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Showing results for tags 'astrophotography'.
Found 244 results
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So, I have gone and got myself a Skywatcher Star Discovery 150p, which has so far proved to be a very good little scope and I've had some very good results. I have now got the bug for imaging and have gone out and got myself a second hand Nikon D5100 and verious other equipment needed to do this, only to now find I can't get Prime Focus!!!!!!!! So the only way I can image is using a barlow x2 which obviously changes the F ratio from F5.5 to F11 slowing everything x2 this isn't to bad for planetary imaging but for DSO images not so good!!! After searching through lots of videos on to do this all I can find is...... I can either butcher the standard rack and pinion focuser that's fitted on it by cutting it down and rethreading it or by moving the primary up by 20-25mm, which seems a shame to do a brand new scope still under warranty! The only other option I have come up with is changing the focuser to a Skywatcher Low Profile Dual Speed Focuser For Newtonian Reflectors. Could anyone out there shed any light on this before I spend another £130 on the new focuser. Thanks -
I see that there are some great actions for PS out there but they come at a price. Have you come across any free and good actions, that you can recommend? -
Hello, I have a question about filterwheels; SBIG filter wheels specifically. As far as I know they are the only ones that really use the 8 position filter wheels. So I have it loaded with L, R, G, B, Ha, OIII, and SII. So that is seven filters, what goes in the 8th slot??? Thank you for your insight, Christopher
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Hi to everyone, I used to do some astrophotography in the past with a Celestron AVX and DSLR but after few month had to give up for several reasons, including light pollution (I'm living in zone 3 east London), and also working shifts. Now I want to start again, and this time more serious. I've been searching around for a couple of months to choose all the gear and I'm quite happy with the list so far although it's a bit over the price I planned at first. I will get an William optics Z73 with his 50mm guide scope, a flattener/reducer 0.8, light pollution filter IDAS D2 and as camera I will use a Canon 600D modded and I will buy a ZWO 183MC Pro, after so much research, I'm very happy with the scale and framing I will get with this combo, but I'm starting to get confused with the mount. My first idea was to go for an HEQ5 Pro, as my previous experience with the AVX has been awful, then I realized that the FLO, sells that mount with belt modification and also some cleaning and tuning if required, I heard that it's a big improvement over the stock one and the price it's ok, but another important factor for me it's portability. Unfortunately, my garden doesn't allow me to do much so I will need to carry around on trolley, for a km walk, I'm a strong person and been doing plenty of time with the AVX, so my confusion came recently when the iOptron mounts entered my radar. I start comparing the heq5 pro with belt, with the iOptron cem25EC and the CEM40 without encoders, and I'm so unsure of which to buy, the cem25 seem to be the equivalent of heq5 at least speaking of payload, but in some threads I read people saying it's a bit fragile so kind of remove it from the equation although the weight it's interesting for my situation, then the cem40, seem to be quite similar on weight to the heq5 but with higher payload and that's interesting too as I will buy a C11 at some point. Now it will all come down to the accuracy of tracking I guess, how the heq5 and cem40 would compare on tracking and guiding? If the cem40 it's better, I would probably go with that since it holds more and would last longer as I don't plan to get anything bigger than a C11, but if the skywatcher it's better, I could decide to go for that, and when I move to a place with better garden then get a second mount with higher payload. Apologise for the long post and my english. Kind Regards, Giovanni.- 7 replies
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Hi All, I've had a reflector telescope for years but never really used it (this one) . I've recently dusted it off and decided to try my hand at astrophotography. I was really pleased with myself when I successfully pointed the telescope at Saturn and could make out the planet and rings (it looked like one big white ring but a good start). Once I'd nailed getting the planet in view I decided to hook up my Canon EOS 600D. Initially I connected it using THIS and was able to get a picture of a Saturn and ring shaped slightly blurry blob, which I have to zoom in on the image to see, thus blurring it further. For my first attempt I was pretty pleased. I then watched some YouTube videos of people showing how it's done and upgraded the Canon T-ring to THIS so I could drop a lens into it for more zoom. However, when I try the new adapter with a lens the camera picks nothing up - any picture I take regardless of how long exposure I use just comes out as a black screen - not even any stars. If I take then lens out of the adapter I get the same. I only get a picture if I use the original T-ring, back to the blurry really small blob. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I'd really like to get into astrophotography but not getting anywhere yet. Many thanks in advance.
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Hello, this is my first attempt on NGC 7635 with my skywatcher 250pds on an NEQ6 synscan mount. These are 7min subs stacked to a total exposure of 5 hours taken with my unmodified canon 700d and a skytech cls filter. No coma corrector was used as I haven't gotten one yet. I'm just wondering how I could make my images look clearer when zoomed in and improve them overall as I can see the image gets more blurry when I zoom in onto the bubble, should I use a higher magnification? Do I need to take more darks to get rid of the redness around the image ? Or perhaps I stretched the image too much in Photoshop? I used 10 darks, 60 bias and 60 flat frames. Update: I have now further processed my image with greater care and got a much better result. Thanks Greg -
Skywatcher 100 ED Pro Esprit - Great Performance
Selborne posted a topic in Member Equipment Reviews
Hi Guys, I thought I would share with you my first hand experience of the Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit Telescope, I have only had it a few months, but so far I am extremely happy with the results, it is so sharp and the contrast is very high. I live in a small town, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK, where the light pollution is not to bad, but still I have to be cautious with the direction I choose to point the telescope. All my astrophotography is done from the back garden on my patio. I have had a few different telescopes over the years, but I always found myself moving more and more into astrophotography, so after some research I selected the Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit, as many of the other users had commented on the sharpness and contrast. As I wanted to focus on more wide field astrophotography the F5.5 speed giving 550mm seemed the right choice, I also use an ED50 Skywatcher Guide Scope with an Altair Astro ASI130mm camera for the guiding and of course PHD2 software, all mounted on my Skywatcher HEQ6 mount. Here is a shot of the Andromeda Galaxy, 20 x 30s stills at ISO 800 on my Sony A7Rii, no filters just RAW images processed with Photoshop, Stacked Mean option. I used the Trevor Jones video on his BackyardAstro You Tube page for processing DSO's and it seems to work very well. What you will see from the image is just how sharp it is, something that really surprised me when I processed the images. This has inspired me to spend more time outside in the garden to photograph more objects, plus I have recently purchased an Astronomic CLS Filter for my Sony A7Rii, so I am looking forward to using this to see if it improve the contrast. I will keep you informed. Also I am looking forwarded to trying my Olympus EM1 MK2 camera, yes I know it does not have the capabilities of the Sony A7Rii for light gathering, but it does have a really clever mode where it can stack the images in camera to reduce noise, so I will also let you know how this went as well. Best Regards Jamie- 61 replies
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Total integration: 960 minutes/16 hours (20+10 x 6m for S2 + 61+20 x 6m for Ha + 34+15 x 6m for O3). Camera: QHY163M (16mp mono) CMOS cooled to -15 degrees C. Telescope: Stellarvue SV70T triplet apochromat refractor @ f/4.8. Reducer: SFFR70-APO Mount: Paramount MyT. Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, 3nm O3, 3nm S2. Software: Sharpcap, PixInsight, Photoshop CC. Inline image with reduced quality uploaded to forum. Full sized higher resolution image is here: http://ram.org/images/space/scope/1.4.4.5/veil_sho_20+10x360s_61+20x360s_34+15x360s.jpg The Veil nebula and regions within located in the Cygnus constellation are known by many names, including Filamentary, Cirrus, Network, and Witch's Broom. This capture is my first attempt at creating a (two panel narrowband) mosaic and perhaps my last since after doing this I feel I should stick to my general philosophy of using the right sensor/reducer/OTA combination for the right target (though the North America nebula beckons and I don't see how I can get it to fit in a single panel unless I switch to using camera lenses). It was a PITA to get the brightness and noise levels of the panels matched up properly and also bring out the faint wispy details while imaging during moonlight though I learnt a lot about PixInsight doing this. This was an interesting target for many reasons, beyond my two panel struggle. The Ha areas largely over encompass the O3 and S2 regions, but both of these also have very strong signal and if I had done an image excluding Ha it would've looked rather similar (except for the very faint bits prominent only in Ha. The S3 overlap is near 100% with the other two elements and if I hadn't brought down the Ha (which is still overwhelming) there would've been a lot of white as a result of the RGB combination. I chose to find a balance between choosing a post processing scheme that aesthetically looked good from afar while also showing the details of the filaments but the Ha only image really shows how intricate the filament work is. IMO, these narrowband images take a lot of artistic license and are best appreciated in comparison to the monochromatic signal from the individual filters, particularly Ha. Other versions (Ha, darker background with more subtle processing, and basic SHO without HP tweaks) are here: https://www.astrobin.com/416486/B/ https://www.astrobin.com/416486/F https://www.astrobin.com/416486/G/ My plan is to repeat this with my OSC on the SV70T and by rotating the camera by 90 degrees I can get it to fit, which will a generate a colour image, and and then if possible I will create a merged SHO-RGB image by combining all of these captures. As always, thanks for looking! --Ram -
Canon 450D Modified for astrophotography, the IR cut filter has been removed for better response on red emission nebula in deep sky objects. Comes with battery, and charger. Shutter count is (atm) 5914, see picture 4. The camera is in great condition, throughout. No lens, just body. Will post special delivery. message me if you have any questions. Price is £150.
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Hi everyone, as the title suggests, I've noticed that the RA axis of my HEQ5 pro mount has some give. I don't notice it while the clutch is unlocked, but it's very obvious with a locked RA clutch. Any suggestions on what could be causing it/what adjustments need to be made? Thanks
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Hello, I am wanting (not really ) to sell my Stellarvue SV105-3SV with tube rings [not shown in pictures]. The telescope is in great condition with very little dust and no scratches. There is one very small ding in the dew shield paint but it is not dented and it is almost not even noticeable. It happened when I took the telescope out of the saddle and it lightly hit the saddle. The telescope has never been dropped or had any issues and is optically perfect with a strehl of .95 or higher (claimed by Stellarvue). I've only used this telescope for imaging however I've once or twice thrown an eyepiece in it during a star party or two and it's VERY crisp with no false color. Currently I live in Italy so that's where it can be picked up or shipped from. Price is negotiable however Stellarvue says it is worth around $1200-$1500 USD. The nice thing is you wouldn't have any VAT from Stellarvue . Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or are interested. Lastly, here is a link to some images that I've taken with it and what it looks like mounted up: https://www.astrobin.com/users/chriscorkill/ SV105-3SV Specifications Aperture: 105mm Apochromatic Precision Triplet Focuser: 3" Dual Speed Focuser with 2" and 1.25" eye piece adapters F Ratio: f/7 Focal Length: 735mm Color Correction: Excellent Minimum Tube Length: 16" in travel mode Tube Diameter: ~ 4-1/8" (105mm) Dew Shield Diameter: ~ 5-3/8" (137mm) OTA Weight: ~12lbs (5.4kg) Retractable Dewshield: Yes
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I have an EQ5 telescope mount which i use for astrophotography. I have modified it with a motorised RA axis using a bipolar stepper motor - my thread for the build is here . I want to expand the mount's tracking ability by motorising the DEC axis and using a guide scope/camera. I generally use the mount in fairly remote locations so would like to use a raspberry Pi for portability. I understand that I'll need to use a Raspberry Pi Camera Module for the guide camera. The capability I want is: 1. guide the mount along RA and DEC axes using a guide star as feedback 2. track the mount using the RA axis only, and if possible continuously take 20-30 second exposures on the guide camera (this functionality is optional, but would assist in polar alignment of the mount) I don't want any GOTO capability. I am very new to RPi and need some help: - do I need to write code for this, or is there existing programming available for what I want to do? - is it possible to avoid the use of screens (in the field)? My preferred option would be to flick a switch to start and stop the guiding, with another switch for alignment mode (or something simple like this). - do I need to use any particular stepper motors/drivers for raspberry Pi? I'm using a bipolar stepper motor running quarter steps, with an A4988 stepper driver - is the RPi 3 Model B+ the unit I should buy? Thanks
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Hey everyone! I'm new here and thought I would introduce myself. I'm Christopher, 30, from the United States and have been living in Europe for a few years. I mostly enjoy astrophotography when the weather permits. I hope to make a few new friends here and learn a lot about astrophotography. I have more gear than I should compared to how much I actually know about astrophotography but I am always willing to learn new tricks. I just got a new Stellarvue OTA, so I'm also new to middle range focal length. Can't wait to see what y'all have to offer on these forums Christopher
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Hello to all! Posting a photograph of the Summer Milky Way band that I took last week. However, I do not know how should I feel about this! This is when the band was right overhead, which is a rare sight for us and happens only when monsoon season is delayed. There was decent glow towards horizon but literally nothing at zenith. 19 degrees north latitude, around Bortle 3 level sky, taken using Nikon 5300, basic lens. And with this, I prepare to have no view of stars till September ends-
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Hi, I'm totally New to this hobby and i'm having trouble understanding something in stellarium. I have ordered (not recieved) a Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PDS, which has a 25mm eyepiece 50degrees FOV as a default. I also have a Nikon D810. I wanted to get an idea of what my field of view would be with the 25mm eyepiece (30x on 750mm focal length), and also what it would be With my Nikon D810 mounted shooting prime Focus - no eyepieces. What surprised me was that it wasnt much difference between the frame and size of the object i get with 30x magnification (25mm eyepiece), and what i get with the Nikon D810 mounted. I dont get this. What magnification do i get With my DSLR mounted with no eyepiece?
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I am going to upgrade to the skywatcher 250/1200 pds telescope and i can't decide which mount i should get. The main (only) purpose is astrophtography and i am considering either the eq6-r- pro or the cem60 The cem60 can carry more weight but is also more expensive, my inner debate now is about if it is worth it What's you take on it?
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Hi Guys, any one had any use of a Technosky Apo or know anything about them. I am looking at getting my first apo as usually I am Astrograph man and seen this 70/478 mm quadruplet flatfield for £482. It seems a good deal but was just wondering about the build quality? As this seems cheap for a quadruplet!!! https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/tecnosky-telescope-ap-70-478-quadruplet-flatfield-ota/p,57327#tab_bar_1_select
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Hello, I own a Vixen ED-80 refractor which is used with a custom focuser by Telescope Service. (pictured below) A Celestron f/6 SCT reducer corrector did not provide decent images either because it is not appropriate or because I did not maintain the correct distance. I am thinking of buying the Sky-Watcher .85x Reducer/Flattener instead, as it is made for similar ED80 telescopes. I do not know what is the correct distance of the SkyWatcher reducer for my setup and more important, I do not know if it will focus with the custom TS focuser. Do you have any similar setup that you have used successfully? Clear Skies! Paul
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I just received the german issue from Thierry Legaults "Astrophotography". I will try to give a deeper review in the next weeks. Just a word: I am the author of "Das Blender-Buch" (a book about the free 3D application "Blender") from the same (german) publisher and so maybe a bit biased. The english version is published by Rocky Nook, I review the german translation ("Astrofotografie: Von der richtigen Ausrüstung bis zum perfekten Foto"). First look: It (german version!) comes as hardcover 26x26cm about 240 pages on nice paper. (not sure about the format of the english version, Amazon claims it as pocketbook) the cover is b/w the black is matte and makes a great look and feel, making you want to get your white cotton gloves to maintain the great look. Very nice. only looking at all the quality images will take hours if done in-depth all text and images breathe authenticy, even if we never reach this quality we will learn and enhance It covers all from AP with no telescope to telescopes with guiding. Hardware, software and all types you could imagine to image (ISS, polar lights etc.) I will add bit to this post alon my reading. I think it can not cover all in detail but we are used to learn every day and get informations from errors and other sources. :-) Carsten -
COMET C/2014 E2 JACQUES Meets the OPEN CLUSTER NGC 609 23 / 08 / 2014This is my first attempt at a Comet. After having various issues with stacking and a rogue stretched star as a result of a stacking error. I can finally feel proud after relentless hours spent at stacking and re-stacking this image. I feel proud I managed to process this Comet as well as it looks. I think there is a hint of a tail at the 3 O'clock position but who knows... The bonus is the comet is above an Open Cluster NGC 609 which adds more interest. Conditions were good and if I had set-up the Mount better I may have managed longer subs. There is a hint of star trails due to wind and tracking issues.16 x 30 secs Light Frames30 x 30 secs Dark FramesISO 800Skywatcher 200P 8" 1000mm ReflectorEQ5Canon 1100D ModdedBaader MKIII MPCC + Hutech IDAS LPS-D1 FilterHI-RES IMAGE: -
I am deciding to jump in and purchase a used CCD camera. Some of you may already know of my plans as I have posted them on other popular fora a week back. I am in a dilema because one question plagues my mind. The Orion G3, being a started CCD is also easy on my pocket, specially a used one. The upside with it is that it is a perfect match for the GSO6" RC that I am buying this month (gives me 1.31"/pixel). However, it has a pixel array of ~ 750x520 which means that the full size image will still be quite small. Other than the small array, the chip does have some good characteristics like 50k full well capacity, low noise etc. Which other camera would match up to it and why? Any experiences anyone?
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Hello, I noticed the sky was clear enough to get the telescope out for the first time tonight since getting it for Christmas (newbie), my phone mount to take images properly hasn't arrived yet but with my Note 9 pointing straight upwards I took a few photos (max 10 second exposure, F1.5 and ISO 800) and believe I have captured M45/Pleiades and California Nebula, please correct me if I am wrong though. Thought the second photo was also cool. Feedback and tips would be greatly appreciated. Spencer
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Hello Everyone, I have 7x 36mm Baader filters in my QHY Filter wheel. I use a simple Orion 80ED with a manual focuser. I have two questions basically. a) How important is refocusing between the LRGB Ha OIII and SII filters? b) If important, then how do I manually calculate the offset distance between them assuming the filters aren't parfocal?
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Hi All, So I am new to astrophotography and was looking for some advice on what to buy, mainly the mount as I don't have a huge budget. I am currently using a SkyWatcher 102mm Telescope (500mm Focal Length) with a Canon 550d along with a EQ2 mount, so no motors as of yet. Any advice on what mounts to get would be great. Thanks
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omega centauri A deeper look at Omega Centauri ( NGC 5139 )
MikeODay posted a topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
Update 16th June: I could not wait to tell people that I was just notified that my image of Omega Centauri will be published as a future NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day ( APOD ) - my first ever I will update the thread when they publish. ................................. A deep look at Omega Centauri ( NGC 5139 ) This image is an attempt to look deeply into the the Omega Centauri globular cluster by using HDR techniques to record as many faint stars as I can whilst retaining colour and detail in the bright stars, including at the core ... ............. Reprocessed to bring out more faint stars and to produce a smother transition between brightness levels. New version ( 12 June 2017 ): Omega Centauri ( NGC 5129 ) ( please click / tap on image to see lager and sharper ) .......... Old version: Omega Centauri ( NGC 5129 ) ( please click / tap on image to see full size and sharper ) Image details: from www.nova.astrometry.net: Size: 58.6 x 39 arcmins, Centre: 13h 26 min 50.4 sec, -47deg 28' 39.1''. Orientation: up is -89.9 East of North ( ie. E^ N> ). Telescope: Orion Optics CT12 Newtonian ( mirror 300mm, fl 1200mm, f4 ). Corrector: ASA 2" Coma Corrector Quattro 1.175x. Effective Focal Length / Aperture : 1410mm f4.7. Mount: Skywatcher AZ Eq6 GT. Guiding: TSOAG9 Off-Axis-Guider, Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2, PHD2 . Camera: Nikon D5300 (unmodified) (sensor 23.5 x 15.6mm, 6016x4016 3.9um pixels). No filter Long Exposure noise reduction off Location:. Blue Mountains, Australia. Moderate light pollution ( pale green zone on darksitefinder.com map ). Capture: 9 sets of sub-images with exposure duration for each set doubling ( 1s to 240s ) all at ISO800. Processing:. Calibration: master bias, master flat and no darks. Integration in 9 sets. HDR combination. Pixinsight May 2017- 40 replies
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