Jupiter and Venus

[Graeme]

Here's the top of Orion. Again not focussed well but the colour difference between Betelgeuse and Bellatrix is good!

[stuck]

Similarly too late for the crescent Moon sandwich!
(And not too well focussed!)

Also some serious banding in the sky! How big was the original file and how did you get it down to The Lounge upload limit of 256 KB?

Ken

[StuartR]

Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible here in light polluted outer London (Photo taken with my phone pointing nearly directly at a street light)

[HansV]

That turned out well!

[ChrisGreaves]

Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible here in light polluted outer London (Photo taken with my phone pointing nearly directly at a street light)

Well Done!
Chris

[Graeme]

Also some serious banding in the sky! How big was the original file and how did you get it down to The Lounge upload limit of 256 KB?

The original was about 6Mb from my Canon 600D. I did a jpg save as with a 250kb limit in Irfanview.

How do you reduce the file size without losing resolution?

Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible here in light polluted outer London (Photo taken with my phone pointing nearly directly at a street light)

Your phone has done a good job Stuart. I imagine the sky was darker than it looks?

[ChrisGreaves]

How do you reduce the file size without losing resolution?

I'm not sure I understand the question, but that has never stopped me from providing an answer ...

(1) Mathematically I think that there must be some loss of resolution when the file size is reduced and the file retains its original format (e.g. JPG)
(2) Practically I use VSOImageResizer

Untitled.png

Cheers, Chris

[stuck]

The original was about 6Mb from my Canon 600D. I did a jpg save as with a 250kb limit in Irfanview.

How do you reduce the file size without losing resolution?

I use the last version of IrfanView (v4.57, 32 bit) that supports the RIOT plugin, i.e. the last version in which 'File | Save for Web' actually does something rather than just giving an unhelpful message. To learn more about RIOT see these recent posts starting here:
    https://www.eileenslounge.com/viewtopic ... 68#p304168

Affinity Photo's export as JPEG feature is also good.

Ken

[GeoffW]

On my android phone, I use an app which downsizes photos. The one I use is called "photo and picture resizer", which is free but with ads. There are other resizing apps, some are rated higher. I almost only ever use it for the Lounge.

[Graeme]

How do you reduce the file size without losing resolution?

I'm not sure I understand the question, but ...

I use the last version of IrfanView (v4.57, 32 bit) that supports the RIOT plugin,.....

On my android phone, I use an app which downsizes photos. The one I use is called "photo and picture resizer"....

Thanks for the tips. There are quite a few image re-sizing programmes but they change the image size. The nice thing about IrfanView is that you can set the file size to 250kb. I'm using version 4.60 and the Riot plugin isn't listed. I'll look into it.

[stuck]

...The nice thing about IrfanView is that you can set the file size to 250kb. I'm using version 4.60 and the Riot plugin isn't listed. I'll look into it.

The only way to get IrfanView to use the RIOT plugin is to revert to v4.57.

If you want to use the latest version of IrfanView then you have to install RIOT as a standalone and use that standalone version.

Alternatively, as I mentioned, the export to JPEG feature of Affinity Photo can get files down to <256 KB, though you have to set the necessary 'quality' by trial and error, there's no set file size option.

Ken

[ChrisGreaves]

Anyone noticed Jupiter and Venus towards SSW at sunset?

I'm still [in the] game!

20230303_185439.jpg

Taken just before bedtime this Friday night.
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

Nice one Chris. It's been cloudy here last few nights. I see Venus is above Jupiter now!

[ChrisGreaves]

Nice one Chris. It's been cloudy here last few nights. I see Venus is above Jupiter now!

Hi Graeme, I hoped that you'd like it. I held the phone side against the window frame to steady it as best I could. (I bet that YOU wish you had a $65,000 camera tripod, eh?)

I was about to correct you and say "Not atop, but [trailing] behind Jupiter", then I realized that "behind" would upset purists who would reason that, in terms of our (family of planets) orbital positions, Venus must always be seen to be in front of Jupiter, and that had yielded the paradox of a planet being both behind and in front of another planet simultaneously!

Sorry to hear about the clouds. Why not drop the temperature to -15c; that gets rid of cloud like an Easi-Wipe^(TM) and you can still enjoy a balmy -6c during daylight hours .....
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

I was about to correct you and say "Not atop, but [trailing] behind Jupiter"

They have passed each other from our viewpoint and Venus now has the higher altitude?

[ChrisGreaves]

They have passed each other from our viewpoint and Venus now has the higher altitude?

We are still on shaky ground here.
They haven't actually passed each other, have they, excepting in the very limited sense of an earthling's view of their positions relative to us?
Even our requires us to specify Earthlings.
Higher altitude seems tricky, too, since those of us who are in the Other Hemisphere must see that Venus has the lower altitude, as every skoolboy kno?

You were OK as long as you were praising my photo. I would stick to that in future, if I were you
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

They have passed each other from our viewpoint and Venus now has the higher altitude?

I have now finished my first coffee and am partway through my second; so let's try responding again, shall we?

I'm glad that you started this post. I was pleased at my efforts last night and a week ago.
For all my complaints about light pollution here, I got away with more than a couple of photos, I got A Great View of this event. Better, I think, than my efforts from a west-facing balcony ten+ years ago.
Simultaneously I thought of all the folks here watching another rerun of Cagney and Lacey while I gazed at these two bright objects bidding a farewell to my latest day and exiting Stage West.

I have in mind this summer to build a serious sun-dial, along the lines that Portugese navigators might have used. I have read stories of many folks who were unable to gaze at stars at night but made detailed readings of the sun - flares, spots etc.

Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

They have passed each other from our viewpoint and Venus now has the higher altitude?

We are still on shaky ground here.
They haven't actually passed each other, have they, excepting in the very limited sense of an earthling's view of their positions relative to us?
Even our requires us to specify Earthlings.
Higher altitude seems tricky, too, since those of us who are in the Other Hemisphere must see that Venus has the lower altitude, as every skoolboy kno?

You were OK as long as you were praising my photo. I would stick to that in future, if I were you
Cheers, Chris

But they have passed each other. Hence the use of "from our viewpoint". Altitude is ok too. The location of a celestial object is located using Azimuth and Altitude. Alternatively we could use right Ascension and Declination if you prefer.

[ChrisGreaves]

But they have passed each other. Hence the use of "from our viewpoint". Altitude is ok too. The location of a celestial object is located using Azimuth and Altitude. Alternatively we could use right Ascension and Declination if you prefer.

Ascension would work; I know that's in the southern hemisphere, but where is declination?
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Astronomical heads up! (pun intended!)

Well, another month has come and gone, and with it a clear evening sky:-

2023_03_20230323_200540.jpg

This is a crescent moon with Venus in its arms. The neighbours are all inside with their 72" flat-screen TVs.

Then this morning's news:-
A stunning lineup of five planets will decorate the night sky
The mnemonic drilled into me in 1959 was "Mister Venus Entered My Jolly Submarine Under The North Pole", so when the article says "include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus" I mentally expand it to include Earth, represented by the moon!

Tuesday evening

Cheers, Chris