How to Photograph a Lunar Eclipse | Tutorial | High Point Scientific

[@jcaff6963]

Thanks, I'll be shooting the full eclipse on 11-1-22 morning. Definitely use your exposure tool.

[@jimintheweb632]

Thank you for the view. No moon here till 9:15pm P.S.T.

[@augiet65]

Can you do a tutorial on how to photograph through clouds? I would have more opportunities if I could figure that one out.

[@corydavis4121]

I second the cloud transparency or removal tutorial.

[@highpointscientific]

Maybe one day we can get our hands on some cloud removal technology :)

[@theastrophotographerjudah9421]

So I actually took a series of exposures to make a timelapse of this recent eclipse; however, my tracking was slightly off, and the Moon did change its position a little bit. I want to know how I could align all those images so that the timelapse is nice and smooth

[@highpointscientific]

Did you make sure lunar tracking was enabled? Don't forget the Moon doesn't match the Earth's sidereal motion like the stars do!

[@theastrophotographerjudah9421]

@@highpointscientific Yeah, it was on Lunar Mode, and I did a precise Polar Alignment. I just don't have an autoguiding setup, so after 2 hours, it did movie down little bit. I was curious if there was a way I could align all those frames to the center

[@highpointscientific]

@@theastrophotographerjudah9421 Try PIPP out! You might be able to align all your frames that way.

[@theastrophotographerjudah9421]

@@highpointscientific I have PIPP, but it would take hours upon hours to align over 600 frames. It doesn't detect any of the pixels that are overexposed, so the Partial part doesn't get aligned properly

[@highpointscientific]

@@theastrophotographerjudah9421 Unfortunately, there's no easy way to align the frames that I can think of. In the past what I've done is aligned them by hand with Photoshop, but I wouldn't dare consider that for over 600 shots. I wonder if it would be possible to use PHD2 to autoguide on the Moon for future eclipses to avoid drift? Regardless, will look into this more - Kyle

[@ThatOpalGuy]

Any tips for dispersing solid cloud cover.

[@highpointscientific]

We honestly wish... really big fan maybe.

[@ThatOpalGuy]

@@highpointscientific or high altitude balloon. If I'm awake I'll check in on the live. It's just not the same though. :(

[@katherinemarymeier5478]

Forgive me for asking a dumb question, but how do you use the script? How does the camera know? Do I send the script to the camera? I have Nikon D5600. This is the first time I've done anything like this. I also have a Mac laptop, and would I use the Digicamcontrol or should I use Lunar Eclipse Maestro?

[@highpointscientific]

DigiCamControl is Windows-only. Look into Lunar Eclipse Maestro; else you'll have to use an intervalometer.

[@melissaschaible9159]

A "2 second exposer" seems awfully slow to photograph a moving moon. I wouldn't drop below 1/200

[@highpointscientific]

For a regular uneclipsed moon this would be true, however for totality (or an eclipse close to totality), the Moon's apparent magnitude drops considerably. A longer exposure is needed to bring out the deep reds. A tracking mount would also stop the moon from blurring during your exposure. You can also try to obey the "500" rule if you're not using tracking (that is, your maximum exposure for the eclipse is 500/your focal length).