6 ms·

Hey everyone, I’m the astrophotographer, but I’m not OP. I’m assuming OP picked up my article and posted here and that’s ok! So I quickly created an account he

by rpastro 6mo ago

Hey everyone, I’m the astrophotographer, but I’m not OP. I’m assuming OP picked up my article and posted here and that’s ok! So I quickly created an account here to comment. Having a quick read through the comments I just want to say thank you for the kind words! Please follow my IG (https://www.instagram.com/deepskyjourney https://www.instagram.com/deepskyjourney) to see more of my photography, and the reddit article if you want to drop a comment with any questions :) https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectHailMary/s/NbRv3sj3fs https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectHailMary/s/NbRv3sj3fs Cheers, Rod Prazeres

fosco 6mo ago
Can you share what equipment was used to capture those images?
- robocat 6mo ago
  Somewhat answered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520283
- rpastro 6mo ago
  I’ve had multiple setups over the last 2 years, but for the images displayed in the movie there were two main setups: a William Optics RedCat 51 II and an Askar 130PHQ, both paired with a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, typically on a Sky Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, along with narrowband and RGB filters depending on the target.
  - hermitcrab 6mo ago
    What sort of magnification do you need to get photos like that?
    - js2 6mo ago
      The Redcat scope FL is 250 mm. The Askar scope FL is 1000 mm. The camera has an APS-C sensor (23.5 mm x 15.7 mm) giving it a crop factor of about 1.5x compared to 35 mm film (where 50mm is considered 1:1 human vision field of view). So: Redcat: 250 / 50 * 1.5 =7.5x magnification Askar : 1000 / 50 * 1.5 =30x magnification This is deep sky photography. Doesn't require lots of magnification. What it does require is dark skies and lots of exposure time. I wish he had more info on his site about his capture process, but it sounds like some of his captures are over multiple nights? I'm not entirely clear on the terminology here: Integration: 17h 50′ Hα: 30×600″ (5h) OIII: 31×600″ (5h 10′) SII: 37×600″ (6h 10′) RGB Stars: 30×60″ each channel (1h 30′ total) https://www.instagram.com/p/DToHq5sk_6r/?img_index=1 https://www.instagram.com/p/DToHq5sk_6r/?img_index=1 I may be wrong with all of this. I haven't done any astrophotography since I was a teen and that was just a 50 mm Nikon SLR on the back of a Celestron 8" CST with motorized manual tracking from highly suboptimal skies (Miami, FL). Still, got some decent shots of the Orion nebula.
      - js2 6mo ago
        > 50 mm Nikon SLR 35 mm obviously.
      - hermitcrab 6mo ago
        Thanks for the info.
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
sp4cec0wb0y 6mo ago
Did you sell the rights the image exclusively or will you be able to sell those images as prints? Jazz hands
- rpastro 6mo ago
  They’re non exclusive and you can find them up for sale here: https://rpastro.darkroom.com/collections/as-seen-in-project-hail-mary-end-credits https://rpastro.darkroom.com/collections/as-seen-in-project-... My website is also www.rpastro.com.au :)
  - mrexroad 6mo ago
    Amaze! Amaze!
readthenotes1 6mo ago
They are beautiful!
lgl 6mo ago
Hey Rod, your last name seems portuguese(?) Congrats on this, not only you got credits on a feature movie, you got one of the good ones. Cloud 9 for you, enjoy!
- rpastro 6mo ago
  Nice catch. I’m Brazilian but have been living in Australia for over 20 years and thank you!
  - SchwKatze 6mo ago
    Hey! Great work, really glad to see a Brazilian fella doing such an amazing work. Greetings from Minas Gerais
bravoetch 6mo ago
First time in ages I sat through the credits!
sllabres 6mo ago
Congratulations :-) Very nice shots. It must be a great feeling to see one's own footage in a feature film! How long do you do astrophotography?
pants2 6mo ago
Hi Rod, the images you have on your gallery and instagram are stunning but very low-resolution (unless I'm missing something). You mention in the article about preparing IMAX-ready photographs. Is there a way to download those full-res versions of your images?
- embedding-shape 6mo ago
  > Is there a way to download those full-res versions of your images? Maybe because HN is usually geared towards "programmers" rather than "artists", but asking for a (free?) download of full-res versions of a photographers photos is a bit like asking a developer who is publishing commercial desktop software for the source code of the program :) Maybe at least ask to be able to pay for a high resolution version (not just printed), I know I'd be interested in that too!
  - pants2 6mo ago
    I'd gladly pay a few bucks for a digital download of a full-res pack. I would love to use these as desktop backgrounds but the images in his gallery are ~1000px on the long end. Even if I buy a print I can't set that as my desktop background. Maybe the only way is to screenshot the Project Hail Mary credits when it comes to streaming.
    - overfeed 6mo ago
      > I'd gladly pay a few bucks for a digital download of a full-res pack It sure sounds like you value his work at less than a dollar per image. The desktop-background market may not be something he's interested in. > Maybe the only way is to screenshot the Project Hail Mary credits when it comes to streaming. ...and this may be the reason he's not interested in the desktop background market. You make a single sale, and the image is trivially reproduced. Doing it for pennies is not a winning proposition; prints have better margins. If you want pretty and free nebula pictures, you can have Generative AI make as many as you like - if you want his work: you'll have to abide by his terms.
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
glidefarrow 6mo ago
I was thrilled to read through to the end of the article and discover a fellow Brisbanite! My friends and I were discussing this movie the other night, they will be stoked to keep an eye out for your images.
- loktarogar 6mo ago
  The Director of Photography on the movie is also an Australian!
- spartanatreyu 6mo ago
  Anyone in Brisbane (or nearby) with a passing interest in space should really go and checkout the Brisbane Planetarium in the Mt Cootha botanical gardens. It's a 6 minute uber from Toowong station which is a 9 minute train ride from Central station. You have to book, but it's definitely worth it!
hermitcrab 6mo ago
Very cool. Major bragging rights. And it is a great film to be associated with.
dheera 6mo ago
Also a fellow astrophotography enthusiast here! I love to photograph deep sky objects in the context of their landscapes. There is a lot of math, stacking, tracking, and denoising in the process, but I keep every image very real as what you would see if your eyes were a lot more sensitive. A lot of people don't realize how big some objects are in the night sky -- for example, Barnard's Loop is as large as about half the entire constellation of Orion, and Andromeda appears 6 times the size of the moon. We just don't see them because many of these objects are very dim -- not small. https://www.instagram.com/dheeranet https://www.instagram.com/dheeranet
byt3h3ad 6mo ago
hey! congratulations!! I've been quite unknowingly used your pictures as my desktop wallpaper for years now. don't really remember how I found them, but your clicks are what greet me everytime I turn it on.
aanet 6mo ago
Congratulations Rod. Your pics are amazing! Much success to you. FWIW, my friend, who is an avid astrophotographer, runs a site Brahmand [1] that captures breathtaking pics of the dark sky, with notes on how he took the pics. Awesome stuff: https://www.brahmand.me/photo-gallery/ https://www.brahmand.me/photo-gallery/ Recommended for anyone interested in astrophotography. *Brahmand in Sanskrit means the universe [1] https://www.brahmand.me/ https://www.brahmand.me/
- marnett 6mo ago
  Wow. Stunning photos. Thanks.
anakaine 6mo ago
Congrats on having your images picked up! Ive recently bought a remote rural property in a dark sky area with a view to take up astral photography. Ive previously been quite into landscape photography. Can you recommend any favourite communities or information sources for a newbie to check out?
mrbluecoat 6mo ago
Props to you for your amazing work but my favorite part of your article was: > And I have to say this clearly: my wife has been incredible through all of it. She’s put up with my astrophotography craziness, backed me the whole way, and seeing how proud and excited she is has been its own kind of reward.
- the_arun 6mo ago
  Feels so authentic!!
retentionissue 6mo ago
Happy for you, Rod. Your work is stellar and I love the shapes and patterns in your photographs.
shymaple 6mo ago
Absolutely amazing Rod. I could feel your excitement in the way you wrote this. And like you said, in a time dominated by CGI and AI, it’s refreshing to see people who still want to create things as real as possible. These experiences and the thinking behind them make the outcome far more meaningful. Congratulations and best luck!
DaanDL 6mo ago
Hi Rod, I know nothing about astrophotography, but while reading your article I wondered: what happens when a truck passes your house while you're taking these shots, don't the vibrations mess up with the results?
edf13 6mo ago
Congrats on the film use! It’s really interesting to read how you’ve captured and created these images… will follow your work!

by rpastro 6mo ago

fosco 6mo ago

Can you share what equipment was used to capture those images?

robocat 6mo ago
Somewhat answered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520283
rpastro 6mo ago
I’ve had multiple setups over the last 2 years, but for the images displayed in the movie there were two main setups: a William Optics RedCat 51 II and an Askar 130PHQ, both paired with a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, typically on a Sky Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, along with narrowband and RGB filters depending on the target.
- hermitcrab 6mo ago
  What sort of magnification do you need to get photos like that?
  - js2 6mo ago
    The Redcat scope FL is 250 mm. The Askar scope FL is 1000 mm. The camera has an APS-C sensor (23.5 mm x 15.7 mm) giving it a crop factor of about 1.5x compared to 35 mm film (where 50mm is considered 1:1 human vision field of view). So: Redcat: 250 / 50 * 1.5 =7.5x magnification Askar : 1000 / 50 * 1.5 =30x magnification This is deep sky photography. Doesn't require lots of magnification. What it does require is dark skies and lots of exposure time. I wish he had more info on his site about his capture process, but it sounds like some of his captures are over multiple nights? I'm not entirely clear on the terminology here: Integration: 17h 50′ Hα: 30×600″ (5h) OIII: 31×600″ (5h 10′) SII: 37×600″ (6h 10′) RGB Stars: 30×60″ each channel (1h 30′ total) https://www.instagram.com/p/DToHq5sk_6r/?img_index=1 https://www.instagram.com/p/DToHq5sk_6r/?img_index=1 I may be wrong with all of this. I haven't done any astrophotography since I was a teen and that was just a 50 mm Nikon SLR on the back of a Celestron 8" CST with motorized manual tracking from highly suboptimal skies (Miami, FL). Still, got some decent shots of the Orion nebula.
    - js2 6mo ago
      > 50 mm Nikon SLR 35 mm obviously.
    - hermitcrab 6mo ago
      Thanks for the info.

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]

sp4cec0wb0y 6mo ago

Did you sell the rights the image exclusively or will you be able to sell those images as prints? Jazz hands

rpastro 6mo ago
They’re non exclusive and you can find them up for sale here: https://rpastro.darkroom.com/collections/as-seen-in-project-hail-mary-end-credits https://rpastro.darkroom.com/collections/as-seen-in-project-... My website is also www.rpastro.com.au :)
- mrexroad 6mo ago
  Amaze! Amaze!

readthenotes1 6mo ago

They are beautiful!

lgl 6mo ago

Hey Rod, your last name seems portuguese(?) Congrats on this, not only you got credits on a feature movie, you got one of the good ones. Cloud 9 for you, enjoy!

rpastro 6mo ago
Nice catch. I’m Brazilian but have been living in Australia for over 20 years and thank you!
- SchwKatze 6mo ago
  Hey! Great work, really glad to see a Brazilian fella doing such an amazing work. Greetings from Minas Gerais

bravoetch 6mo ago

First time in ages I sat through the credits!

sllabres 6mo ago

Congratulations :-) Very nice shots. It must be a great feeling to see one's own footage in a feature film! How long do you do astrophotography?

pants2 6mo ago

Hi Rod, the images you have on your gallery and instagram are stunning but very low-resolution (unless I'm missing something). You mention in the article about preparing IMAX-ready photographs. Is there a way to download those full-res versions of your images?

embedding-shape 6mo ago
> Is there a way to download those full-res versions of your images? Maybe because HN is usually geared towards "programmers" rather than "artists", but asking for a (free?) download of full-res versions of a photographers photos is a bit like asking a developer who is publishing commercial desktop software for the source code of the program :) Maybe at least ask to be able to pay for a high resolution version (not just printed), I know I'd be interested in that too!
- pants2 6mo ago
  I'd gladly pay a few bucks for a digital download of a full-res pack. I would love to use these as desktop backgrounds but the images in his gallery are ~1000px on the long end. Even if I buy a print I can't set that as my desktop background. Maybe the only way is to screenshot the Project Hail Mary credits when it comes to streaming.
  - overfeed 6mo ago
    > I'd gladly pay a few bucks for a digital download of a full-res pack It sure sounds like you value his work at less than a dollar per image. The desktop-background market may not be something he's interested in. > Maybe the only way is to screenshot the Project Hail Mary credits when it comes to streaming. ...and this may be the reason he's not interested in the desktop background market. You make a single sale, and the image is trivially reproduced. Doing it for pennies is not a winning proposition; prints have better margins. If you want pretty and free nebula pictures, you can have Generative AI make as many as you like - if you want his work: you'll have to abide by his terms.

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]

glidefarrow 6mo ago

I was thrilled to read through to the end of the article and discover a fellow Brisbanite! My friends and I were discussing this movie the other night, they will be stoked to keep an eye out for your images.

loktarogar 6mo ago
The Director of Photography on the movie is also an Australian!
spartanatreyu 6mo ago
Anyone in Brisbane (or nearby) with a passing interest in space should really go and checkout the Brisbane Planetarium in the Mt Cootha botanical gardens. It's a 6 minute uber from Toowong station which is a 9 minute train ride from Central station. You have to book, but it's definitely worth it!

hermitcrab 6mo ago

Very cool. Major bragging rights. And it is a great film to be associated with.

dheera 6mo ago

Also a fellow astrophotography enthusiast here! I love to photograph deep sky objects in the context of their landscapes. There is a lot of math, stacking, tracking, and denoising in the process, but I keep every image very real as what you would see if your eyes were a lot more sensitive. A lot of people don't realize how big some objects are in the night sky -- for example, Barnard's Loop is as large as about half the entire constellation of Orion, and Andromeda appears 6 times the size of the moon. We just don't see them because many of these objects are very dim -- not small. https://www.instagram.com/dheeranet https://www.instagram.com/dheeranet

byt3h3ad 6mo ago

hey! congratulations!! I've been quite unknowingly used your pictures as my desktop wallpaper for years now. don't really remember how I found them, but your clicks are what greet me everytime I turn it on.

aanet 6mo ago

Congratulations Rod. Your pics are amazing! Much success to you. FWIW, my friend, who is an avid astrophotographer, runs a site Brahmand [1] that captures breathtaking pics of the dark sky, with notes on how he took the pics. Awesome stuff: https://www.brahmand.me/photo-gallery/ https://www.brahmand.me/photo-gallery/ Recommended for anyone interested in astrophotography. *Brahmand in Sanskrit means the universe [1] https://www.brahmand.me/ https://www.brahmand.me/

marnett 6mo ago
Wow. Stunning photos. Thanks.

anakaine 6mo ago

Congrats on having your images picked up! Ive recently bought a remote rural property in a dark sky area with a view to take up astral photography. Ive previously been quite into landscape photography. Can you recommend any favourite communities or information sources for a newbie to check out?

mrbluecoat 6mo ago

Props to you for your amazing work but my favorite part of your article was: > And I have to say this clearly: my wife has been incredible through all of it. She’s put up with my astrophotography craziness, backed me the whole way, and seeing how proud and excited she is has been its own kind of reward.

the_arun 6mo ago
Feels so authentic!!

retentionissue 6mo ago

Happy for you, Rod. Your work is stellar and I love the shapes and patterns in your photographs.

shymaple 6mo ago

Absolutely amazing Rod. I could feel your excitement in the way you wrote this. And like you said, in a time dominated by CGI and AI, it’s refreshing to see people who still want to create things as real as possible. These experiences and the thinking behind them make the outcome far more meaningful. Congratulations and best luck!

DaanDL 6mo ago

Hi Rod, I know nothing about astrophotography, but while reading your article I wondered: what happens when a truck passes your house while you're taking these shots, don't the vibrations mess up with the results?

edf13 6mo ago

Congrats on the film use! It’s really interesting to read how you’ve captured and created these images… will follow your work!