Taking pictures of the stars in the Alps

[Riggy]

Hello Stargazers

I'm very new to the idea of actually using equipment for stargazing, but me and my friend have been looking up at the stars in our light polluted town with wonder for years. I'm quite a regular visitor as I like the pictures people have taken of our lovely skies

Well I've finally got myself my Nikon DSLR D3100 a few days ago ready for my trip to the alps in April and whilst I'm there I'm hoping for better skies than what I get here in Telford, UK. Fingers crossed no clouds cover my view.

My question is, am I able to get some decent looking shots of the stars by stacking images taken with just the stock D3100 and the 18mm-55mm lens? Has anyone got any tips on what I can do?

At the moment, I'm thinking, short 30 second exposures and then when I'm back home, stacking a few images to help get rid of any noise and bring out any detail?

Thanks

Craig

p.s. Please excuse any noob comments I may have made, I'm very new to astrophotography

[GaryG]

Hi Craig,

You should be able get some nice shots with a fixed tripod & DSLR. If you set your ISO to 800 and expose for about 20-30 seconds you should be able to pick up some nice detail.

You can either use deepskystacker to align on the stars or use the startrails software ( from startrails.de ) to generate some nice star trails images.

The hardest thing with using camera lenses that i find is getting the stars to a nice sharp focus.

I have to admit i'm a canon user & use BackyardEOS with a bahtinov mask to get a good focus.

Gary

[Riggy]

Thanks Gary for the prompt response. Can you use an bahtinov mask on it's own to get a good focus or has it got to be coupled with software such as BackyardEOS?

Could you suggest any place where there is an easy to digest tutorial on using the mask at all?

Thanks for covering the software question that was to come afterwards

Craig

[nephilim]

I dont think u can get a Baht mask for a lense, they go on a scope & each one is designed for the particular scope thats being used........I may however be wrong & if I am i'm sure someone will correct me

Steve

[GaryG]

Hi,

I have used my mask, designed for a 60mm f5.6 scope, on a 50mm f1.4 camera lens and although it isn't designed for the lens it does work. I use the same 60mm mask when using my field flattener/reducer to bring the 60mm scope to f4.5.

You can use a mask on its own - i've used mine with my 90mm scope & 500D & the Canon live view (when i forgot my usb lead ) but i had to use the 10x mode on the camera to get a good view of the spikes & ended up with reasonable focus.

I got my bahtinov masks from Morris Engraving on ebay & he will make bespoke masks.

Hope this helps.

Gary

[themos]

I took some pictures from the Great St Bernard Pass (elevation 2469 metres) once. You could see stars right down to the horizon. I was too tired to take decent shots, though.

[Riggy]

I might try and make my own mask and just try, because after purchasing alot of equipment for this camera, my wallet is looking a little deflated!

I was going to try and gets some shots before I left, but the weather isn't exactly favourable at the moment and I leave on the 4th I hope to god I can get some practice in before I leave. I'm quite excited about it