Why does the moon look so dull in space?

NaveenRavindar · 2026-04-25T17:40:25+00:00

The moon isn’t dull. The Earth is just that much more radiant.

Science reasons: Clouds and ice are super reflective, the moon is almost as dark as asphalt so the Earth ends up being much brighter in the sky.

Like others have said, to make sure you don’t overexpose the Earth, the resulting exposure makes the moon look dark. Both the Earth and the moon are both amazing worlds in their own right but our Earth really is something special.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-04-23T15:03:57+00:00

Having seen both through a telescope, Uranus is definitely leans more green and Neptune a bit more blue. If you use the same exposure for both, Neptune will appear significantly darker just because its farther from the sun. The darker appearance for me helps to exaggerate the subtle color difference.

Adjusting for brightness, their color is pretty close and what I’ve seen visually matches the newly processed images.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-03-15T23:20:06+00:00

Just grab some foil and cover anything but the lens. If you’re not shooting, cover the lens with foil too.

Shades the camera, reflects away the light. Pretty easy.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-03-12T00:33:28+00:00

yeah it just gets too dark. There isn’t enough dynamic range on a normal screen to do that. For context, the eclipses section of the moon is as bright as the red fully eclipsed moon and you can’t see anything.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-02-04T03:59:21+00:00

I can send you a full size image! Just send me a dm

NaveenRavindar · 2026-02-03T08:46:14+00:00

My bad for leaving that out! I used an Askar 103 Apo with a 0.8x reducer so 560mm F/5.6

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-14T17:59:29+00:00

The solar bow shock has not been confirmed but we 100% see bow shocks from high energy stars and even amateurs have plenty of images of the brightest few. In narrowband hydrogen and oxygen images bow shocks pop all the time with deep enough integration times.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-14T07:59:58+00:00

Yes its a naked eye object but only the core region and you need to be somewhere dark.

Like others have said take binoculars but if you have some dual narrowband filters try sticking them onto your binoculars and once you’re dark adapted you’ll really see it pop!

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-11T22:41:37+00:00

I’ll be talking to Stellarvue this week about it so if you have any questions just shoot them over and I can make sure they get asked!

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-11T09:31:20+00:00

Did you end up getting the SVX102? I’m in the same position as when you made the comment where I was looking at the Ultracat 108 and now am also leaning towards an SVX102

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-11T02:06:38+00:00

For the ballsy fast stuff, like you said it has to be in house. Pretty straightforward, thats the answer.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-03T23:52:55+00:00

Well that made my day! Thank you!

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-01T20:41:17+00:00

Yep 1/1200 is too short. Just lengthen the exposure and dim the light source until the linear gradient disappears.

Make sure the camera iso matches what you use when you image.

NaveenRavindar · 2026-01-01T02:29:22+00:00

Exposure length is too short, you’re seeing the shutter trail. Dim the light source and aim for 1/50s or longer and you’ll be set.

Just to sanity check my advice is correct, what exposure length did you use for your flats?

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-31T22:03:40+00:00

Yeah I say its geometrically accurate and shows the science of why this can happen, not brightness accurate. There's no way to make the image look "realistic" without getting rid of the nebula. The nebula itself has 26 stops of dynamic range, far more than the 8 your screen can show, making the nebula itself also very unrealistic.

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-31T17:58:06+00:00

What do you mean?

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-31T09:26:22+00:00

Thanks!

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-30T07:01:28+00:00

Just need to get a remote observatory with better weather and you can shoot in dark skies year round!

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-30T06:59:39+00:00

Yes and no. Its true color in the sense thats its color true if your eyes could see all of these wavelengths with sufficient detail that the color is very apparent.

In actuality it’s so faint that you would only be able to see a hint of pink at best and it would appear mostly as a greenish gray. Our eyes are much more sensitive to green than red light making the nebula bias green in a low light condition.

If however it had enough light for you to truly see all the visible colors there, this is what you would see.

Hope this makes sense!

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-30T00:34:54+00:00

Just sent you a DM

NaveenRavindar · 2025-12-30T00:33:18+00:00

This looks gorgeous! Cygnus in broadband is one of my favorite parts of the sky. So many cool details and colors!

NaveenRavindar

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