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Urban astro photography


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Hi all,

The thread showing what can be done without an EQ mount has been interesting. Does anybody regularly image from a light polluted back garden? I would be interesting to see what can be achieved.

Thanks

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Yes, my urban back garden is pretty light polluted and nearly all the images in my album https://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/album/3751-my-quest-for-dsos/ were taken there.

Pretty certain there are others who do better and my persistence with kit that is far from sensible - much modded non-goto EQ5 carrying an SW200P and an ST80 - probably doesn't improve matters but, hey!  it's fun and I get to see stuff that is otherwise invisible.  

Upcoming challenge this winter is to get the Spaghetti Nebula (Simeis 147).  

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I'm suburban but my back garden is pretty light polluted. On a very dark night I can just see a patch of milky way when right overhead (twice last year) but the northern sky is yellow soup up to about 300 degrees with Capella the only visible star and plenty of LP east and south - not too bad to the West but I have big trees close in.

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14 hours ago, almcl said:

Yes, my urban back garden is pretty light polluted and nearly all the images in my album https://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/album/3751-my-quest-for-dsos/ were taken there.

Pretty certain there are others who do better and my persistence with kit that is far from sensible - much modded non-goto EQ5 carrying an SW200P and an ST80 - probably doesn't improve matters but, hey!  it's fun and I get to see stuff that is otherwise invisible.  

Upcoming challenge this winter is to get the Spaghetti Nebula (Simeis 147).  

Great images. This shows what can be done on an inexpensive mount with light pollution to deal with. 

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I should have posted a few images from my light polluted garden!

Planets don't care about LP:

Triplanetary.jpg

Brighter galaxies and DSOs are no problem:

M51_copy.jpg

On the other hand fainter nebulae are a challenge and this summer's main objective is to improve on this:

Pelican_Nebula.jpg

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While narrowband gives amazing results, it introduces the demand for much longer exposures, so better mounts, autoguiding, advanced processing - and a significant amount of skill and experience. It can falsely raise people's expectations if they don't realise what is involved unless it's made clear that sophisticated gear isn't essential.

I have seen too many people put of entering another hobby through being told the basic kit they can afford isn't up to the mark.

I think it's important to show beginners what can be achieved with modest gear - relatively light mount, no autoguiding and a DSLR or webcam. This shows them that it's possible to get into AP on a budget and achieve incremental returns from incremental additions to their gear.

I have no idea what sort of budget the OP has, but I can be sure this thread will be seen by many others; it's important that we show the rewards of astrophotography depend as much on your interest and effort as your budget.

I don't mean this to sound too critical - I find U235 and Olly's work inspiring and both of them offer encouragement to beginners on a budget. I just think that it's important to stress that narrowband is NOT a requirement for taking up AP even under relatively poor skies.

 

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I don't know about *needing* longer exposures. My 3nm Astrodons are reconned to transmit 90%+ of the selected wavelength, so very little longer. What they do do is cut out the rubbish wavelengths that you don't need.

Have a look at the Eastern Veil I just posted. Only 1 hour under a near full moon with rubbish transparency.

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+1. I think that having a go with what you have is the best advice any of us can give; too much emphasis on details of equipment certainly sent this low end astronomer running in the opposite direction to begin with!

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29 minutes ago, DaveS said:

I don't know about *needing* longer exposures. My 3nm Astrodons are reconned to transmit 90%+ of the selected wavelength, so very little longer. What they do do is cut out the rubbish wavelengths that you don't need.

Have a look at the Eastern Veil I just posted. Only 1 hour under a near full moon with rubbish transparency.

" Megrez 90, 0.8FR IV, 3nm HII Astrodon, Trius 694, temperature -23 from the readout. Guiding in PHD2 with the ST90 / QHY5 II. Capture and post in AA5. "

Yes, it's a great shot for poor transparency, but what beginners have that sort of gear and how long were your subs? Your 3nm filter cost more than all the gear I used for the photo below put together.

I haven't posted this before because it was a try out to see if my new goto box could find a target, not as sharp or detailed as your image, but done under Bortle 4 skies. Hopefully most beginners would be pleased to get something like this, with the potential to do better with, say, four to eight times as many subs:

Veil 2.png

29 x 30 second subs (14.5 minutes) home-modded Canon 450D, Skywatcher 150PL, unguided NEQ3 mount & home made goto drive, EQ5 tripod.

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I started out with an unmodded 550D and the Meg 90, FR and only a LP filter, no guiding even. TBH the results were rubbish, guiding was a big improvement, but the real jump was to CCD and NB. My first filters were Baader but I didn't like the [OIII] halos so bit the bullet for the Astrodons.

The subs in the image I just posted were 10 min.

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38 minutes ago, DaveS said:

I started out with an unmodded 550D and the Meg 90, FR and only a LP filter, no guiding even. TBH the results were rubbish, guiding was a big improvement, but the real jump was to CCD and NB. My first filters were Baader but I didn't like the [OIII] halos so bit the bullet for the Astrodons.

The subs in the image I just posted were 10 min.

Fair enough, but I suspect you would consider my attempt at the veil rubbish as well! - it is compared to yours, but  think it matters to show beginners what they can realistically achieve with limited kit and poor skies and then decide for themselves whether or not they would be happy with basic kit, want to save up for higher-end gear or just give up without trying.

From a personal; perspective I found the results of even my earliest tries with an unmodified Canon 10D remarkable - but I was comparing what I achieved to things like the pictures in 'The Observers Book of Astronomy', not the Hubble Space Telescope.

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I wouldn't consider your Veil rubbish at all, far from it, it's a lot better than my early efforts, loads of stars and some real colour in the nebula.

I learned from the "observer's" book too, in fact I still have it on my bookshelf now.

Oh, and I've never even tried planetary, so your images are something for me to aim at.

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I might be getting old and the memory not what it used to be but I am sure you can get images from a light polluted back yard far better than the 200 inch could manage and better lunar shots with even a tiny Mak than was possible 50 years ago.

Alan

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Have to agree there, the CCD revolution has raised the amateur's imaging to a level that the pros would have been delighted with only 30 years ago.

BTW just checked the cost of Astrodon filters, and as expected they've gone up a fair bit. Mine cost £384 each when I bought them, but now they're £460. Steep, yes, but a single 3nm H-alpha could be do-able at a stretch.

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2 hours ago, DaveS said:

I don't know about *needing* longer exposures. My 3nm Astrodons are reconned to transmit 90%+ of the selected wavelength, so very little longer. What they do do is cut out the rubbish wavelengths that you don't need.

Have a look at the Eastern Veil I just posted. Only 1 hour under a near full moon with rubbish transparency.

Just had a look and it's a cracking image.

I asked the question because I am going to have to put my kit up the garden (in a new shed). This means I can get new kit. I would like a bigger dob but had also considered doing some AP. Of course it's better from a dark site but I would want to have an idea of what to do by the time I get to a dark site, and also get the most out of it as I don't get to dark sites nearly as much as I would like (and then it's often cloudy!)

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4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I think it's important to show beginners what can be achieved with modest gear - relatively light mount, no autoguiding and a DSLR or webcam. This shows them that it's possible to get into AP on a budget and achieve incremental returns from incremental additions to their gear.

I think the OP was basically stating "what can be achieved from a light polluted garden". I live in a town centre, next to a hospital, surrounded by LED streetlamps, oncoming cars etc.. - so I know all about LP ;)

Yes, you can spend thousands on gear - but that does not guarantee you a good image.... far from it. Its what you make of the data that matters. For instance, a few years ago the notion that a cheap, lowly 5" reflector could deliver good images would have been laughable - not thesedays (I made sure of that...lol!).

 

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I think most of us started out with modest kit, I know I did - an EQ5, 150mm reflector and a modded 1000d, over time I worked up the ladder to a CCD, bigger mount, Astrodon filters etc. You can get started with whatever you can afford!

I (try) to image in LRGB rather than narrowband, I'm about 10 miles outside the M25, with Maidstone, Tonbridge & Medway on the other 3 horizons. I can make out no trace of the milky way from my back garden. To combat this I stack an IDAS LP2 in front of all my filters and it works wonders, 10 minute luminance subs, not a problem!

Those 3nm Astrodons expensive, but really are worth it though!

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You could also check my thread:

I think that you could hardly get more LP than me and worse conditions. Except if you image through the window. I live in a flat and I image from my closed balcony with the windows opened. Window, I mean.

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