[pics] astrophotography - new passion

[Troy Piggins]

Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.

Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.

This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.

You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.

Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.

Loading Image...

I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
gif 1.6MB:

Loading Image...

And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.

Loading Image...

[Doug Jewell]

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

Gorgeous stuff!
My dad has a fairly big scope - 1ft mirror, and about 6ft
focal length (i think). For normal viewing with your eye,
it's an extremely good scope. I bought T-Mount and tube to
hook my GX10 up to it, but ran into all sorts of problems.
Using just the scope (no eyepiece), we couldn't get the
eyepiece focuser to move far enough in to get focus. My tube
allows it to be used with or without eyepiece, so I tried a
low power eyepiece, and I could get focus, but it only had a
very small portion of the image sharp, the rest was very
blurry. It also seemed to have bad halos too. Its something
I'd love to get in to, but after a lot of mucking around and
nothing even remotely half decent photo wise, I gave up. Any
tips that you can offer?
I'll see if I can dig up some of the shots I did manage to get.

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Doug Jewell

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.

<snip />

Post by Doug Jewell

Post by Troy Piggins
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

Gorgeous stuff!
My dad has a fairly big scope - 1ft mirror, and about 6ft
focal length (i think). For normal viewing with your eye,
it's an extremely good scope. I bought T-Mount and tube to
hook my GX10 up to it, but ran into all sorts of problems.
Using just the scope (no eyepiece), we couldn't get the
eyepiece focuser to move far enough in to get focus. My tube
allows it to be used with or without eyepiece, so I tried a
low power eyepiece, and I could get focus, but it only had a
very small portion of the image sharp, the rest was very
blurry. It also seemed to have bad halos too. Its something
I'd love to get in to, but after a lot of mucking around and
nothing even remotely half decent photo wise, I gave up. Any
tips that you can offer?
I'll see if I can dig up some of the shots I did manage to get.

Thanks Doug!

It's all about the mount. Look into German Equatorial Mounts.
You align them up with the axis the Earth spins on so you don't
get stars trailing and rotating. Not cheap, get the one with the
biggest load capacity you can afford. Stability is everything.

If you want to chat about it in more detail, feel free to email
me. Email addy is valid for a little while.

You can also check out Cloudy Nights
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat= or Ice
In Space http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/ as great web forum
resources. I find IIS easier to navigate.

[M-M]

Post by Troy Piggins
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

Wonderful shots! Great job!

Thank you for posting these!!!

[Troy Piggins]

Post by M-M

Post by Troy Piggins
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

Wonderful shots! Great job!
Thank you for posting these!!!

Thanks! Still a lot to learn.

[Paul Furman]

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
...
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg

Damn. So it's more about exposure time than focal length? I figured
something like that needed much more magnification... (assuming there's
lots of stacking, tracking & noise processing involved).

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Paul Furman

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
...
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg

Damn. So it's more about exposure time than focal length? I figured
something like that needed much more magnification... (assuming there's
lots of stacking, tracking & noise processing involved).

That nebula is quite big, bright, and easy to find which makes it
a very popular one to capture. There's plenty of other nebulae
large like that to fill the frame with just 600mm scope too.
Some planetary nebulae are a lot smaller (like the size of M83 I
posted) and I'll need to get more reach to do them justice.

When I said 1.4hrs exposure time, that's total. It's actually
10 x 8min shots, 5 x 30sec, 10 x 15sec, and 5 x 5sec shots all
stacked. ISO800 at 8minute exposures the sensor noise is
unbelievable so you take 8 minute "darks" as well, same
ISO/exposure etc just put cap over the scope so you capture just
the hot pixels, then they're subtracted from the "light" images
to clean it up.

Guiding (tracking) is the big thing. At such long exposures you
have to have a German Equatorial Mount. Think of it like a
really heavy tripod and motorised head. The motorised head can
move in 2 axes. You line it up with the axis the Earth is
spinning on, and the motor moves the head at the same rate the
stars spin around the celestial poles so you don't get stars
trailing.

It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the basics.
I also have a secondary "guide scope" on top of the imaging
scope. The guide scope has a webcam/CCD camera on it, plug this
into laptop and laptop plugs into mount. Webcam tracks stars and
if hte star moves off target crosshairs, the laptop tells the
mount to adjust its speed slightly.

At 600mm any more than a few seconds you'll see elongated stars
if you don't use something like the above.

[Larry Thong]

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.

Great shots! It sounds like you are having a great time with the new hobby
that can be very addictive. Have fun.

[Annika1980]

Wow, what timing! I just came inside after looking for Comet Lulin
(very faint here) and I was looking at some Meade telescopes online
before stumbling across your post.

Great animated gif of Comet Lulin and the Orion Nebula photo was
awesome as well.

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Annika1980
Wow, what timing! I just came inside after looking for Comet Lulin
(very faint here) and I was looking at some Meade telescopes online
before stumbling across your post.
Great animated gif of Comet Lulin and the Orion Nebula photo was
awesome as well.

Thanks mate :)

[Pete D]

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg
--
Troy Piggins

Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do from your
backyard.


http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Pete D

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.

<snip />

Post by Pete D
Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do from your
backyard.
http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

Yeah, Martin is a regular on Ice In Space and does some very nice
imaging. Very nice.

[Bob Larter]

Post by Pete D
Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do from your
backyard.
http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

Wow!
Okay, I'm officiously impressed.

[Noons]

Post by Bob Larter

Post by Pete D
Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do from
your backyard.
http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

Wow!
Okay, I'm officiously impressed.

Ditto!

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Bob Larter

Post by Pete D
Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do from your
backyard.
http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

Wow!
Okay, I'm officiously impressed.

Martin is a bit of a guru. Dave Malin awards and all that. Very
good stuff to aspire to.

[DRS]

Post by Troy Piggins

Post by Bob Larter

Post by Pete D
Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do
from your backyard.
http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

Wow!
Okay, I'm officiously impressed.

Martin is a bit of a guru. Dave Malin awards and all that. Very
good stuff to aspire to.

It helps that there's not much else to do in Yass. ;)

[Bob Larter]

Post by DRS

Post by Troy Piggins

Post by Bob Larter

Post by Pete D
Very nice mate, have a look here if want to see what you can do
from your backyard.
http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/

Wow!
Okay, I'm officiously impressed.

Martin is a bit of a guru. Dave Malin awards and all that. Very
good stuff to aspire to.

It helps that there's not much else to do in Yass. ;)

And that he's spent up big on some hellaciously nice equipment! :^)

[Noons]

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.

Great stuff, Piggo. Hey, isn't the horsehead nebula
right near the m42, just down from Orion's belt?

This time of the year will be perfect for that constellation.
There are some cool galaxies in Scorpio but Nov/Dec is better
for that one.

Have you had a go at the Pleiads?

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Noons

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.

Great stuff, Piggo. Hey, isn't the horsehead nebula
right near the m42, just down from Orion's belt?

Yep, Horsehead and Flame nebulae are around the end star of
Orion's belt. I didn't get those, had other targets in mind.
Through an unmodified (UV/IR filter removed) camera the Horsehead
takes quite a long exposure to really come out. I'll want a
couple of hours on it and didn't have the time.

Post by Noons
This time of the year will be perfect for that constellation.
There are some cool galaxies in Scorpio but Nov/Dec is better
for that one.

Yeah, I saw some of those through some of the other guys' scopes,
but didn't image them. I was going to but the dew at that time
of night meant it was all over for me.

Post by Noons
Have you had a go at the Pleiads?

It's a bit low in the sky at the moment. Need to get it a little
earlier - maybe December is the best time for it. It's
definitely on my wishlist. At the dark site even though it was
low you could see it naked eye. Very cool.

[Charlie Groh]

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:58:47 +1000, Troy Piggins

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

...so the telescope tracks proportional to the earth's rotation?
Wild stuff...here in SoCal the Mojave would afford the clarity you
need to do that type of thing. You guys play poker of something while
the shutter's open? ;-o)

cg

[Alan Browne]

Post by Troy Piggins
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

Good job. Stacked or motorized telescope mount?

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Alan Browne

Post by Troy Piggins
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

Good job.

Thanks mate.

Post by Alan Browne
Stacked or motorized telescope mount?

Both. 10 x 8 minute exposures plus some shorter ones all
stacked, all taken on a motorised equatorial mount.

[Helen]

Been a while since I've posted some photos.  I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies.  Learned heaps
and met lots of great people.  The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky.  You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you.  If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin.  Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy.  About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg
--
Troy Piggins

Wonderful capture Troy. I especially love the animated gif.

[Troy Piggins]

Post by Helen

Been a while since I've posted some photos.  I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies.  Learned heaps
and met lots of great people.  The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.

<snip />

Post by Helen

I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin.  Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif

<snip />

Post by Helen
Wonderful capture Troy. I especially love the animated gif.

Thanks Helen. I like the result, but pain in the @ss to create
:-/

[Helen]

Post by Troy Piggins

Been a while since I've posted some photos.  I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies.  Learned heaps
and met lots of great people.  The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.

<snip />

I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin.  Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif

<snip />

Wonderful capture Troy.  I especially love the animated gif.

:-/
--
Troy Piggins

"I like the result, but pain in the @ss to create"

LOL. Most things worthwhile are. :o) Enjoy this new passion.

[Charlie Groh]

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:58:47 +1000, Troy Piggins

Post by Troy Piggins
Been a while since I've posted some photos. I've taken up
astrophotography and it's a steep learning curve, but loving it.
Went to a dark site about 2.5hrs west of Brisbane on the weekend
with one of the local astronomy clubs/societies. Learned heaps
and met lots of great people. The sky was absolutely amazing.
Just 1/2hr after dark there were more stars visible than I get to
see at best viewing at home.
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky. You can see it with the naked eye if the light pollution
allows you. If you look at the constellation Orion, go from the
3 stars in a line forming his belt towards his feet and there are
some fainter stars and a kind of a smudge forming his sword.
This is the smudge.
You can also see "The Running Man" nebula at top of frame.
Shot with ED80 Pro 600mm f/7.5 telescope with 30D mounted on it.
Exposure is about 1.4 hours total.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m42.jpg
I also took the opportunity to take some shots of the Comet
Lulin. Took 20x3 minute exposures and made a bit of an animated
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/lulin.gif
And finally, although this is as close and my imaging telescope
would allow me, this is my first galaxy - M83 Southern Pinwheel
Galaxy. About 40 minutes of exposure.
http://piggo.com/~troy/photos/2009/2009_02_28/m83.jpg

...so, this telescope follows the target? Nice stuff, I'd imagine the
Mojave would be a good spot arouund here (SoCal)...

cg

[B***@aol.com]

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:58:47 +1000, Troy Piggins
<usenet-***@piggo.com> wrote:

[Snip]

Post by Troy Piggins
This is M42 Orion Nebula, one of the brightest nebulae in the
sky.

[Snip]

That's a very nice photo, Troy. The others are nice as well. Congrats!

Cheers,
DuncanC