Two Photos of the Orion Nebula Show Just How Far Photography Has Come

Since we have this great thread going on here Members Asrtophotography and many members have contributed or shown an interest I thought you might like to see how astrophotograpy has progressed from one of the very early attempts to the present day.

Compare exposure times NOT the quality of the iphone image.




As you can see on the left 11" telescope 50 minutes exposure on the right 8" scope 1 second with an iphone.

Just shows the difference in the last 130 years amatuers can compete with professionals now on many levels.

More info Here and links to other stunning images dark skies and happy shooting (photographs lol) all.

wmd.

Um that 2013 picture is awful, amateurs can take much better shots then that one.

boredsilly
Um that 2013 picture is awful, amateurs can take much better shots then that one.

It was to show the difference in exposure 50 mins v 1 sec now do you understand

Line added to OP to stop confusion!

Actually, this is a excellent representation.

The pictures themselves speak volumes about the differences in picture quality, shutter speeds and light intensity. Clarity and color are just side effects. The picture from 1880 is remarkable in that...well, its 1880! To have a telescope, and the length of time to sit and allow that much exposure take place, and then to make a complete picture...that is impressive. Now to compare it to the modern picture, with much more advanced technology and a 1 second exposure...the result is much more pronounced and dramatic. All with much less time and smaller more advanced equipment, I'm sure.

Excellent comparison!


*S&F*

wmd_2008

boredsilly
Um that 2013 picture is awful, amateurs can take much better shots then that one.

It was to show the difference in exposure 50 mins v 1 sec now do you understand

Line added to OP to stop confusion!

edit on 26-3-2014 by wmd_2008 because: (no reason given)

Honestly, I almost overlooked that as well until I read that. I hope others aren't in such a rush that they miss that.
Incredible difference!! 50 x 60 = 3,000. 3,000 times faster and even clearer to boot.

reply to post by wmd_2008


That's in only 134 years, I've seen young trees that are that old. An excellent photo pair to make a point. This should be shown in both science and photography classes.

very valid point, and good comparison. congrats OP.

very interesting, didn't have any idea about this being possible.

OMG, what was I doing all these years?!

reply to post by demus


This might interest you M42 Orion Nebula I posted this on the Members Asrtophotography thread.



Now that was done from 15 pictures using DSS, they were taken with a 70-300 zoom lens at 210mm focal length but what really surprised me was the exposure was iso 1600 f4.5 for only 2 seconds each.

I don't have a tracking system and didn't want stars to trail hence the 2 seconds it turned out better than I thought it would more so considering I was in my back garden in the middle of 150 other houses and street lights.

boredsilly
Um that 2013 picture is awful, amateurs can take much better shots then that one.

You read the part where it was taken with an iphone right?

It is amazing that the technology we can fit in our pockets today out performs the giant warehouse sized computers of the 50s/60s.
Amazing how quickly we take things for granted really.
Anyone with kids will know how difficult it is for them to imagine a time when no one had a cell phone/PC/tablet.
When I showed my neice and nephew an early sony walkman without the headphones they didn't have a clue what it was for-my neice thought it was a machine for "winding string."

What worries me is what will they have when they are my age-yes amazing space photograph ability-but that will probably come with a neural interface to the holographic sentient spawn of what we today call "the internet."
I just can't shake the feeling that in the long run,technology will turn out to be a major hinderance to our world rather than a help.