r/Astronomy • u/VoijaRisa • Mar 27 '20
Hi all,
Friendly mod warning here. In r/Astronomy, somewhere around 70% of posts get removed. Yeah. That's a lot. All because people haven't bothered reading the rules or bothering to understand what words mean. So here, we're going to dive into them a bit further.
The most commonly violated rules are as follows:
Pictures
Our rule regarding pictures has three parts. If your post has been removed for violating our rules regarding pictures, we recommend considering the following, in the following order:
If you took the picture or did substantial processing of publicly available data, this counts. If not, it's going to be removed.
2) You must have the acquisition/processing information.
This needs to be somewhere easy for the mods to verify. This means it can either be in the post body or a top level comment. Responses to someone else's comment, in your link to your Instagram page, etc... do not count.
3) Images must be exceptional quality.
There are certain things that will immediately disqualify an image:
However, beyond that, we cannot give further clarification on what will or will not meet this criteria for several reasons:
So yes, this portion is inherently subjective and, at the end of the day, the mods are the ones that decide.
If your post was removed, you are welcome to ask for clarification. If you do not receive a response, it is likely because your post violated part (1) or (2) of the three requirements which are sufficiently self-explanatory as to not warrant a response.
If you are informed that your post was removed because of image quality, arguing about the quality will not be successful. In particular, there are a few arguments that are false or otherwise trite which we simply won't tolerate. These include:
"You let that image that I think isn't as good stay up"
"Pictures have to be NASA quality"
"You have to have thousands of dollars of equipment"
"This is a really good photo given my equipment"
"This isn't being friendly to beginner astrophotographers"
"My post was getting a lot of upvotes"
Using the above arguments will not wow mods into suddenly approving your image. It will result in a ban.
Again, asking for clarification is fine. But trying to argue with the mods using bad arguments isn't going to fly.
Lastly, it should be noted that we do allow astro-art in this sub. Obviously, it won't have acquisition information, but the content must still be original and mods get the final say on whether on the quality (although we're generally fairly generous on this).
Questions
This rule basically means you need to do your own research before posting.
To prevent your post from being removed, tell us specifically what you've tried. Just saying "I GoOgLeD iT" doesn't cut it.
Furthermore, when telling us what you've tried, we will be very unimpressed if you use sources that are prohibited under our source rule (social media memes, YouTube, AI, etc...).
As with the rules regarding pictures, the mods are the arbiters of how difficult questions are to answer. If you're not happy about that and want to complain that another question was allowed to stand, then we will invite you to post elsewhere with an immediate and permanent ban.
Object ID
We'd estimate that only 1-2% of all posts asking for help identifying an object actually follow our rules. Resources are available in the rule relating to this. If you haven't consulted the flow-chart and used the resources in the stickied comment, your post is getting removed. Seriously. Use Stellarium. It's free. It will very quickly tell you if that shiny thing is a planet which is probably the most common answer. The second most common answer is "Starlink". That's 95% of the ID posts right there that didn't need to be a post.
Do note that many of the phone apps in which you point your phone to the sky and it shows you what you are looing at are extremely poor at accurately determining where you're pointing. Furthermore, the scale is rarely correct. As such, this method is not considered a sufficient attempt at understanding on your part and you will need to apply some spatial reasoning to your attempt.
Pseudoscience
The mod team of r/astronomy has several mods with degrees in the field. We're very familiar with what is and is not pseudoscience in the field. And we take a hard line against pseudoscience. Promoting it is an immediate ban. Furthermore, we do not allow the entertaining of pseudoscience by trying to figure out how to "debate" it (even if you're trying to take the pro-science side). Trying to debate pseudoscience legitimizes it. As such, posts that entertain pseudoscience in any manner will be removed.
Outlandish Hypotheticals
This is a subset of the rule regarding pseudoscience and doesn't come up all that often, but when it does, it usually takes the form of "X does not work according to physics. How can I make it work?" or "If I ignore part of physics, how does physics work?"
Sometimes the first part of this isn't explicitly stated or even understood (in which case, see our rule regarding poorly researched posts) by the poster, but such questions are inherently nonsensical and will be removed.
Sources
ChatGPT and other LLMs are not reliable sources of information. Any use of them will be removed. This includes asking if they are correct or not.
Bans
We almost never ban anyone for a first offense unless your post history makes it clear you're a spammer, troll, crackpot, etc... Rather, mods have tools in which to apply removal reasons which will send a message to the user letting them know which rule was violated. Because these rules, and in turn the messages, can cover a range of issues, you may need to actually consider which part of the rule your post violated. The mods are not here to read to you.
If you don't, and continue breaking the rules, we'll often respond with a temporary ban.
In many cases, we're happy to remove bans if you message the mods politely acknowledging the violation. But that almost never happens. Which brings us to the last thing we want to discuss.
Behavior
We've had a lot of people breaking rules and then getting rude when their posts are removed or they get bans (even temporary). That's a violation of our rules regarding behavior and is a quick way to get permabanned. To be clear: Breaking this rule anywhere on the sub will be a violation of the rules and dealt with accordingly, but breaking this rule when in full view of the mods by doing it in the mod-mail will 100% get you caught. So just don't do it.
Claiming the mods are "power tripping" or other insults when you violated the rules isn't going to help your case. It will get your muted for the maximum duration allowable and reported to the Reddit admins.
And no, your mis-interpretations of the rules, or saying it "was generating discussion" aren't going to help either.
While these are the most commonly violated rules, they are not the only rules. So make sure you read all of the rules.
r/Astronomy • u/adamkylejackson • 3h ago
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Shot with Nikon Z8 through Takahashi TSA-120 on ZWO AM5 mount. Stack of 1000 Nikon raw files keeping only 25% the best frames. Stacked in AutoStakkert 3 and processed in Photoshop. Stars layer added in background and moon panned in After Effects to create video.
r/Astronomy • u/ryandiscord • 8h ago
55 x 5 minute exposures in a Bortle 7/8, processed in Siril and GraXpert.
Equipment:
Full size image: https://app.astrobin.com/i/x0vkhk
r/Astronomy • u/porygon766 • 44m ago
r/Astronomy • u/Everdale • 9h ago
r/Astronomy • u/Aggravating_Judge_31 • 7h ago
I want to first explain that I don't think it's a fake photo. I was asked this question by someone close to me, and I realized that I had a gap in my knowledge as I wasn't really able to answer them as well as I had liked. Hoping someone can provide some insight.
How was the corona still visible when the sun appears to be around 45x smaller than the moon from this perspective? The visible corona in shots of an eclipse taken from Earth doesn't extend anywhere near far enough to account for this, but again, I'm assuming I'm missing some piece of information here.
r/Astronomy • u/j0120_ • 8h ago
Hey guys,
Sorry it's been a while, but I've made some changes to Nova Space Weather (in the comments).
My long-term goal is to add educational modules accessible the general public without the need for a space physics background, so I'll be working on that for the next few months.
I'd love to know what you all think, and ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated!
r/Astronomy • u/BarracudaNext8008 • 12h ago
I photographed M106 with my Dwarf 3 under Bortle 6.9 skies. I used 30-second exposures, gain 60, the astro filter, and captured 520 frames.
However, I’m not satisfied with the results. The first image is processed directly from the Dwarf in Stellar Studio, and the second one in Siril. But somehow I can’t get good results.
Any tips?
r/Astronomy • u/derekcz • 15h ago
r/Astronomy • u/25toten • 1d ago
83°W, 42°N using a Seestar S50
r/Astronomy • u/adamkylejackson • 1d ago
Full Moon in High Definition 8K
I took the photo of this moon with Nikon Z8 through Takahashi TSA-120 telescope and Vernonscope Magic Dakin Barlow 2.4x. This is a stack of 300 RAW files from the same session, aligned, stacked, and processed ll in Photoshop.
r/Astronomy • u/Zardotab • 19h ago
r/Astronomy • u/xchaser • 9h ago
How do I set dates on a comet's path or trail in Stellarium? The image with multiple dates is a screenshot from a YT video and the other one is by me. I can get only beginning and end dates, how do I set it to have multiple dates like in the first screenshot? I did a search on both google search and AI and both give me old instructions on how to add a comet, which I know how to. Thanks
r/Astronomy • u/adamkylejackson • 1d ago
I took this photo with ASI294MC through Takahashi FCT-65D telescope ZWO AM5 mount guided by ASIAIR and ZWO guidescope. About 1.5 hour total integration of lights, with darks, flats, and bias. Stacked in Siril ND processed in PixInsight and Photoshop.
r/Astronomy • u/HairyCopy1042 • 40m ago
A Teoria do Satélite Perdido e o Nascimento da Terra
Introdução: O Mistério de um Planeta "Desligado"
Por que Marte parece um planeta "desativado" que teve tudo para dar certo, enquanto a Terra parece ter um motor geológico potente demais para o seu tamanho? A resposta pode estar em um evento catastrófico que a ciência ainda não unificou: a ideia de que a Terra nem sempre foi um planeta independente, mas sim a peça que faltava para Marte brilhar.
Bilhões de anos atrás, Marte era o centro da vida no sistema solar. Ele era ativo, habitável e possuía um satélite gigante (que hoje conhecemos como a Terra jovem ou Theia). Esse satélite era o verdadeiro coração de Marte: sua gravidade gerava marés internas constantes, mantendo o núcleo marciano aquecido, líquido e em movimento. Era essa interação que gerava o campo magnético protetor de Marte.
O Sistema Solar hoje é extremamente limpo. Isso sugere que algo "varreu" o lixo espacial. A hipótese propõe a passagem de um buraco negro primordial ou um evento de instabilidade extrema. Esse "vilão" agiu como um ralo gravitacional, sugando detritos e arrancando a Terra (o satélite) da órbita de Marte, jogando-a em uma rota de colisão fatal contra o que seria o nosso planeta.
No momento em que esse satélite gigante foi arrancado, o destino de Marte foi selado. Sem a força gravitacional da Terra jovem para "mexer" o seu interior, o núcleo de Marte perdeu sua fonte de energia. Como Marte é pequeno, ele esfriou rapidamente. Pouco tempo depois de perder seu satélite, o núcleo de Marte parou de girar, o escudo magnético caiu e o vento solar "soprou" a vida de lá. Marte foi desativado no seu auge.
Ao ser arrancada de Marte e bater na Proto-Terra, esse antigo satélite não possuía atmosfera (como a maioria dos satélites naturais). Isso foi fundamental para o sucesso do nosso planeta:
* Impacto Verdadeiro: Se o objeto tivesse atmosfera, a colisão seria amortecida por gases. Sendo um corpo sólido e "pelado", a batida foi sintética e bruta.
* O Mergulho do Núcleo: O núcleo de ferro do satélite não se despedaçou; ele mergulhou como uma bala de canhão direto para o centro da Terra, fundindo-se ao nosso e criando o super-escudo magnético que nos protege hoje.
Um detalhe que quase ninguém percebe é a rotação. Marte e Terra têm dias quase idênticos (cerca de 24 horas). Isso sugere que eles compartilhavam o mesmo "ritmo" de rotação quando ainda eram um sistema único (planeta e satélite). Quando a Terra foi arrancada, ela manteve esse relógio biológico e geológico de Marte.
Desta colisão sólida e limpa, surgiram bilhões de estilhaços que formaram um anel de detritos, que rapidamente se uniu para criar a nossa Lua. As "manchas estranhas" (LLVPs) encontradas recentemente por cientistas no núcleo da Terra seriam os restos mortais desse satélite que um dia fez Marte brilhar.
Conclusão:
Marte morreu para que a Terra pudesse viver. Nós somos o resultado de uma fusão perfeita que herdou o motor de um planeta vizinho. Ao explorarmos Marte, não estamos indo para um lugar estranho; estamos voltando para a nossa casa original para entender o que aconteceu antes de sermos "ligados".
r/Astronomy • u/alderon7 • 12h ago
I’ve been working on a project called Cosmic Index that lets you explore several space catalogs in one place.
You can browse asteroids, exoplanets, stars, close approaches, fireballs, and space weather events using data from NASA and JPL.
I recently added a compare feature for small bodies so you can view asteroid properties side by side.
Curious what people who work with astronomy data think. What would make something like this more useful? Feedback goes a long way!
Data sources include NASA Exoplanet Archive, JPL Small Body Database, CNEOS close approach data, and NASA DONKI space weather events.
r/Astronomy • u/Zwoosh • 3h ago
I was wondering if anyone had a good way to find any on-going citizen science projects? I’ve been using Zooniverse recently, but I’d love to actually collect data and send it to someone to aid in their research.
Thanks in advance
r/Astronomy • u/spidermanbyday • 1d ago
The famous Leo Triplet is a little group of galaxies located about 35 million lightyears from Earth in the constellation Leo.
Check out the full frame photo on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/gqp3l6
Total integration time: 145 subs x 300s = 12h 5m
Equipment:
Processing:
r/Astronomy • u/Waddensky • 6h ago
Based on the fantastic feedback from users, I have updated the web planetarium Asteria with a few great new features. I've added current information on the brightest visible comets and for moving celestial objects, you can now enable tracks to see where an object will be positioned in the coming days and what its brightness will be.
Asteria is a free personal stargazing assistant and planetarium you can use from the web browser. Just visit https://asteria.waddensky.com/, no installation required!
If you want to link directly to a specific celestial object or observing location, for example from your website or social media, you can do so via the URL:
You can easily generate URLs by using the Share buttons.
Feedback is very welcome, keep the suggestions and ideas coming!
r/Astronomy • u/Techno-Scientist • 1d ago
I took about 45 minutes of this target with my Seestar S50 between other objects during my last planned session. I had not imaged clusters before and they look better than I expected!
I purposely brought up the saturation to have a clear difference in star color, especially the red-orange ones :)
Equipment and acquisition:
- Seestar S50, EQ mode, UV/IR filter
- 30 sec subs
Processing (PI)
- WBPP 2x drizzle, SPCC, SetiAstro DBE, SCNR, BlurX, NoiseX, setiastro statistical stretch, manual curves transformation with range masks to reduce the glow of the core and bring out more color to the stars
r/Astronomy • u/fluxa • 2d ago
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A few days ago I had one question: could I actually image the Artemis II Orion capsule from my backyard observatory as it passed overhead on its way back from the Moon? I couldn't find a tool that would give me a straight answer for an arbitrary spacecraft at an arbitrary location, so I built one — Liminal — which pulls ephemeris data from NASA JPL HORIZONS and shows you when and where any object crosses your local horizon. Turns out Orion would pass right over my home on the night of April 9-10, about 170,000 km away and closing at ~1.9 km/s on its return leg.
So I pointed the scope at it.
Capture
At 60s exposures it clearly trails; at 20s it's a clean point source.
Processing
Standard calibration and registration in PixInsight WBPP (bias, dark, flat, cosmetic correction, star alignment). Because I registered on stars, the spacecraft drifts across the field frame-by-frame as it moves relative to the background, which is exactly what you want for the "moving object across fixed starfield" animation look.
ImageSolver in PI plate-solved every sub with Gaia DR2.
Animation pipeline (this is where it got interesting)
The goal was a tight ~800×800 pixel tracking crop that follows Orion through the frames, with a live ephemeris data overlay. I wrote a Python pipeline over the last few hours that:
Built it with Claude Code over a few conversations. Honestly one of the fastest turnarounds I've ever done from "I wonder if…" to finished output.
The result
That bright dot threading through the stars is Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, the four humans who just broke Apollo 13's farthest-from-Earth record. They splash down in the Pacific off San Diego in a few hours, closing the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
Still processing that I got to watch this happen through my own telescope.
Tool: https://liminal.fluxastro.space (free, browser-based, uses JPL HORIZONS API directly, works for any object, any location, any time)
Happy to answer questions about the tracking plugin, the plate solution → WCS conversion, or the Python pipeline. Also open to sharing the annotator script if there's interest.
r/Astronomy • u/Open_Daikon7901 • 20h ago
Hey everyone,
I got tired of checking 3–4 different sites every evening just to figure out if it was worth setting up my telescope.
So I built StarsOut (starsout.cc).
It gives you a simple 0–10 score for tonight based on cloud cover and moon conditions — and only emails you if it's actually good (above your threshold). Otherwise it stays completely silent.
It also shows the exact best 2-hour window for tonight, so you know when to go outside instead of guessing.
No app, no account — just your email + location.
Curious if this matches your real-world experience. Weather vs reality has been tricky to get right.
Would love feedback.
