Backyard Astronomy

It is easy to take pictures of the stars with an inexpensive digital camera. The only special requirement is that it has a time exposure function of around 13 seconds or more for night shots. Below is an early morning picture of Venus and the Moon from my backyard, at 5:04 AM September 16, 2009.

Camera: Kodak Z712IS
0.6 sec exposure
f 2.8
ISO 64
F.L. 5.8 mm

The Stellariam program, (see download information under the RESOURCE tab), is great for checking out what you are actually seeing.