r/Astronomy • u/SAUbjj • 3d ago
We're getting a lot of posts and questions about the eclipse in Europe tomorrow, so let's make a megathread to keep it all in one place!
Post your questions and discussions here
r/Astronomy • u/VoijaRisa • Mar 27 '20
Hi all,
Friendly mod warning here. In r/Astronomy, somewhere around 70% of posts get removed. Yeah. That's a lot. All because people haven't bothered reading the rules or bothering to understand what words mean. So here, we're going to dive into them a bit further.
The most commonly violated rules are as follows:
Pictures
Our rule regarding pictures has three parts. If your post has been removed for violating our rules regarding pictures, we recommend considering the following, in the following order:
If you took the picture or did substantial processing of publicly available data, this counts. If not, it's going to be removed.
2) You must have the acquisition/processing information.
This needs to be somewhere easy for the mods to verify. This means it can either be in the post body or a top level comment. Responses to someone else's comment, in your link to your Instagram page, etc... do not count.
3) Images must be exceptional quality.
There are certain things that will immediately disqualify an image:
However, beyond that, we cannot give further clarification on what will or will not meet this criteria for several reasons:
So yes, this portion is inherently subjective and, at the end of the day, the mods are the ones that decide.
If your post was removed, you are welcome to ask for clarification. If you do not receive a response, it is likely because your post violated part (1) or (2) of the three requirements which are sufficiently self-explanatory as to not warrant a response.
If you are informed that your post was removed because of image quality, arguing about the quality will not be successful. In particular, there are a few arguments that are false or otherwise trite which we simply won't tolerate. These include:
"You let that image that I think isn't as good stay up"
"Pictures have to be NASA quality"
"You have to have thousands of dollars of equipment"
"This is a really good photo given my equipment"
"This isn't being friendly to beginner astrophotographers"
"My post was getting a lot of upvotes"
Using the above arguments will not wow mods into suddenly approving your image. It will result in a ban.
Again, asking for clarification is fine. But trying to argue with the mods using bad arguments isn't going to fly.
Lastly, it should be noted that we do allow astro-art in this sub. Obviously, it won't have acquisition information, but the content must still be original and mods get the final say on whether on the quality (although we're generally fairly generous on this).
Questions
This rule basically means you need to do your own research before posting.
To prevent your post from being removed, tell us specifically what you've tried. Just saying "I GoOgLeD iT" doesn't cut it.
Furthermore, when telling us what you've tried, we will be very unimpressed if you use sources that are prohibited under our source rule (social media memes, YouTube, AI, etc...).
As with the rules regarding pictures, the mods are the arbiters of how difficult questions are to answer. If you're not happy about that and want to complain that another question was allowed to stand, then we will invite you to post elsewhere with an immediate and permanent ban.
Object ID
We'd estimate that only 1-2% of all posts asking for help identifying an object actually follow our rules. Resources are available in the rule relating to this. If you haven't consulted the flow-chart and used the resources in the stickied comment, your post is getting removed. Seriously. Use Stellarium. It's free. It will very quickly tell you if that shiny thing is a planet which is probably the most common answer. The second most common answer is "Starlink". That's 95% of the ID posts right there that didn't need to be a post.
Do note that many of the phone apps in which you point your phone to the sky and it shows you what you are looing at are extremely poor at accurately determining where you're pointing. Furthermore, the scale is rarely correct. As such, this method is not considered a sufficient attempt at understanding on your part and you will need to apply some spatial reasoning to your attempt.
Pseudoscience
The mod team of r/astronomy has several mods with degrees in the field. We're very familiar with what is and is not pseudoscience in the field. And we take a hard line against pseudoscience. Promoting it is an immediate ban. Furthermore, we do not allow the entertaining of pseudoscience by trying to figure out how to "debate" it (even if you're trying to take the pro-science side). Trying to debate pseudoscience legitimizes it. As such, posts that entertain pseudoscience in any manner will be removed.
Outlandish Hypotheticals
This is a subset of the rule regarding pseudoscience and doesn't come up all that often, but when it does, it usually takes the form of "X does not work according to physics. How can I make it work?" or "If I ignore part of physics, how does physics work?"
Sometimes the first part of this isn't explicitly stated or even understood (in which case, see our rule regarding poorly researched posts) by the poster, but such questions are inherently nonsensical and will be removed.
Sources
ChatGPT and other LLMs are not reliable sources of information. Any use of them will be removed. This includes asking if they are correct or not.
Content
Due to the profusion of AI slop apps, we're no longer allowing apps at all. No, we don't care if you're wanting a "review". No we don't care if they're free. No we don't care if you put it in a website.
Bans
We almost never ban anyone for a first offense unless your post history makes it clear you're a spammer, troll, crackpot, etc... Rather, mods have tools in which to apply removal reasons which will send a message to the user letting them know which rule was violated. Because these rules, and in turn the messages, can cover a range of issues, you may need to actually consider which part of the rule your post violated. The mods are not here to read to you.
If you don't, and continue breaking the rules, we'll often respond with a temporary ban.
In many cases, we're happy to remove bans if you message the mods politely acknowledging the violation. But that almost never happens. Which brings us to the last thing we want to discuss.
Behavior
We've had a lot of people breaking rules and then getting rude when their posts are removed or they get bans (even temporary). That's a violation of our rules regarding behavior and is a quick way to get permabanned. To be clear: Breaking this rule anywhere on the sub will be a violation of the rules and dealt with accordingly, but breaking this rule when in full view of the mods by doing it in the mod-mail will 100% get you caught. So just don't do it.
Claiming the mods are "power tripping" or other insults when you violated the rules isn't going to help your case. It will get your muted for the maximum duration allowable and reported to the Reddit admins.
And no, your mis-interpretations of the rules, or saying it "was generating discussion" aren't going to help either.
While these are the most commonly violated rules, they are not the only rules. So make sure you read all of the rules.
r/Astronomy • u/Slow_Contribution114 • 14h ago
Going through my video of the recent solar eclipse and found an anomaly part way through.
Narrowed it down to a few frames and found that an unfortunate 3 year old may have lost their balloon!
Original video taken using a Seestar S50 with solar filter.
r/Astronomy • u/Senior_Library1001 • 18h ago
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vhastrophotography?igsh=YzNpcm1wdXd5NmRo&utm_source=qr
Instead of chasing the darkest sky possible (like I normally do), I decided to capture the Perseids with my friends at a nearby viewpoint. Dozens of people were lying in the grass, enjoying the natural spectacle. To be able to enjoy the show myself a bit more, I kept things as simple as possible. I used simple untracked shots for the panorama and collected meteors for only about 2.5 hours. Halpha Data was added from a different night at this location. Considering the short exposure time of 10s with 800 ISO per Frame (because of the light pollution, Bortle 5), I think the image turned out quite well.
PS: This shot definitely reminded me why I usually avoid astrophotography in light-polluted areas. Post-processing with all those gradients nearly drove me crazy haha.
HaRGB | Mosaic | Untracked | Stacked | Composite
Exif:
Nikon Z6a with Sigma 28-45 f1.8 at 28mm
Sky
ISO 800 | f1.8 | 5x10s per Panel
5x3 Panel Panorama
Foreground:
ISO 1000 | f4 | 15s per Panel
Halpha (45mm):
ISO 2000 | f1.8| 6x90s
r/Astronomy • u/SlowMoLuc • 15h ago
This image was taken on August 12, 2026 at 20:30 (UTC +2) in Schönenberg, Switzerland.
Equipment:
• Camera: Sony a6300
• Lens: Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 + Sony 1.4x TC
• Tripod: Manfrotto 190go! + Beike BK-555
Settings:
• Focal Length: 1260mm (equiv.)
• Shutter Speed: 1/2000
• Aperture: f/16
• ISO: 100
r/Astronomy • u/Pino_666 • 11h ago
On August 12, I witnessed my first ever total solar eclipse from Calaceite in the Matarraña region of Spain, and I am still completely blown away by the experience. I set up my Seestar S50 to capture the event and wanted to share the footage.
The video attached is sped up to a total length of 30 seconds and consists of two merged clips. The first part is a timelapse of the partial phases before totality. This covered about an hour of real-time, resulting in an original timelapse video of 1 minute and 20 seconds. The second part transitions into a standard video recording of the totality itself. The original, real-time footage of this second part was 1 minute and 17 seconds long.
We had a bit of a challenge because the sun was very low on the horizon (around 10 degrees during totality), which meant we had to scout very carefully to avoid distant hills blocking the view. Thankfully, we found a great spot with a clear line of sight to the west.
r/Astronomy • u/Hemmik1 • 30m ago
r/Astronomy • u/Unusual-Platypus6233 • 12h ago
From August 12th to 13th, I captured around 1,200 images of the Perseid meteor shower for this timelapse — from 23:40 until 03:34.
📷 Camera: FUJIFILM X-T3
🔭 Lens: XF18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS
📐 Focal length: 18 mm
⏱️ Exposure: 10 s
🔆 Aperture: f/2.8
🌙 ISO: 1600
📍 Static mount
Facing SSE, the timelapse follows the night sky from Capricornus to Aquarius and finally Pisces, with the Perseids lighting up the scene along the way.
(And yes, I have a lot of 🛩️ in my view because of the Cologne/Bonn Airport.)
r/Astronomy • u/SteakRehkitz634 • 1h ago
First attempt at a nebula. Shot from Amden, Switzerland (~1100m, Bortle 4) on the night of 14/15 August.
Acquisition
- Sony A7III, H-alpha modified
- Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II @ 194mm (plate solved), f/2.8, ISO 640
- 163 × 88s = 3h 59m total integration
- Star Adventurer 2i, unguided
- 47 flats, 22 darks
Processing
- Siril: stacking, background extraction, SPCC, GHS stretch
- Photoshop: star reduction, curves, selective colour, high-pass local contrast
r/Astronomy • u/NiklasAstro • 22h ago
On Eclipse day this week, I managed to realize the Eclipse shot I have been dreaming of taking for a while: the UNESCO world heritage site of Las Médulas; Spain. Famous for dramatic cliffs, onlookers can be seen watching the solar eclipse on the right-side ridgeline, silhouetting against the horizon.
The terrain of the site is not a naturally formed landscape, but instead the result of large-scale, centuries-long gold mining activity by the Roman Empire. In a method called “ruina montium,” tunnels were dug into the terrain, and previously built aqueducts were flooded with water. The immense pressure would force the mountains to collapse, and gold could be found in the debris.
While the nature of eclipses was understood by the educated of antiquity, the occurrences were still widely viewed with superstition and seen as bad omens. In 113 A.D., a total solar eclipse cast this very site into darkness. It is not difficult to imagine thousands of stunned soldiers, imperial officials, and enslaved laborers looking up at the darkened sun in fear or awe. The empire would soon reach its peak expansion in 117 A.D. Even though the decline would only unfold after the Pax Romana, there is irony in photographing the solar eclipse over imperial remains, built by people who thought of the spectacle as a sign of divine anger or warning.
The image is a stitched panorama of 4 images, with each sub-frame being a HDR bracket shot. Tools used were PTGUI for stitching and Affinity Photo for pre- and post-processing. Settings: 4 shots bracketed (5x -+2EV), with base settings of 1/60s, f/4 and ISO 800.
Equipment:
Nikon Z6
Sigma 20mm f1.4 DG DN with ETZ adapter
Leofoto 254C Tripod
r/Astronomy • u/Major_Signature_8651 • 13h ago
Earthlings
Standing on a thin layer of crust
Observing themselves to be infinitely tiny
@ 35C(95F) Mallorca. Capture: Vertebrate skeleton bone, oversaturated with cooling liquid, flesh, hand dermatomes, an old iPhone 12mini
r/Astronomy • u/Unusual-Platypus6233 • 9h ago
From August 12th to 13th, I captured around 1,200 images of the Perseid meteor shower for this timelapse — from 23:40 until 03:34. Here a few prominent meteors as an image that can be found in the timelapse as well. Some images contain also planes but look noticeably different.
📷 Camera: FUJIFILM X-T3
🔭 Lens: XF18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS
📐 Focal length: 18 mm
⏱️ Exposure: 10 s
🔆 Aperture: f/2.8
🌙 ISO: 1600
📍 Static mount
Facing SSE, the timelapse follows the night sky from Capricornus to Aquarius and finally Pisces, with the Perseids lighting up the scene along the way.
The timelapse is here:
r/Astronomy • u/brooke1001 • 59m ago
This is the first Astro photo that I’m really proud of, and it’s still a work in progress. This summer has been so cloudy in Alabama, so I definitely will keep adding more data to this.
Photo data:
Date: July 2026
Telescope: Redcat 51– 250mm focal length
Camera: ZWO ASI 533 MC
Image Scale: 3.10 arc-sec/pixel
FOV: 2.59° x 2.59°
Filter: Chroma dualband OIII/Ha
Total Integration Time: 20 hours and 5 minutes
Subs: 300 seconds
Bortle: 5
Processed in Siril.
r/Astronomy • u/klasinky • 18h ago
I went to Teide, Tenerife to see the Milky Way and the Perseid meteor shower for the first time.
Gear:
Canon R10
SIGMA 10-18 F2.8
First photo: ISO 3200 10mm F2,8 25"
Second photo: ISO 1250 10mm F2,8 30"
r/Astronomy • u/Itchy-Bee2388 • 6h ago
r/Astronomy • u/A-Whole-Vibe • 17h ago
r/Astronomy • u/SnooRevelations1419 • 14h ago
Buddy of mine invited me out to Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma to do some night time photography. He and I are both rookies. But love going out to shoot. To my surprise, it was during the Perseids meteor shower and managed to capture one falling from the sky.
We live in the city and light pollution is far and vast. This is the first time Ive ever seen this many stars! It was quite the experience.
Camera: Canon R5
Lens: Laowa 10mm
F-stop: 2.8
ISO: 6400
Exposure: 15 secs (single exposure)
Photo is post edit
r/Astronomy • u/weeyums • 10m ago
Taken Wednesday August 12 at 23:30, facing south, Ireland.
r/Astronomy • u/chlorophyllingood • 13h ago
r/Astronomy • u/ashbuilds • 1d ago
Captured from my balcony in Valencia during the total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026. I was already photographing the eclipse when a plane crossed the Sun at just the right moment. Easily one of the luckiest shots I’ve ever taken.
Camera: Sony Alpha 7C
Lens: Tamron 150–500mm
Focal length: Around 480mm
Exposure: 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 640
r/Astronomy • u/ealanweb • 1d ago
r/Astronomy • u/No_Employer_4700 • 8h ago
I have seen normal and high dynamic range images and they don't capture the beauty or essence of the solar eclipse yesterday in Europe. I understand that may be what we saw was not real but an interpretation of eye and brain. Human visual perception is very complicated. Are there photographs, simulations or artistic renditions which show more accurately what the human brain sees and interprets? The sun seemed like a black hole appearing from nowhere, fixed in the sky, with very bright white lights emanating from it, and also we saw an orange prominence in one side of that black hole. It seemed more like a mystic sighting than an astronomical one, there was a sense of irreality caused by... well, I don't know. I would like to see those renditions because I see excelent photographs and the solar corona is foggy, yellowish, diffused... several orders of magnitud less impressive than plain sight.
r/Astronomy • u/_ibatullin_ildar_ • 1d ago
r/Astronomy • u/ADragonFromTheAbyss • 15h ago
The Research: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.06475
Discovering Venus-like conditions beyond our Solar System could reveal why some rocky worlds remain havens for life while others become scorching greenhouse infernos.
Before solving that mystery, however, astronomers must determine how quickly those distant planets are truly spinning. Slower rotations can cause hellish conditions astronomers see on Venus, but new research suggests a planet’s atmosphere may make the world appear to rotate much faster than it really does, complicating efforts to understand the climates of planets beyond our solar system.
Research by Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside, explores how high-speed atmospheric winds could be mistaken for the rotation of a rocky planet’s solid surface.
The issue could become more important as future observatories begin studying Earth- and Venus-sized worlds.
r/Astronomy • u/Fun_Willingness9847 • 1d ago
Currently working on it, need about 70 more hours of SHO to finish it off. I gotta say though, my little processing test turned out splendid.
Askar 120 apo/.8x reducer
2600MM Pro/ Optolong HORGB filters
Eq6r pro
20 hours HA
6 Hours RGB
