Remember, anything with a focal length longer than about 24mm will begin to show star trailing in an exposure longer than about 15-seconds. After all, most of the planetary photos you capture will be at night! The longer an image is exposed, the more light that can be collected by the camera sensor.Īlso, a DSLR gives you the opportunity to photograph planets at different focal lengths using interchangeable lenses.
When it comes to astrophotography, leaving the camera shutter open for long periods of time can be advantageous.
#BACKYARDEOS PLANETARY MANUAL#
A DSLR allows you to have full manual control of your camera settings from aperture to exposure length. DSLR Cameraįor wide-angle photos of planets in the night sky, a DSLR camera is best. Here are a few options to consider when selecting a camera to be used for photographing planets. Others were designed to get a closer look at the polar ice caps of Mars’ surface. Some cameras are better at capturing a dramatic landscape image at dusk with Venus rising overhead. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution when it comes to planetary astrophotography. Planets photographed at high magnification using a dedicated astronomy camera and telescope. The photo below features my best planetary images of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars using this method. The best video frames (the least blurry images) are then extracted and stacked, to reveal surface details and vivid colors.Ī telescope with a long focal length (1000mm+) is required for a detailed photo of the planets. The process involves capturing short videos of the planet while accurately tracking its movement. This type of photography (planetary astrophotography) utilizes dedicated astronomy cameras with small sensors, and a high frame rate. Photographing planets at high magnification through a telescope is much more difficult than a wide-angle photo of the planets in the night sky.
Planets Venus and Jupiter before sunrise. The planet may appear as though it is just another star in the sky, but will show characteristics, such as color and size, that distinguish it from the others. Unlike deep-sky astrophotography, you do not need a telescope or a tracking equatorial mount to capture beautiful images.Īt a short focal length (300mm or below), you can take a picture of one of the five visible planets in the sky quite easily.
This article focuses on capturing the 5 visible planets of our solar system as they are the easiest to find and photograph using basic camera equipment. The planets Venus and Mercury at dawn using a DSLR camera and lens on a tripod.īecause the major bodies in the solar system orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane of the ecliptic, the position of each planet is predictable and you can plan for photographic opportunities in the future.Ī suitable telescope that’s mounted to an equatorial mount is capable of high-magnification, detailed views of the larger planets, and even the very distant gas planets such as Uranus and Neptune. You do not need an astronomical telescope to find and photograph the five visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). There are a few ways to photograph planets with your camera, but the easiest and most straightforward is using a DSLR, a wide-angle lens, and a tripod. You can shoot wide-angle shots with a DSLR camera and lens where the planet appears as a bright star, or high magnification views using a dedicated astronomy camera that reveals surface detail. Planets like Jupiter and Mars are quite bright, you just need to know where and when to look for them. Photographing the five visible planets with your camera is not as difficult as you may think.
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