Just saw a timelapse of Orion Nebula from 3 years ago vs now

The cloud structure completely shifted and the colors went from muddy red to crisp blue-violet. Anyone else notice how fast these nebulas actually change when you stack images across different seasons?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin3653d ago

My own astrophotography looks like a blurry potato compared to that.

karencampbell3d ago

You mention it looking like a blurry potato, which is actually a perfect start for a different kind of astrophotography. Have you tried doing what they call "star trails" instead of trying to get a sharp planet? You just point your camera at the north star and leave the shutter open for 30 minutes or more. The earth's rotation makes the stars turn into long streaks, so blur is actually the whole point. It's way more forgiving than trying to capture Jupiter's bands.

sethfoster3d ago

See, I actually gotta disagree with you a little here. Star trails are cool and all, but they're a totally different thing from trying to get a sharp planet. It's like telling someone who wants to photograph a bird that they should just take a long exposure of a blurry highway instead. The satisfaction of finally catching those faint bands on Jupiter, even if it's just a hint of them, that feeling is completely different from setting up for star trails. Plus, where I live there's so much light pollution that a 30 minute exposure just turns everything into a washed out mess, no streaks or anything.

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