My first pic of Orion

[milkyjoe]

This is just a quick pic of Orion taken from my back yard. Unfortunately there was far too much light pollution tonight, but it's a start!

[kris h]

Great pic can see the stars nice and clear

[rowan46]

lovely pic but that street is on a steep hill isn't it?

[barkis]

Excellent! all the main stars are plain to see.

Nicely framed too. Is there a street lamp nearby?

Looks like a sodium.

Ron.

[Lurker]

That's more what I can see here. Your lucky

Where do you live? Area?

[milkyjoe]

I live in Crewe, Cheshire, and yes, there are several street lamps near by unfortunately. I do live on a hill, but that pic was taken at an angle with my slr on top of my ota! lol

[oldfruit]

It is a start yes, but you can clearly make out Orion. Nice capture.

[milkyjoe]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I will be able to take better pics when I get my adapters for my scope. :-)

[jgs001]

it's a nice start... you could remove the OTA, and mount the camera on the eq1 for now. I'd suggest something like a SemiAPO filter for the ST102 to help with the CA, the camera really picks it up.

[milkyjoe]

Do I need any adapters to connect the slr directly to the tripod/mount? Could I not use a green filter as well, this would help with light pollution also would it not? Thanks.

[jgs001]

I'm not sure... you might need an adapter or two... as for the green filter, I really don't know if that'll help with LP... not sure it will to be honest... The CLS clip filter is superb at removing street lights...

[milkyjoe]

... and it's not cheap either! lol

[jgs001]

very true... but fitting the sw lpr filter to a lens is a right faff... and may cause vingetting too... it depends on what lenses you have mind... the clip filters don't work on EF-S lenses as the rear element sticks too far into the body of the camera.

[milkyjoe]

What lens(es) do the clip filters work with, I have an EF-S IS lens?

[jgs001]

They work with EF lenses and others like M42, Pentax K or Olympus OM that you can get a suitable adapter for. I've used mine with EF and OM mount lenses.

[milkyjoe]

OK. How though, would I get round this if my camera body was directly connected to the telescope as it would be using the space where the ep usually goes? :-\

Sorry, dumb question. I've just figured it out - get a 1.25" filter? lol *blush*

Thanks.

[Watcher]

You haven't said how long your expose was but as you have a driven mount that you have polar aligned you can do longer exposures that may show some of the colour in the nebula. Forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.

[saturn5]

Personally i really like it light pollution and all.Nothing wrong with having a bit of

the ota showing either,gives the shot even more of an astronomy feel.

If you have photoshop you can remove or reduce it using several techniques.

Astrophotography Photoshop for Beginners

[milkyjoe]

Hey Saturn5, that looks pretty good, but the colour seems to have disappeared slightly. I don't own a copy of photoshop, but I might have to buy a copy. Is the Orion nebula in the middle of those 3 vertical stars just above the house roof?

No problem Watcher. I was using my EQ1 mount and tripod without any tracking whatsoever. lol

Richard.

[Watcher]

Try getting it aligned and vary the length of exposure with the biggest apeture you can and you may be surprised as to how many more stars will appear.

[Watcher]

Also, rather than Photoshop you may wish to try GIMP, which is free and very good quality. For free it is worth a try!

[milkyjoe]

Try getting it aligned and vary the length of exposure with the biggest apeture you can and you may be surprised as to how many more stars will appear.

... and a lot more light pollution too I imagine? :-\

[saturn5]

Hey Saturn5, that looks pretty good, but the colour seems to have disappeared slightly. I don't own a copy of photoshop, but I might have to buy a copy. Is the Orion nebula in the middle of those 3 vertical stars just above the house roof?

No problem Watcher. I was using my EQ1 mount and tripod without any tracking whatsoever. lol

Richard.

There's less colour because most of the orange light pollution has been removed.

[Watcher]

Unfortunately yes, unless you can go to a darker site. It's still worth doing though and if you can aim at objects more overhead the impact of the light pollution should be reduced.

Do your local streetlights turn off automatically after a certain time? They do in my area to save money and obviously that may help you.

[mdstuart]

Drive to the countryside and then try!

Mark