Widefield of M31 & a smidge of our galaxy.

[tich]

I was under the impression that the weather was going to be pants this weekend I never packed a scope when I went out yesterday to my friends so imagine my surprise & frustration when the skies cleared last night. I still had my standard DSLR & NEQ6 so with some erm bodging I mounted the camera & did some widefield shots. I saw some NLC's & Perseids even managed to capture one too. The Milky Way was the best I'd seen & near the end of the session we saw an ISS pass.

52 minutes of data of 2 minute subs iso 800, standard 18-55mm lens set at F5 at its widest setting.



Single 2 minute shot of M31 & a Perseid.





I'd love a better DSLR & decent widefield lens but can't see that happening for a while yet!!

[oldpink]

very nice for an unexpected opportunity

[hobsey]

Lovely images, can't wait to get out there and give wide field ago.

Clearly there is nothing wrong with the camera you are using, why not just buy a wide field lens for now.

[robbie c]

Great images tich and a perseid for a bonus nice one 

[happy-kat]

Lovely images.

You have a modded 1000d in your sig looks to be doing great stuff.

[tich]

I do have a modded camera but unfortunately it doesn't work with a lens attached only on the scope as I would have loved to take widefields using one. I did reprocess the Milky Way image as I were struggling to get any colour from it. Not sure if I over done it but it does look a lot less harsh than the other one.



 

[happy-kat]

Won't that modded camera work with a manual prime lens?

[tich]

I don't it think it will as far as I'm aware I guess I could try, mind you the prime lenses I have aren't any good for astro.

[Pete Presland]

very nice widefield shots, and a bonus meteor to go with them

[happy-kat]

There is in my head no difference between a telescope with it's fixed apperature and a manual lens and you choosing the aperature. Unless you mean it won't reach focus when using a manual lens but not sure why it wouldn't because the lens mount and chip aren't moved when a camera is astro modded I didn't think.

[tich]

There is in my head no difference between a telescope with it's fixed apperature and a manual lens and you choosing the aperature. Unless you mean it won't reach focus when using a manual lens but not sure why it wouldn't because the lens mount and chip aren't moved when a camera is astro modded I didn't think.

I took the modded camera out a couple of weeks ago to try to take a widefield shot of the night sky, I tried to focus on a bright light in the distance but it was having none of it. When using the standard camera it focusses just fine.

Very odd!!

[happy-kat]

I find when I use mine at night it won't focus using auto focus I have to attempt to manual focus but strange how yours won't but I guess I know nothing about the astro modding process.

[tich]

I think the mod that was done to it is that the IR filter was removed & not re shimmed with transparent glass or a Baader filter so to preserve the auto focus, in saying that I would have thought it still would have focussed manually.

 

[Knight of Clear Skies]

You may have two galaxies there, I think that smudge below Andromeda in the first image is Triangulum.

[Paul M]

You may have two galaxies there, I think that smudge below Andromeda in the first image is Triangulum.

And I'm sure on the close-up I can see M110 and possibly M32!

I wonder how many others are hidden in there!