Astrophotography

[tfwthom]

To anyone new to astronomy that is thinking about astrophotography my advice is to FORGET ABOUT IT!<br /><br />Astrophotographers are masochists. Astrophotography can test one's patience and dedication to the limits and at the same time be both satisfying and rewarding.<br /><br />Save you sanity and just look at the pictures someone else has taken.<br /><br />That warning given let's move on.<br /><br />Film definitely still has its place, and it still has advantages...but not for long. Film is almost dead, so it's time for CCD imaging if we want to avoid extinction. While CCDs are becoming increasingly popular, we are still in a transitional stage where both systems are being used.<br /><br />The Advantages of Film<br /><br />The single biggest advantage of film (at present) is format. A 35mm film frame is 35mm x 26mm in size. Amateur CCD chips are typically less than 15mm across. This means that, on a given telescope, more of the sky can be captured at once with film. This is an advantage since many deep-sky objects are very large in apparent size. However, CCD chips as big as (or even bigger than) 35mm film are becoming available to advanced amateurs. It is only a matter of time before these are available at a price within reach of the average amateur.<br /><br />The Advantages of CCD Imaging<br /><br />Professional astronomers have been using CCDs for nearly two decades and have no thoughts about going back to film. The advantages are impressive:<br /><br />CCD cameras are up to 100 times more sensitive than film<br /> <br />CCD images are digital, meaning no film-processing, scanning, scratching, or fading<br /> <br />CCD cameras have a much greater dynamic range than film, meaning they can more easily capture both faint and bright detail in a single exposure<br /> <br />CCDs are capable of resolving finer detail than film (this can, however, be limited by the telescope used and the atmospheric conditions)<br /> <br />For the amateur, several other advantages apply as well:<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[tfwthom]

SAC-7's are good CCDs. What are you planning to use as an autoguider? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[nevers]

Well, since this thread is called "Astrophotography" (although I hardly think myself as an "Astrophotographer") (maybe an "As*" something! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> ) I thought I'd go ahead and post my lastest results from my outing at Lovell Canyon here in Nevada. It's a semi-dark sky...

 

[nevers]

I'd like to post 2 pictures. They are not pictures taken through a telescope but it is astrophotography. I've been wondering how my digital camera would do with taking multiple images of the open sky and then stacking them with RegiStax.<br /><br />Last night I went out to Lovell Canyon. It's a semi-dark site about 15 miles from the outskirts of Las Vegas: the sky-glow goes nearly to zenith. However, the view to the south is fairly dark and the Milky Way is certainly visible to the naked eye. It's not crisp and sharp like I've seen it from truly dark skies but it's the closest thing I've got.<br /><br />These pictures were taken using my Canon Digital Camera on an Orion AstroView mount with EQ-3 tracking motor.<br /><br />The stacked picture will follow the single frame. The difference between a single frame and 6 frames stacked together blew me away!

 

[nevers]

...And here is the picture of 6 individual frames stacked together and adjusted with RegiStax. (Darn, the file was too big and I had to reduce it even more to fit in here)

 

[igorsboss]

CCDs are also responsible for dispelling the old myth that stars are round. The higher the redshift, the more rectangular the stars appear.<br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[nevers]

I thought pi are round? <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Anyway...I've been out of the loop for a while but I've still been able to take some more pictures. This time I've not used a telescope but just my camera using the zoom lense. My "Lovell Canyon" site is not the darkest but I was surprised it picked up some very distant photons.

 

[nevers]

...and another one.

 

[afterburn]

Great shots! I have mention that this site should have an astrophotography forum, it is getting popular. Here are some of my shots. http://home.wavecable.com/~medell/medell/space.html

 

[nevers]

Hi Afterburn - <br /><br />Nice shots at your site! In case you don't already know, the "little group of stars" near the moon appears to be The Pleiades in Taurus. Thanks for sharing...! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[nevers]

Surely everyone has seen some drop-dead gorgeous pictures of Saturn. Most of them were probably taken with an expensive CCD Camera, the Hubble Space Telescope or a somewhat large Newtonian or an Apochromatic Refractor. Well, I can't afford that stuff so I use what I've got.<br /><br />Tonight for the first time in a while I had semi-decent skies for a large metropolitan area so I thought I'd give my equipment a go at Saturn. I had no real cloud cover: just high-thin wispy things and humidity about 45%. Winds were calm.<br /><br />Most of the process is explained in the picture. I used my Meade LXD55-AR5 Achromat with Autostar @ 226x using an Orion 9mm Expanse EP and an Orion Apochromatic 2x Barlow. The camera is a Canon Powershot G5 @ f/2 and I shot 50 frames for 1/20" on an Orion SteadyPix Camera Mount. I used RegiStax 3 and ArchSoft Photo Studio to adjust the final images.<br /><br />I did two takes: one with an Orion V-Block Filter and the other without any filter. I thought I'd make a little colage to share. I must say, although I was happy with the final results, the image of Saturn is much more pleasing in the eyepiece vs. the photos.

 

[nevers]

I got a chance later in the evening to catch Jupiter. It's pretty much the same set-up as the picture of Saturn: the skies were cooperating just ever so slightly better.<br /><br />Thanks for looking...

 

[nevers]

Here's my effort of M13 the Globular Cluster in Hercules.

 

[emperor_of_localgroup]

where can i get a list of astronomy clubs in the southeastern USA? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="2" color="#ff0000"><strong>Earth is Boring</strong></font> </div>

 

[tfwthom]

Astronomy mag http://www.astronomy.com/asy/community/groups/<br /><br />Sky & Telescope http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/<br /><br />AstroPlace http://astroplace.com/amateurs/clubs.asp<br /><br />Night Sky Network http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/<br /><br />These all have listings, some clubs are not listed for one reason or another. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[nevers]

Well, I should be taking more pictures...it was supposed to be clear. Where have I heard that before? Actually, I was supposed to meet up with Thom (he's here in Vegas) but our wires got crossed and I haven't seen him yet. So, while I was waiting for the phone to ring, I started playing around with RegiStax 3, using the photos I took of Jupiter a few weeks ago. (It's up above here in the thread) Below, is the same set of photos but reprocessed. Usually I just hit the main buttons and let the program do it's thing. This time I stopped in the "Wavelets" section and tinkered with the slider/toggle switches. I also used the HSL buttons in the "Final" section. I was really surprised at the difference! I saw things there that are definately not in the first try!

 

[nevers]

Does anybody have any tips on how to photograph Planets during the daylight hours? Through a telescope? I can clearly see Mars but the sky is too bright for the camera even at 1/2000" @ f/8. Any thoughts or pointers?

 

[olbers_paradox2]

OK, I've lurked here so long my original logon died ! I was taking space shots with a black and white CCD, but gave up and concentrated on the moon. I got some fantastic "werewolf" moon video of clouds scudding across the face - beautiful.<br /><br />And just to inspire you photographers (well, I hope so), here's a new link to a 'Deep Space' photo show maybe you may like:<br />http://www.frontiermultimedia.com/deepspace.htm<br />

 

[rybanis]

NEVERS never fails to impress when it comes to astrophotography. <br /><br /><br />Also: I have just reciently aquired a laptop, and I also got a webcam that was recommended in Sky and Telescope, so this summer I'm going to do some heavy-duty observing and picture taking with a 1 megapixel webcam. I'll post them when I start my little "survey".<br /><br />PS. This will be through a 8" Meade Newtonian. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[nevers]

Well..thanks! But, it's my equipment that gets all the credit. I just haul them to places and set them up...they do all the work. I've never really thought my photos were show-stoppers: just fairly good for the equipment I have.<br /><br />Looking forward to your "survey"! I'm off to Valley of Fire. I'll have 2 nights of semi-dark skies and one night of "Public Service" for the park. Maybe I'll get a chance to get some more shots. I just hope the weather cooperates - it's already not doing what they said it would do. Did I say that right? Ok, it's not doing what they said it would do - is that sense more making now? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[nevers]

For those interested, the page from my latest trip to Valley of Fire State Park is up. I didn't get to do any real Astrophotography as you will see why if you visit the page. (I'm sure you can already take a pretty good guess as to why already!)<br /><br />Anyway...I did take some nice "nature" type photos. If you'd like to look, here's the link: Valley of Fire - May 2005. I'm also posting a little colage as a preview. Thanks for looking...

 

[bbk1]

NEVERS<br /><br />Truely Great shots. I have managed to get some pictures of Saturn and Jupitor but nothing that comes even 1/100 close to yours. I don't have the proper equipment here. I use my videocam to record through my scope eyepiece, then out of that I snap a few shots in a digital format. It's not a professional looking shots but good enough to feel "hey, I did something" worth my time.<br /><br />Anyway, Thanks for sharing.

 

[nevers]

Hi bbk,<br /><br />Thanks for the compliments on my pictures...to tell you the truth...I'm just lucky. I think my pix are ok but I too have fun doing it. Have you tried RegiStax with your videocam? I've never tried it but supposedly, you can take video and break it down into individual frames and then stack the pictures together. Just a thought...

 

[bbk1]

I remember about a month ago I downloaded RegiStax and tried to use it on some of the digital pics I managed to get from the videocam recording, but it didn't work. I'm shy to upload my picts because they will look way too inferior to yours. But just to show you what I'm getting I'll try to upload one or two here and hope it doesn't mess up this thread <img src="/images/icons/blush.gif" /><br /><br />

 

[bbk1]

Saturn<br /><br />