Conjunction images from Newmarket, Brisbane (first time astrophotographer!)

[pistola (Pete)]

Howdy IceInSpace people - first time poster here

Got up early last Saturday for my very first try at basic astrophotography. I drove around for an hour or two the previous Thursday trying to find a decent vantage point near my house - easterly vantage points from the road are few and far between around here. Eventually found a very small vista quite close to my house in Newmarket.

On Saturday morning I was delighted to find there were very few clouds and a beautiful view of the conjunction. Sadly my photographic efforts are reflective of my beginner status. I found it impossible to get a clear focus on the moon. I'm using a Panasonic LX3, a great little camera which, although fully manual, doesn't provide the flexibility to sharply focus using the digital manual focus.

Methinks I'm going to have to upgrade my camera to a full SLR before they get any better than this. Had great fun trying though! Was even more fun whipping out my new Celestron 25x100s for a look at the moon afterwards...

[iceman (Mike)]

Hey Pete, to IceInSpace!

Those images are great for a first time, well done!

Focusing when it's dark can be really tricky - even with DSLR's. You need a bright source of light in the distance that the camera can pick up to focus on.

The Moon, and usually Venus, are perfect targets. You just need to find the spot where the camera will focus on them.

For compact digitals, there might be a manual setting for focus where you can set it to 'infinity'.

[pistola (Pete)]

Hi Mike! Thanks for the warm welcome

I did have the focus set to infinity for many of my photos but the moon was still coming out somewhat blurry. Looking through some of the other conjunction photos, this appears to be a not uncommon problem, even with SLRs. So I think maybe I just need some more practice with the other settings, as well as a sturdier tripod.

Cheers!

[iceman (Mike)]

Oh it could be the longer exposure then.
The shots look pretty well in focus to me, but with a long exposure (depending on your focal length and how long an exposure), the Moon and Planets can move a bit during that time.

Which may be causing it to look a bit out of focus?

Also the bright part will get a bit overexposed, which could have the same effect of looking a bit out of focus.

Either way they look good to me!

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Hi Pete

Super start! I really enjoyed your pics!