Astrophotography

[B.K]

Thought I would start an astrophotography thread, so I can stop hijacking the "Stop what you're doing right now and take a photo" thread.


My equipment so far.



On the left is my Celestron Nexstar 4SE with an Orion 9x50mm Illuminated Finder scope and my D7000 attached to the back, and on the right is my Nexstar SE mount with my D7000 and 70-300mm lens.

Taken last night with the 4SE telescope



74x 10 seconds total of 12 minutes.
ISO3200

 

[marine1]

Amazing well done !!!
Stunning

 

[Nerfherder]

holy crap... that is insane.

 

[Dom1n8tr1x]

Nice idea to start a thread. I tried the method in the video you gave. For some strange reason my photos came out red, don't know what I did wrong. Will give another try over the weekend.

 

[B.K]

Nice idea to start a thread. I tried the method in the video you gave. For some strange reason my photos came out red, don't know what I did wrong. Will give another try over the weekend.

when you say red do you mean the images have a red tint to them? like this image:



If so then that is light pollution, with a bit of processing it can be removed.

Here is an example of before and after. The left has the "sky glow"

 

[Dom1n8tr1x]

Yes it looks like that except mine is more extreme.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Yes it looks like that except mine is more extreme.

Either more intense pollution where you are or longer exposure times. I'm gonna be naughty and push you to my website instead of reuploading my pics. Latest photos are astrophotos but with static tripod. http://photography.southerngold.co.za/. Promise, no adverts.

 

[ponder]

Custom white balance maybe?

 

[B.K]

I tried imaging the Flame Nebula (NGC2024 Orion constellation) tonight.

I only managed to get 70 images of which only 30 where useable as the clouds came over. So this is only a 5 minute exsposure (30x 10second images)
I had to really over expose the image to see any detail.


You can just see a basic outline of the nebula


This is a screen shot of the nebula taken from Stellarium.


I'm hoping for clear skies tomorrow night.

 

[Dom1n8tr1x]

Very nice. I took new photos last night, will run the processing later today. Let's hope I get better results this time.

 

[mercurial]

For anyone interested, there is an existing thread on this, if you require some more info on the topic - http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=128050

 

[gregmcc]

Woah. That's awesome!!

Have have that equipment!!

 

[Edduck]

Nice thread!!! Do you have any fast primes B.K? If I was you I would get hold of these http://www.photohire.co.za/samyang-85mm-f14-if-umc-ae-aspherical-nikon-mount

for R4500. Sharp sharp sharp lens!! Then shoot at f2.0 and you will get 4 times more light than your 70-300mm

How much did the celestron mount set you back? Have you had any issues with the mount and fine movements? Do you shoot RAW and what about dark frame subtraction?

Sorry for all the questions, but I love astrophotography!!

 

[B.K]

Nice thread!!! Do you have any fast primes B.K? If I was you I would get hold of these http://www.photohire.co.za/samyang-85mm-f14-if-umc-ae-aspherical-nikon-mount

for R4500. Sharp sharp sharp lens!! Then shoot at f2.0 and you will get 4 times more light than your 70-300mm

I have a Tamron SP 18-70mm f/2.8 which works well for wide field time lapses. This was done it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaImTvZgbV4 (Best watched in 720p)

How much did the celestron mount set you back?

The mount and telescope cost me R6599. I bought this to as a start point, I'm already planning for the next telescope.

Have you had any issues with the mount and fine movements?

I don't have any problems, but if the mount isn't aligned properly you get drift. Which is really painful.

Do you shoot RAW and what about dark frame subtraction?

I do shoot in RAW, jpgs are far to limited. DeepSkyStacker (DSS) seems to handle most RAW files. After I finished shooting I do 20 darks (Same settings as the lights) 20 bias (same ISO but at 1/8000) and 20 flats (same focus, set to apature priority). I then just run it all through DSS

Sorry for all the questions, but I love astrophotography!!

I don't mind, love AP as well.

 

[mic_y]

I will not get dragged in to this thread... my budget just wont allow for it

but more to the point, some very impressive shots there well done

 

[Dom1n8tr1x]

Very nice shots indeed. Astrophotography isn't working out for me, don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'll just stick to Macro photography.

 

[B.K]

Orions Belt Widefield



Wide field image of the Orions Belt. Showing the horsehead nebula (IC 434) and flame nebula (NGC 2024)

Nikon D7000
Nikkor 70-300mm Lens
f/7.1
ISO 3200
44 minute exposure (132 subs x 20 sec)


Conditions at the moment are not ideal, the glow in the bottom left of the image is the reflection of the full moon of the sea.

Full res: http://goo.gl/G3XQS

 

[Praemon]

I've got a Explore Scientific 80mm APO Refractor, and a Celestron CG-5 mount, and I've tried a few times to do some astrophotography, but I just can't get the polar alignment right. I always get long streaks, or it's out of focus (that's likely due to the wrong distance between the camera and telescope though). Frustrating more often than not

 

[DTBA]

Just amazing how big the galaxy is hey and how many stars is out there

 

[Xmnsx]

I'm impressed that you managed to get those images from a four inch scope. I think it's time for me to abandon my dobsonian and get an EQ mount.