Photographing Astronomical Events

My husband Steve is a serious amateur astronomer.  He owns a large telescope, subscribes to astronomy magazines, and follows all space-related news with great interest.  Our calendar is marked months, or even years, in advance with important astronomical events that he wants to view. 

As you can imagine, Steve was very excited about two recent and significant astronomical events: the annular eclipse and the transit of Venus.  With a lot of planning and a bit of preparation, Steve took some amazing photographs of each event.  Before I share how he did this, I need to mention some safety considerations when taking photographs of the sky: 

• It is unsafe to look directly at the sun, even through a telescope. 
• It is unsafe to look at the sun through the viewfinder of a camera.
• Pointing a camera directly at the sun could damage the camera by burning the sensor or cracking the lens.

Great photographs don't happen accidentally.  The first step to taking good pictures of astronomical events is to be in the right place at the right time.  Do research to learn where the best viewing location is.  (Steve needed to drive four hours to be in the path of maximum totality for the annular eclipse.)  Once you arrive, allow yourself plenty of time to scout a good location and set up equipment.  Steve took both sets of photographs in public parks.  Obviously, finding the best possible view is a priority, but also consider the following:

• Level ground makes things easier.
• Avoid taking photographs over blacktop, as the heat waves can affect your pictures.
• Make sure vegetation won't be in the way or that people won't be walking in front of your camera.

Steve usually allows 45 minutes (excluding any necessary drive time) to scout a location and set up.

For both the annular eclipse and the transit of Venus, Steve began by attaching his DSLR camera to the telescope using a t-ring adaptor.  He put a solar filter over the end of the telescope, which made it safe to view the sun.  He focused on the sun and took test shots to figure out the correct exposure. 

Annular Eclipse

For this event, Steve found a location that gave him the best view of the western sky.  He tethered his camera to a laptop and used the computer to trigger the shots.  Each shot automatically downloaded to the computer so that he could check the results and adjust the focus or exposure.  Several family members (and interested strangers) were with him, so having the images go to the computer screen meant that everyone could see what was happening without waiting for a turn looking through the telescope.  He took pictures over approximately a three-hour time period.

Transit of Venus

The transit of Venus took place during Steve's first week at a new job in San Francisco.  Fortunately, his employers were interested in seeing the transit and accompanied him to a public park!  Because the transit of Venus took place while the sun was fairly high in the sky, it wasn't too hard finding a place in San Francisco where he could view it.  Again, he took pictures over about three hours.
 

If you are interested in taking sky photos but don't have a telescope or other special equipment, here are a few ideas:

Photograph star trails

• Set your camera on a tripod.  Using the self-timer or a remote, set the camera to an extremely long exposure.  My simple point-and-shoot has a setting for a 15-minute exposure.  

Photograph a star field

• Set your camera on a tripod.  Using a wide angle lens, set the camera for a high ISO and a 5-6 second exposure.  The shorter exposure will ensure that the stars don't create trails.

I hope these ideas help you the next time you photograph astronomical events.  When it's time to scrap those photos, be sure to check out the fabulous products in the Space and NASA section of the Scrapjazz store!