Astrophotography: Deep Sky Objects

[bmarine]

Is there any effect of light pollution?

 

[fort384]

Yes - it is a major problem and limits our overall exposure time on sub exposures. We can combat it on some types of objects by using a light pollution filter in our optical train but generally we don't use it as a rule. Without it we can expose a sub frame for about 10 minutes before the LP is an issue. Of course if the scope is pointed more SE towards Chicago, it might be further limited. The image above of the Pleiades which I took last night is pretty low in the eastern sky for us right now so my sub exposures were limited to 6 minutes each. The shorter exposure time probably resulted in less visible reflection nebulae in the image but that is always the trade.

If you are interested about our setup, hardware, and software, there is a write up about it on our website - http://www.claustonberryobservatory.com

 

[bmarine]

Hmm, i'll check it out! So are these pictures taken at an observatory, or at your house? Is the equipment hard to find?

 

[fort384]

It is both. We built our own observatory. The equipment is readily available.

 

[fort384]

Cocoon Nebula (IC5146)

Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC884 & NGC 869)

IC59/IC63: Gamma Cas Nebula

 

[Brilliant_Barbs_21]

All of these are literally amazing.

 

[fort384]

Clouds have really been jammin us up, but finally got a break in the weather tonight. Here was tonight's target, NGC7000: The North America Nebula

 

[fort384]

Here's a cool one from last night... the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae...

 

[bmarine]

Sweet!!!

 

[melosu58]

Really nice Justin. Geat hobby there.

 

[fort384]

Thanks Mike!

Here is one from last night, the Great Nebula in Orion:

 

[fort384]

Not as exciting as the last one, but here is the one from tonight: An open cluster in Auriga, Messier Object #38:

 

[fort384]

Finally was able to get out last night. It has been cloudy for two months!

Rosette nebula

 

[shellyx]

That's really cool! You take some really great pictures.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[fort384]

Thanks. I was very pleased with this one. The cold temps outside are hell on the electronics but really go a long way in reducing thermal noise for 8+ minute exposures.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Did you get any of the Eclipse tonight?

 

[fort384]

Nah too easy

Actually not really setup for that. Moon and solar system photography is very different from the requirements for deep space objects.

 

[Kittykat364]

Wow these pictures are beautiful! I went to the country for a few days, wow is it a change from the city! You could see so many stars it was beautiful! I wish I had a camera like yours, my phone can't see the stars, it just gets black pictures.

 

[Macscale]

Absolutely amazing.. Even more spectacular that the camera used for some was a canon 1100d (T3 for the U.S.) The old pictures at least..
A while back I looked at purchasing the 60D-A, made solely for astrophotography, but then I figure the use for macros on my tanks or family portraits wouldn't be there. I just went with the 700d (T5I)..

 

[fort384]

Thanks all. Here are a couple new ones... M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy and M51 the Whirlpool galaxy.

These are the first two pics with the new SBIG mono CCD camera which is made for astrophotography. This represents a pretty significant upgrade in equipment. Also have a new imaging scope.

The 60Da you mentioned is a great camera. If interested you can modify your own camera to be even better than the 60Da for astrophotography. You can remove the internal IR cut filter and just use an external filter for regular everyday use so you have the best of both worlds (at least when it comes to DSLR astrophotography). Search for Gary Honis's website if interested. He has step by step instructions for modification.