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Astrophotography

crazyfingers said:
SLD said:
crazyfingers said:
Are those your own photos? I so they are great!. What did you use and how? And of curse, what are they?
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I took these with my new telescope. First light. I had a Williams Optics 70mm, 420mm focal length on an iOptron ieq45 mount. I used a modified Canon T3i DSLR with the infrared filter removed. The first shot is of M8, the lagoon nebula, and M20, the Trifid Nebula. It’s just 30 shots at 40 seconds a piece, 20 minutes total, at ISO 800. The second is of NGC 7000, the North American Nebula. Also 20 minutes at 40 seconds per shot, but ISO 1600. Both unguided, and Stacked and processed with 10 dark shots and bias shots in ImagesPlus.

I like this new scope because you don’t really need to guide. Just get a good polar alignment and it should be good for 60 second shots. For the larger nebula, which you need less focal length for, that’s perfect. It’s not a good scope for galaxies, except for Andromeda. I need a ten inch Astro graph for those. And very, very good guiding.
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Very cool. What is your new telescope?

I used to be up on all the models. I subscribed to Astronomy magazine and Sky & Telescope for years and years until I ran out of time to read them. Back then I purchased a Meade 6" reflector on a clock drive. It became too heavy and inconvenient for me to move out and in again but now with some teenagers in the house I expect to get it going again. We re-collimated it and re-aligned the finder scope. It's waiting for fall to come as I'm not keen on staying up too late in the summer.
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A William Optics Gran Turismo 71mm.
 
Mama mia! Very nice.

Me and daughter saw M2 and Dumbbell last night, in addition to Saturn and Jupiter. Holy moley Jupiter is bright. No photos though.
 
SLD said:
Not sure if others share my passion for astronomy, but on the off chance others do, I thought I’d start a thread of Astrophotography. I’m not that great and don’t have the really expensive equipment necessary for the really great shots but I did this last night. It Messier 65 and 66, and yes I was trying for the entire Leo Triplet, but missed one. That’s OK! This is only 25 subs at 2 minutes a piece with 10 darks and 45 bias shots. Canon T3i modified on an Explore Scientific 127mm scope. ISO 1600. Stacked and processed in ImagesPlus and PSExpress. I need to add flats. Maybe later, chores now.

View attachment 33428
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These are beautiful.
 
I had a very nice telescope many years ago. Spent a good bit of money on it. I found out i'm not a night owl and you have to be up at night to use it. So I sold it. Stuff like the above makes me wish I could have gotten into it.
 
ZiprHead said:
I had a very nice telescope many years ago. Spent a good bit of money on it. I found out i'm not a night owl and you have to be up at night to use it. So I sold it. Stuff like the above makes me wish I could have gotten into it.
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Ya. around 1998ish I got a Meade 6" reflector on a clock drive. I ended up

1: Not wanting to stay up that late in the summer or
2: Stand outside in the cold in the winter.

It also ended up being damned heavy. You've probably seen parts of it in my cat photos. It looks pretty.
 
I may have the years off by a little bit but I recall getting it just before all the new "Go To" telescopes became affordable.
 
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