|
Hey. Whats up astro people! I never knew this thread existed. Just bought a new scope a month or so ago. Celestron XLT-127. 127mm / 5" aperture. CG-4 eq mount /w motor. I love it so far. Just got camera attachments, and I'm excited to start taking pictures. Anyway, heres a picture of the new rig.  Hopefully I'll have some more pictures to post soon!
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2010 20:22
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:45 |
|
|
Oh hey this thread is back to the first page. Good good. Jekub, those are incredible pictures.. I wish I still worked at an observatory so I could get shots like that. but anyway here's my humble offering. The Moon from last night!
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2010 20:22
|
|
|
Just a single picture of the moon. Right now I have a 5" celestron omni XLT. CG-4 equitorial mount (with motor.) On that moon shot I was using a focal reducer/corrector. Not that it was useful or did... anything really, for a moon shot, but I just got it last week and wanted to see how a quick image would come out. I really like it and the wider field is amazing. The camera is a Nikon D40. Hopefully I can post some more stuff soon. It's been so lovely here (Boston) and if its not raining, it's just crappy light conditions unless I travel south a bit. So I haven't been able to get out lately. I've got a ton of pictures that need stacking too and I'm just lazy I guess..
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2010 19:44
|
|
|
Lord Solitare posted:I'm really jealous of you guys with all the money to blow on good equipment. I'm pretty much limited to staring up with the naked eye since I have literally zero money to spend on anything. Well I'm not quite there yet, but getting there. Just graduated with my B.S. in physics. I ran my schools observatory for a few years, and hope to get into a grad school soon enough. I've done amateur stuff for a while now too, so I might be able to answer something if you're interested in the perspective of someone trying to get there as well. Also, yeah, there's no way around it, it's a goddamn expensive hobby. I spent a butt ton of money on my stuff, and it's not even really great equipment. Just middle of the road. It has to be a passion I guess, because it really is a big investment. Like a new car kind of investment sometimes, but totally worth it if you love it.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2010 19:17
|
|
|
micron posted:I was out as well with my new 125mm scope. Seeing that the moon just totally drowns everything out got me thinking about filters. I know just a moon filter would help but does anyone have any opinions on filters such as noise pollution or any others for that matter? I can see Saturn, Mars and Venus but do not see any detail at all. I can't say much about specific brands of filters or anything; they're all kind of the same, but light filters (Narrow/Broad band filters and the like) are good for looking at and taking pictures of nebulae and so forth, but aren't really helpful for any planets or the moon. Regular color filters, and a moon filter will do for that. A standard set of 4-5 basic color filters should only be about 50-100 bucks and will give you everything you need for solar system stuff. Specialty things like narrow-band filters, polarizing, H-alpha, etc, usually cost more, like 100-200 a piece. And yes that is too much for a barlow with a scope that size. Especially if you are in an area where you're having issues with light pollution. The atmosphere will be too shaky to resolve anything. Maaaaybe on a clear, good "seeing" night you might be able to get something, but it will be rare.
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2010 22:15
|
|
|
Aericina: That should be all you need for connecting the camera. That's basically the same way mine is setup, but with a Nikon D5000 now. If nothing is showing up on the screen though, try focusing through the viewfinder first, preferably on a really bright star, then fine tune it with the live view screen. If focusing isn't the problem, I have no idea what it would be. Those adapters should be all you need. Also, I don't know about using a Barlow. I've never tried, and I don't see why it wouldn't work, but you don't need it for anything. On another note, last night was the first clear night in a week or so. I was out 'till about 3am. I was mostly just observing, but took some photos at the end of the night. Really awesome night. Here's a close up of M57, The Ring Nebula,  Click here for the full 1000x686 image. Taken from a wide field shot,  Click here for the full 1000x665 image. And M13, The Hercules Globular Cluster  Click here for the full 717x621 image.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2010 22:34
|
|
|
upsciLLion posted:Is anybody planning on taking pictures of comet McNaught? I wanted to but sadly...   Skyyy!!..
|
|
#
¿
Jun 12, 2010 22:12
|
|
|
Got an unexpected little break in the clouds last night. Managed to get about 30 minutes on M27 before the sun came up. also, nice picture oldmanklc! definitely worth bragging. should post some more for sure. Crusty_mabiba fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jun 15, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2010 17:30
|
|
|
Thanks! Since I got my new camera, my pictures have been improving. It's been pretty encouraging finally getting some good detail in nebulae, galaxies, etc. I just have to find a less light polluted area now. and, no I have not been doing flat frames. That's my next project though. I'm trying to put together a light box out of a lot of cardboard boxes. I'm using a Schmidt–Cassegrain with a field flattener, so yeah, the vignetting and distortion is kind of bad towards the edges, but hopefully I can get something working soon. Also, I have read a lot of different opinions online about how many flat frames to take for one session. Some say just as many flat as light frames, and some say just about 20-30 will do. Any ideas on how many would it take to correct something like my photo above?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 17, 2010 17:50
|
|
|
Jupiter from this morning. I have a few more shots to put together, but I'm at work. I'll try to get them posted this weekend.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2010 10:33
|
|
|
M31: Andromeda Galaxy This was about an hour and a half exposure. 2500 ISO. Half of the pictures used a broadband filter, and the other half had none. Also, I'm glad to see so many other people posting. Astrophotography is surely a game of patience, but the results (even from a not so great telescope like mine) are amazing. Keep up the good work guys! Crusty_mabiba fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Aug 29, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Aug 29, 2010 15:35
|
|
|
New M31 picture from the other night. This time I got M32 in there as well. About 105 minutes of exposure stacked. No filters or lenses.  Click here for the full 1000x1503 image. Crusty_mabiba fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Sep 16, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Sep 16, 2010 15:56
|
|
|
It's been so long since I've seen the stars here in Boston... so much crap weather. Finally got out for about two hours last night before the clouds rolled in again. Got one picture at least, M103: an open cluster in Cassiopeia.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2010 20:08
|
|
|
Wow. That is awesome, Jekub. What was the time span of the animation?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2010 21:19
|
|
|
Clearest night I've seen here in a long time, last night. Here's M42, The Orion Nebula. It's about 180 minutes or so of exposure. Edit: Wow picture looks strange when I turned it into a .jpg welp. Uploaded a bigger better looking one below here  Click here for the full 1223x1500 image. Crusty_mabiba fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Nov 3, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2010 15:34
|
|
|
Thanks Choicecut. I really liked that picture. Had a really great night that night. Good luck with your new gear. Definitely post anything you get! Jekub: I'm using Deep Sky Stacker at the moment. Then just going in and cropping, etc, with photoshop.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 6, 2010 19:00
|
|
|
Got a few hours of clear sky last night. Went back to Orion with some filters and such, and got some better detail and colors out of it this time. Click here for the full 1200x1578 image.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 20, 2010 00:06
|
|
|
Thanks Choicecut. Using a Celestron Omni XLT 127". CG-4 mount, with motor and a Nikon D5000. Theres a little over 2 hours of exposure here. About 45 miuntes of which are through a typical broadband LPR filter, and the rest is unfiltered.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 20, 2010 15:14
|
|
|
I really love the D5000. I'm obviously using it for astro mostly, but I've enjoyed using it as a general purpose camera as well. I don't believe it has mirror lock, but to be honest, I haven't run into any problems with that. It does have exposure delay, but like I said, never run into any issues, so I don't use it. It stays quite still for me. The only extra I bought is one of the wired shutter controls so I can just press the button and go to sleep for a few hours while it clicks away in my yard. I know some people online don't like Nikons for astro stuff, but screw the haters. Mine has been flawless so far, and I can't imagine ever running into any limitations unless I got a MUCH bigger scope. I would highly recommend one.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 21, 2010 02:12
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:45 |
|
|
Oh hello astronomy thread! Haven't posted in a long time. The weather in Boston has been the worst. It's been so very grey here. I've only been out a handful of times in the last month. Luckily it was clear for a while the other night, and I managed to get some decent shots of the Moon, and Saturn before the clouds rolled in once again... 
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2011 21:04
|
|