastes, and we're all individually guilty as well, but still, it's sad and it shouldn't be allowed to happen. At least you don't live at the butt-nature capital of the country where I do. I'm stuck in between Philly and NYC, right in the middle of smog-america New Jersey. There's nights where I see only a handfull of stars :(