Few
Astrophotography’s have the name recognition that Andrew McCarthy does. For years, his
extremely high-definition photographs of planets and the moon is taken from his
garden allowed all of us to see our cosmos in ways we had never seen before.
The
ability to zoom in on a single crater, reference it to other scientific records
or data and yet have a 'beautiful' image gives both scientists and individuals
who are just interested in the moon a whole new viewpoint.
Andrew
McCarthy has returned with a fresh high-definition view of the moon. The
85-megapixel photograph was captured in McCarthy's garden and contains all of
the exquisite details that one would expect. In fact, one might spend hours
poring over the image to identify all of the craters and geographical marks on
the moon's surface.
Surprisingly,
the final image isn't exactly how it looks. In actuality, it is the product of
24,000 photos rather than a single image. McCarthy captured these photos over
the course of 45 minutes using a 2000mm telescope. In post-production, he chose
just the best shots with the least amount of atmospheric disruption.
"I use a special camera intended for very
high frame rates, so I can capture hundreds of thousands of images in
minutes." McCarthy said “Processing takes a little longer since there is
so much data. I utilize software that aligns and stacks the RAW frames before
spitting out stacked files that I put together in Photoshop. I also run several
sharpening algorithms on the data, and because the stacked pictures are such
high quality, sharpening produces fine details without creating noise and
artifacts. Processing began late in the evening and continued until I shared
the image at 3 p.m. the next day.”
The image
is a stunning addition to McCarthy's astrophotography collection and yet
another salute to one of his favorite celestial bodies. McCarthy has had a
hectic few months. COVID-19 hasn't had much of an impact on his job life as a
backyard astrophotographer. Except for the California wildfires whose smoke
obscures vision it's been a pleasant ride for him during the last three months.
He believes that by continuing to publish art like this, people would be
inspired to gaze at the moon with new eyes.
If you
want to see the entire 85-megapixel version of the shot McCarthy has made it
available on his Patreon Page. You'll get
astrophotography advice and a behind-the-scenes peek at his work there. His
photographs may also be for sale as prints.
See some
nearby of Andrew McCarthy's 85-megapixel moon picture.
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